Status: Updates at least once a week.
Still So Free
4
“Mom! Are you home!?” I said as I walked into the dark house. It was dinner time and after my last connecting flight, I was ready to crash.
“Welcome Home!” Suddenly my sister, brother, dad, and mom popped up from behind the kitchen counter.
“Oh gosh! Hi! I’ve missed you all so much!” I said in surprise of what had just happened.
“And we’ve missed you too!” Yelled my beautiful little sister, Sarah. She was a senior and high school and one of the coolest people I’d ever known. We had almost the exact same taste in music and she was one of the only people that knew everything about what had happened 4 years ago.
“What’s up little sis?” said my older brother, Chris. He was the golden child, I mean straight A student and quarter back of the high school football with a full scholarship to The University of Arizona. You would expect me to be upset about that but it took a load off of me as I went through everything after him. My parents already had their one perfect child and I never felt the need to live up to that, not that I could have anyway.
“Not much Chris, but I can’t wait to might your new family! There’s so much to catch up on!”
“You betcha,” my dad said as he came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder giving me a light squeeze.
“Oh, Hayley, I’ve missed you so much.” My mom said as she put her hands on my cheeks and kissed me on my forehead before wrapping me in a hug.
It was a lot to handle. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be home waiting for me except Sarah. I felt bad for how I’d left her to handle high school on her own but she was stronger than me and I knew I had to get away.
“Would you guys mind if I got a shower and came back down later? It’s been a rough day.” I said truthfully. All I wanted to do was get out of my bra.
“Oh no, sweetie. You take your time. We’ll all be here when you get cleaned up.” My mom said quickly.
“Alright, I’ll be quick. Thanks for being here guys.”
***
“Uhhhgggg,” I groaned as the sun came shining through my window. I forgot how bright it was here. We were up until almost 10 last night talking about whatever had happened over the last 4 years. Needless to say we still didn’t even get close to talking about everything, but Chris had to get back to Jamie, his wife, and their little girl Anna.
Today all I had to do was to try and find an apartment. As nice as my old bedroom felt, I didn’t want to spend every night with my parents. I am 23. I finally pulled myself out of bed, brushed my hair, and put on an old All American Rejects shirt I had with some jeans and my black converse.
“Good morning Hayley!” My mom almost sung as I walked into the kitchen to a full plate of pancakes and bacon.
“That looks delicious mom.” I said as the smell wafted over me. One of the things I missed most was my mom’s cooking.
“Well good, because what’s left is all for you, we all already had our shares.”
“Are you doing anything today mom?”
“Nope I made sure I had everything done before you came so we could spend some time together. Did you want to do anything?”
“Yeah. I wanted to start looking for apartments.”
“So soon? You just got here!”
“I know, I know, but I just want to get started with my life and I can’t necessarily do that if I’m still living with my parents. I have enough saved up to pay two months’ rent on my own but I think I’ll have job by then anyway.”
“Of course you will Hayley. You’re young, smart, and fresh out of college. You could be any editor’s dream!”
And with that, we left. We looked at about 4 different apartment complexes. The third one being my favorite and the one I wanted to apply for. My mom agreed saying it was a good area, close enough to the city but far enough from downtown. It was an all hardwood floor apartment, a small kitchen and living quarters with an open floor plan leading to two small bedrooms. It had a comfortable feeling and the landlord said that it was mostly young people who lived in the building.
On the way home, we swung back around to the apartments I liked to grab an application in the office. I jumped out of the car as my mom left the car running in the parking lot as I just had to make a quick stop. I walked with my head down not looking ahead as I suddenly got hit in the face with a Frisbee.
“Ow!” I openly yelled.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, are you okay?” I heard a young man say behind, the voice sounding slightly familiar but not recent.
“John? John O’Callaghan, is that you?” I said quickly realizing who it was.
“Hayley! What are you doing here? I mean, are you okay?” He said just as shocked as I was.
“Yeah I’m fine. I was just walking to grab an application and wasn’t looking where I was going. What are you doing here?”
