Chaotic Sanity: Chapter 2- Saturday

It was finally here- Saturday. My official date with Hailie Jade. I threw the blankets off in the morning and sprinted downstairs. My parents were in the kitchen, discussing business that I didn't really care about. Mom spotted me grabbing an apple and trying to sneak back up the stairs.

"Jayden, you seem very excited," She pointed out, suspiciously. I turned and smiled at her as I walked backwards up the stairs.

"It's Saturday," I answered, coolly.

In my room I got dressed and headed back out to the coffee shop, since I hadn't been there in a few days. When I passed the alley where I found Hailie and stopped to remember. I looked down the alley to where she had been crying that day and for some reason there were certain things about Hailie Jade that had been weighing on my mind heavy. I shook my head, to clear my mind and started toward the door of the coffee shop again.

I ordered my coffee and sat down at a small table in the back. What was I going to do until eight? I pulled out my phone and decided to call my friend, Jimmy, who was on vacation in Miami with his floks. I hadn't talked to him in a few weeks and I could tell hime everything that had been happening. He was sort of a street kid, kind of like Hailie, but he was a cool guy and plus we'd grown up together.

He answered on the second ring with a cheerful 'what's up man?' and I started to tell him everything about Hailie. He listented carefully and I knew that he was intrigued, too.

"So, what do you think, Jim?" I asked when I was done explaining the endless loop that had been playing in my mind the other night.

"Hailie Jade Anthony..." He trailed off. "That name sounds really farmiliar..."

"Well, you might have heard about her mom- she commited suicide and it was all over the news," I suggested.

'No," He laughed, "I don't watch the news! But the name sounds farmiliar from somewhere else, I just can't put my finger on it."

I sighed. "That makes the two of us."

"It's okay, dude, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon. Hell, maybe I'll remember," He laughed.

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I found it just a little weird that so many people knew Hailie Jade. And people from the Upper East Side, too. I'm just saying,she lives in Brooklyn and goes to school there. If there was no reason to come out this way, why come? I pursed my lips, thinking, and got up to leave. I had barely killed half an hour. GREAT.

There was literally nothing to do but wander the streets all day and then head home. I had always thought about getting a summer job, but my parents always had me convinced that I didn't need one. Unfortuantely, no job meant more free time and more time to kill.

A fews hours passed and it was finally seven-thirty and I was ready to go already. Would it really make a difference if I showed up early? I didn't think so.

"Mom, Dad, I'm going to head down there already. Is that okay?" I asked. They were both in their room, looking in the mirror while my mom put on earrings and my dad fixed his tie. Mom looked at me in the mirror.

"Darling, this is supposed to be a FAMILY event. It's bad enough that your letting some lower class girl from Brooklyn tag along," She laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"Mom, we've been over this already," I reminded her.

"Just run along, son," Dad said, still trying to figure out how to put his tie on. I smiled a little and left them to finish getting ready.

I waited for the car to pick me up and drop me off and in fifteen minutes I was there. I waited by the steps of the building, humming a cheerful song to myself. I just realized I wasn't even sure what this even was for exactly. I knew it was a charity thing, but which one? Hmm...it'd never really occured to me to find out the details of this thing- I'd been sort of busy with other problems lately.

I knew there were already a few people inside already, but I wanted to wait for Hailie Jade. I looked at my watch- eight o'clock. Another two minutes passed and more people and paparazzi were arriving. I looked down the street as some people took my picture and finally saw what I was looking for. I smiled hugely as I saw Hailie walking towards me in a short, strapless white dress and a black belt around her waist. The dress hugged her body perfectly and made her light brown hair seem lighter.

She looked down shyly and met me at the steps.

"You look beautiful," I whispered in her ear. She blushed and cameras flickered as we made our way inside. I lead the way to our own private table that I had reserved before hand. I didn't want my parents making her feel uncomftorable the entire time.

"Um, you never told me what charity this is for exactly," She whispered as we sat down. I laughed nervously.

"I never exactly found out myself. I wasn't really planning on coming until you said you'd go with me," I admitted. She smiled at me in disbelief and laughed.

The lights dimmed and they started the presentation. Neither me, nor Hailie Jade paid much attention. We spent most of the time stealing glances at each other, then laughing under our breath. The only thing we heard was when the presentor said, "Now please enjoy the rest of the party and don't forget to make a donation."

We immeadiately stood and I took her hand in mine as the music played and people began to mingle. I spotted my parents walking toward us and groaned.

"What is it?" Hailie asked.

"My parents," I responded.

"Oh, Jayden, there you are," Mother said, approaching us. "I was wondering where you'd run off too. Ah, and you must be Hailie Jade." She turned towards Hailie.

"Um, yes, that's me." They shook hands awkwardly and my father stayed silent.

"Hailie Jade," I cut in, "These are my parents and Mom, Dad, this is Hailie. So, um, we're going to go look around." I took Hailie's hand and lead her away.

"That was kind of awkward," I laughed.

"It's okay, Jayden, really." She smiled.

