One Kiss (One Kiss Book 1)

05. Makeover

Drew

My mother calls me at the end of lunch to inform me that Haley will not be coming home with me after school. I do not ask questions because I have no idea what Haley told her. Did she tell her what I did? Is she moving out? Is she leaving because of me?  Do I care if she is leaving?

I do not see Haley anywhere in school after lunch. She is probably avoiding me. After school I try to spot her but I fail.

Once I arrive home, I go straight to my room and play some video games. The games serve as an excellent distraction from Haley. I do not realize how much time have passed until my mother knocks on the door. I switch off the game and open the door for her.

"I need you to go pick up Haley from her friend's house. This is the address." She hands me a piece of paper with an address written on it and I take it. "Do you have any idea whose car is out front?"

I know which car she is talking about but I ask anyway. "The Lamborghini?"

She nods. "Yes."

"I borrowed it from Jason." I borrowed it until the end of the year when we all leave for college. We rearranged our deal because of all the paperwork involved in changing ownership of a car.

Half an hour later I am waiting for Haley outside a relatively old house compared to ours. I do not recall my mother telling me whose house this is. I text Haley to let her know I am waiting for her outside. I hope she does not take too long or else I will leave without her. A minute later the front door opens. Who is that? Is that Haley? She looks different. I cannot decide if she looks better or worse. She is wearing a navy blue dress that fits her breasts and falls loosely at her hips. I never noticed her full breasts until now. Her blond hair is perfectly curled and it falls down her shoulders. Is she wearing make-up too? Since when? Her make-up is light except for the bright red lipstick. She looks kind of hot. What happened to her glasses? Did she break them? She is not wearing her usual black-framed glasses. Can she still see without the glasses?

She hugs another girl who has purple highlights. I recognize the girl from the cafeteria who was standing next to Haley when I kissed her. Is she Haley's friend now? Looks like it.

Haley waves at her new friend and walks to my... I mean Jason's car. She halts for a moment - she was not expecting to see me in a Lamborghini - but she recovers quickly. She opens the passenger door and climbs in.

"Who was that?" I am genuinely curious about her new friend.

"Amy." She gives me a menacing look. "Not that it's any of your business."

I look her up and down before I start the engine. "Dig the new look." She does look better now - hot. What I am thinking? She is a family friend and my mother would kill me if I f****d with Haley's emotions or just f****d with Haley in general.

Haley ignores my comment by not replying and turning to face the window on her side.

It makes me want to tease her further. "You look hot when you're mad." I am probably pushing her buttons now.

She does not react to my statement though. What is wrong with this girl? I stay silent for the rest of the drive. As soon as we arrive she jumps out of the car, slams the car door shut the way she did this morning and hurries inside before I can curse at her for slamming the door. My mother gave her a copy of the house key to make her feel at home so she did not have to wait for me to open the door for her.

I check that the car door is not damaged before I go to my room to get some homework done before it piles up. At seven o'clock, my stomach grumbles and I head to the kitchen to check if my mother made dinner. I can smell the chicken from the corridor.

"Good, you're here." My mother wipes her hands in a cloth. "Can you go tell Haley that dinner is ready, please?"

"Sure," I deadpan. I am pretty sure I am the last person she wants to see right now but I do not care.

I head back up the stairs and knock on Haley's room. It used to be my nursery until my parents converted it into a guest room when I turned ten. Haley does not reply to my knock so I knock again. Still, there is no reply. I slowly open the door hoping she does not throw a vase or something to my face. She is not in bed or anywhere in sight. I go to open the door to her ensuit. My heart stops for a second when I see her. She is sitting on the floor, her eyes red and her cheeks wet with tears, her back resting against the tiles of the bathtub. She is holding a tissue to her arm. She has changed back to her usual casual clothes and her hair is pulled back into a ponytail.

"What happened?" I ask in shock.

She shakes her head. "Please, leave."

I know I hurt her before but I cannot leave her in this state. I cannot turn my back on her at this very moment.  Something tells me that whatever happened to her arm was not an accident. "I can't leave you like this." I squat in front of her and take her hand. "Tell me what happened."

She holds her hand tighter to her arm. "No!" She tries to pull her hand back. "Please go." More tears fall down her cheeks and it breaks my heart.

I have no idea why she makes me feel this way. Ever since that kiss, I feel different toward her. "I can't. My mom asked me to tell you that dinner is ready. She is waiting for us." Maybe she will change her mind at the mention of my mother.

Her lips tremble as she lets go of the tissue and lets me take a look. She has a cut which is still healing. I spot a blade in the bathtub which is probably what she used.

"What happened?" I repeat. My voice is much lower now that she is calm.

She does not reply straight away but then she does. "I cut myself... by mistake."

The hesitation in her voice does not convince me. Why would she use a blad on her arm? Did she cut herself on purpose? Why would she do that? Is it because of me? Or because she lost her mother? Or both? I need to keep a closer eye on her.

"Please don't tell Ashley," she begs. "I don't want to worry her."

I stare at her for a moment. What should I do? "Okay." I have no idea why I agree. Maybe because I want her to trust me. "But I want you to take care of yourself and if you need anything, you let me know, okay?"

She nods slowly and wipes her cheeks with her hand. When the blood stops, I put a stick on it to cover it, then we go down for dinner.