“John! John! Who are you talking to?” I heard a young female voice call out behind me.
“Just an old friend. Come over here,” John said waving her over, “Josie, this is Hayley. Hayley meet Josie.”
“Hi, I’m Hayley,” I said as I held out my hand.
“I’m Josie, John’s girlfriend.” she said with a smile. I took my hand back awkwardly realizing she wasn’t going to shake it.
“Nice to meet you, so John what are you doing here?” I said pointedly at John.
“What are you talking about? He lives here, silly!” Josie said as if I had asked her, which I clearly had not.
“Yeah, I do, it’s such small world.” John said gazing at me with a slight grin.
“How do you two know each other?” Josie asked.
“During my last tour in England, I met Hayley at a club with the boys and we spent the next day following her around as she showed us all the best places in town.”
“Oh wow. Why are you here then?” Josie turned her attention to me.
“I had just gone to college in London. I’m originally from here and now I’m back.”
“We might as well let you get back to whatever the heck you were doing.” Josie said tightly.
“Um, yeah, I guess. I guess I’ll see you around, John, if my application gets approved.”
“I’m sure it will,” said John, “The management is really chill around here. Here give me your phone.” I handed my phone over to John and he typed something quickly into it.
“Here you go. Now when you move in you can invite us over for a welcome party.” John said confidently.
“Who’s ‘us?’ And what makes you think I’m going to invite you.”
“Jared, Kennedy and I all live together. And Garrett and Pat live together across the hall. You remember them all don’t you?”
“Of course I do. How could I forget?”
“You couldn’t, which is why you’re going to invite us.”
“Alright well I’ve got to, my mom’s waiting in the parking lot but it was really nice seeing you and meeting you, Josie.”
“Likewise,” John smiled back and Josie didn’t reply.
I finally made my way to the office and back to the car.
“Oh what took you so long? I was starting to get worried.” My mom said creasing her forehead.
“I just saw an old friend.” I smiled back realizing seeing John again wasn’t just another coincidence.
“Welcome Home!” Suddenly my sister, brother, dad, and mom popped up from behind the kitchen counter.
“Oh gosh! Hi! I’ve missed you all so much!” I said in surprise of what had just happened.
“And we’ve missed you too!” Yelled my beautiful little sister, Sarah. She was a senior and high school and one of the coolest people I’d ever known. We had almost the exact same taste in music and she was one of the only people that knew everything about what had happened 4 years ago.
“What’s up little sis?” said my older brother, Chris. He was the golden child, I mean straight A student and quarter back of the high school football with a full scholarship to The University of Arizona. You would expect me to be upset about that but it took a load off of me as I went through everything after him. My parents already had their one perfect child and I never felt the need to live up to that, not that I could have anyway.
“Not much Chris, but I can’t wait to might your new family! There’s so much to catch up on!”
“You betcha,” my dad said as he came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder giving me a light squeeze.
“Oh, Hayley, I’ve missed you so much.” My mom said as she put her hands on my cheeks and kissed me on my forehead before wrapping me in a hug.
It was a lot to handle. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be home waiting for me except Sarah. I felt bad for how I’d left her to handle high school on her own but she was stronger than me and I knew I had to get away.
“Would you guys mind if I got a shower and came back down later? It’s been a rough day.” I said truthfully. All I wanted to do was get out of my bra.
“Oh no, sweetie. You take your time. We’ll all be here when you get cleaned up.” My mom said quickly.
“Alright, I’ll be quick. Thanks for being here guys.”
***
“Uhhhgggg,” I groaned as the sun came shining through my window. I forgot how bright it was here. We were up until almost 10 last night talking about whatever had happened over the last 4 years. Needless to say we still didn’t even get close to talking about everything, but Chris had to get back to Jamie, his wife, and their little girl Anna.
Today all I had to do was to try and find an apartment. As nice as my old bedroom felt, I didn’t want to spend every night with my parents. I am 23. I finally pulled myself out of bed, brushed my hair, and put on an old All American Rejects shirt I had with some jeans and my black converse.
