Chapter 1: The meeting

Haley had always had a mysterious past, so everybody pretty much just avoided her. She wasn’t a freak, but she was the weird girl in school. She hated it. In fact she hated everything about West View High School except Tyler. He was your typical jock. But there was always something about him that intrigued her. She didn’t know what, but she liked it. Tyler and his brother Andrew were the most popular kids in the school. They knew everyone. All the teachers loved them, all the girls loved them, and every one loved them.

One day Haley was walking down the hall, and she was carrying too many books to see where she was going. Tyler was walking towards Haley, not paying attention to where he was going, text messaging on his new iphone. Then, BAM! Tyler ran right in to Haley. All of Haley’s books flew everywhere. Tyler looked up and saw Haley’s face. She had the look of love, loathing, and anger all at the same time. He just had a confused look on his face. Tyler was the first to break the silence,
“I’m sorry about your books” he said in a deep voice.
“Yeah it’s okay” she said looking away from his gaze.
“Do you want me to help you clean them up?”
“Yeah that would be nice”
As they stood up Haley took the books from Tyler and they both walked away. As Tyler walked away he was still text messaging his brother. His text message read: omg so I just saw this amazingly pretty girl. I totally made a fool of myself tho. I ran into her and knocked her books everywhere. I don’t know what to do. Should I talk to her?!?!
Andrew replied by saying: idk, maybe you should just be yourself. If that goes well then you should ask her out.



Chapter 2: A Date?

Haley and Tyler had only one class together, gym. With her arms crossed, Haley walked into the gym. She knew Tyler was not far behind because she could hear all the girls laughing. They both went to their seats. After they stretched and did their exercises they went outside. While they were walking outside Tyler told the girls that he needed to be alone for a second. When the girls left, Tyler walked over to Haley.
“Hey im sorry about knocking down your books earlier.”
“Oh, um yeah its no big deal, it’s not like you did it on purpose, right?”
“No, never!”
“Umm, my name is Haley.”
“Oh well if you don’t know me then you must be from a different planet!!”
“Yeah!” they both laughed.
“So, what do you do in your spare time?” Tyler asked.
“I play hockey in my basement.” Haley was a little confused about why she was being questioned, but she just went along with it.
“Oh, are you good?”
“It depends what you mean by good. I don’t suck but I am decent, I guess.” She answered.
“I like you run and practice my sports too. But I have so many that I play that I can’t take time individually for each sport, you know, so I just do the basics.”
“Oh so your really athletic.”
“Well yeah.”
“So have you ever had a boyfriend before?”
“Um, well, no.”
“Oh, I have been in so many I lost count!” They both laughed. “Um, Haley, would you be my girlfriend?” it came out a little more awkward than Tyler wanted it to.
“Sure.”
“Cool.”
“Yeah, Cool”

So it was official, Tyler was no longer single. By the next day everybody knew. Haley went from having no friends to having so many that she could not keep track of all of them. Tyler walked her to all her classes, picked her up after class, and found her when she got off the bus.

One day Tyler asked Haley a weird question.
“Why do you ride the bus?”
Haley laughed, “Because we can’t afford a car, and I live too far away to walk.”
“Oh, well I could pick you up and drop you off after school?”
“I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“Is 7:15-ish okay?”
“Oh, um, yeah that’s fine.”

During first hour Tyler was thinking about where he was going to take Haley for their first date, Haley’s first ever date. He decided to take her to a concert. He would let her pick the band and he would get the tickets. The bell rang and Tyler walked out of the classroom, and met Haley in the hall.
“Hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, sure.” Haley said with a puzzled look on her face.
“What is your favorite band?”
“Oh, um I like 5 bands.”
“Then which one would you want to go see in concert?”
“Um, then it would defiantly be MPR!” They were the biggest band right now. Everybody knew and was in love with their newest song “Bands”.

