A few minutes later, I called Hailey. "Hey…uh, is it possible at all for you to come over to my house?" I asked, and I was rubbing the back of my head as I did so. "I'm sorry that this is so sudden and out of the blue…"
"No, no, it's okay," she said. "I didn't really have many plans today anyways, so this is perfect!"
I sighed in relief. "That's good," I said. "Well, I live on Greenwood Avenue, and the third house on the right is mine. It should have a blue Honda Civic parked in the driveway."
She told me that she would be right over, and the call ended. I put away my phone and walked into the kitchen again, where Ashley was. "So…I have a friend who's going to be coming over, and it's not Dick," I said, and I sat down.
"Who is it?" she asked, curiosity in her voice.
"Well…it's a girl. Her name is Hailey." Her expression was hard to read, but for some reason, it was almost the exact same as when I was at the movie theater. She looked…jealous. "She…well, she helped me when I was feeling my worst. I…I don't know what I could have done without her." I looked away for a second, then I looked back at Ashley. "Is everything okay, Ashley?"
"Yeah," she said, smiling. "Everything's fine." From the look in her eyes, it was clear that everything was not fine, but I decided not to press it. "She'll be here in a second, okay? I'll be right back. I'm going to the bathroom." I turned and walked away, heading to the bathroom, and as soon as I was out of sight of Ashley, I ran to my room as quietly as possible and called Dick. "Dick, I need your help," I said as soon as he picked up. "You know how girls act and everything, right?"
"Yeah…I mean, a little bit, I guess," he said, and he yawned.
"Dude, did you just wake up?" I asked, surprised at this fact.
"What? It's the weekend," he said, and it sounded like he was stretching. "I get to sleep in."
"I thought you had like, things to do today," I said, completely confuzzled. "Aren't you in a million different sports, or something?"
"No?" he said, and he made a grunting noise as if he had just sat up in bed. "Besides, it's the end of the year. There are no more sports, so even if I was in them, they're all over. And I don't do any clubs outside of school and stuff like that. Anyways, you're getting off track. The thing about knowing girls?"
"Right," I said, and I quickly told him everything that had happened in the past few days, including me telling Ashley about the two of us being soulmates and how she had cared for me when I was unconscious and everything. By the time I was finished, he was wide awake. He let out a whistle. "Man, you've been through a lot, my guy. Congratulations on telling her. Also, yeah. She's definitely jealous."
"What? Why, though?" I asked, still very much confused.
"Well…think about it like this, okay?" he said. "If you two are soulmates, then it is still possible for you two to fall in love with one another, right?"
"Yeah," I said slowly. I still couldn't get the feeling of what I had felt earlier out of my system, and I hated that he was talking about this.
"And you've already fallen in love with her, right?"
"...Yeah" I still couldn't help but blush a little bit. I shook my head to get rid of it, but I could still feel a fluttery feeling in my chest.
"Well…then I'm pretty sure that she's already fallen in love with you," Dick said. "I think that she's just not sure about how to tell you that she does. And the fact that you're bringing over a girl is probably making her a little bit jealous, and she doesn't want you to be "taken" by another girl."
"Yeah, and unfortunately, I'm in the same boat, minus the being taken part" I said, and I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "This is going to be a great summer."
"Well, you've got this," he said. "Just…wait for the right moment to tell her."
"Great," I said. "Well, I've got to go. Ashley's probably wondering what I'm doing."
"Alright man, see you next week," Dick said. "I think I'm going to go back to sleep."
"Alright," I said. "See ya." I ended the call and went to the bathroom, flushed the toilet, washed my hands, and walked back into the kitchen again. Ashley was sitting there with her arms crossed over her chest. Well, this isn't good, I thought to myself. "Hey, uh…you are okay, right?"
"I'm fine," she said. Her eyes were telling a completely different story. I had no idea that she could be like this.
