The Bad Things (Book 5)

Chapter 3. Silence

            The silence drove me mad. Hayden went out of his way to sit down at the park and talk to me the day before. However, he hadn't said a word to me since I walked through the door. I went out of my way to talk to him, but he would shrug, nod, or shake his head.

By the time our shift ended, he still hadn't said a word to me. I finished sweeping and went behind the counter. Hayden had his back turned as I approached him, and he turned around unexpectedly just as I raised my hand to tap him on the shoulder.

Hayden's entire body went rigid, and his nostrils flared. He cleared his throat and took a step back. The closeness bothered him, but I didn't understand why.

"Um," I grimaced. "Can I have your number?" As soon as the question escaped, I regretted it.

His eyes filled with confusion. "What?"

"I mean, if for any reason that I'm running late. It's happened to me before, and I've gotten fired for it. I'm never late intentionally, but you know. . ." I trailed off. "Car troubles, babysitter troubles, or my daughter. I'll give you mine too if you want." It came out so fast and awkward that I grimaced and wished I hadn't said anything.

The confusion in his eyes dissipated, and he nodded in understanding. "It's not really a problem if you run late for one of those reasons. You don't need to call me, or if it's last minute, you could just call the coffee shop if you know that I'm already here."

"I just really need this job, and I wouldn't want you to be unprepared if something like that happened. So, please," I said as politely as I could.

Hayden sighed and spun around. He grabbed a pen and a sticky note off the counter. He scribbled his name and number and handed it to me.

Wow, for a boy, he has some elegant writing. I tried to keep my expression light as I looked at the number. "This is a landline, isn't it? Don't you have a cell?"

"No, I only have a house phone," he muttered darkly.

"Um, oh. That's okay. Do you want mine?" I asked and gazed up at him.

He knitted his eyebrows together and shook his head. "I've never been late or missed work."

"Oh."

Hayden turned away from me and started to clean off a counter.

"C-can I ask you something?" Pressing my luck didn't seem like a good idea, but I had to ask, or it would drive me mad.

He sighed and turned to face me. He seemed so unwilling that it reminded me of when Stormy didn't want to go to bed.

I gave him a small smile.

"Why are you smiling?" he murmured. His gaze fell to my lips.

"I'm sorry. Your mood is just confusing me. You were fine yesterday, and today it is like you don't want to speak to me at all. Did I say something wrong?"

He took a deep breath and looked away. "No. I just don't have anything to say."

"You're very quiet."

Hayden's eyes locked with mine again. My breath caught in my throat. He shrugged, turned around, and went around the counter to the back room.

"Well then. . ." I spun around and started gathering things that needed to be put away for the night.

I didn't see Hayden again until we closed up the coffee shop for the night.