The Heart Never Lies

Here I was in the secret place. The secret place I used to go to with Daniel. It’s been seven years since I’ve been here. It still looked exactly the same last I went here. I heard soft giggling in the hut. Someone is here? I walked there curious, that somebody actually found the place. Two children sat there. They looked really happy. I cracked a smile and observed them. It was a girl and a boy. The girl sat in the hut watching the boy with the biggest smile on her face while the boy played with a soccer ball. I couldn’t help but feel a familiar feeling to this all. It all seemed nostalgic.

The boy noticed me and gave me a curious look. He seemed very familiar, but I just couldn’t remember. Damn it I was getting old! I gave him a small smile and a wave. He smiled at me and mouthed something to me but I couldn’t quite catch it. I looked at the girl. She seemed phased out. Next thing I knew, there they were, playing with the soccer ball together looking happy. Sometimes, I want to be a kid again. Where no one would judge me, no drama, nothing! But growing up will never bring me down. It’s all a part of life and nothing can stop us anyway.

Suddenly, the scene changed. I was no longer in the park. That’s weird. Why am I at the kitchen? I wondered. The girl from the park was here. In my house. What?! How did she get here?! I approached her.

“Hey, little girl. This is my home don’t go intruding someone’s house.” She didn’t seem to hear me or notice me.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!” I stared at her in disbelief. How rude!

I stood there rambling in my head on how rude she was. I noticed the little girl looking panicked. She was pacing around the kitchen with a red face. She was slightly shaking
.
“Little girl, are you okay?” I’ve forgotten what I was thinking and now I was concerned. No answer. Ugh, geez what are with kids these days?! The kitchen door suddenly burst open. The boy from the park came in. What?! He’s here too?! What is wrong with the world?

“We’re going to be best friends.” I stood there not believing what I just heard. No way. It can’t be. Where the hell am I?! Curse my memory! This was the first day we met. After that whole scene, everything started disappearing, shaking. I looked at the floor beneath me. It cracked and I fell through a pit of darkness.

“Hayden!” I hear Mom’s voice.

“Mom?” I tried looking for her but she was nowhere in sight. I kept falling into bottomless pit. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. I saw a hand come out of nowhere. I grabbed it, afraid that I might actually die. As I was being pulled up, I saw the boy from the park mouthing words that I couldn’t understand. I closed my eyes, thinking hard on what he was saying. Then, I heard a voice, his voice.

You’re beautiful, Hayden.

“Daniel.” I mumbled softly.

“Daniel?” I felt a slight shake on my shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. I rubbed my moist eyes and looked at the person who woke me up.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” I looked at her curiously. Usually I would wake up on my own.

“I’ve been trying to wake you up for 15 minutes now!” Mom said. "And you came home real late, young lady! Oh, and you were dreaming about Daniel? Don't lie to me!"

My mom sure was a talker. But, I wasn’t really listening. I was remembering what had just happened.

So it was a dream, huh. It felt real. Was it trying to tell me something?

I shook those thoughts away. A massive, piercing headache rushed through my head.
“Ah, shit!” I rubbed my temples trying to get the pain away. I’ve forgotten that my mom was in the room. I carefully looked at her, frightened on what she was going to say.

“You drank last night.”She said in a monotone voice. She stared at me with no emotions in her eyes. Ugh, mother’s instinct. I hate that.

“Yeah,” I said sheepishly, still trying to not think about my headache. “Sorry Mom…I was really stressed out.” She sighed.

“You know, it’s okay for you to drink a little but you can’t get drunk! Bad stuff happens when you’re drunk! And I don’t want any bad things happening to my little baby girl.” She smiled at me. “Now, just lie back down while I go get you some water and aspirin, okay?” And there she goes out my door.

I smiled to myself. Mother’s do always know best. I lay back down recalling things that happened last night. I quickly sat up remembering what happened. I touched my lips and panicked. I stood up and paced around the room.

“Oh god, I kissed Daniel! That’s not good!” I rambled on, “But it was a drunken mistake! Yeah, that’s it! I was drunk wasn’t I?” I fastened my pace. “But what if it wasn’t?! Was everyone else watching? His lips were so warm…” I said softly giggling until I realized what I just said. “No! Daniel’s lips are not warm! They are not soft either! And definitely not kissable! And I don’t want to ever kiss it again!” Ugh, god, my head hurts. I sound like a fucking fangirl in denial. I heard a door open.

“Hayden! I told you to lie down!” I did as my mom said and hopped onto my bed. I took the aspirin and water from my mom and drank it.

“Thanks, Mom” I gave her a smile and a hug. I lay back down closing my eyes to sleep again I took a quick glance at the clock. 6:03AM. Wow, early. I was still feeling a bit tired after all.

“Sweetie, get some rest okay?” She gave me a quick peck on my cheek and left out the door.

-7 hours later-

I felt a soft vibration under my pillow. I checked to see what time it is. 1:03PM?! Geez, good thing it’s a Saturday today. I grabbed my phone and checked my message.

From: Kayke<3
To:BaBHayden
Hey, Girl! Meet me in the park by the swings. I won’t take no for an answer(; At 2:30 ok? See ya<3
xxKayla(:

I grumbled to myself. I didn’t want to go out today. But if I don’t come she will hunt me down so I might as well go. I still got the headache but not as much. Just need a little water and a bacon sandwich and it’ll be all gone*. I headed downstairs to get what I needed. Mom and Dad were at work so I was home by myself. I found a post-it on the fridge.

