Touch of Innocence

5

I got my hair chopped the other day and I'm not doing well. My hair was around boob length and then my hairdresser cut it shorter than what I wanted, so now it touches the tops of my shoulders. Now I'm experiencing a crisis.

"He's so cute, Hadley!" Paisley squealed while scrolling through a boy's Instagram.

Hadley looked at the phone. He was cute, but not that cute. She shrugged her shoulders.

"How can you shrug your shoulders like that? He and I are going to get married one day." Paisley closed her eyes and a smile appeared on her face as she thought about marrying the boy.

Hadley rolled her eyes at her dramatic reaction. "We are only 13, Paisley."

"So? Some people fall in love when they are younger than us."

Hadley shrugged again. She had a point, but Hadley knew Paisley wasn't in love. She had a silly schoolgirl crush on a new boy every week.

"Girls!" She heard Clay's voice from outside her bedroom.

"Clay's home," Hadley said, standing up from the floor. He was bringing ice cream back with him.

"Ya know who else is good looking? Clay," Paisley said. Hadley couldn't help a jealous feeling that stirred within her.

They left Hadley's room and walked to the kitchen where Clay was.

"Hi, Clay," Hadley greeted.

"What's up, baby?" He asked, hugging Hadley to his side.

"Mmmm nothing very special. Paisley and I were in my room."

Clay nodded his head and pulled out the ice cream he'd gotten for the girls. "How are you, Paisley?"

"I'm great. Thanks, Clay," she responded, smiling at him.

Hadley rolled her eyes as Paisley stared very openly at Clay. Paisley had had a crush on Clay since they first met and Hadley knew about it, but she didn't like it. She couldn't explain why she felt the way she did and really there was no justification for her jealously, but she felt it nonetheless. Paisley was a beautiful girl who caught the eye of all the boys at school, but she had a crush on her Clayton.

Hadley sat down at the barstool in the kitchen and pulled her ice cream toward herself. It looked so good. She and Clay both liked fudge brownie and cookie dough ice cream. When Paisley realized that she and Clay got it together all the time, she started getting it too.

"You and I are going over to my parent's house tonight, okay," Clay said while he ate his ice cream.

"Okay. Is Amy going to make the noodles I like?"

"Yeah. She said she'll make them for you."

She smiled a large smile. Clay's cooking was alright, but nothing beat Amaryllis's cooking, especially the buttered noodles she made with sausage and steamed broccoli. It was Hadley's favorite meal.

Hadley looked over at Paisley. "I wish you weren't going to your aunt's house so you could come with us."

"Me too," Paisley sighed. "I don't like that woman. She's so annoying, for absolutely no reason. The last time my parents and I were there, she started arguing with my parents because I was wearing makeup. According to her, 13-year-olds should still be wearing pull-ups and onesies."

Hadley giggled. "She is very difficult to be around."

After they finished their ice cream, Paisley's parents arrived to pick her up. They had to be at her aunt's house for an early dinner, much to Paisley's dismay.