After second hour Tyler did not meet Haley outside Mrs. Brown’s room. She was tired of waiting so she was walking down the hall and she saw Tyler running towards her.
“Sorry, Mr. Scott wanted to see me after class.”
“Why, you aren’t in trouble are you!” Haley said half joking around.
“Oh, no, he just wanted to tell me that I shouldn’t be texting during class. So obviously, he saw me texting.”
“Did he take your phone away?”
“No, but he said that next time he catches me texting that he will take away my phone.”

The next day Tyler decided to ask Haley to the concert.
“Hey Haley!” he said yelling down the hall.
“Huh, oh, what.” She turned around to see Tyler running down the hall.
“Well since you said that you’ve never been on a date before,” he said out of breath.
“Yeah,”
“Well there is a concert two weeks from Friday that I want to take you to.”
“Who is it?”
“You’ll see!”
“Oh I love surprises!”
“Yeah me too!”
“What time does it start?”
“It starts at 7 so I was thinking that I would pick you up at 6. Is that okay?”
“Yeah that’s fine.”
“I am already excited!”
“Me too.”
Later that day after school Tyler and Haley decided to walk home from school.
“Hal?” he said.
“Yeah.”
“Um how do I put this, Okay so what’s the deal with your past?” he was ashamed to say it, “Because there’s so many rumors going around about you and I don’t know what to believe.” Haley smiled.
“Well I live with my foster mom-”
“You live with a foster mom?!?” he said.
“Yeah because my dad and my real mom didn’t get along real well. After they had me they always got into fights and he always ended up hitting or beating her.” She said stopping to pick up a flower.
“Was it hard for you?”
“I don’t really remember. I never knew my real mom. So yeah, I guess that you could say that it was hard.” She said pulling the flower apart and throwing the pieces on the ground.
“Wait so if you were a baby then how do you know what happened?” He asked pulling a leaf off a tree.
“My foster mom told me the story a couple of years ago.” She dropped the stem of the flower onto the hot asphalt.
“So what happened to your parents?” he asked dropping the leaf in a garden.
“Well my dad left the house for work one day and my mom had enough of these fights. So she called the police and they were waiting for my dad at his work. He realized what had happened and before he pulled into the parking lot he turned around and drove back home. He went straight upstairs and got his hand gun. He calmly walked back down stairs and pulled the gun on my mom, and no more mom.” She explained.
“What happened to your dad?”
“The police waited for a half hour at my dads work. Then they realized that something was wrong. So they drove to the house, and my dad thinking that he was off the hook, was arrested.” She picked up another flower.
“Where is he now?”
“Well I’m pretty sure that got a life time sentence in prison.” A single tear drop hit the middle of the flower.
“I’m sorry I brought it up.” He said looking at the ground.
“It’s okay. I can’t keep it a secret forever, right?” she said smiling.
“I guess so.” He said looking at her. He could tell that he hit a tender spot and didn’t want to cause Haley any more pain then he already caused her. So he decided to drop it. As they walked Tyler though to himself, I wonder how she can be at peace with herself. If that happened to me then I would be a wreck. But why is she not?

Chapter 3: The Kiss and Secret

After third hour Tyler was waiting for Haley outside the classroom. He was holding a piece of paper with writing on it. Haley walked out of the classroom.
“Hey, Hal.”
“Hey, Ty.”
Tyler handed Haley the piece of paper.
“What’s this?”
“Oh, it’s my number.”
“But I don’t have a phone.”
“Oh well keep it anyway.”
“I will.”
Tyler didn’t think it was right for someone not to have a cell phone. After school he would take her to get one.
Haley was a little confused because she didn’t know if he was giving her all these gifts to keep her as a girlfriend or if that was just the type of person that he was. She was starting to get a little suspicious. So she decided to ask him after school.

