Ch. 15
The house was huge. Considering that it was in the rich part of town, it made sense why it looked so expensive. There had to be over a hundred people in the house. Some were dancing, others talking and some were just flat out making out with each other.
Lily looked around and noticed almost all of them had red cups in their hands. So it was that kind of party.
“Do you want one?” Hayden asked, pointing to the red cup in a girl's hand.
“Oh, um, sure.” Lily said.
“Okay,” Hayden nodded. “I'm going to go with Chance. I'll be right back.” Hayden turned and left with Chance to the kitchen, leaving Lily behind in the huge crowd of people.
She looked around at all the unfamiliar faces. But then she saw a familiar face and he saw her too. Tyler.
Tyler was the last person on Earth that she wanted to see right now. He stopped talking to the girl he was with and began to make his way over to her. She turned away from him but he caught her by the wrist, causing her to turn around and face him.
“Lily, let me explain—” He began.
“There's nothing to explain, Tyler.” Lily pulled her wrist out of his grip. “I have Hayden now and even though we're not together officially, I know he loves me.”
“Don't be so sure of that. I've heard some things.” Tyler warned.
“What kinds of things?” She said slowly.
“Well, that he's a player.”
“Oh and like you're not.” Lily said sarcastically.
“Again, if you would just let me explain—”
“Just... What kinds of things, Tyler?” Lily cut him off.
“He keeps one girl around as a fall back. He goes around and hooks up with other girls and if it doesn't work out with one of them, he still has the other girl which in this case happens to be you.” He explained.
“That's not true. Why should I believe you anyway?” She snapped at him.
“Where is he, Lily? Told you he was going with his friend to get you a drink, right? And he hasn't come back since you got here, right? See, I know these things. This isn't the first party I've seen him at and I have plenty of girl friends that have told me about him.” Tyler always knew how to manipulate everyone into thinking exactly what he wanted them to think.
“No... It can't be true. He told me he didn't have any friends and that he was bad with girls...” Lily refused to believe him.
“He was lying to you. He used you. It's what he does.” Tyler explained. “Did you hear he knocked up some chick back where he used to live? That's why he moved.”
Tears filled Lily's eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks. She didn't want to believe it but it had already been close to twenty minutes and Hayden hadn't come back yet.
She couldn't take it any longer. It was all too much for her to handle. This wasn't fun anymore. Why did every guy she came across have to be a jerk?
She turned away from Tyler and pushed her way through the crowds of people, out the door and into the cold December air. The air was so cold, her tears began to freeze on her cheeks.
Home wasn't too far away but the air was bitterly cold and the longer she was outside, the colder it seemed to get.
It was quiet outside. There weren't many people out at night in the middle of December. A few cars occasionally passed by but there weren't many.
She was almost half way home when she heard an angry car horn sound from behind her. She turned in the direction of the noise to see a set of headlights heading straight towards her.
Ch. 16
This was the end and she knew it. The car was coming at her too fast for her to comprehend to move out of the way and it didn't look like they planned on stopping anytime soon. Nothing in her life was going well anyway. She actually didn't mind dying. Who would miss her anyway? No one, really.
She closed her eyes and waited for the impact. Hopefully it wouldn't hurt that bad and it would be over in a second.
But there was no impact. Instead, she was pushed roughly out of the way of the car and stumbled to the cold concrete sidewalk. She looked back just in time to see Hayden's body hit the front of the car, roll up onto the hood and over the roof, off the trunk and back onto the street.
The car swerved on the grass and kept going down the street. Lily quickly picked herself up off the ground and ran over to Hayden who lay still on the damp street.
“Hayden? Hayden! Oh my god, Hayden. Wake up, please!” She knelt down beside him and took his face in both her hands. His eyes opened slowly and he looked up at her, smiling.
“Hayden, you idiot!” Lily shouted at him through her tears. “What the hell were you thinking?!”
“I'll be there for you through it all even if saving you sends me to heaven.” Hayden said and then he closed his eyes again.
“No... Hayden, no, wake up. Stay with me. Please, don't leave me.” Lily begged, shaking his lifeless body. He wasn't waking up but she refused to think he was dead.
Blue and red flashing lights and the sound of sirens came towards her. The ambulance pulled up next to where Hayden was laying. The paramedics jumped out of the back and ordered Lily to stand back while they transferred Hayden into the stretcher and into the back of the ambulance.
A police car pulled up and the officer got out of the car, hurrying over to Lily. “Miss? May I ask you a few quick questions?” The officer asked.
“Um, quick, yeah. Please don't let the ambulance leave yet.” She replied.
“Okay,” The policeman said. “So can you explain what happened?”
