Strangely Beautiful, Chapter 7

I followed Hayden around for a really long time. He showed me how to do things around the farm, and we ended up laid back on a really large stack of hay. Uncle Roy approached us before long, but only to ask Hayden a few questions before he went back to his routine. We'd finished the work I was sent to do and even doubled over to finish Hayden's work to. I watched in awe as he herded cows that had gotten lose through a break in the fence that Uncle Roy had refused to fix.

"I hope he never fixes it. It may be a pain to get 'em back. But they look so happy roamin' free like that." He smiled. If this is what work would be like, I could get used to it. Sure, the hand-me-downs were awful and smelled like dirty socks, and the hours were a bit long, but it was fun just hanging out with Hayden. 

"So how ya like the farm, Vi?" He'd taken to calling me Vi, and I was okay with that, I could tell we'd be great friends anyway. 

"It's nice. A lot better now that I know I don't have to work alone." I laugh. I never liked being alone. Which would explain why I surrounded myself with people who didn't care about me. It just felt better than being alone. I'd go home later just to check the lying text messages expressing their missing of me. 

"Nah. You'll never be alone here. Not as long as I'm around." He smiles. "Y'know... Analee was right about you."

"Oh? And what exactly was Analee right about?" I knew I was talked about before I arrived, but I figured it was just awkward conversations about family members that lasted only a few seconds. That was all the talk I'd made about them, so I only assumed the same about them. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was the problem I had with my family. 

"She said you were out there. That your sense of style was crazy different from ours. That your hair color was odd. But... she said that all of that only made you strangely beautiful." It sounded like it should be an insult, but I knew it wasn't. While it wasn't the words I'd use to describe myself, I was still overjoyed at the fact that someone had connected me with those words.

"Aw. You're too sweet, Hayden." I smile, getting up to walk around for a little while, though I'm stopped by a familiar hand. One that's been on my shoulder the entire work day. 

"Hey, Vi... I've been thinking. I mean I know we just met, but-" He cut himself off, seemingly scrambling to find the right words and standing when he fails to. Though he seems to have found the perfect action as the back of his hand brushes my cheek before it rests on my shoulder. I feel the warmth of his chest as he closes in, eliminating the distance between us. At first, it felt weird. Seeing him close in, eyes closed, but I accepted it. My eyes fluttered shut and just before our lips met, a scream tears us apart. It wasn't a scream of terror. It sounded more like betrayal.

"Violet! What are you doing?" Analee screams at me. "Hayden! You should be ashamed! Leading her on like that!" She scolds him, punching him in the arm. "You know she's vulnerable! I told you about her situation, you know what she almost did! What are you even doing out here? Michael is supposed to show her around the farm!"

"Well he never showed up. So I found her and took her under my wing. Hell, with him showin her the ropes, she'd be even more lost than when I found her!" Hayden shouted back, it all was a complete shock. Was it already three? School was already out, and I hadn't realized. Where did that time go? It only felt like a few minutes!

"That ain't a good excuse!" She yells. "Michael's been wandering around for hours looking for her. Get back to your job and leave her alone." Hayden's spirit had seemingly broken. What he seemed to feel so strongly towards had shattered. He began to leave.

"Now you wait just a minute!" I shout at both of them. "You're not leaving. We finished your work already, where're you planning to go?" I ask him between giggles. "And you. Who put you in charge of my well-being? Last time I checked that was my mother's job and she moved me clear across the country in search of it. Leave that to her, because it's not your job." She didn't like that one bit, it was visible in her eyes as she did all she could do without leaving; glare.

"Alright." She gave in. "But when he breaks your heart and you do jump off the deep end, remember when you're standing at those pearly gates, owning up to your sins, that I warned you, Violet." She screams at the top of her lungs while storming out. It doesn't take me long to figure out the problem. Analee is in love with Hayden. I'm an intruder now. I can feel the mental scar tear a little as a tear falls out and I crouch down, hug my knees, and cry.