The final bell rang and Tyler met Haley at her locker.
“When we get to the limo I want to take you somewhere.”
“Oh really”
“Oh yeah!” he said playing around.
“I also have to ask you something in the limo too.”
They walked down the hallway with their arms linked together. When they got to the limo it was already 3:00 o’clock. Tyler was the one who started the conversation, “So what did you want to ask me?”
“Oh yeah, well you promise that you wont get mad?”
“Okay I guess so.”
“Why are you doing all of th-” But she was interrupted by Tyler lurching forward and kissing her on the lips. It was so much better than she ever dreamed. They broke apart.
“Because I like you more than a girlfriend. I guess what I’m trying to say is that. . . I love you.”
“I don’t know aren’t we rushing it?”
“Oh here’s the store.” The limo pulled up in front of the Verizon Wireless store.
“I am confused!” Haley said with a smile on her face.
He laughed “I can tell! I am buying you a new phone.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Another kiss followed.
“I thought you wanted to take this slow?”
“We can go a little faster.”
Tyler decided that he completely and totally trusted Haley. He decided that he was going to tell her his most intimate secret. But he had to choose wisely or he would jeopardize their relationship. He had made his final decision; he was going to tell her his secret.




Chapter 4: The Secret

At lunch time the next day Tyler decided to tell her.
“Hal”
“Yeah”
“Well I have to tell you something. Something that you can’t tell any one.”
“Okay so what is this something?”
“Well I just wanted to tell you my secret.”
“Okay so what is it?”
“I just want you to know that I am putting all my trust in you.”
“Okay, so.”
“I-”
“Are you moving?”
“No”
“Are you getting braces?”
“No.”
“Do you have another girlfriend?”
”Umm-”
“TYLER!!” she yelled.
“Haley please don’t hate me but,-” there was a pause, “I do.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Umm, no not really.” He said sheepishly.
Haley just sat there. Tyler sensed that he had made the wrong decision. After a couple of minutes Haley finally said something.
“Why did you not tell me until just now!?!”
“Because I didn’t want you to hate me.”
“Okay now I do! Maybe this relationship thing was a bad idea!”
“No, don’t get me wrong, I really like you!”
“I like you too but, why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re a jerk. I can’t believe I liked you!” Haley yelled.
Haley got up and as soon as she did the bell rang for lunch to be over. Tyler just sat there, staring off into space. He turned his head to look at Haley one more time. But she was gone. Tyler got up and went into the bathroom. He was going to skip 4th hour. He didn’t want to go to gym or see Haley right now. He went into the corner and sat down. He pulled out his phone and started text messaging Andrew. It read: I think I just made the biggest mistake of my life! I told Haley that I had another girlfriend and now she totally hates me!
Andrew replied a couple of minutes later. Tyler had already started to cry. Andrew’s message ran: What did you say? Or is she not talking to you?
It took Tyler one minute to respond. His said: she called me a jerk and said I can’t believe I actually liked you.
Andrew said: I can’t believe that you actually told her that!!
Tyler was getting mad at Andrew. He was being no help at all, so he threw his phone back into his pocket and buried his head in his arms.



Chapter 5: Advice

Tyler and Luke had been best friends since they can remember. They went to the same school since pre-school. Tyler knew that he could trust Luke with anything.
“Hey Luke, Luke!” Tyler yelled down the hallway.
“Huhh, oh hey Tyler.”
“Could I talk to you for a sec?” Tyler pulled him to the side of the hall. “I am having problems with Haley. I told her about my other girlfriend, and she totally freaked. I don’t know what to do!”
“Maybe you should try to talk to her about it?”
“Did that.”
“Then you just gotta let it sit with her for awhile. What are you going to do about the concert?”
“I don’t know”
“Got to go!” Luke said and ran down the hall.
“Hey Luke wait!” Tyler yelled after him.
Now Tyler was totally confused about what to do. Andrew didn’t help, he made it worse and Luke was not helping either. He felt like everyone had deserted him.

The final bell rang. Tyler walked to his locker and opened it up. A note fell out. Heart racing, he opened the note.
Dear Ty,

I am really sorry that I treated you like I did. I had no right to do that. Just promise no more surprise girlfriends, okay? Can’t wait for the concert on Friday! Well two weeks from Friday!!





Love,






Hal
Tyler just stood there star struck. “So Luke was right!” He thought to himself. “I can’t believe that he was right!”



