Summertime Haze
Part 1.11 - Hayley
Henry’s ‘People Against Ellen’ group was starting to become more of a weekly thing. Ever Friday since it’s founding, the four of them gathered. And seeing that Ellen had more or less dropped off the face of the earth, the four regularly spent time focusing on each other’s individual issues. Today, they were focused on Jordan.
“So, you guys know my best friend, Hope, right? I think I’ve mentioned her before, but we were rivals back in culinary school…”
“We actually started out as roommates, and hit it off really well, but within a week, once class had started, everything became a competition.”
“I’d cook the better soufflé, she’d try to suck up to the teacher, I’d spent some time studying while she went out and found an apprenticeship. Well, at the end of it all, she passed the class with higher marks. It didn’t matter to me at the time, because, well, I thought we’d both be able to find good work. We’d both done well in school.”
“But now, she’s infinitely more successful. She runs her own catering business and is regularly hired by top notch restaurants when they want to switch up their menu. Sometimes, she’ll get me working too, saying I’m part of her business, but it just… it hurts. I feel like I’m doing nothing but accepting her pity, I feel so lame compared to her. And I just don’t know what to do.”
Henry raised his hand. “Um. Off topic question here, but is this the girl you experimented with that you mentioned? I just couldn’t help but wonder.”
Jordan laughed. “Oh no. Hope is as straight as they come, and we hated each other back then. It’d never happen.”
“Back on topic here,” Toby interrupted. “But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with accepting pity. Especially in this situation, this whole thing with Hope sounds like a source of income you wouldn’t be receiving otherwise.”
“Yeah, you’re right there. My main job only pays minimum wage.”
“Why don’t you try bringing Hope to one of these meetings, Jordan?” Bennett suggested. “We could all talk to her, see where she’s at and stuff.”
“We could even ask her to hire you permanently!” Henry added.
Jordan nodded slowly. “You know what? That right there might just be an idea.”
“I’ll bring my friend Paolo so Hope doesn’t feel totally singled out,” Toby said.
“That’s the guy who works alongside you as a personal trainer at the gym, right?” Jordan asked.
Toby nodded.
Jordan smiled. “Guys. I’m excited! This is going to be great.”
Their conversation was cut short by a sudden knock on the door.
The four of them shared a worried look. Who on earth could that be? Ever since Henry had realized what Ellen was trying to do, the three people in his house were the only people he talked to. There was no reason for anyone else to be knocking.
“Yoo hoo! Toby? I know you’re in there!” a feminine voice said through the door.
“That’s my wife!” Toby whispered to the three of them. He rushed to the door, and opened it.
Hayley stepped into the house, carrying a plate of cookies. “Hello, hello everyone! I’m Hayley, Toby’s wife. I’m sure you’ve heard of me from Toby…” She turned to Henry. “You must be Henry, I’ve seen you at church before. And….” she turned to Bennett. “The mohawk! You must be Bennett.” then she turned to Jordan. “And that makes you Jordan! So glad I finally got to meet you all, you’ve all become such good friends of Toby’s.”
She walked over to Henry’s kitchen and set the plate of cookies down. “I thought I’d stop by with a plate of cookies, both as a welcoming gift, and as a sympathy gift, because I’ve heard about what you’ve been going through, Henry. I can’t believe Ellen! I’ll have you know, I haven’t spoken to her at church since Toby explained to me what happened.”
“Well, uh, thanks. I appreciate that.”
“Any friend of Toby’s is a friend of mine. We do everything together, we believe in the same things, so if someone hurts one of his friends. I’m going to take it very personally.”
Hayley walked over to Toby and kissed him on the cheek. “Anyway, I was on my way to pick up the kids from daycare, I just thought I’d bake some cookies and stop by on my way. I hope to see you three again sometime, I would love to go out to a restaurant sometime! Have a lovely day, you all.”
Hayley left through the front door, and just like that, she was gone as suddenly as she’d arrived.
“Your wife definitely has quite the… presence,” Jordan said, breaking the silence.
“She loves being the center of attention,” Toby chuckled. “That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with her. She just has this certain draw, you know? And plus, she was the head cheerleader and I was the star of the football team. It only made sense."
“…is the only remarkable thing about me my mohawk?” Bennett muttered.
Jordan gasped. “Bennett! No. It just makes you very identifiable.”
“When describing you guys to Halyey, the easiest thing to describe is your mohawk, Bennett. I really don’t think there’s many others with a mohawk quite like yours,” Toby explained.
“It definitely does make quite the impression,” Henry agreed. “You and Regan both picked hairstyles that set you apart from everyone else.”
“Don’t even get me started on Regan,” Bennett groaned.
“That’s your sister, right?” Toby asked. “You barely ever talk about her.”
“That’s because she’s the definition of a brat,” Bennett sighed. “Just yesterday, I had to go pick her up at two in the morning because she was hanging out with the wrong crowd and got too wasted to drive. And then, of course, I had to villainize myself and tell our parents so they’d place her under house arrest.”
“I almost feel like her one goal right now is to set her self apart, and the only way she knows how to do that is by becoming the edgy teen who makes bad decisions,” Jordan sighed.
“I’m sure she’ll grow up eventually, just this phase is lasting way too long. I would have moved out a long time ago, but I feel like I need to stick around to be Regan’s big brother. It’s exhausting,” Bennett went on.
Bennett was cut short by yet another knock on the door.
“I bet that’s Hayley again, there’s probably something else she wants to say-“ Toby said.
Bennett cut him off. “If that’s Hayley, I’m opening the door. I want to be more than a mohawk in her eyes.”
He rushed to the door, and opened it wide to reveal… Ellen.
“Bennett?” she frowned. “Where’s Henry? I need to speak with him.”
Bennett crossed his arms. “You’re not entering this house. You’re not speaking with Henry. We know exactly what you were trying to do to him, and not one of his real friends is going to let you anywhere NEAR him, you evil witch. Get off his porch.”
“But you must understand, I need to apologize, I’ve learned my lesson-“
“Yeah, I doubt that. Don’t ever return here, got it?”
Bennett attempted to close the door, but Ellen stuck her foot in the way.
She looked into the house, and saw Henry, sitting between Jordan and Toby.
“Henry!” Ellen called out. “I only want to help you! You know that, right? I’m your school counselor!”
Henry ignored her completely.
Ellen moved on to the next person. “Toby! You and Hayley are such devout members of the Church, help out a fellow faithful, will you?”
“You’ve done nothing but twist the Mother’s words to fit your own backwards beliefs,” Toby said, shaking his head. “Don’t speak about faith to me. How about having faith in your friends?”
“Ugh!” Ellen screamed. “Other woman! You'd help me, because, because- Oh, this is worthless. Henry, I will find a way to talk to you, eventually, and help you realize that I was doing no wrong, that I was-“
While Ellen was distracted by attempting to talk to Henry, Bennett slammed the door and locked it, cutting Ellen short.
“Yeah, I definitely think Ellen is the worst of our problems,” Bennett said.