“Good morning Hayley!” My mom almost sung as I walked into the kitchen to a full plate of pancakes and bacon.
“That looks delicious mom.” I said as the smell wafted over me. One of the things I missed most was my mom’s cooking.
“Well good, because what’s left is all for you, we all already had our shares.”
“Are you doing anything today mom?”
“Nope I made sure I had everything done before you came so we could spend some time together. Did you want to do anything?”
“Yeah. I wanted to start looking for apartments.”
“So soon? You just got here!”
“I know, I know, but I just want to get started with my life and I can’t necessarily do that if I’m still living with my parents. I have enough saved up to pay two months’ rent on my own but I think I’ll have job by then anyway.”
“Of course you will Hayley. You’re young, smart, and fresh out of college. You could be any editor’s dream!”
And with that, we left. We looked at about 4 different apartment complexes. The third one being my favorite and the one I wanted to apply for. My mom agreed saying it was a good area, close enough to the city but far enough from downtown. It was an all hardwood floor apartment, a small kitchen and living quarters with an open floor plan leading to two small bedrooms. It had a comfortable feeling and the landlord said that it was mostly young people who lived in the building.
On the way home, we swung back around to the apartments I liked to grab an application in the office. I jumped out of the car as my mom left the car running in the parking lot as I just had to make a quick stop. I walked with my head down not looking ahead as I suddenly got hit in the face with a Frisbee.
“Ow!” I openly yelled.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, are you okay?” I heard a young man say behind, the voice sounding slightly familiar but not recent.
“John? John O’Callaghan, is that you?” I said quickly realizing who it was.
“Hayley! What are you doing here? I mean, are you okay?” He said just as shocked as I was.
“Yeah I’m fine. I was just walking to grab an application and wasn’t looking where I was going. What are you doing here?”
“John! John! Who are you talking to?” I heard a young female voice call out behind me.
“Just an old friend. Come over here,” John said waving her over, “Josie, this is Hayley. Hayley meet Josie.”
“Hi, I’m Hayley,” I said as I held out my hand.
“I’m Josie, John’s girlfriend.” she said with a smile. I took my hand back awkwardly realizing she wasn’t going to shake it.
“Nice to meet you, so John what are you doing here?” I said pointedly at John.
“What are you talking about? He lives here, silly!” Josie said as if I had asked her, which I clearly had not.
“Yeah, I do, it’s such small world.” John said gazing at me with a slight grin.
“How do you two know each other?” Josie asked.
“During my last tour in England, I met Hayley at a club with the boys and we spent the next day following her around as she showed us all the best places in town.”
“Oh wow. Why are you here then?” Josie turned her attention to me.
“I had just gone to college in London. I’m originally from here and now I’m back.”
“We might as well let you get back to whatever the heck you were doing.” Josie said tightly.
“Um, yeah, I guess. I guess I’ll see you around, John, if my application gets approved.”
“I’m sure it will,” said John, “The management is really chill around here. Here give me your phone.” I handed my phone over to John and he typed something quickly into it.
“Here you go. Now when you move in you can invite us over for a welcome party.” John said confidently.
“Who’s ‘us?’ And what makes you think I’m going to invite you.”
“Jared, Kennedy and I all live together. And Garrett and Pat live together across the hall. You remember them all don’t you?”
“Of course I do. How could I forget?”
“You couldn’t, which is why you’re going to invite us.”
“Alright well I’ve got to, my mom’s waiting in the parking lot but it was really nice seeing you and meeting you, Josie.”
“Likewise,” John smiled back and Josie didn’t reply.
I finally made my way to the office and back to the car.
“Oh what took you so long? I was starting to get worried.” My mom said creasing her forehead.
“I just saw an old friend.” I smiled back realizing seeing John again wasn’t just another coincidence.
♠ ♠ ♠
Another update, whoop whoop. What do you guys think about Josie? How do you think Hayley feels about John?Thanks to a-book-of-you-and-me for commenting and to mrReckl3ss for the recommendation! You guys keep me going!