Disclaimer: Read disclaimer from first chapter, nothing has changed.
I'm not too pleased with this chapter, it seems a bit scattered to me, and quite frankly I've hit a writer's block as far as to what to write next. Any whom, hopefully you'll like it and give me some ideas. Please read and review, it would be much appreciated. Well then, I'm off to try and combat writer's block, thanks ahead of time and please let me know what you think about it, and what you think I should improve on. Ja!
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Scissor and Time Again
Chapter Two:
Ocean hues were dull as she watched her mother trying to think of what else she could possibly want from the store. She would scribble down something here and there on the list that already seemed a mile long. Her mother, the high maintenance woman, was superficial and shallow minded but beautiful none-the-less. Haley took after her mother at least, that was the only good thing she could get from her mother. Lengthy black hair that swam in rivers of silk to the woman's waist and big blue eyes accented with pale skin and a slender form. After a while longer the woman would smile brightly holding up the list as if it were some cherished prize. "There, all done!" She said with a breezy voice. "Alright then, shall I take you're credit card or is it fathers this time?" She asked holding out her hand for the list.
The woman smiled with cherry painted lips and devious hues. "You're fathers of course." She replied handing over the list with a wave of her hand. She didn't respond as she turned and looked her father over who stood impatiently at the door. She slipped the list inside of her bag and hoisted the strap up onto her shoulder. She'd emptied her things on her bed so that she could pack her bag with what they needed. Approaching the man that was a wretched half of her being she looked him square in the eye. She still remembered the incident from earlier that kept her anxious for this moment to flee the house. He grumbled as he looked away to pull out his credit card and flung it towards her. It was a quick reaction of habit that allowed her to catch the card before she took doorknob in hand and opened it to breath in the cool night air.
"If you're not back in time for dinner it's your own fault." The man practically snarled before he slammed the door shut behind her. She didn't even glance back as her head bent for her hues to watch the ground, taking to a walk down the driveway. "Yeah, yeah I know." She muttered to herself as she continued to walk. She breathed lightly, blank in thought and attention as she walked down the street. She didn't want to think about the days events any longer. However her attention soon caught as she noticed a rather unique shape to the large bush that had been in front of the Myer's home. She stopped short from her travels to stare in a bit of awe. Of course, she wouldn't show her awe, it was the Myer's after all.
She'd lost track of time as she examined it, circling the strange shape of a giant swan in the medium of a bush. She stopped short in her walk around for the third time and bit her bottom lip lightly as she slowly reached out to try and touch it. "Hey!" a voice called out sounding angry. Jerking her hand back she looked up surprised to see Joy standing in her doorway with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. "What do you think you're doing?!" She demanded irritated sounding. Haley's surprised expression fell to annoyance and a dull look took charge over her features. "Nothing, my parents sent me shopping." She said passively.
For a moment Joy seemed to be lost in a thought. "Great!" She exclaimed, but for some reason she didn't like the tone of voice that Joy was using. "You can take Eddy with you and help him get our groceries!" She said with a broad sneering smile. Who was she talking about? "Yeah, ok." She replied with a roll of her eyes and started off down the road again. "Oh Eddy!" Joy seemed to sing into her house, but Haley kept walking. Was there more company over? She thought to herself, until it hit her that Eddy was probably that boy she'd run into earlier. Her pace quickened a bit. Anyone who was friends with Joy was always an enemy of her, why would she want to wait up for him? She thought hastily to herself. However, they had referred to him as a 'pet' and a 'freak of nature'… she thought to herself.
It was then that she heard the sounds of metal sliding against metal behind her. She spun around now that she was well away from the Myer's home, because quiet frankly she was startled to hear such a noise. It was then that she saw a form running to catch up, the moonlight glinting off of what seemed to be handfuls of knives or daggers, or swords… weapons none-the-less. She gasped as it came up faster and she took a step back. "Uhm…" She whispered worriedly to herself. She couldn't form the words to warn the form off, and with the way it was coming they didn't seem intent on staying away anyhow. She saw as the form seemed to be a tall male with somewhat wild hair.
Going to take another step back she tripped over herself and gasped as she crashed to the pavement. She closed her eyes tightly expecting the worse and guarding her face with an arm. Suddenly the footsteps stopped and only the slow idle sound of slicing seemed to be occurring. After an awkward moment of nothing, she looked over her arm to take a deep breath at the sight before her. It was the boy from earlier… but he had giant knives? No, they were scissors… and they were… his hands? She thought bewildered. He was dressed in a white long sleeved shirt and a pair of black pants. The neck of the dress shirt showed off a series of what appeared to be belts about his neck.
Her hues traveled up to his facial features, and her chest promptly felt like shattering into a million pieces and melting all at the same time. Sunken hues lined with sorrow and concern starred down at her. His features were pale, and still salted with scars. His small mouth that almost seemed to be the color of her hair dye was all puckered in-like, as if he was pouting. He looked so terribly sorry and depressed. Eyes sunken in, brows knitted upwards in a shyly concerned fashion. He was such a bitter-sweet sight to behold. What was she thinking?! By the gods woman, she thought to herself and shakily propped herself up on the pavement by her elbows.
