Yeaaah! We just finished recording in the studio, done with work! Dear weekend, I'm ready for you! I went home for a quick shower and to change, and then headed to a bar downtown to meet the girls.
It's been three weeks since Hailey surprised me with the whole gallery thing, and ever since then we saw each other on a regular basis. Once or twice a week, plus texting in between. I noticed that she's kind of a reserved person. I still haven't asked her a personal question, because I don't think she would be comfortable with that. I have the feeling she got hurt before, so she doesn't like getting attached to people so fast She does talk about personal things, but I don't push her to talk more. For instance, she did mention an ex boyfriend, but I didn't ask her any questions about that subject. Now that I think about the gallery thing, it seems a little odd, it doesn't seem like something she would normally do. Oh, and she rarely initiates anything. I was almost always the one who would call or text first. But she never said no to meeting up or anything either. She confuses me a bit, but I don't mind being the initiator as long as she keeps saying yes.
And on that note, she's meeting Jackie and Nina tonight. Nina's leg healed, even faster than expected, so we were going out to celebrate a bit. But just a bit, I don't want her to get wasted and end up in a hospital again on her first night out in ages. The three of us met up and ordered drinks. Hailey was late, as usual. I was a little nervous. Both Jackie and Nina are very open and direct people, especially Jackie, so I was concerned about them asking Hailey all kinds of inappropriate things... She arrived after 15 minutes, looking gorgeous! As soon as I intoduced them, compliments started flying her way.
"Wow! I love your hair!" Jackie was impressed. "And look at those eyes! Girl, you must be a heart breaker!" Nina added. Hailey immediately blushed "Thanks."
"Ellie's been talking about you a lot. And she's not easily impressed, so we insisted on meeting you! " Jackie embarrassed me. Of course. Hailey looked at me with a grin. "Oh I'm not that cool, trust me. " She joked. And from there, the conversation just flew. They talked about what everyone is doing for a living, they told her the story about Ninas leg.... We all had a good time and it felt like Hailey was a part of the group since forever. Jackie bought us shots, even though I insisted we shouldn't get Nina hammered again, but she swore she wasn't drunk at all. We started to dance and joke around. We were all standing in a circle, and at some point during a song, we all hugged. After the song was over, we all let go of each other, except for Hailey and me. We were just standing there, side by side, my hand on her back, her hand on my waist, still kinda dancing. Nina was on my other side, so I put my other hand on her back, so it wouldn't be weird. Maybe Hailey didn't notice we weren't all hugging anymore, so I didn't wanna embarrass her. I was very aware of her hand. It radiated heat... I don't know... I was just aware of it.
After a little while, I reached for my drink and at that very moment she abruptly removed her hand. It was strange... As is she was scared I would let go of her first. I don't know... Half an hour later we agreed we should go home. We didn't want to push Nina, she should get some rest. It felt good to be responsible for once.
I went to bed and thought about everything. I was happy that Hailey was getting along with my friends, that they liked her so much. The thought of all of us hanging out together in the future made me smile. It doesn't happen that often that you make a friend like Hailey, I should be happy about that, right?
Saturday was filled with running errands, as always. I got home around 7 PM and couldn't stand the tought of going anywhere. Nina and Jackie were going to the movies, so I called Hailey to come over to my place. I opened a bottle of wine and put out some snacks. It was such a relaxed evening, just the two of us, talking. Well, she talked most of the time and I enjoyed listening. She told me a few personal stories, mostly about friends and family. She did have a few crappy friends who didn't treat her right. It helped me realize how important it is that I don't screw it up with her. I didn't want to be yet another one person on the list of people who hurt her.
