You're the Closest to Heaven That I'll Ever Be, Page 3

  Ch. 3

  “Mom, Dad, I'm home.” Lily called out as she entered the house, pulling Hayden along behind her and slamming the door. “I'm going to my room.” She started pulling Hayden up the stairs.

  She got no response; no acknowledgement at all. She was lucky if she got a 'hello'. Her parents didn't talk to her much. In fact, they treated her as if she wasn't even there at all. Lily could do pretty much whatever she wanted and her parents would act as if she wasn't even there. You would think that would be a teenager's dream but not to Lily. All she wanted was to be accepted by her parents.

  “Your parents don't care I'm here?” Hayden asked as she dragged him up the stairs.

  “Oh, yeah. They don't really care about what I do.” Lily said as they reached the top of the stairs.

  She pulled him around the corner, down the hallway and led him into her pale pink room. It had always been too girly for her. She tried to cover the walls with band posters but you could still see the pink walls.

  She walked over and hopped on the bed that sat in the middle of the room and was pushed up against the back wall. She patted the spot next to her to tell Hayden to sit next to her.

  “So tell me,” Lily said as Hayden hopped on the bed next to her. “What school do you go to? Tell me about yourself.”

  “Oh, I don't go to school yet... I'm going to start at Riverview High on Monday.” Hayden said.

  “Shut up! I go to Riverview!” Lily exclaimed.

  Hayden's eyes brightened. “Really?! That makes me feel so much better about going to a new school.”

  There was a soft knock on the door and Lily's mother poked her head in.

  “I thought I heard an unfamiliar voice.” She said. “Want to introduce me to your new friend, Lily?”

  “Oh, this is Hayden. He just moved here and he had no friends so I told him I would be his friend.” Lily explained.

  “Oh, that's nice.” Her mom said. “Well, Hayden, you're welcome to stay as long as you would like.”

  “Thanks...” Hayden tried to hide his face behind his hair. He got a little shy about meeting parents and other adult figures.

  Lily's mom nodded slightly and closed the door behind her.

  “She seems nice.” Hayden observed.

  “Yeah, well I didn't say my parents weren't nice. They just don't pay attention to me much.” Lily scooted herself back against the pillows at the head of the bed and Andy followed. “Wanna watch a movie?” Lily asked.

  “Uh, sure... What do you want to watch?” Andy said.

  “Well, I've always wanted to watch Sweeney Todd.” Lily admitted.

  “Oh, yeah? My friend Chance and I did a video based on Sweeney Todd. But that was before I moved...”

  “Really? That's so cool! I'd love to see it sometime.” She smiled at him. “Okay, let's watch this movie.” Lily put the movie in and snuggled up to Hayden on the bed.

  She rested her head on his shoulder and he placed his arm around her. As the movie started, Lily already felt her eyelids grow heavy. She hadn't been sleeping well the past few days. She tried to fight off the sleep a little longer but eventually her lids slipped shut and she was surrounded by sweet sleep.

  She felt like only minutes had gone by when she finally opened her eyes again. When she woke up, Hayden was still holding her and he was playing with her silky, black hair, humming a tune to himself.

  "Oh, sorry..." Hayden pulled his hand away from her head when he noticed she was awake.

  "No, it's okay. It felt nice, keep going." She laid her head back down on his chest and slowly fell back asleep to his comforting touch and the soft sound of his breathing.

  Ch. 4

  The hallways buzzed with various conversations as everyone tried to get to where they needed to be.

  “So, do you think that you can find your way around?” Lily asked, handing Hayden's schedule back to him.

  “Yeah, I think so...” Hayden looked down at his class schedule.

  “Okay, good. I have to get to class. My teacher will kill me if I'm late but the hallways seem to be clearing up. You should be able to find your way around a little better. And if you're late for class, just explain that you're new here, okay?”

  Hayden nodded and watched her walk down the hallway and around the corner. Once she had disappeared from view, he turned and began to make his way down the long, empty hallway. When he was about half way down the hallway, a couple of upperclassmen boys turned the corner at the end of the hall and started walking towards him.

  “Hey, are you the new kid?” The taller of the two boys called out.

  Hayden looked up at them behind his long, black bangs. “Yeah... I'm... I am...” Hayden slowed his pace.

  “Well, let us give you a proper welcome.” The other one said before he pushed Hayden into the lockers behind him.

  He took hold of Hayden's shirt, pulled him forward and then slammed him back against the lockers. Each time his back hit the wall of lockers, he was called a different name. They finished off with a right hook and hit him in the side of the face.

  “Emo faggot!” They called back at him as they laughed together down the hall away from Hayden.

  He knew Ohio wouldn't be different. He told his parents that it wouldn't be. No one was going to accept him for who he was. They couldn't see past the makeup, the piercings, and the long black hair.

  But then he remembered Lily. She accepted him; she looked past his appearance. But she wasn't there to protect him; to tell him that everything would be okay.

  Hayden turned into the bathroom to fix his hair so his bangs covered his newly forming black eye.

  When he walked back out to the hallway, Lily stood there talking to someone.

  “Oh, hey, Hayden!” Lily walked over to him. “I've been looking all over for you.”

  “Oh...” Hayden reached up to make sure his black eye was hidden. “Well, here I am. What's up?”

  “Well, I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out with me after school?”

  Hayden smiled. “Yeah, I'd like to do that.”

  "Great!" Lily clapped her hands together once. “Want to meet back here after class?”

  “Sure.” Hayden nodded.

  He expected her to just turn around and go back to her class but instead she did something that surprised him. She skipped over to him, placed a light kiss on his cheek and then turned to go back to class. Maybe the rest of this day wouldn't be as bad as the start.