Not Exactly What it Seems

I loved when we could just sit together and do absolutely nothing yet feel like it is perfectly acceptable. Normally, she was always on the move, but when we had moments like that it was just awesome. But then, as usual, it was interrupted. And I was noticing that her family was a lot more messed up than I had previously thought. They seemed so put together and like such a perfect family. I guess looks can be deceiving.

One of the paramedics that showed up ended up being a guy I knew very well. He was an EMT and was a senior in high school. I kind of had a little thing with him when I was in Vermont two years before. We still kept in touch but nothing more than as friends. That was a relationship I actually wanted. My cousins never met him.

“Onyx, what happened here?” Jake wondered as he took in the scene in front of him. He was such a great guy and I thought it was so noble that he was already so dedicated to the field.

“Heated argument?” I asked rather than stated. He gave me a look and I realized what he was thinking. “Oh, no. I had no part in it. I was just the one to clean up the mess, as always.”

“You did always have a knack for cleaning up other people’s messes.” He informed me that he would have loved to stay and chat, but they needed to get my uncle to the hospital ASAP. So I told him to call me so I could tell him about the New Year’s Eve party.

Hayden didn’t look too happy when Jake left the house. I knew that he needed an explanation of who the guy was, but I wasn’t sure what to say to him. ‘Oh yeah, he was my boyfriend and I actually liked him so we still talk now’? That would not have been a good answer so I needed to choose my words carefully.

“He was your boyfriend, wasn’t he?” Hayden asked before I could even form an explanation. I smiled sheepishly at him with a slight shrug of my shoulders.

“Um, yeah. But it was like two years ago and it wasn’t even that long,” I tried to justify. “But how could you tell that? Am I that obvious?”

“Well, no not really. It wasn’t you that I noticed. The way he looked at you left little to be questioned.” His voice wasn’t…jealous per se, but he definitely did not like it, that I could tell for sure.

It was a long night, I can say that much. Anthony, Hayden, and I were on our way out the door to see my uncle at the hospital when Hayley figured out that her dad was hurt. She wanted to see him and to make sure he was okay. She wanted to be able to talk to him to know that he was still there. Before we left, Anthony had to calm her down.

“Hayley, sweetie,” he soothed. “Daddy’s going to be okay. You know how tough he is, right? He wouldn’t leave us alone and you know that.”

Hayley tried stuttering out complaints and fears, but Anthony shushed her then picked her up and we left. Seeing the look of devastation on Hayley’s face was really hard. A little girl like that should not have to see what was going on, even if her dad was not in critical condition. She was too innocent for that to be marred in any way at any level. Anthony and I would be sure that nothing hurt her.