Thanks to my extensive knowledge of watching a lot of romance movies, TV shows, anime, and more (including Dick's knowledge of girls), she was most definitely not fine. I didn't know how to fix it at all, though, and this was what made me a little bit frustrated. This was no good at all.
Just as I was about to say something, the doorbell rang. Inside of my head, two thoughts immediately came: one was, I'm saved! The other was, Why now? "Sorry, I'll go get the door," I said, and I walked to the front door and opened it. There stood Hailey, in the same outfit that she was wearing at the McDonalds when I first met her. She looked a little bit cleaner than she did before, though I probably shouldn't say that straight to her face. "Hey," she said, smiling at me.
"Hey," I said, and I stepped aside to let her in. "Come on in."
She walked in, and I said, "You don't have to take off your shoes. Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
"Just some water," she said, and she rolled up the sleeves of her hoody as she walked in. I guess she was a little bit hot, but not hot enough to take off the hoodie. The air conditioning helped, I guess. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Well…I told the person who's my soulmate that we're soulmates," I said, and as soon as I had finished talking, she turned to me, her eyes full of questions and excitement. She walked over to me and got right into my face and started to ask questions.
"Are they here?" she asked eagerly, her voice also full of excitement. "What do they look like? What's their name? Are they here right now? If so, can I do a few experiments? Ah, this is so exciting! I rarely get opportunities like this!"
"First," I said, and I pushed her away from me slightly. I guess I still wasn't used to people up in my face. "Her name is Ashley, and you'll see. Second, yes, she's here. Third, that'll be up to her, not me. Now follow me." I turned and walked into the kitchen, her right behind me. "Ashley," I said, and she turned to look at me. "She's here. Meet Hailey Portman."
For a moment, the two of them looked at each other. All of a sudden, the mood of the room had completely shifted from comfortable to tense. It was eerily silent, and for a moment, I was wondering if I should say something when Hailey said, "It's nice to meet you, Ashley." She took a few steps toward her and offered her hand to her. For a moment, Ashley looked at it, as if she were contemplating whether to shake it or not. I was about to say something when she said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hailey." She shook her hand, and I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. After that, there was silence once again.
"So…" I said, breaking the silence in an attempt to lower the tension. I got two glasses from a cabinet and then got some water into them. "Do you want ice in your water or not?"
"No, thanks," both girls said at once, then they both looked at each other as if they didn't think the other one was going to speak first. They both sat down at the table, seemingly glaring at each other. I couldn't help but think that things were going very, very wrong, and I walked over to the two of them with the glasses of water in my hands. I handed them to both, and they both said, "Thank you," before taking a sip. Once they had done that, I sat down at the table. "So…Hailey is here to help us why we're soulmates. She's…she's an expert on this kind of stuff, so…"
Ashley's face went through a flurry of emotions all at once, and it was then that I remembered that she didn't really believe in theories…and I think that this might not have been a good idea. "Look, this will be really, really quick," I said quickly, trying to make sure that things don't go to shit. "Nothing bad is gonna happen, right?" I looked at Hailey with a message in my eyes: Please don't say anything stupid.
Unfortunately, she did not see me at all, and she said, "Well…I don't know. This kind of case is very, very rare, and I've only met a few people who are like you too." Immediately after those words had left her mouth, Ashley stood up and faced her. "How much knowledge do you really have about soulmates, Miss Portman?" she asked, her voice unusually firm and strong. "Oh, fuck," I muttered. "This is not good."
Hailey looked at her, a bit of surprise in her face, and she said, "I know a lot. Why do you say that?"
"Well…it seems that you don't really know a lot about this…link that Chris and I have," she said, her arms crossed across her chest. "I thought that maybe you would know about this."
Hailey sighed. "Well, this kind of situation is very rare. I know a lot about general soulmates, the ones who feel a deeper connection to their counterpart than other people. This is probably the deepest connection that I've seen in all of my years studying the subject. And I've met many people who are soulmates."