Chapter 6: The Dream

The entire ride home Tyler was day-dreaming about the future, and how happy he was to have Haley as his girlfriend again. He pulled out his phone and started to text message Haley. His first one read: r u stil mad @ me? A second later his phone rang.
“Hello”
“Hey” Haley said.
“Oh look I’m really sorry. The only other one who knows is Luke. ”
“Speaking of Luke-” But Haley was cut off by Tyler saying,
“Hasn’t he been acting strange lately?”
“Yeah he has but-” she got cut off again.
“I wonder what his problem is.”
“I don’t know but-”
“Maybe I should find out? Do-” this time Haley cut off Tyler,
“Tyler!” she yelled into the phone.
“Huh.”
“Listen to me!” she said still yelling.
“Okay.”
“Listen Tyler I don’t know how to tell you this but-” the line went silent, and Haley started to cry, “Okay, Tyler I’m moving.”
“WHAT! How far away!?!”
“Two hours” Haley said still sobbing.
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” Haley said crying harder now. “But we can still talk on the phone and see each other on the weekends.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“I tried to get my mom to change her mind but nothing worked.”
“Do you want me to come over?”
“Yeah”
“Ok, Haley,”
“Yeah”
“I love you!”
“I love you too!”
“See you in a little bit.” Now Tyler started to cry.
“Bye”
“Bye” He said trying to make it sound like he wasn’t crying. Tyler hung up the phone. He tried to imagine life with out Haley. He couldn’t.

Haley hung up the phone and threw it on her bed, breaking the back of the phone open so the battery fell out. She just left it on her bed and decided to flop down on her bean bag until Tyler got there.
A few hours later there was a knock on the front door. Haley threw open her door and ran down the hall to the front door. Haley opened the door and just stood there looking at Tyler. Haley could tell that Tyler had been crying too. Then they ran towards each other and hugged. They both started crying again. Haley let go of Tyler and grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. She shut the door and led him right to her room.
“I love your house!” Tyler said trying to fight back more tears.
“Oh thanks.” Haley said crying softly now. The first thing that she did was close and lock the door. Tyler went and sat down on Haley’s bean bag. He motioned for her to come sit next to him. Haley went and sat next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his chest so that she could hear his heart beating. It was abnormally fast. Tyler put his cheek on her head. He could smell her shampoo. Haley started to cry harder now. Tyler started to rock slowly, very slowly, as if he was rocking a baby to sleep. It worked because within a few minutes Haley’s breathing slowed down and she stopped crying. Tyler was drifting off to sleep too. He decided not to fight it. Then he started to drift slowly to sleep. . .

At about midnight Tyler started to toss and turn.
“No, No!” he whispered.
All of his tossing and turning woke Haley up.
“Tyler, Tyler.” She said shaking him gently.
“Huh!” he shot up. The moon reflected in the beads of sweat that were running down his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh, oh, um bad dream.” But before Haley could respond, Tyler had wrapped his arms around her. He pulled away and looked into her eyes, “Oh thank goodness you’re okay!”
“Yeah I’m fine. What happened, you’re starting to scare me!”
“Okay, Okay fine. In my dream you were there and-” but he broke off and started to cry heavily. The tears mixed with the sweat.
“Tyler, what happened?” she said more forcefully this time.
“We were in the car and we got into a car crash. Our car flipped through the air and hit a tree. I guess the impact of the hit, it-” Tyler stopped talking. Haley interrupted him,
“-Killed me.” She said looking at the floor.
“How did you know?!?”
“I had the same dream as you!”
“That’s weird”
Haley got up and started pacing around her room. “It must mean something if we both had the same dream?”
“Yeah but what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Hal its midnight come back to bed we can deal with this in the morning.”
“I guess so.”
Tyler and Haley went back to bed, but Haley couldn’t go to sleep.
“Ty.”
“Mmm” he said half asleep.
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings but I don’t think we should go to the concert.”
“And why is that?” he said still half asleep.
“I just think we should stay away from cars for awhile.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Aren’t they showing the concert on T.V.?”
“I think so” Tyler said.
“Then let’s just watch it on T.V.”
“Cool”



