My Heart CH.16

My Heart: A Joshayley Story
CHAPTER 16

HAYLEY'S POV:
It was a friday afternoon and Josh and I would make our usual trip to his house. I waited downstairs and played with Zac's drums for a while. We did homework together and didn't get much songwriting in. Zac wrote his own drum part, and I think he had more ideas in his head. There was a lot to work with, and the possibilities were endless. I went home around six, in time for dinner. Dad wasn't home. The phone rang while mom and I were eating her homemade fried chicken. She let it take message, and a woman's voice played. "Hey Ms. Williams. Melinda just called. She said she can't make it. Would you mind taking our night shift tonight? Please call our secretary back tonight. Thanks."

Mom looked down at her food and back up at me. "Would you mind if I went? Are you okay being alone here, Hayles?"

"Mom, it's no problem, seriously. I think I'm old enough to take care of myself." I said.

"Alright, well I better get ready now, I'll be back by early morning," Mom rushed upstairs and left her plate on the table. "Would you mind washing the dishes, Hayles?" she called out from upstairs.

"No problem!" I replied.

I fell asleep around eleven. The night went on like every other, droning endlessly, dark and starless.

Then...there was a crash.

It startled me, lodging my breath in my throat. I sat up in bed, my heartbeats slowly escalating. Faster, faster.
I glanced down at my alarm clock on my side table. The time 3:52 AM blinked at me, red colored. I blinked back, dumbfounded. Something was stirring downstairs...something that wasn't supposed to be here.
I straightened out my shirt and slowly crept down the stairs, hands sweaty against the stairrail, pausing to look when I reached the third to last step. I peeked into the living room, my eyes shrinking due to the lack of light, and saw a figure move in the shadows. It appeared to be a tall man with a black outfit.

Robber.

I paused, making sure not to make any noise. My breathing and heartbeats seemed to be absurdly louder, shaking my body with fear.
The man loomed in the darkness.
He was rustling through some of our things.
His eyes searched the coast, they scanned the area, but it was too late.
I was not fast enough. I wasn't able to run back up the stairs.
He had caught sight of me.
I gasped, but it wasn't enough and a scream didn't escape my lungs. Before I could even move, he had grabbed my shoulders, pinning my against the wall, face forward. All I could see were those dark eyes behind his ski mask, black and completely frightening. He covered my mouth with such brute force, his hand was calloused, rough against my face. "Don't move!" He growled. "Try anything and I will stab you." The man released his grip on my mouth and pulled out a knife, just to prove his point. "Now walk back quickly towards your bedroom and pretend I'm not here. I won't be long."

I willingly agreed, running back upstairs as fast as my feet could carry me and locking the door of my bedroom. Working quickly, my eyes scanned my dark, dim room for some sort of weapon that I could use against him. I wouldn't just let that guy go through my entire house and rob us.

There was another noise downstairs. It sounded a whole lot like my front door slamming closed, and it shook the house. I grabbed the first thing I laid my eyes on, a book from my bed. Not very good, but I could hit him. I'd have some minimal chance. I ran downstairs and nearly slid off of the stairs, book in hand, arms raised to strike him.
But he was gone.

I took a breath and felt nothing else but my reverberating heartbeats, still vibrating through my body and pulsing through my veins. It left me dazed...dizzy.
Asphyxiated.

I stood there, frozen in one spot. I don't know how long it was until I finally realized that a robber was in my house and I almost got stabbed. I grabbed the phone from the kitchen counter out of the sudden impulse, dialing the first number came to my mind. I heard a voice moan, but it was the one I wanted to hear.

"Hello?" He groaned sleepily, yawning.

"Josh!" I breathed, "God...I..." This was the last thing I wanted to do, freak him out, but the fright wouldn't hide itself and rang clear in my voice.

"What? What is it?" He asked, clearly freaked out.

"I...I don't know, it was really fast, someone came..." I paused, breathing heavily when the sudden wave of panic broke into my system. "I just want you here."

"Stay there, I'm coming."

JOSH'S POV:
I hung up quickly and put on some clothes. I ran down the stairs, ignoring Zac's sleepy calls after me. All I did was run, faster than I ever had, towards her house. I didn't even bother to knock, and the door was open anyways. Once I had ran into her door, Hayley threw herself at me with sudden force. All I did was hold her shaking body in my arms. The cold air from outside blew into the house and she cringed. Immediately I knew something was wrong. The house looked like a mess--things were missing.