"Really?" Ashley's stance weakened a little bit, as if she wasn't expecting that answer. "I…I didn't know that. I'm…I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Hailey said. "Not many people know that this kind of thing is rare because they think it's common. At least, the people who have the same thing as you think that, and there were only eight people who have the same thing as you. That this kind of thing is common."
Ashley seemed to lose all of her composure after that. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "It's just…this is a subject that I'm very sensitive to. So…I tend to get defensive about this kind of stuff."
"It's alright," Hailey said, and she walked over to Ashley and put a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, her expression shifted, and she took her hand off of Ashley's shoulder quickly, stepping away and kind of shaking. "What's wrong?" Ashley asked her, concern written all over her face.
Hailey looked at me, her eyes full of tears, and I remembered that she was able to sense deep emotional pain. I immediately understood what she was telling me with her eyes. "I, uh…I need to go to the bathroom," Hailey stuttered out, and she turned and walked out of the room. "I'll be right back," I said to Ashley. "Got to make sure that she's okay." She nodded, and I turned and walked to the entryway, too. When I reached her, I saw that she was shaking, and she seemed like she was on the verge of sobbing. "Are you alright?" I asked her quietly.
She shook her head, and I realized that she was struggling to hold in her tears. "She's…she's going through something so painful and scarring that…' She started to shake uncontrollably as she kept talking. "I…some of her pain…it transferred over to me." She started to sob quietly, and I…well, I didn't exactly know what to do. So I awkwardly hugged her, and she started to cry into my chest, and I didn't say anything. After a few moments, she sniffled, rubbed her eyes, and said, "She's holding in so much pain…how is…how is she able to-?"
"I don't know," I said, and I let go of her. I looked her in the eyes. Hope I don't mess this up, I thought to myself. "But I do know that she is one of the most amazing people that I have ever met in my entire life, and I don't know if I'll ever meet someone like her again. She's…" I took in a deep breath. "She's the one who probably knows me the best outside of my mom and Dick." I barely stopped the tears from coming, because I still…I still needed to help her somehow.
Hailey tilted her head. "Who is Dick?" she asked, questions in her eyes.
"Oh, he's my best friend. Outside of Ashley, of course," I said.
She smiled at me and said, "You have some really good friends. And the thing that you said about Ashley earlier? It sounded like a confession to me."
Immediately, I felt my face heat up, and I started stuttering. "No-I'm not-it's not-"
Hailey laughed, and I said, "Don't laugh at me." I covered my face in embarrassment. But at the same time, I couldn't help but laugh at myself. What exactly was I worried about?
That I would get rejected. That she wouldn't love me back. That things wouldn't be the same afterwards.
Yeah. Nothing to be worried about.
We both walked back in, and Hailey smiled at Ashley. "Sorry about that," she said. "I don't know what happened."
"Oh, it's okay," Ashley said, a small smile on her face. "I just…I just want to apologize again for earlier…that wasn't nice of me to do. Can we…can we get into what you're going to do?"
"Of course," Hailey said brightly. "Later, we can talk more about soulmates, if you like."
Ashley nodded excitedly. This was the first time that I had seen her so enthusiastic about something. "Well, then," I said. "Let's get started."
A few hours later, Ashley and Hailey were deep in conversation about soulmates and I was calling Dick. "So, uh…things are all better now," I said, and there was absolute relief in my voice.
"Good for you, man," he said, and he sounded proud. "But…why are you back calling me again?"
"Well…Hailey and Ashley are both talking to each other right now and I'm completely left out," I said. "Come over, man, and we can all hang out."
"I don't know, man," he said. "I kind of had things planned for today."
"Dude, for once in your life, don't rely on plans," I said. "You've got to learn how to live a little."
For a moment, there was a bit of silence. Finally, he said, "Alright, I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. You already know that I live far away, so this is the best that I can do."
