Most votes from the previous chapter go to Hayden! Here's a little chapter about his past. It might be surprising to most of you, though. (;

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Chapter 22

Hayden’s Point of View

                A gorgeous red head sat across the room from where I was, a dazed and distant look in her emerald green eyes. She always had this tough, overly confident exterior about her, but deep inside her sharp, cat-liked eyes, I knew that she was broken.

                And who broke her, you may ask?

                Me.

                I was the boy that crushed and ruined who Aubrey Small once was. Aubrey used to be sweetest girl I knew, even crying when she accidentally stepped on an ant when we were younger. The two of knew each other when we were just kids, not even starting the first grade yet. I remember her coming over to my house everyday as a child, because our mothers were the best of friends. I still remember how she use to hide behind her mother’s leg, cheeks turning the same color as her dark gingered hair.

                The two of us grew up together, and I even knew her longer than I’ve known Alex. I’ve always loved her in a way more than a friend should, but I never thought she felt the same way. But in the seventh grade, Alex finally urged me to ask out one of my best friends, the girl of my dreams.

                I can still remember how wide my smile was when she said yes.

                We went out for two years, and I actually thought that she was the one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

                Aubrey Small was my everything.

                That’s why I’ll never forget the day I completely betrayed her.

                Just the summer before we started to go to the ninth grade, a few of Alex’s and my older friends introduced us into the world of alcohol and weed. So, just a week before high school started, Daniel Reynolds’ threw a big back to school party at his house. Aubrey was hesitant to come, because it was going to be her first party without parents and with beer and weed. I assured her that I would be by her side the entire time, watching out for her.

                But things got caught up too quickly, and everything was moving just a little too fast.

                Two hours after the party started, I was completely drunk and wasted. Aubrey was no longer by my side, and I was upstairs, shirtless with Tammy Pine.

                The door suddenly barged open, as Aubrey stood by the doorway, eyes watery. I’ll never forget the look in those beautiful, glassy green eyes, so full of hurt, betrayal and pain.

                I caused all of those emotions.

                Before I could roll off of Tammy and chase after my girl, she was already long gone. I remember rushing out of the room, trying to look for Aubrey. But by the time I searched the entire house, I knew she was gone. One stupid mistake, and my best friend and love of my life slipped out of my fingertips.

                And on the first day of school, Aubrey Small came back a different person.

                She was no longer that shy, innocent doll who got cheated on.

                She was strong, cold and the girl who cheats.

                She walked right by me on that very first day of school with another man beside her.

                But despite how much I’ve hurt her, she never told a soul about that night. She never told a soul about how I cheated on her.

                And ever since then, I’ve never been able to find myself in a steady relationship without thinking about how much I wanted my old Aubrey back.

                “Hayden?” Alex pushed my shoulder, interrupting me from my thoughts.

                I snapped out of trance, as I stared up at Alex. He was raising his eyebrows down at me curiously. Then, when he studied my face for a little longer, he knew what I was thinking about.

                He knew that I was thinking about the girl I used to love so badly.

                When I first told him years ago, he judged me. He shouted at me, telling me how much I fucked up, and how I would never be able to find another girl that would love me as much as Aubrey used to.

                And I knew he was right.

                “Okay, for this semester’s final project, I want you to partner up!” Mrs. Norman, our home economics teacher, announced.

                “Do we get to choose partners?” a girl in the front of the class asked.

                Mrs. Normal rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Hell no.” she snapped. “The last time I allowed you all to pick partners, Hayden and Alex decided it would be funny to throw eggs at each other.” She shot us a glare.

               A few people in the class made groaning noises, as Mrs. Norman pulled out a clipboard from the drawer in her desk. “I’ve already assigned you all partners, so…”

                “Charlotte and Alex.”

                “Janie and Elliot.”

                “Hayden and Aubrey.”

                My head immediately snapped up, as I stared at Mrs. Norman with wide eyes. Did she really just-?

                “Excuse me?” Aubrey snarled, as her voice full of malice filled the room.

               Mrs. Norman lowered her glasses to the bride of her nose, raising an eyebrow. “What’s wrong Aubrey?” she asked.