"Someone came. Someone broke in," she whispered weakly next to me, her voice raspy. I closed the door, Hayley still in my arms, and I carried her into her bedroom, cradling her in my arms. "Hayley, it's okay. I'm here now. I'm here." She had both arms wrapped around my neck and she sat upon my lap as she sobbed. I tilted her chin upward and kissed her softly on the lips, slow and gentle, and that seemed to calm her down a bit. "What happened? Tell me."

"I woke up and heard something downstairs. Who knows...who knows how long he's been in my house," she began, shuddering, "I just have no clue. He...he was probably going to steal something...he was a robber...and I had no idea what I was going to do!"

I felt pained. I couldn't watch her like this, she was so afraid. I held her tighter.

"Don't..." I began, wiping her wet tears away with my thumbs.
"Josh, he almost killed me. What if he goes after your house? Nobody around here gets robbed, Josh! Why me?" She asked in horror.

"All robbers need something nice to sell to keep themselves alive, or are jealous...that guy must have taken some jewelry or something...I don't know. He's not coming back, Hayley. He must have targeted your house because your mom left. Next time it's not going to happen again, I'll do everything I can to try and stop this." I tried my best to be as reassuring as I could.

"How do you know?" she asked. "Josh, I don't want to ever be here alone anymore. But my parents are never home..." she paused and looked around. "What's the time?"

"Does that really matter right now?" I replied.

"I don't know. School. It's going to be Friday." Hayley calmed down. She looked up at me, her tears gone. I smiled down at her face and she nuzzled into the crook of my neck.

"We need to call the police," I said. She shook her head. "I don't want my parents to worry," she said against my throat.

"Hayley, they need to. You just got robbed!"

"No," she protested, "Josh, it doesn't matter."

"Yeah it does!" I replied. "Hayles, they are going to catch him. You don't want him bothering you anymore, do you?"

"You don't know for sure that they will," she said stubbornly. "He'll come back. I'm always alone."

I had a sudden idea that I was unsure was the correct solution to this, but I had to try. "Then stay at my place."

She only gave me the expression I expected: shock. "It's a bit sudden," she began, "but it's safer. I don't know, my mom is always out and my dad is never home. But I don't know if they will agree to something so...so insane."

"I'm not asking you to," I interrupted, "I just want you to be safe. I told you, tell them about the situation and they'll agee."

Hayley hugged me tight. We shared a moment of silence in her dark room, nothing but the moonlight streaming through her open window.

"My mom will be here soon. I don't think we need to take it that far," she assured me.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Super sure," she replied, kissing my jaw. I hoped she was right.


HAYLEY'S POV:
The next day I really wanted to skip school. I was extremely sleepy. My eyes wanted to close themselves once that alarm clock rang. I sat up in bed, looked up at the time, feeling like I had absolutely no sleep at all. It was exactly 6:45 AM. After stretching my limbs out and licking my dry lips, I got up and walked towards the bathroom.

I tripped over something large on the floor. I fell on my stomach, face first, against the hardwood floor with a thud. I looked at the floor, Josh's body was slumped there. "What the hell?" I screamed.

"Sorry," he apologized, rubbing his eyes. "I had to stay."

"I said I could take care of myself," I replied sternly.

"What if the robber came back?" He asked.

"So?" I replied, my hands on my hips. "I told you to leave once I got in bed."

He got up on his feet and pulled the door open. "I'll go," he said, but not without flashing me that completely adorable puppy dog face. That was my absolute weakness.

I rolled my eyes. "I hate when you do that!"

Josh laughed.

"Works everytime."

"But seriously, you need to get out. Get ready for school," I ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, giving me a peck on the cheek and skipping down the stairs.

Once he was out of my room, I picked something out from my closet and did my hair and make up in front of the vanity, still awash with sleep. I then wondered if my mom was here and rushed back downstairs.

"Oh," she began, "Hi. Did you ever plan on telling me who this is and what he's doing here?" Her tone was playful though.

Josh looked my way, a panicked look on his face. "Hi, mom," I said, just as nervous, walking toward them. My face was redder than ever, I could tell. "Hey, Mrs. Williams," Josh said, repeating after my words.

"Hey, you two..." my mom said sarcastically, repeating after us both. "Want to introduce me to him now?" My mom asked, eyeing me up and down.

I hope she didn't think something happened between Josh and I.

I sighed. "Okay," I began, "This is Josh. The guy on the phone from a while ago. We're kind of...I don't know....he hasn't asked yet," I whispered to my mother, closing the gap between her and Josh, now I was in the middle.

"So you two are just friends?" Mom asked.

"Y...yeah kind of," I replied, smiling at him.

"Well pleased to meet you, Josh," mom said. He shook her hand easily and let it drop. "We've been friends since the firs...no, second day of school," Josh said. "I guess."