"Alright, see you here," I said, and I hung up. I couldn't help but feel like I was on a winning streak. I looked at the clock. It was past noon, and I was pretty sure that the two were probably getting hungry. So I walked over to the two and said, "Sorry to interrupt, but do you guys want to eat anything?"
They both looked up at me. "Uh, well, I'm fine with anything," Hailey said.
Ashley nodded, and I took that as she was okay with anything, too. "Alright then. I guess I'll order pizza." Immediately, the two of them were over me asking what kind of toppings I would get, if the pizza would be large or extra large, or if I would be paying for all of it. I was a bit overwhelmed, and I said, "Look, I'll just order a combo pizza and an all meats pizza, both of them large. And yes, I'll be paying for it."
They both looked at each other, then they nodded, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Jeez…" I muttered to myself as soon as I was out of sight. "That was…horrible." I called the nearest pizza place and placed the order.
About fifteen minutes later, I heard the doorbell ring. "I got it," I said, and I stood up and walked over to the door. I looked through the peephole and saw the pizza guy. I opened the door, and he said, "Your total is…" He looked at the receipt. "$29.18. You going to be paying with cash or card?"
"I have cash," I said, and I took out my wallet and gave him a twenty, a five, and a ten. "You can keep the change," I said, and he pocketed the money and gave me the pizza boxes. I thanked him, then I turned around and went back inside. I set down the pizza on the kitchen table and said, "Pizza's here!" I went into the pantry and took out some paper plates and a liter of soda and set them down on the counter for them to use. "Hurry up, or the pizza will get cold!" I called, and I turned and went to wash my hands. As soon as I finished, the doorbell rang again. I walked over to the door again, once more saying, "I got it." I opened up the door, and there was Dick…but there was somebody else with him, too.
It was a man. A big, tall, bearded man. Brown hair everywhere, but there were highlights of gray in it. His eyes…they seemed to look deep into my soul and see what I was really like. I managed to force myself away from looking at his eyes, but it was still pretty jarring, and I could still feel his gaze on me. I tried to focus on everything else about him. He was tall, that's for sure, because he towered over me, and I was almost six feet tall. He had on a long, brown overcoat, a pair of faded blue jeans, and a pair of boots. And…wait, was that a Winchester lever-action shotgun that he had slung over his back? Everything about this man screamed, "He might kill you if you look at him wrong!"
"Um…" My voice sounded a lot smaller than it normally did, and I had to swallow and clear my throat in order to speak at normal volume again. "Hello."
"Hello," the man said, and I could hear an accent in his voice. He was most definitely Southern, or at least had a Southern accent. If he actually came from the South, I had no idea.
"Hey," Dick said. He seemed to be…very, very upset. I knew him a bit better than anyone else, and he had this…sort of angry body language that I've only seen him have before once or twice. That meant that he was really, really angry and was trying his best to hide it. "Sorry that I'm a bit late, but I had to deal with…some business."
I felt like I should keep quiet on this, so I said, "Well…come on in." I stepped aside to let them in, and Dick walked in. I looked at the man, and he seemed to sigh inwardly before stepping inside, and Dick didn't seem to like that one bit, but he didn't say anything. He didn't take off his overcoat, and the shotgun stayed firmly on his back. Hailey and Ashley looked up at us as we walked into the kitchen. All of a sudden, though, Hailey stood up quickly, a burning look in her eyes. "You!" she said, pointing to the man. I turned to look at him, and his eyes seemed to say, Oh, boy. Here we go. I looked at Dick, and he was looking at Hailey, and his eyes seemed to be asking, You know this guy?
The man spoke. "Hailey. It's very good to see you." His voice seemed to fill the entire room. Not because it was booming, but more because it was…authoritative. He could probably command an army or militia if he wanted to.
"Woah, hold on a second," I said, holding up my hands. "Who are you, and what is your relationship to Dick and Hailey?"
Everyone was looking at the big man, and he sighed. "Suppose I finally introduce myself," he said, and he straightened out his coat. "My name is Johnny Radical. And I'm their father."