“My...My friend, he... He was hit by a car. He pushed me out of the way and saved me.” Lily explained.
The policeman nodded as he wrote down a few notes on a pad of paper. “Okay and did you happen to catch a license plate number or the color and make of the car at least?”
“Oh... Um... Ugh...” She struggled to remember. Everything had happened so fast. “Black, I think. A black sedan, maybe? I'm sorry, I can't remember.”
“That's alright." The officer assured. “Thank you, Miss.” He turned to go back to his car.
Lily looked around and saw the paramedics closing the back doors of the ambulance.
“Wait!” She called out and ran towards them. “Please, let me go with him.”
The paramedic eyed her suspiciously. “Are you the girlfriend?” He asked.
“Yeah, yeah, I'm his girlfriend. Please, just... Let me go with him. He needs me. I'm the only one he has.” She begged.
The paramedic still looked skeptical but opened the door of the ambulance. “Get in.” He said.
She thanked him as he helped her up into the back of the ambulance where Hayden lay, still unconscious. Another paramedic directed her where to sit so she was out of the way but she could still be close to Hayden. She took one of his cold hands in both of hers and held it the entire way to the hospital.
Ch. 17
The back doors of the ambulance opened and Hayden was pulled out of the back. One of the paramedics helped Lily out of the back and ordered her to follow them. He said that she would be given further instructions once she was inside. She nodded at him in acknowledgement and then ran inside to catch up with Hayden.
He still hadn't woken up yet and now he was on oxygen. None of this was looking too good.
“Excuse me, Miss? Are you with him?” A nurse said to Lily.
“Y-Yeah. Is he going to be okay?” She asked.
“We think so but we're taking him to get x-rayed right now to check for any broken bones. I'm going to need to bring you to a waiting room.” The nurse informed her.
“Oh... Okay...” Lily allowed the nurse to take her to a small waiting room while Hayden was rushed down the hallway.
After a few hours of waiting, a nurse came in to tell Lily that Hayden wouldn't be awake until tomorrow.
“You should go home, dear.” The nurse said. “Go get some sleep and come back in the morning.”
Lily shook her head. “No, I-I can't go home. I need to stay he
re with him. He saved my life. I'll sleep here if I have to. I can't leave him...”
The nurse sighed. “Alright, well, I'll come and get you when he's settled in a room.”
Lily nodded and watched the nurse turn and leave. She couldn't go home because she had no way of getting there. Her parents were out of town on business trips and the boys were probably still at the party getting god knows how wasted. But the fact that she had no ride home was not why she refused to leave the hospital.
Hayden had risked his life to save hers. The least she could do was wait here until he woke up.
Hours had gone by but it felt like days. She tried to fight off sleep for as long as she could and perked up every time a nurse walked by only to have her hopes let down when they didn't stop in.
Finally after about four hours, the same nurse from earlier came in to bring her to Hayden's room. By now, it was almost seven o'clock in the morning. She had stayed up all night just waiting for him to wake up. She walked in the room to find him propped up in bed with a sling around his left arm.
“I have a visitor for you, Hayden.” The nurse led Lily in and pushed a chair over by the bed for her to sit next to him.
“Lily, you're here!” Hayden reached for her hand.
“I've been here all night, Hayden.” She told him. “I rode in the ambulance with you last night and I've been here ever since.”
He smiled at her and gave her hand a light squeeze.
“I'll give you two some time alone.” The nurse said before leaving the room.
Once she was gone, Lily pulled her hand away and stood up. “What the hell were you thinking?! You could have died!” She shouted at him.
“I would rather die myself than have you die...” He shrunk back against the bed.
At this point, the rumors didn't matter to her anymore. Nothing mattered. It was obvious they weren't true. She sat back down, just glad to know that he was still alive.
There was a knock on the door as Tate, Ricky, Wes and Jeremy walked in and surrounded the bed.
“Bro, what happened?” Ricky asked.
“I, uh, got hit by a car while saving Lily's life.” Hayden explained.
“Aww.” Wes cooed.
“Hayden, what the hell.” Tate said. “We have a show tonight.”
“Crap...” Hayden remembered. “I'll do it. I don't care what the doctors say. I'm going on stage tonight and that's final.” He was not about to let his band down.
Ch. 18
“I can't believe you're doing this.” Lily stood next to Hayden backstage before the show, watching the crowd file in.
“Hey, the show must go on.” Hayden said in defense. “I mean, come on. Look at all those people out there. That's our fan base. We can't let them down.”
Lily sighed. She knew he was right but she still worried about him. “Okay, just promise me you won't get too crazy out there.” She reached over and pressed her lips against his temple.
He looked over and smiled at her when she pulled away. “Okay, promise.” He leaned over and pressed his lips against hers ever so gently.