                Aubrey clenched her jaw, and she could tell that I was looking at her, but she wouldn’t even dare to look me in the eyes.

                She still hated me.

                “I don’t think you assigned me the right partner.” She gritted through her teeth, those full, pink pouty lips of hers pressing together tightly.

                “Who would you like me to assign you with then, Miss Small? Someone who will do all the work while you sit there filing your nails?” Mrs. Norman asked, as Aubrey gave her a glare. “Continuing on to the list, Trevor and Nina.”

                And for the first time in years, Aubrey’s emerald green eyes locked into mine from across the room. At first, they were blank, as if she was trying to remember something. But, they soon turned cold and harsh, as she gave me a glare.

                After Mrs. Norman was done with the list, she told us to get into our assigned groups. I watched as Aubrey wouldn’t even get up from her chair, so I moved over to take the empty seat beside her. I could tell that she was trying her best to ignore me, much to my disappointment.

                “This project will count as fifty percent of your final grade. So if you’re planning to slack on this project, you can kiss your final average goodbye.” She warned, raising an eyebrow at everyone. “Now that it’s all clear, your project will be to cook or bake something that I have taught you during this semester. It can be that Baked Ziti we made two months ago, or even that red velvet cake from a month ago.”

                “Red velvet is your favorite kind of cake, right?” I whispered over to Aubrey.

                I still remember from the time we were in the fifth grade, and Aubrey was turning ten years old. Her parents surprised her with a very large, heart shaped velvet cake. I still remember how many slices Aubrey ate that night.

                At first, Aubrey looked surprised, even relieved to see that I remembered. But she replaced the look with a scowl on her face, as she crossed her arms. “No. It’s not.”

                I frowned. “What? But you ate six slices on your tenth-“

                “Shut up!” she hissed, giving me a glare. “Cake is for fat asses.”

                Aubrey was never like this before I hurt her.

                “Okay.” I muttered, scratching the back of my neck nervously. “You can come over to my house tonight so we can decide what we want to do, okay?”

                The bell rang, as if on cue, as Aubrey gathered up all of her stuff. She stood up, before she stared down at me with cold eyes. “I’m only doing this for my grade.” She muttered, walking off.

*

                “Do you want to come over tonight?” Alex asked, his arms snaked around Aerial’s waist. Aerial gnawed on her lower lip, trying to hide her bright pink cheeks with her curtain of brown hair. “A bunch of the guys will be over.”

                I was about to say yes, until I remembered that I had to do the home economics project with Aubrey tonight. I gulped, feeling nervous just thinking about her coming over to my house. She hasn’t stepped foot in it since the eighth grade. “I-I can’t.” I rubbed my sweaty palms. “Home economics project, remember, Alex?”

                Alex blinked with surprise. But he nodded, completely understanding. He didn’t question me at all, because he already knew the entire story.

                “So, what’s this home economics project about?” Aerial asked, turning to Alex.

                Alex rolled his eyes immediately, shaking his head. “We have to bake or cook something for some stupid final project or whatever. Worst of all, in partners.” He groaned.

                Aerial raised an eyebrow curiously. “Who’s your partner?”

                “Charlotte.” He shrugged. “She’s probably going to do all the work anyways, so easy A for me.”

                Aerial chuckled. “Then I guess I don’t have a reason to be jealous now, do I?”

                Alex smirked, leaning over to peck Aerial on the cheek. A blush appeared on each side of her cheeks, as she rolled her eyes. “What about you, Hayden? Who are you partnered with?”

                I flinched, as I stared down at my half eaten sandwich. “Aubrey.” I muttered.

                Aerial immediately laughed, as she covered her mouth with her hand. “Are you serious?” she choked. “I feel so bad for you! She’s a complete bitch!”

                I clenched my fists under the table. I shouldn’t be mad at Aerial for hating Aubrey, especially after Aubrey’s tormented her and Clarice since the freshman year, but I couldn’t help myself. My blood was boiling in my veins.

                “Don’t say that about her.” I growled, shoving my seat back. I stood up, as Aerial’s eyes widened. She frowned, looking unsure of what she did wrong.

