Never Make A Promise

Never Make A Promise 5

Let me tell you something about the weekends. They're the best. The weekends are the days where you get to see the people you want to see and talk to the people you want to talk to. For instance, I don't want to talk to Damon, so I don't have to. I want to talk to Jordan, so Jordan and I can talk all day if we feel like it. Let me tell you why this weekend is going to SUCK. It started this morning. I got the three signs that it was going to suck when I woke up. I forgot to turn my alarm off, so I ended up waking up at six in the morning and I couldn't get back to sleep. So I pretty much just lay in bed until nine when I couldn't take it anymore. I nearly killed myself going down the stairs on the way down. And then Joyce woke up. Now I bet you're wondering what's so bad about that, right? Well, let me tell you. She told me that we had to 'talk'. Meaning, she had something to say and she knew damn well I wasn't going to like it. So that's how Joyce and I got to the table now, with me waiting for her to start our 'talk'.

"Hayley, I love you, you know that right?" she began. I nodded.

"Yeah," I said slowly.

"Now, you know that your father loves you no matter what, right?"

"Joyce, what did you do?"

"Nothing, nothing, I was just checking to see if you knew."

"I'm not stupid, Joyce. I know there's more to it than that," I said. She sighed.

"Your father is coming here for the weekend, he'll be here tonight," she said quickly, then she got up and ran away, leaving me there at the table with my mouth and eyes wide open. Joyce said WHAT now? I got up and went to the kitchen where she was hiding behind the counter.

"Joyce, we need to talk about this," I said, sitting at one of the bar stools. She stood up straight and sighed again.

"I called him yesterday while you were at school," she said. I gestured for her to go on. "He didn't know me at first, but after I explained to him who I was, he was extremely excited to be talking to me. I told him that you would love to meet him and see him again and he said he would love to and asked when. I told him the sooner the better and asked him if this weekend was okay. He said it would be fine and we made his flight arrangements over the phone. I'm picking him up from the airport tonight at six thirty, just in time for dinner. What do you think?" she finished. I stood up, grabbed a pen, and pretended to stab it into my chest. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't be so over-dramatic," she scoffed. I straightened and looked at her.

"I'm not being over-dramatic! You're the one who told him that I wanted to see him this weekend and I told you that I wasn't ready to see him!"

"I know, but I couldn't help it! You know how pushy I am," she said. I sighed. Yes, I did know how pushy she was. I just didn't think that she would be THIS pushy. Twelve years later, I'm going to see my father. Twelve years later, his promise is officially broken.

"I'm going to go up and get dressed. Jordan is going to be here soon," I said. She gave me a small smile.

"Okay, honey," she said. I blew some air out from my cheeks and went up to my room to get ready. I didn't feel like changing for when my dad got here, so I just put something on that was nice, but not overdoing it either. I pulled on some dark blue skinny jeans, Converse, a rosy pink tank top and a black cardigan over it. And of course, my mother's pendant. I sighed and ran a brush through my stupidly thick hair. When I was ready, I went over by my window and sat on the window seat and leaned my head back on the wall. I tried not to think about what would happen today, but that's all I COULD think about. Dad was coming here. What if he expected me to go back to wherever with him? If he expected me to move in with him? I couldn't do that. I didn't want to leave Jordan, Seth, and Aliyah. I couldn't leave Joyce either. And for some damn reason, I thought I couldn't leave Damon. And what ABOUT Damon? I shook my head. Nothing, Hayley. Nothing. Don't think about him. Jordan honking his horn in the driveway.