"Oh," my mom said, nodding. "Well I'm glad she's made lots of friends."

"Yeah, me too," he replied casually, sounding a lot more confident now. I stayed quiet. "You know I feel as weird as you do right now," said Mom towards Josh.

Josh laughed. "Good, I thought it was just me."

My mom laughed along. "Yeah, meeting her guy friends were always a little harder than meeting the girl friends."

"Meeting my brother's girlfriends were strange, too," Josh added. Mom laughed again. This was going well.

"Well, it's good Hayley has a friend like you," she said, walking and placing her bag on the kitchen counter, "at least I know one of them. She rarely introduces me to her new friends." I rolled my eyes at my mom. "We've been writing together. Songs. I stayed with Hayley for the night because..."

I cut Josh off. "I'll explain that to her," I announced. "Thanks, Josh."

"Okay, see you at school Hayley," he said, dropping the entire conversation and walking out the door. Right when he did, mom laughed to herself. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing. He's a charming boy. I'm glad you two are friends."

"Mom, truth is the past three days Josh and I have made out and kissed a little too much that I lost count. It's special now...I know it. And he hasn't asked me out yet."

"So you've been keeping a whole part of your life away from me and your dad?" She asked suddenly, concern in her tone.

"I just didn't think it was that important. You two are so busy right now."

"Hayley, I always have time to hear what's going on in your life," she told me. "You're just never open about it...this is probably the most open you've been this entire school year. Now, what were you going to explain?"

"About what?" I replied.

"Why he stayed the night?"

I came back to my senses. "Oh!" I said in realization. "Actually...a robber broke in last night." As my mind remembered, very clearly, the events of last night, I suddenly tensed up and was afraid. "He came very early morning. I'm not sure the exact time. I don't know what he took, either. I called Josh because I needed some help and I promise I didn't ask him to stay the night. I specifically told him I could take care of myself afterwards but the dude just had to take a nap on the floor, and ended up here all night."

"Sounds like he really cares about you," Mom replied with a grin.

"I think so," I agreed, the giddiness drowning out the sudden fear I felt.

"Hayley, there is something going on that's special."

"I don't have time to talk about that part now," I replied, "We need to talk about the robbery."
"Well why don't you get yourself dressed for school and I'll cook you up some breakfast. Then we can talk about this."

"But I am dressed," I replied, looking over my clothes.

"Hayley Williams, you need to fix that hair of yours up. It looks like you did everything while you were half-asleep!"

That was kind of true, but I didn't tell my mother that. I hauled myself upstairs. Once I managed to look presentable, a bowl of macaroni and cheese awaited my downstairs.

"You know I feel like such a kid," I said, sitting down in front of the food. "I mean my mom is still cooking me my breakfast."

"Let's just get to the whole reason you are going to talk to me. What happened last night, in full detail? Now that it's all dawning on me I'm getting a little freaked out, myself. My jewelry is gone!"

"Well," I started, "I woke up to a loud crash." The events rushed inside my head, and I tried to explain every detail I remembered. "The man had his whole robber clothes on...a mask...a black shirt, I couldn't see well because it was so dark." I thought harder. "Oh, and he pinned me to the wall and threatened to stab me. I was really...really scared." Just then, tears were beginning to prick at my face, and I didn't notice until my mother told me.

"Oh don't cry Hayley," She rushed to my side and held me in her arms. "What else did he do? We'll get to the bottom of this. We have to."

"He told me go back up to my room, and once he closed the door I phoned Josh and he came running down here. I kissed him, and he kissed me. That was enough to calm me down. Mom, it's amazing...him being there for me. It's like I can do anything, like...life is amazing. Like it's worth it."

My mom grinned. "Hayley...you're in love with Josh, aren't you?"

"I don't know how you know that, but...I think I am," I said.

"Honey, moms know everything..usually in one guess sometimes."

I smiled, wiping away the remainder of the tears on my face. "Well I better get going. I'll be late if I don't get to school," I said. I opened the door and walked to school, alone.

Josh waited for me at the front of the school, standing in the parking lot with a smile on his face. I greeted him and we walked side by side, hand in hand. I guess I didn't need to attempt to be subtle...people at school were used to seeing friends holding hands, hopefully it would be nothing more to them. I was still trying to conceal our relationship. "Any plans for today?" I asked. "You've been crying," he said with concern. I touched my eyes, and they were still numb, most probably a little red. "It's noticeable?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. "Kind of. Not really. Don't worry about it," he said, his arm then snaking around my waist and pulling me closer. Zac approached us. "I never talk to you guys," he admitted, standing to the left of me. Now I was the short one, sandwiched in between two tall people. "Well you are always welcome to," I replied, looking up at Zac. He looked down at me, smiling. "She's so short," he mentioned. I frowned. "You made her pissed!" Josh said, though obviously joking.