Chapter 7: The Secret Room

Haley woke up the next morning with blankets on her. She was curled up around Tyler. Haley realized that his breathing was fast again. She looked at the clock. It was 10:30 in the morning. Haley quickly woke Tyler up.
“Ty, Ty, Tyler.”
“Huh, oh.”
“Its 10:30!”
“Oh shoot!” Tyler shot up, “My parents don’t even know that I’m gone!”
“Its okay, just tell them that you left this morning.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Haley got up and walked over to her bookcase. She pulled out her cd case and unzipped it. In the very fist pocket she found what she was looking for. She just stood there for a second just looking at the label. She was wondering if this was it, what she had been waiting for all of her life. She had been waiting to play this cd for about a year. And now she could. The label on the cd read: ♥LOVE SONGS♥. She ran over to her cd player and put the cd in it. She ran back over to her bed where Tyler was. He had a dumbfounded look on his face. She picked up the remote and hit play. Drums and soft music filled the quiet room.
“What’s this?”
“My cd with love songs on it.”
But before Tyler could say anything else a soft voice filled the room. It said:

There is never a thought that I think,

That is not about you.

When I go home you consume my mind,

My every thought.
It was Bands by MPR. Tyler stood up and held out his hand. Haley placed hers on his and he pulled her in close. They slow danced to all the tracks on the cd. Then they just sat in her room, talking about random things. At about noon, Haley’s mom called up to her “Haley, lunch!”
“Come on,” Haley grabbed his hand, “I want you to meet my mom.”
“Ok I guess.” Tyler took Haley’s hand. Tyler just realized something, that after all the girlfriends he has had he never met any of their parents. That made him even more nervous! He didn’t know what to say or how to act. His mind blanked out. The next thing he knew he was in her kitchen.
“Mom, this is Tyler.” Haley said.
“Hi, Tyler. Haley, will you set the table, soup will be ready in 5 minutes.”
Haley took Tyler to the table and pulled out a chair. He sat down and listened to the clanking of dishes then Haley sat down next to him. Haley’s mom brought three bowls of hot soup to the table, and sat down.
“So, Tyler, what sports do you play?”
“Um, I play soccer in the fall, wrestling and swimming in the winter, tennis in the summer, and track in the spring.” He said almost out of breath.
“What sport do you play right now?”
“Uh, soccer just ended and wrestling tryouts are on Friday.”
“I didn’t know that you wrestled!” Haley said.
“Now you do. I did a little wrestling in 8th grade.” He said bragging.
“Where you good?”
“Of course not,” he said joking around “but I was team captain.”
“Where’d you go to school last year?”
“Um, Jackson, why?”
“Just wondering.” Haley said smirking. No one spoke for a while. The silence was almost eerie. All you could hear was the clanking of spoons.
“So Tyler, have you had any injuries before?”
“Yeah, I broke both wrists, broke a few fingers, concussions, and broke a couple of ribs and some other stuff that I can’t remember.”
“Wow!” Haley and her mom both said at the same time. Haley quickly grabbed her spoon and finished her soup.
“Oh yeah, Ty, I want to show you something.” She put down her spoon and got up from the table, Tyler obediently followed. She led him down a dark hallway. They stooped in front of o large door.
“I bet you didn’t know that I play – well played a winter sport.”
“Oh yeah” he said kissing her.
“Yeah” she said kissing him back, “well I play . . . hockey.”
Tyler was so stunned that he just stood there with his mouth open, jaw on the floor. Haley opened the door. Tyler’s mouth opened more. On the far wall there was a hockey net. On the walls there were dozens of posters of famous hockey players, most of who are on the Detroit Red Wings, Haley’s favorite Hockey team. On the back wall there were four hockey sticks, one small, and one medium, one large. Next to the hockey sticks were two buckets full of hockey pucks. One full of hockey pucks that was unused. The other pucks had teeth marks in them, were scratched up and old. Tyler could tell that the first bucket was full of collector’s edition pucks, that weren’t for practicing with. Next to the hockey pucks was a CD player; next to the CD player was a pair of black NHL certified skates with red blade covers.
“Wow!” Tyler paused and tried to talk but no words came out.
“Yeah this is my hockey room. No one is allowed in here, not even my foster mom.”
Tyler still stood there awe struck, unable to speak. He finally was able to form the words, “You are so lucky!”


