Falling For Hadley

Chapter 12

DYLAN'S POV

"Dylan! Get down here!" My Mom shouts from the bottom of the stairs. 

"Coming!" I shout in return as I get up from my desk and walk out of my room. I stride down the hall towards the stairs. I stop at the top of the stairs when I see our family party planner. My Mom grins wide at the sight of me and I smile suspiciously in return.

"We're going to throw a party and I want you to invite some of your new rich friends you were talking about last night," My Mother chirps and I gulp. Oops. So, I may have lied to my Mom about the social class of the people I've met. And I may have told her that Hadley's family is wealthy. Not that she would come if I invited her. It had been almost a week of silence between the two of us since our fight. And there was some part of me that was aching to see her.

"Okay, Mom. How many people am I limited to?" I ask her and she waves off my comment nonchalantly. 

"As many as you'd like," My Mother's voice gets sweet and she giggles with excitement. I could tell that she meant for me to invite a lot of friends. But I didn't have a lot of friends from this town. I had Hadley and her brothers. But Hadley wasn't speaking to me, so they were all off the table. 

"Okay, Mom. I will get right to inviting all of my friends," I lie. 

"Well, you better hurry. The party is going to be tomorrow. And it's a barbecue!" she squeals excitedly. Parties were my Mom's favorite part of being rich. She was known for throwing the best parties in the city back in New York. But this was a small town, they didn't like big classy events where you had to dress super nice and eat super nice food.

"Mom, what if I organized the party?" I suddenly blurt the question and I instantly regret it. 

"Oh! That's a fantastic idea! You need to practice for when you're older," My Mom shouts joyously and she pushes the party planner out the door. 

"I'll keep it on the same night. But you guys can't help. I'm going to make the theme and everything a surprise," I state, beginning to think about if I could actually do a smaller party that wasn't so fancy. Maybe I could convince Hadley to help me. I just had to get her to talk to me. 

"Where are you going?" My Mom asks me as I head for the patio door that leads out to the beach. 

"To find a friend who can help me," I answer, shoving open the door and pulling it shut behind me. I dash down the patio steps and onto the warm summer sand. It felt heavenly on my feet as I ran. I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Hadley's number.

"Come on Hadley. Please pick up" I whisper into the phone as it goes straight to voicemail. I dash down the beach, headed in the direction that I thought her house was. I run and run until I was sure I was lost. I stopped, suddenly feeling out of air. Thoughts of Hadley fill my mind and I was suddenly gasping. I drop down onto my knees and finally get some air into me. And just like she was reading my mind, I spotted her sitting alone on the shore about 15 feet from me. She was in shorts and a blue tank top, twisting her fingers along in the sand. 

"Hadley!" I shout, stumbling up from collapsing and she gets up as well, except she turns away from me and faces the ocean. "Hadley!" I repeat. I race over to her side and she takes a step farther away from me.

"Got another cryptic message to give me?" she asks harshly and I cringe. I deserved that one and all the pain that came with it.

"How is it possible that in just a week, I feel like a new person when I'm with you?" I suddenly blurt the question and hold my tongue as she whips around to face me. Her green eyes sparked with fear and something I didn't recognize.

"How is it possible that I'm more confused than ever about you and it's only been a week?" she fires another question at me and I decide to continue the game.

"How is it possible that I've spilled more of my secrets to you than anyone I've known?" I take a step closer to her and she stands still, not budging.

"How is it possible that I gave you a chance?" she questions me and a smile spreads across my lips. 

"How is it possible that you couldn't?" my playful nature takes over and she bites back a smile.

"How is it possible that you can get so easily off topic?" 

"How is it possible that I don't even know what topic we're on?"

"How is it possible that you're so dumb and I still talk to you?" 

"How is it possible that you couldn't?" I took another step closer to her and soon our breaths were swirling together in between us.

"How is it possible that I let you get this close?" she raises her eyebrows questionably and I laugh.

"How could you possibly not let me get this close?" I ask and she doesn't respond. She just stares into my eyes and I could feel something click into place as I stared into her neverending emerald eyes. "Do you think you could help me with a party?" I add the question and it breaks the moment and I feel the electricity drain from my system.

"Why would I help you?" she challenges me and I take her up on it.

"Because I want to do a party like this town does parties and not a fancy one like my parents enjoy," I reply pleadingly and she nods in agreement.

"You're lucky I'm nice," she states and I chuckle at her comment.

"I am lucky," I reply as we sit down on the sand.