"Would you like to dance?" I asked, slowly pulling her to the ballroom floor where others were twirling elegantly.

"I'd love to," She agreed with an even bigger smile.

We danced and talked for a few minutes until her smile faded and she frowned into the distance. I looked in the same direction, but I couldn't tell who she was frowning at.

"Is everything all right?" I asked. She was still frowing in the other direction.

"Yeah," She looked up at me, still frowning. "Um, is that the mayor's daughter over there?" She asked and now at least I knew who she was looking at. I looked over at the girl with short black hair and a red cocktail dress.

"I think it is, why?" I looked back down at her. She smiled awkwardly.

"No reason, I just know her, that's all."

"Okay, did you want to go say hello?" I asked, confused. She looked at me with a smug expression on her face and stopped dancing.

"Oh, I'd love to," She grabbed my hand and lead the way. But as we got closer she let me go and crossed her arms.

"Melissa," She said coldly and I stood back to watch. I knew this probably wasn't my business, but I was still curious. The mayor's daughter looked at her surprised and sent away the people that were around her.

"Hailie Jade, what are are you doing here?" She took a deep breath and looked around.

"Does it matter? What does matter is that your never going to pull that kind of crap again. We wouldn't want Daddy to know how you've been spending your inheritance, would we?" She had a smug grin on her face and I was completely lost.

"You wouldn't," Melissa challenged, "You know what would happen." Again Hailie just smiled.

"Oh, trust me, you would have a much worse fate than me, considering who you are and who Daddy is. Besides considering who I 'know' and the proof I have I'm sure I could simply give them that in exchange for my freedom. You know how they are."

I could tell Melissa was speechless from something Hailie Jade had said and I was also sure that Hailie was speaking in code because she knew I was right behind her.

"Well," Hailie said, cheerful again, "it was great to see you again, but I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon, won't I? We have to keep in touch." She smiled sweelty and grabbed my hand to take me away. We sat back down at our table while everyone else continued to mingle.

"What was that all about?" I finally asked. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Don't worry, Jayden, it was nothing."

"It didn't look like nothing. Hailie Jade, I know you've been keeping secrets from me and-"

"Hey there, kids!" Dad sat in the chair next to me and put an arm around my shoulders. I looked at him, irratated.

"What do you want, Dad?" I asked, annoyed.

"Sorry, son, I couldn't find your mother and I was just wondering what was happening with you two." He smiled fakely and I knew my mother most likely sent him over here to sabatoge me and Hailie.

"We were kind of in the middle of something, now go find Mom." I pushed him away and he got up with a frown at me and a fake smile at Hailie Jade.

"So, um, where were we?" Hailie asked.

"What are you hiding?" I asked again. She looked down and sighed.

"Look, Jayden, you don't exactly know everything about me..." She trailied off.

"Then tell me," I encouraged. Her head shot up to look me in the eye.

"No. I'm sorry, but not until I know I can trust you completely. Unless you somehow figure it out on your own, I'm afraid your just going to have to wait for me."

Again with the codes and secrets! I knew that if these words were coming out of anyone else's mouth I wouldn't have been so stupid, but at this moment, these words being said by Hailie Jade Anthony, they sounded a million times more right than they did wrong. I looked down and sighed.

"Okay," I agreed. She put a hand on my cheek and pulled my face up. She kissed me softly on the lips- our first kiss- and pulled away after a few seconds.

"Thank you," She whispered. I couldn't help but smile and lean my forehead on hers. This was headed somewhere bad and I could feel it. But I couldn't tear myself away from it like I normally would've done when I had this type of feeling.

The rest of the evening went by smoothly and soon it was time to leave. I decided to ditch the car that was picking me up and walk Hailie Jade home. My parents would be angry, but I was already angry with them.

"So, did you have fun?" I asked, putting my arms around her waist and pulling her close.

"Yes, everything was perfect and I'm not exactly used to that. Thank you." She hugged me and I hugged her back.

"I really enjoyed having you there, Hailie Jade. But I'm sorry about my parents- their a little uptight." I apologized sincerely.

"No, its okay, Jayden. Trust me, my family isn't exactly that great either. The only good thing is that with my foster mom, Kelly, if you respect her privacy she won't bother you. So I'm pretty free with her."

"That sounds nice. I pretty much have freedom, too, except when I have to come to these things. And my parents usually excpect me at dinner every night, too." I frowned.

"Oh, that doesn't sound that bad. Hey, um, I was wondering if tomorrow maybe you'd like to come over to my house? My family is having a barbeque and since I met your parents, maybe you could meet Kelly and Melanie." She sounded a bit nervous and embarrassed. Cute. I smiled.

"I'd love to." We stopped walking when it was time to go our seperate ways and she looked up at me.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, right?" She asked, wanting to comfirm it.

"Of course," I assured her.

I leaned in and kissed her, then flashed a smile before leaving for home. I was actually sort of nervous to meet her family. I mean, what if they didn't like me? Hailie didn't seem like the type of girl to care much about what her family thought, but it was still important to me.