Awakening to Life
Page 20
Josh rolls his eyes, but he leans down and takes Hailey’s other arm. She meets Josh’s eyes and blushes. Her red cheeks deepen in colour as she sees Jayden watching. His knowing look sets her skin on fire.
Once upright, Hailey sets off down the path. The boys follow, joking in loud voices behind her, although Jayden says nothing about her bright red face. Hailey ignores them until they give up. They wander through the zoo until evening falls and the families start leaving with their toddlers in tow. Jayden checks his phone every twenty minutes until he sighs and looks up at Hailey and Josh. Both are slumped against a tree trunk.
“Time to greet your parents?” Josh asks.
“Yep. Time to go.”
They push themselves from the grass and walk back to the car. Hailey looks fondly at the animals as they pass. When they wander back through the greenery outside the zoo, she looks up at the trees, walking with her head up and eyes wide open. This day feels magical somehow. It reminds her of the days she spent with Allie, ticking activities off the bucket list. Sometimes she considers writing a new bucket list for them to complete. They lived each day to the fullest when Allie was alive. But perhaps it is just being back with Jayden and Josh that makes the time seem more valuable.
Jayden is similarly lost in thought as they return to the car. Although he misses Allie, it doesn’t hurt like he thought it would. They have fun together. Hailey and Josh still make him laugh. Besides, he feels like she’d be smiling at them.
Josh is the only one not thinking about Allie during that walk. He is lost imagining a world where Hailey has a crush on him. But those thoughts slip away as he gets in the car and she automatically jumps into the backseat. They play indie music on the way to Jayden’s place, the sort of music the boys love. Hailey is into pop. But Josh knows better than to let her have her way with the radio. She can’t sing along to songs she doesn’t know.
When they drop Jayden off at his house, Josh leans over and gives Jayden an awkward hug over the centre consol.
“You take care,” Josh says. “See you in a few days?”
Jayden nods. “Definitely. Bye, Josh, thanks.”
He opens the door and slides from the seat. Hailey does the same. She wraps her arms around Jayden’s waist and squeezes. “You should stick around. We could have this much fun every day,” she teases, without lifting her head from his chest.
“Maybe I will,” he replies, smiling into her hair. He retracts his arms but bends down and whispers into Hailey’s ear before striding towards his parents’ house, knocking on the door, and, almost immediately, being engulfed by their arms.
Hailey opens the door to the car and jumps in. She can’t help but smile, although she tries to hide it beneath a bowed head. Jayden and his parents wave. The door shuts and the light from their hallway disappears. Josh starts the car again and eases away from the curb.
“What did he say to you?” Josh asks.
“Hmmm?” Hailey replies. She taps at the radio. Pop music blasts from the speakers as she raises the volume. Josh presses on the steering wheel controls and moves it back to his preferred station.
“Jayden. What did he whisper to you?”
Hailey turns her head to the window. The world blurs behind the glass. Hailey lets the colours drain together, not bothering to focus on anything in particular. Then she twists to look at Josh and sees the expression Jayden mentioned. She’s not sure she believes him, but she wants to.
“Oh, that. It was nothing.” She smiles, a light blush tinting her cheeks. “Just saying goodbye.”
About the Author
Caitlin Guy is an Australian author. She wrote Awakening to Life at the age of 16 and it was originally published on Wattpad. She has since gone on to write romance novels under the name Sarah Gates.
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