Not Exactly What it Seems

I will never be able to understand her. When I think that I have finally breached the surface of who she is, she surprises me yet again. She wanted everyone else's happiness before hers. As if there was no use for her happiness in the world. And I knew that, I knew that she wanted to help everyone, but lately, it has been nonstop about everyone but herself and I think it's amazing.

Frankie was pretty nonexistent during the time between Christmas and New Year which kind of bummed me out since we always hung out together. It seemed that since we both got boyfriends we did not have enough time for each other. I was constantly either with my boyfriend or at some stupid function and she was always either with her boyfriend or texting and/or talking to him on the phone. But she was way happier with Matt than she was with me so I would not ruin it for her. What kind of a person would I be if I did that? Plus, I’d be even more of a hypocrite.

I guess Hayden and I really didn’t seem too much like a couple because we were so close when we became friends. But it was just because we did not find it necessary to go around kissing in public and constantly be hanging all over each other. We were just the perfect pair, completing the other fully and totally. It was great.

The only drawback though, was that even though Anthony gave us his blessing, my other protective cousins were still giving Hayden the third degree. As if it wasn’t enough to completely humiliate me, they had to do it to Hayden. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he just ran off because he couldn’t handle it. I was surprised he hadn’t done that yet, actually.

So for the next few days, I was working out all of the kinks in my plan, I had run it past my parents and they were on board. I was all set and surprised that Anthony had not figured out I was up to something. I was talking to Amber just about every day. But that didn’t matter- it was better actually. All the more gratifying to see his face when she came walking up to him. There would be nothing better than that, I decided. Anthony deserved it.

I won’t lie and say that Anthony being overprotective is something that I appreciate and love because really, it annoys the crap out of me. But when push comes to shove, it really is awesome to know that he loves me enough to look out for me like that. So I wanted to do something like that for him. Obviously I had no right to sensor his girlfriends, but helping to get the one he really wanted back seemed like a good alternative. What else was I supposed to do? I went from despising the girl to helping her get him back in all of 12 hours, if that.

Hayden sat back and let me do my thing with a look of… I don’t really know what to call it actually. Admiration? For what though? Respect? I hardly deserved that emotion. Understanding? As if my insane plan was actually justifiable.

Whatever that look was, I liked the feeling it gave me. As if I had something to be proud of or something that was redeeming. I didn’t know what he saw that made him look at me like that, but it didn’t matter to me. He was looking at me and he was mine.

But I’m getting off subject. Amber was planning on coming to Vermont on New Year’s Eve so that she could surprise Anthony. I would preoccupy him and she was sneak up behind him and say something. I don’t know; that was her part to figure out. I was only in charge of the skeleton of the plan. She had to figure out what to say.

Two days before New Year’s Eve, Hayden and I were sitting in the piano room. We were both sitting on the piano bench and I was absentmindedly playing with the keys making some good chords and some not so good chords. Neither of us found it necessary to speak because our presence was enough. I hated it when people felt it necessary to fill up every silence with some stupid and meaningless banter that went on and on incessantly. Or my favorite was the guys who not only found it necessary to fill all the silences but to talk about themselves whenever a silence presents itself. But I really had to stop comparing Hayden to every other guy that I dated. There really was no comparison.

So we were sitting there doing nothing of significance when an argument that sounded more like a screaming match ensued. It was so much worse than the one we overheard that ended with Frankie staying with us and I knew exactly who it was this time. With a sigh, I stood from the bench and travelled into the kitchen to see what I could do about damage control just like every year.

My aunt Jenny and uncle Tim were fighting about everything that had built up over the past year. For the past, I’d say, seven years or so this exact thing has happened the day before New Year’s Eve. They save every pent up emotion all year long and then once the year is over everything just spills out. Now, they aren’t my favorite relatives by any stretch of the imagination, however they are the parents of both Anthony and Hayley. It was my job to keep them from doing anything rash in the heat of the moment and also to make sure that they are around no dangerous objects.

But I was too late. My aunt had taken a heavy lead vase full of Christmas flowers and threw it at my uncle. It broke upon contact with his head and he was lying on the floor unconscious. Was it just me or did this holiday season have more injuries than most? I groaned with frustration, anger, and fear before I turned and called 911.

Did life really have to be that dramatic?