Page 54 of I Always Will

“Can you call them and let them know? Hailey’s a bit… scared.” She wasn’t sure how much she was supposed to tell them, but, if she wanted this to be a safe refuge for Hailey—and she really did—she’d need to tell her parents something.

“Alexandria, what’s going on?”

She shuffled her feet, looking around the kitchen and thinking of Hailey outside and whether telling her mum was a betrayal of their friendship.

Her mum moved to the sink, washed her hands, and dried them before placing them on Alexandria’s shoulders. “Whatever it is, you can tell me, but I need to know what’s going on, Alexandria.”

Her mum wasn’t the softest of mothers, but she was reassuring.

“Do you promise you won’t say anything?” she asked, looking intently at her mum.

“I promise,” Susan said. Something flickered across her expression that Alexandria didn’t understand, but it cleared quicker than she could ask about it.

She needed Hailey to be welcome here. She needed her parents to call the Davis family and tell them Hailey was here. She needed to tell a grown-up something.

She took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her mum all of the important details that would get her to allow Hailey to stay over. She was careful to ensure her mum knew the Davises weren’t hurting Hailey or her brother physically, and she left out her dad’s drinking and plate breaking, but she said enough that her mum understood the need for Hailey to have a peaceful night away from it all.

When she was done, her mother watched her with a mix of sadness and something complicated she didn’t know the name for. “Okay. Hailey can stay over. She can stay whenever she likes, but we always have to let her parents know, okay? You can’t be sneaking her into your room without telling us. Even if she shows up in the middle of the night. I’m not suggesting that’s a good idea, but, if she does do that, I’d rather know about it and inform her parents than have you hide it. Understand?”

Alexandria nodded then paused. “What if she’s scared they’re going to yell at her?”

Susan held her gaze seriously. “Even then. I promise I will do the calling and will deal with their anger, but they absolutely have to know. If I didn’t know where you’d disappeared off to, I’d be calling the police. And that’s the last thing anyone needs. So, you tell me and I’ll deal with it. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

Alexandria still wasn’t sure if she’d be able to betray her friend’s trust if Hailey didn’t want her telling her parents, but her mother made a good point. She nodded. “Take it.”

“Great. Tell her to come in then. What does she like for dinner?”

“Oh.” Alexandria shrugged, realising she wasn’t entirely sure. “I’ll ask.”

As she bolted back towards the door to let Hailey in, two-year-old Daniel started wailing from the living room.

“Susan,” Alexandria’s dad called from beside the crying child, “the baby needs looking after.”

Alexandria beamed at Hailey. “She said you can stay and she’ll call your mum. We just have to give her your number. And she wants to know what you like for dinner.” She was practically bouncing with excitement. She liked being around Hailey so much and, if Hailey was staying over, that meant they were proper friends.

“Really?” Hailey asked, looking delighted and relieved and like she couldn’t quite believe she wasn’t simply being sent back home tonight.

“Really, really.”

“That’s so cool,” she breathed, looking up at the house. It wasn’t anything special but she was glad Hailey seemed to like it enough to stay.

She smiled, feeling all warm inside, and led Hailey into the house.

Her mum was still in the living room, rocking Daniel, though he seemed to have calmed down while Alexandria was outside. From the look her dad gave them, her mum had given him the brief version while she was out of the house.

“Alexandria,” he said, “you’ve made yourself a friend. Good to see. It’s been a while since you’ve had anyone over.”

Alexandria kind of wanted to die on the spot. She finally had a really great, cool friend, who came to her house, and her dad was going to mention that she didn’t have any friends? Hailey would never speak to her again at this rate.

“Dad, this is Hailey,” she said, attempting to ignore the way she could feel herself blushing. “Hailey, this is my mum, my dad, and my little brother, Daniel.”

Hailey smiled at Alexandria’s parents, far more confident around them than Alexandria ever was around other people’s parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Daley, it’s nice to meet you. Thank you for letting me stay over. And hello, Daniel,” she added, waving at him.

He giggled and waved back before wriggling around in her mum’s arms to get back to the floor and his toys.

Susan placed him safely on the ground and walked back towards the girls, heading into the kitchen. “So, I’m currently making an apple pie, which we can have for dessert with some condensed milk. Do you like that, Hailey?”

“Yes, Mrs. Daley. We have it a lot with fruit cocktail.”

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