Hayden, don’t be out too long! Come back before dinner as always okay? Love you. See you later. Take care. (:
Daddy and Mommy x

I smiled at the Dad’s messy scribble. They were treating me like a little kid but I liked it. I grabbed some bacon, bread, lettuce, tomatoes, and mayonnaise. It’ll take about 5 minutes to get that crispy, good-smelling bacon I like. After those 5 minutes, I put the bacon on the toasted bread with the mayonnaise spread. I put the lettuce on top followed by the tomatoes. BLT is yummy. My tummy was now full and satisfied. And my headache went away! I washed my dishes and headed upstairs to take a shower.

I picked out my clothes from the closet. I got out my jean shorts, my tank top that says “To Write Love on Her Arms”, my white undershirt, and my undergarments. I grabbed them and put it near the kitchen sink. I slowly undressed and went in the shower. The water was slightly cold which made my skin shiver. After 10 minutes of showering, I quickly got dressed. I put on the locket Kayla gave me, and the bracelet Sam gave me for my birthday. I looked at the clock. 1:34AM. I had about an hour left.

I walked around thinking of what I should do for the next hour. I really need a life. I strolled to my window. Daniel’s bedroom…I observed the room before me. It was empty. Of course it is. What was I thinking? I sighed and decided I will waste my time with internet.

2:20PM. I shut down the computer, grabbed my phone and headed downstairs. I slipped into my Havianas flip flops and went out the door, locking it.

From:BaBHayden
To:Kayke<3

Kaylaaaa! I’m on my way(:
xxHayden(:

I smiled texting. She’d better not be late! We actually had two parks. Well, one for the people who didn’t know about the secret place. A text message popped on my phone.

From:Kayke<3
To:BabHayden

Okay(; Well, I’m already here. Hurry up!
xxKayla(:

I jogged lightly. The park was only a 12 minute walk really. As I approached the park, I did see Kayla. But she wasn’t alone. I saw the other brothers too but Daniel wasn’t there which was a relief.

“There she is!” Lucas yelled. All of them ran towards me. I gave each of them a hug. I turned towards Kayla.

“Kayla! You didn’t tell me they were coming!” She smiled cheekily.

“Surprise!”

“So… why are we all here?” I asked curiously. I thought it was just going to be Kayla and I hanging out but if everyone’s here, something must be up. We all went towards the swings. There were only three though. So Kayla and I, being the only girls there took two spots, and the rest of them just raced themselves. It ended up being Sam. I’m not surprised, he learned from the best, haha. The rest of them just sat on the grass.

“Well,” Kayla started, “We’ve been all kind of worried about you and Daniel.” I was a bit startled.

“What? Why? You’ve known that we barely talk these past years.” I looked at each of them. Each had a worried face, except for Ryan. He seemed distant and a bit mad.

“Daniel has been talking about you ever since your victory. It’s getting a bit annoying.” Rafe said. Of course, being the best-est friend of Daniel, he would know everything. I stared at him.

“I don’t think that’s my fault.” I reasoned.

“Pff, right. You didn’t think I saw you and Daniel hugging that night during dinner?” I heard a bunch of gasps.

“Hayden!” Conner complained, “How could you not tell us you had a moment!” I gave him a cold hard glare.

“I didn’t think it was of anyone’s business. Plus, he’s the one that pulled me into that hug. I just thanked him for showing up at dinner ‘cause none of you could make it.” I said as a matter-of-factly and looked over to Sam. “Except Sam.” I smiled. He smiled and gave me a quick hug.

They all looked guilty. Heh, that’s a way to get them out of someone’s business.

“Besides guys, it’s not like nothing’s going to change.” I supposed, “He has a bunch of friends and I’m just one person.”

“Yeah,” Ryan said darkly. “One person that’s really special.” Oof. I don’t know what to say to that. I sat there swinging a little, not knowing what to say.

“And, c’mon Hayden, I’m your bff, I can read you very well and I know what you’re feeling.” I looked at her questioningly. She smiled, stood up and gave me a heartfelt hug.

“Hey! Don’t go having a moment in front of us! We love Hayden too!” Ryan shouted protectively. Kayla let go of me and sat on the grass too.

“So,” They all said in unison, crossing their arms, staring at me. All of them were doing the exact saying thing. It was scaring me a bit and made me wonder if I’m in another dream. I scanned my group of friends.

“You kissed Daniel last night.” They all said. I blushed and turned into a dark shade of red and started flailing my hands around.

“What are you talking about?! I did not kiss Daniel.” I mimicked their actions and crossed my arms looking away.

“Are you kidding me?” Sam gave me a ‘What the hell is wrong with this person?’ look. “You guys were in the middle of the road-“ Rafe cut in.

“Making out!” I glared at him.

“I didn’t do that! I just kissed him!” I covered my mouth realizing what I just said. Ugh, so much for being in denial. Damn, they’re too good. They looked at me which a huge, smug grin in their face.

“Wipe those grins of your faces, dammit!” I blushed looking away.

“Aw, little Den-Den is so cute when she blushes.” Lucas teased.

“Shut up, Lucas!” They laughed. They just love to tease me.

“Okay, so now you know about it, so what? I was drunk. It was a mistake.” Once those words left my mouth, I felt instant regret. I’m not sure why though.