Chapter 8: The Voice

“I know.”
“It’s like you have your own secret hide-away!” it was getting easier for Tyler to form words now.
“Yeah!” she said laughing. Pretty cool, huh.”
“Have you seen this room!?”
They both laughed.
“Wanna play?” she asked.
“And let you beat my ass! No way!” he said, “I would rather do this.” He turned towards her and put his hands on her cheeks. They were warm. Haley liked it.
“Ooo I love a man that takes control!”
“Good then we will work out just fine.”
“Mmmm.”
As soon as Tyler’s lips touched Haley’s, she was no longer in the hockey room, but was soaring through clouds that looked like hearts. Now she was on a beach, with her toes in the warm sand. Then a pool in a fancy resort. Their kiss was interrupted by a loud bang. Then screams, then a gun shot.
Haley’s mind went hay-wire. She was having flashbacks. Haley snapped out of her flashback and back to reality, by the door slamming shut. Tyler had closed the door.
“What do we do?” he asked almost whispering.
“Umm, I don’t know.” Haley’s mind was starting to go hay-wire again.
“Haley!” Tyler said in a louder more firm voice, he grabbed her arms, “We have to get out of here!”
“Where?!?!” Haley said.
“Logan’s house is just a couple of blocks away.”
“Good we’ll go there, but we need to call the police first.”
Tyler whipped out his phone and started dialing furiously.
Then Haley heard a voice. A voice that had been haunting her for years. A voice that she had been trying to forget. A voice that was back to get her.
“Haley, Are you down her? Haley, I’m going to get you! I’m back!” the voice taunted her. It was getting closer. Haley’s life flashed before her eyes, again.
“The police are coming soon Haley” Tyler said barely whispering. “Until then they told us to get out!”
“Haley are you in here?” the voice taunted more.
Then before they could get to the window the door burst open. A man was standing in the door frame, with a gun pointed right at Haley. He looked like he had not showered in days, and he smelled like rotting fish. Haley recognized him as the man who supposedly loved her mom.
“Oh there you are I thought I lost you!”
“Well your right you did lose me” Haley said backing away from the window, “I thought they put you in jail?”
The man laughed, “Yes, they put me in jail for the rest of my life, and now I’m back. Back to finish what I started.” He cocked the gun, “tonight you will die, Haley Decker.”
“Wait but how did you- Tyler, no!” she yelled “Don’t-” but It was too late. Tyler collapsed with a thud on the floor. There was a burning sensation in his chest. Something warm and wet was spreading all over the front of his t-shirt. Now Tyler could barely breathe. He opened his mouth to talk but no words came out. He was gasping for air. Tyler was lying in a pool of blood. Haley knelt down next to him and started prayed that he wouldn’t die, but the annoying little voice in the back of her head was telling her, he just got shot in the chest, of course he’s going to die. But she prayed any way. Tyler’s vision was blurring. He heard slamming; he hoped it was the police. But it didn’t matter Haley was safe. He tried to talk again but instead mouthed the words I love you his eyes rolled back in his head and his eyelids shut, everything went dark.