                I regretted blowing up on her like that, but I just couldn’t stop myself from being mad for some reason. Aerial had every right to hate Aubrey.

                I shook my head, as I turned to walk out of the lunch room.

                “Did I do something wrong?” I heard Aerial ask before I left.

*

                My doorbell rang at nine later that night. I’d taken the time earlier to take a shower, and even spray some of that expensive cologne from my father’s drawer. I raced downstairs once I heard the door open, and found my mother greeting Aubrey. I watched as my mother’s jaw dropped, as she pulled in Aubrey for a tight hug.

My mouth literally dropped once I saw how beautiful she looked with her red hair cascading down her back in loose waves.

                “Aubrey, honey, I haven’t seen you in ages!” my mother squealed, wide smiles plastered all over her face.

                For the first time in years, I saw a real smile from Aubrey Small. It wasn’t one of those forced, sarcastic ones that never met your eyes, it was real. Her eyes glittered as a small laugh escaped her rosy red lips.

                “I didn’t expect it to be you when Hayden said he was going to have someone over!” my mother laughed. “He even took a shower for you!”

                My cheeks turned red, as I appeared from behind the wall. I gave my mother a tight smile, as she clamped a hand over her lips. “Oops!” she teased. “I’ll catch up with you later, Aubrey.” My mother giggled, before disappearing off to her room.

                I scratched the back of my neck, as I began to lead Aubrey over to the kitchen. “So, I’ve got the ingredients for basically everything we’ve learned in class, since my mother’s a huge cooker and everything. And you know, she just likes to experiment and do-“

                Aubrey interrupted me with a cough, as she crossed her arms, leaning on the counter. “Does she have ingredients for red velvet cake?”

                A smile stretched onto my lips, as I nodded. “I’m pretty sure she does.”

                An hour later, we had the cake made, and ready to be baked in the oven. I’ve been trying to catch Aubrey’s glance for a while now, but not once did she look over at me. I knew she was trying her best not to, as well.

                “Okay, so we have to let it bake for another hour.” I said, washing my hands that were covered in cake batter. “Do you want to go up to my room?”

                Aubrey pursed her pouty lips, as she shrugged. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

                I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach, as I gave her a weak smile. “Come on. You haven’t seen my room since the eighth grade.” I saw her shoulders tensing up. “Aren’t you curious about how it looks now?”

                Aubrey clenched her jaw, staring down at the floor. “Fine, whatever.” She muttered, following my way up to my room.

                When she walked in, her face fell, as she gave me a glare. “There’s nothing different about your room.”

                I bit my lower lip, shaking my head. A weak smile formed onto my lips, as I tried to lift the tension between us. “My covers are now blue.”

                I caught Aubrey’s lips twitching up for a slight second, before that scowl appeared on her face again. “They were always blue, Hayden.”

                “I’m glad you remember.” I said.

                Something flashed across Aubrey’s eyes, as she took in a deep breath of air. “It must be a coincidence, then.” She mumbled, eyes roaming around my room. Her eyes finally stopped at the top of my nightstand, specifically the picture frame that was on it.

                It was a picture from our eight grade prom, when I asked her to go with me. The two of us were laughing, my arms around her waist. She was wearing a cherry red dress that matched her fiery red hair, and I was wearing a black dress shirt with a matching red bow.

                “You still have that?” she asked, voice shaky and unconfident, like it usually was.

                I bit my lower lip, nodding. “Yeah.”

                Her face went pale, as she picked up the frame, running her fingers across the glass. “Why?”

                My eyes studied her saddened green eyes. I held in my breath, noticing that it was the first time I’ve seen Aubrey Small display real emotion in literally three years.

                “It’s not something I’d like to forget, that’s why.” I whispered.

                I watched as she flinched. She licked those full red lips of hers, as she set the picture frame back down. The oven from downstairs let out a beep, signaling that the cake was nearly finished baking.

                “Let’s go get that cake.” She muttered.

                I sighed with disappointment, as Aubrey headed downstairs. Before we reached the kitchen, she surprised me by turning around, locking her eyes into mine.

                “Give me a copy of the picture, will you?” she asked.