"No, it's just I hate being short," I replied.

"Sorry," Zac apologized, yet he still seemed a bit sarcastic.

Zac departed and Josh and I walked to science.

"How was the conversation? Was your mom freaked?" He asked me, taking his seat next to mine. "Nah, she was fine. She likes you," I replied. Science passed on, as boring as always.

When we got to Ms. Stoke's class, Jaelyn walked by next to me, cutting in between Josh and I, sandwiching herself in the middle. I found the action rude. "You know my party is tomorrow, right?" she asked, perky, not acknowledging Josh next to her.

"I know," I replied, monotone.

"Oh, so are you still planning on going?"

"I don't think so. Didn't we tell you?"

"Yeah I know," Jaelyn said, "but come on. It's going to be so much fun. And safe. My dad and mom is actually going to be there. I had crazy parties before. I decided to tone things down a bit. There's lots of rumors you know. Josh probably knows..." she looked up at him, but he stayed quiet.

"Well anyways, I am going to make it a normal party. It's your first time going to one, I know. I modified it all just for you, Hayley."

"Really?" I asked in shock.

"Yeah, really. I didn't want to freak you out with drugs and beer and all that. I know it's a senior party but hey, it needs to be safe too. For you, of course."

She seriously wanted to enforce the fact that this whole party was all for me. That I simply could not believe.

"Why did you think of me? It's your party," I pointed out. "Yeah, I know that too," she replied. "Hayley please come. It's going to be extremely boring without you there. You will meet so many new people."

"Um..." I paused, thinking. We entered the classroom and sat in our desks. Once we partnered up for an activity, I discussed the matter with Josh. He just laughed me in the face as I once again tried persuading him.

"Classic," he said.

"What?"

"It's the typical Jaelyn. She's one of those girls, the manipulators. She's so good at acting, remember? Don't you realize that?"

"But she's modified the entire party for me!" I yelled, a little too loud that the people within radius of us had turned their heads.

Josh laughed again. "And so?"

"We should give it a shot. It will be our first official party together."

"I don't want to go back there."

"We can leave early," I offered. "Come on!"

"You go yourself."

"I know you won't let me do that," I replied.

He sighed. "You're right. Because I care. And I don't want you to get hurt. That's the last thing I want to do. She is going to manipulate me or you...make us do something that will hurt the other very much. Why don't we go to another party?"

"There is no other party," I replied.

"Well too bad! So sad!" He said obnoxiously. "Ugh," I groaned, rolling my eyes. This was very hard.

After lunch I walked to sixth period, which was art. A good old elective class, and the teacher was too nice that he was close to a push over. On the door I caught sight of a bright poster. I walked over. It talked of a band who needed a lead singer. They did funk covers, apparently, and was doing a live show at our dances. I jotted down the number to save for later. I don't think Josh is planning to even be a band, and I had dreams, too. This could be my first shot at a real live band. I don't think Josh would mind. If he wanted me to be a band, he would have asked.

As usual I met Josh after school. "Hey Josh," I called out. He turned around and his bright face greeted me. "Hey," he replied. "I saw this poster in art today. They are looking for a lead singer in a band. Do you think I should go try out for it? Seems pretty fun."

JOSH'S POV:
Great. I knew I should have asked her already. "Uh...yeah it's great," I lied. "You should try out." She flashed a bright grin at me. "Thanks."
"No problem," I replied. "You're going to do great." God, I didn't have to reassure her, did I? Stupid, stupid.
Hayley and I walked out towards the sidewalk. "Josh..." she began. "Can you please take me to that party?" her eyes grew wide.
I frowned, not returning her hopeful gaze. "Didn't I already tell you--"
"I know," she replied, "I know everything you said. But really, I...I just think there's something good about Jaelyn. Something changed, maybe?"
I chuckled. "Nope. Nothing will ever change."
"Why not?" She asked.
"Because I know." I replied. Hayley frowned at me again. "Josh, please?"
"No. No. And...no."

Even that stil didn't convince her.

"Fine. I'll go by myself," she concluded.
"What?" I asked in shock. "Doubt it."
"I can so do it," she replied.
"No you can't. I could bet you...but I really don't want to. I know I'd win. You said you wouldn't go without me!"
"Jerk," she replied, crossing her arms.
I just laughed it off. "I know you won't. Can't, that is."
"Shut up," she said, running off. She was too quick to catch, I tried running after her but the green light came on and I almost ran through the traffic. Hayley disappeared into the streets.

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