“GUYS! GUYS!” Wes ran backstage towards Hayden and Lily. Ricky, Jeremy and Tate joined them to find out what was going on. “Talent... Agent... In... Audience...” Wes said between breaths.
Everyone looked around at each other. They all knew what this meant. Tonight could be their night to make it big. Tonight could be the night they get discovered.
“Thriller Equinox on in five.” The stage manager called out.
Ricky and Jeremy went to go grab their guitars, Tate grabbed his bass and Lily went around making sure they all looked good.
The crowd cheered as they stepped out on stage. Hayden took the microphone in one of his shaky hands. Even though they had been doing this for a while, he still got nervous from time to time.
“Hey, I'm Hayden and we are Thriller Equinox.” Hayden introduced the band to the crowd and then continued on. “So, I'm sure you're all wondering what happened to me.” He motioned to his cast and sling. “Well, I got hit by a car while trying to save the love of my life.” There was a collective 'aw' from the audience. “And even though the doctors told me not to perform, I knew I had to go through with it anyway. You guys are our fans—the best fans any band has ever had—and I knew I couldn't let you down because you have never let us down." The crowd roared, cheered and clapped. “This song is for you guys. This song is called Sweet Blasphemy.” The crowd cheered again as the boys began to play the intro.
As Lily watched the boys spill their hearts out on stage, she knew the talent agent would be insane not to give them a chance.
As soon as the show was over, Lily and the boys ran out into the audience to wait for the talent agent to come and find them. Once the crowd had cleared out some, a man in a suit approached them. Everyone was instantly on edge.
“Hi, my name is Jon.” He introduced himself, holding out a hand for them to shake. “I have to say,” He continued. “Not only do you play well but you have some serious dedication. And that was one adorable speech you did up there.”
“Thanks.” Hayden spoke on behalf of the band.
“Are you the said love of his life?” Jon asked Lily.
She blushed and nodded. “Yeah, that would be me.”
He nodded as well before continuing. “Well, I think you boys have talent. How would you like to be signed to a real deal record label?”
Everyone's mouths dropped open.
“Are you serious?!” Hayden exclaimed.
Jon laughed. “Of course I am. You boys deserve it. I can see how hard you have worked.”
Hayden glanced around at the rest of the guys who all gave him approving nods.
“Okay,” Hayden said. “We're in.”
“Excellent. Here's my number.” He handed Hayden a business card. “Call me sometime tomorrow morning. We'll leave for L.A. in the afternoon.” With that, Jon turned and left Lily and the boys to themselves.
“Wait. Did he say you're leaving for L.A. tomorrow?” Lily asked.
“We're leaving for L.A., Lily!” Hayden corrected her.
Lily shook her head. “No, I can't leave. I have to stay here.”
“But...” Hayden pouted. “I want you to come with me—come with us. We're all in this together I thought...”
Lily shook her head again and began to back away from him. “Go get some rest, Hayden. We'll talk about this in the morning.” She turned and left.
Hayden didn't understand what had happened. He so desperately wanted to go to L.A. and pursue his dreams but he couldn't leave Lily. He didn't understand why she wouldn't agree to leave with him.
Ch. 19
After calling up Jon and finding out the time of their departure and where they would meet up, Hayden and Lily met at their place in the forest to talk about leaving that afternoon.
“Come on, Lily. You have to come. You're our manager.” Hayden said, holding onto both her hands.
She dropped her hands from his and sighed. “I just can't leave Ohio, Hayden. I have to stay here. Plus, Jon will be your manager now. You don't need me anymore.”
“But I do need you! You're my anchor. You keep me grounded. Why can't you just come with us?” Hayden begged.
Lily was beginning to get frustrated. She just wished he would accept the fact that she wanted to stay at home and not leave.
“Because I have dreams too, Hayden.” She shouted at him.
He shrunk away at her tone of voice.
She sighed, placing a hand to her forehead. “I'm sorry.” She said. “I didn't mean to yell.” She sat down on the ground and Hayden followed. “It's just that... I've done nothing but help you with your dream. But what about me? I have dreams too and I think it's time for me to do something for myself. You can go ahead and think it's selfish but I have dreams, too. I want to graduate high school, go to college, and become a psychologist. Of course I want to be with you, but touring around, playing shows, not even getting to graduate high school—
just getting out of there—is your dream. Not mine.”
Hayden nodded, taking in everything she had said.
“I'll be there to see you off at the airport.” She continued. “You should go pack. It's getting late and your flight leaves soon.”
Hayden agreed. “I'll see you at the airport...” He said before leaving.
You're the Closest to Heaven That I'll Ever Be Page 9