REPEATING HISTORY (2) (COMPLETED)

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE FAIR

HAYLEY'S POV
I wince when the shower hits my midriff, which was painted a mess of purples and greens and blues. John really did a number on me. I throw on some clothes and shove David's cap onto my head. I look at myself in the mirror with a smile, admiring the hat. Shaking my head, I head out to the Sandlot, where Penny, Jenny, David and the rest of the gang are already playing.

"Hey guys," I wave to the group.

"Hayley, you're okay!" Penny and Jenny yell and run towards me.

"Guys, be gentle. It hurts" I wince as the girls quickly unwrap their arms from around my torso, muttering quick apologies.

"How bad is it?" David makes his way towards me, blocking me from the rest of the group's view. I lift up my shirt slightly to show my stomach, exposing the bruises. David stares down in shock and anger, gently grazing his hands over my injured stomach. Chills run up my spine, my forehead almost touching his as I look up and into his eyes. My stomach flips as I feel him lean forward slightly, his lips so close to grazing mine.

"Come on, guys. I wanna do something today and there's no way we can play without Hayley." Mac states, completely oblivious to what's happening. I almost curse at him with frustration as I drop my shirt, David's hand leaving my hip as he steps away from me. My cheeks are inflamed as my voice gets caught in my throat. God, why did Mac have to say anything?

"Let's head to the county fair, there'll be games, rides, food and prizes." Tommy speaks up.

"I'm there." I smile, brushing off any thoughts of David.

"Me too."

"Awesome," David answers, smiling at me. God, why is he so handsome?

"Cool."

"Okay let's go." We head to the fair and go on all the rides, play all the games and tried all the food. It was an eventful night to say the least. We make it to the last attraction of the night as the fair slowly behind to wind down, everyone getting ready to go home. We walk around, making jokes about how stupid the whole thing is. We get to the final box and Fingers presses a button, roaring noises make us jump as the booth lights up, showing a hairy gorilla-like creature towering over us. David disappears and I jog after him, slipping out without anyone noticing. I walk around for a while, trying to find him. Two girls walk past the stall I'm near without seeing me and I pick up their conversation, hiding behind the stall.

"Did you see that new Rodriquez girl at school on the last day?" I feel my heart sink as I continue to listen.

"Yes, oh my god, she looked like a mess. That poor family. To have such an ugly child, who plays with boys." I feel tears prick my eyes and my throat feels like I tried to swallow a brick, shame weighing down on my chest.

"Kirsty heard from Singleton that she's a bastard child. They dated for a while, he only dated her because she was desperate enough to screw him." I bite my lip, tears dripping down my cheeks. It hurt to breathe.

"Ew, what a slut. No wonder the Sandlot boys hang around with her. I bet they take turns." The two girls wander off and I finally let my tears fall, sinking to the ground beside the stall. I sniffle quietly, covering my face as my body shakes.

"Hey, hey. What happened? Are you okay?" I can't speak, I'm crying so hard. David kneels down and pries my hands away from my face. I can see his eyes fill with concern when he sees my face, probably a sniffling mess. He helps me up and pats on the wooden bench of the empty stall, motioning for me to sit next to him. I oblige, hiccuping as I tried to calm down a bit. "Hayley, what happened?" I swallow my cries and manage to speak.

"No-nothing. It's stupid, I shouldn't be getting myself worked up about it." I go to get up, but David grabs my hand, pulling me back down. He shuffles closer and brushes his fingers over my hands.

"It must've been something bad, Hayley. You wouldn't get upset over nothing." I inhale deeply before speaking.

"You ran off, so I went to find you and when I was wandering around, I heard these girls say my name, so listened in and some of the stuff they said just made me feel so horrible. These girls don't even know me and they were talking about how I'm a bastard child, how I'm ugly, how I'm a slut, how I screw around with everyone on the Sandlot team. I shouldn't let it affect me, but it kind of hurts to be judged by someone who knows nothing about me." David pulls me into an unexpected hug.

"Hayley, honestly, who gives a shit if you were a bastard child! That's such a dumb insult, just because your parents had you before they got married. I bet half the kids in the school were born before too. Also we all know you aren't a slut, it's just Singleton being an asshole! And you are not ugly! You're beautiful. So stop crying because you're worth so much more than their stupid opinions." A smile grows on my face as I wipe the last of my tears, not taking my eyes off of David as my heart races. I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear as he pulled me into his lap, hugging me again.

"I should probably give you your cap back." I go to take it off my head, but he grabs my arm, making me stop.

"It's alright, I've got an extra one." He taps the cap on his head. "Plus it looks better on you anyway. Keep it."

"Thanks." I whisper, my face inches from his.

"No problem." He murmurs back and we lean in.

"They're so cute!" I groan in frustration before pulling away from him as I stood up, brushing off my outfit.

"Aww, wittle David's bwushing." Mac exclaims in a baby voice. Fingers points to us two and makes kissing motions with his hands.

"Aww, wittle Hawey is bwushing." I check the time. Nine, I mentally groan.

"Shit. My parents are going to kill me." I say goodbye to all the guys and leave with the twins, grinning from ear-to-ear as the thought of David almost kissing me creeps back into my mind.

DAVID'S POV
"David man, when are you gonna ask her out?"

"Fine. If you guys stop bugging me, I'll ask tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes!" I chuckle at their childishness, shaking my head.