Chapter 9: The Hospital

Tyler heard beeping, and wondered where in the world he was. But then again he never knew where he would wake up. He opened his eyes just enough to see where he was. It looked like a hospital. There was a figure sitting in a chair next to the bed he was in. His chest burned, with every breath he took. The figure in the chair was holding his hand. He opened his eyes more and saw that it was Haley in the chair. He squeezed her hand. She looked at him. He could tell that she had been crying. The tears had stained her face.
“Ty!” she whispered. He opened his mouth but was at a loss for words. He closed his eyes and opened them all the way. ‘I’m defiantly in the hospital’ he thought to himself. He squeezed Haley’s hand again.
“I’ll be right back, Okay.” She said running out of the room. Another squeeze. “Nurse, Nurse! He’s awake!” she yelled down the hall. The yelling echoed in the room and pounded against Tyler’s head. He wanted to tell Haley to be quiet, but his throat was to dry to talk. He felt so weak, all his body could do was squeeze a hand, and even that wasn’t a squeeze it was more like a spasm. Tyler wondered why it was so hard for him to breathe. It was never this hard before, or was it? He didn’t know anymore. He didn’t know much of anything anymore. Haley walked back into the room. He noticed that all around the room were flowers of all kinds and colors. There were so many cards there was piles of them stacked by the window. There were chocolate boxes, gift cards and, CD cases. ‘How long was I gone?’ he thought to himself. Haley grabbed his hand again and said “How do you feel?”
He managed to choke out one word, “Thirsty.” Haley laughed and walked into the bathroom. She came back with a small cup with flowers on it.
“Here.” She said. But Tyler’s arms didn’t move. His brain was telling them to move but they wouldn’t budge. “I’ll help you.” She put the cup on his lips and he chugged the entire thing. “Better?” she asked. He nodded.
“What happened?” he whispered.
“You saved my life,” She said looking at the floor, “You stepped in front of me. You took the bullet to save my life. How do you feel?” she said emphasizing the word you every time.
“My chest burns.” He said still whispering. “Why?”
“Your right lung collapsed.” She said grabbing his hand. “So, it’s going to be hard to breathe for a while, but it will get easier. The doctor said that you can’t play certain sports any more. Well you can play, but just not as many.” Haley took his hand and put it on his chest. She ran it down and he could feel a hole in his chest. It felt scabby and hard. He winced when he touched it. Man, it hurt more than anything he ever experienced.
“How long was I gone?” he asked. It was barley audible.
“A month.” She replied, “You went into a coma after you got shot. The police came right after you passed out. But before they could get to the basement they had to check the entire upstairs. When they were upstairs he tried to shoot me. Twice he shot and twice missed. I picked up one of my skates and threw off the blade cover and pretty much threw the razor sharp blade at him. I got him right in the chest. Right as he collapsed the police came in. They told me that my mom was shot in the leg but she would be okay, but they said you had a very slim chance of living. I was so scared Ty, you don’t understand.” A single tear rolled down Haley’s face, leaving more stain marks.
“Don’t cry, please, the only thing I don’t need now is-.” He said running out of breath. He was still barley audible. Haley wiped the tear off her face.
“I know it’s just that I thought I would never talk to you again.” Another tear took the place of the one that was just wiped off. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“Get in.” he said to her. He was lying in the middle of the bed, so there wasn’t much room, but Haley climbed in anyway. Because the bed was moving so much, the pain went from burning to searing.
“Ahh!” he yelped.
“Sorry.” She said. They got comfortable in the bed and Tyler asked Haley another question.
“Hal.”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you still here?” he asked, his voice almost back to normal.
“What do you mean?
“You’re moving, right?”
“Oh yeah, the owners of the house backed out on us, so I’m not moving. I’m staying here.”
“That’s great!” he said.
“Yeah it is, except that I’ve been living here for the past month!”
They both laughed. Tyler closed his eyes. Haley looked at him and said, “Ty, are you okay?”
“Yeah, fine, just a little tired.”
“How did he find us?”
“I don’t know.”
“How did he get out of jail?”
“I don’t know, but apparently he’s been missing for a week.” She said, “They didn’t think that he would find me.”
“But he did.”
“Yeah, it’ scary.”
“Where is he now?” Tyler asked.
“Well now he’s back at the jail. But in a higher security cell.”
“Will he come back, because I can’t take a bullet every time?” He laughed and closed his eyes.
“I know you can’t. But I still love you no matter what!”
They just laid there for a while. Tyler had used all his energy talking to Haley. ‘Wait’ he thought to himself ‘I was just asleep for a month, why am I tired now?’ But he didn’t care. All that mattered was that he was alive and he had his girlfriend. Everything he needed was in this very room.