The Five Dimensions Part 1: Shadow World

Chapter 10

Hailey and Nolan were walking out of the movie theatre, laughing loudly.

"That," Nolan stopped for dramatic effect, "was the worst movie I have seen in my entire existence."

"I couldn't agree more," Hailey chuckled. "I feel bad about spending money on the tickets."

"Well, it was my money, which I got from my mom, anyways," Nolan interjected. They stopped to look right and left before crossing the road.

"I won't have to feel at all then," Hailey said, somewhat jokingly, but still a bit serious. Nolan rolled his eyes. Hailey and his mother did not get along and Nolan didn't blame Hailey because his mother could be quite mean to her. Still, he didn't chip in with additional snide remarks. Even if they didn't always get along either. Which Hailey in turn understood, she was still his mother.

Hailey automatically turned to walk towards where Nolan had parked his car, but he pulled at her arm to stop her. She gave him a severe look and slowly removed his hand from her arm.

"Right, right, no touching." He put up his hands as a sign of surrender. "I am fully aware that you'll break my nose if I do that again, and all that."

"And you know it," Hailey replied with an attempted serious tone, but with Nolan she couldn't keep her smile completely contained. As long as he remembered that she liked her personal space.

"Right. I was going to say that we could hang around the park for a bit. Mom isn't expecting me home until after the movie."

That was like music to Hailey's ears. They'd sneaked out of the movie before it was halfway over, so they had a bit of time left. She immediately agreed and they took off in the other direction.

"Isn't your sister home from Boston?" Hailey asked. Nolan's oldest sister Anna went to Harvard medical school, but she had a little time off apparently.

"Yeah, that's why it's so crazy right now," he sighed. "Every minute out of that house is a relief."

Nolan had two more sisters, one older, the other younger than him. Ella was eighteen and also in her senior year. It was one of the biggest scandals of the Coleman family that Ella had to redo her sophomore year. If only they knew about all the other stuff that Ella got up to. Then there was Lacey, who was only eleven, but already way too smart for her own good. Hailey liked Nolan's sisters. She wasn't sure how it was possible that Mrs. Coleman had managed to get four really decent children. But she was grateful for them all the same. They were like family to her, and she didn't have much of that of her own.

"You know, I get this feeling like something's up with Anna. She's all on edge. But she won't talk to me about it," Nolan said thoughtfully. Hailey frowned, Nolan wasn't always that good at noticing things like that, but if he had, then something must be wrong.

"I could try talking to her when we're at your house," Hailey offered.

"Thanks, but she'll talk when she's ready." Nolan shook his head like he was actively trying to shake the worry from his head.

They reached the park and to their surprise there was something of a small concert going on. There was a stage with a band and everything. Hailey pulled Nolan closer to the stage. Taped to the stage were home-made flyers with the logo of the band.

"'Between Duties,' pretty cool name," Hailey read from the flyer. Nolan was quietly nodding to the music. Without him noticing, his fingers were moving like he was plucking strings.

Nolan loved to play guitar and he had been doing so for years. Except he had to do it in secret because his mother didn't agree. She thought it distracted him from his schoolwork. Nolan used to hide his guitar around his house, but after his mother's attempt to sell it a few years back, he had started hiding it at Hailey's place. She was always pushing him to get more into the music, like he clearly wanted to.

Then she spotted something at the bottom of the flyer. It said they were looking for a new guitarist. Well, that was just perfect.

"Look, Nolan!" She pointed it out. "You should sign up."

"Aw, Hail, I don't know," he started hesitantly.

"Come on, they're kinda good, right?" Hailey thought the song they were playing was – she gave herself a moment to actually listen – enjoyable. Probably not good enough to get famous or anything, but it was fun to listen to at least.

"You know it's not that easy." Nolan cast his eyes down. His hands weren't moving anymore, and Hailey felt a bit guilty for ruining his good mood, so she stopped nagging him about it. She did enough of that on a regular basis. But she still thought that he was making a mistake by not investing more time into something he liked so much.

She looked around her for something else to talk about, maybe get Nolan back into a good mood. The weather was pretty nice for the time of year and scattered around the park were couples sitting on blankets, having romantic picnics.

"You should take Taliyah here sometime," Hailey suggested. Taliyah and Nolan both very clearly liked each other, but neither had the courage to ask the other out. Hailey didn't like to meddle too much, but it was taking so long she thought they needed a little push in the right direction.

"I guess, if she likes this kind of thing." Nolan tried to sound offhand, but his blush gave him away. He started fidgeting, playing with his watch. Then Hailey saw the time.

"Oh, Nolan, we should get going," she said with a sudden sense of hurry. He looked at his watch and his eyes grew. They took off to his car right away.