Truce

Seven // Please and Thank You

Seven// Please and Thank You

Kaia

Sunday mornings were a time to remain in the wonderful land of the unconscious, something I did religiously until now. I could feel the sun streaming in through the window, the fan at the end of my bed since the start of Summer keeping me cool. It took me a few minutes to figure out why my alarm clock was going off at 11:30am. I had to go to Hayden's.

I glanced at the napkin he had given me Friday night with his address and squeezed my eyes closed. When he and Landon explained that Jacob needed help, my first instinct was to laugh in his face and skip off into the sunset. But then my reasonable side took over and agreed to find out what he needed help with.

My sister saw this as an excellent opportunity, her first words after we got into the car being "You should date Jacob. You help him and he helps you. An eye for an eye."

The thought made me want to be sick. The only plus side I could see to it was that he wouldn't start liking me. Not that I thought I was a desirable person, but spending a lot of time together seems to have people like each other. It was pretty damn clear that wasn't going to happen.

I padded across to my window in my sweats and crop, sitting on the sill and soaking up the sun that filtered in through my window. I unlocked the hatch and pushed open my window, letting one leg dangle on the outside of the house. The air was so fresh, with the smell of cut grass filling my nose.

I don't know how long I stayed there, listening to the sounds of Sunday, as quiet as if it were six o'clock in the morning. Peaceful was the only fitting description.

Parker came and got me some time after midday, breaking me out of my relaxation and rushed me to get ready. Apparently I didn't have much time. I showered and let my thick hair run straight down my back. I threw on a pair of high-waisted shorts and a white singlet, lacing up my black connies as I made my way to the door.

Parker was thankfully organized and had gotten the napkin of Hayden's address from my bedside table and had me put it into the GPS. It took ten minutes to get there, and five minutes of her convincing me to get out of the car.

Hayden lived on the richest side of the town with the biggest house in the neighbourhood. I'd pin this all on the fact that his mother was Mayor Porter. It made sense.

The idea of standing on the mayor's front porch while my sister rang the doorbell felt wrong, but the idea of standing on Hayden Porter's porch about to hear a proposal to help a guy I didn't like felt even more so.

The door opened and out stepped Hayden, his blonde hair with so much gel in it that if I touched it, it wouldn't move an inch. He had a wide and quite frankly, scary, grin stretching across his lips as he stepped aside.

"Nice to see you decided to show up."

Parker chuckled, the door closing behind us as we stepped in. "It took some effort to get her here. Sorry that we're late."

"It's not a problem."

While this exchange continued I stood in awe. The front door opened up to a long staircase going down in front of us, two going up either side of the door. It was eerily similar to the Von Trapp family's house in The Sound Of Music, just slightly scaled down with no view of a lake out the windows.

I was used to expensive houses having lived in one all my life, but never had I been somewhere so grand. I felt like I should have taken my shoes off to keep from dirtying the place but also that it would be inappropriate to walk around here in my odd, multicoloured socks.