He seemed to lean forward a bit as if checking to see if she were alright, or as if about to ask a question. His scissor hands were held out in front of him like a dog begging for forgiveness. They seemed almost interlaced as he stood there. She swallowed lightly. "Uh- … hi there." She stammered a bit. He only very slowly nodded his head as if to return the greeting. There was an awkward silence before she glanced away growing nervous. She slowly pushed herself up and winced as she got to her feet which caused the boy to look even more desperate, causing her to feel even more horrid. "Oh no, I mean, I'm alright." She said holding up her hands as if in surrender.
He looked a little skeptical as he seemed to relax down a bit. It almost somehow seemed like he'd been here before, as if he'd gone through something so similar before. "Are you, uh, Eddy?" She asked curiously. "Edward." came the small soft quiet response. For a moment Haley still looked a bit concerned for him, before a smile slowly crept over her lips. Edward huh? She thought to herself with that small smile. His mouth seemed to twitch lightly as if he wanted to smile but resisted the urge. "Did Joy send you shopping too?" She asked curiously, already well aware of the response, which was actually a bit different than she'd assumed as he slowly nodded again. A man of few words, she thought to herself a little disappointed.
His hues seemed to search her for a moment as if to be checking to make sure she herself didn't have anything worth fearing. "Figures she would." She stated lightly and brushed herself off noticing blood dribbling down her arm from her elbow. She smirked smugly and wiped at it with her hand. Upon looking back to Edward she about wanted to shoot herself in the head. He'd seen the blood and looked so broken hearted. "Hey now, come on. I'm alright." She prompted and pulled her arms up like a weight lifter showing off. "See?! There's nothing to worry about here!" She said sounding a bit cheery as she flexed her arm out and then back up. He looked up from the wound to her hues as if searching to make sure she wasn't lying. She smiled warmly to him hoisting her bag back up on her shoulder. He very slowly gave a small bashful appearing smile with those pale lips.
Oh good god, she needed to get them moving before she began to gush over his adorability any longer. Adorability? She thought almost repulsed by her own thoughts. "Well, come on, we should get this shopping thing done before- uh- before the store closes." She said with an awkward smile. She turned and began to walk towards the store once again. The blood was already clotting and her elbow was feeling sticky, but she was alright with that. She blinked noticing that Edward was now walking beside her in a quiet manner. It was awkward, he didn't talk very much. Her hues searched his features while they walked, until suddenly Edward caught her with a glance towards her. She felt a heat burst to her features and her mouth opened a little at a loss.
"Uh- ah- I mean, how'd you get uhm, those scars?" she asked trying to break the awkward mood she kept feeling raising up inside her throat. He glanced down and held up his hands slowly. Oh, well, duh! She thought to herself aggravated. "Oh… well we should get them cleaned up. It doesn't look like the Myer's bothered much with them…" She said with a small shake of her head. He only bent his head down as if he didn't want to get anyone in trouble. Her expression went blank as she watched him curiously. She could now see why they called him a pet. He seemed fragile enough that they could manipulate… which was beginning to worry her now.
She took the lead a bit as they came up to the store. "Oh!" She said remembering that he was going to have to get items too. "Do you have a list?" She asked turning to him. He looked a little startled and nodded before attempting to get a piece of paper that seemed to be shoved into his pocket. She watched for a moment and then held up her hands suddenly. "Stop, stop. You're going to ruin you're cloths and cut yourself again." She said waving his hands away from his pants which were slightly torn at the pocket now. She went to retrieve the paper before realizing how personal that might have been. "Ah… should I-?" She asked curiously looking to him for an answer this time with small motions to get the paper from his pocket.
He looked to her with that pouting face for a moment and nodded very lightly. "Please?" He asked quietly. She about died, he was so polite and, and… no way was she calling him adorable again! She blushed lightly as she reached into the side pocket of his pants and found a slip of paper. Ugh, Joy probably did that on purpose. After this afternoons incident she wouldn't have been surprised. Unfolding the paper she frowned lightly, all a bunch of crap. "Thank you." The soft reply came from nowhere and all of a sudden. She looked up to him and found her hues locked with his. His deep hues seemed to spell out years of pain, a sense of longing for something he lacked to achieve. A depression, a need, a want, a plea, and the world seemed to freeze over in a whirlwind of ice in the middle of a summer's night.
Her mouth hung open a moment before she suddenly felt the paper lose a bit of what little weight it had. He'd tried to take the list only to have accidentally cut off a piece. She snapped back too shaking the dizzy stars from her head. It was almost like she'd been close enough to see something of a past she knew nothing about. "Oh, don't worry about it." She said noting his shocked expression as she bent down to pick up the piece. "I'll hold onto it for you." She said with a weak smile and turned to face the store. Well, it looked like she was shopping for two today, which was alright with her…
"Whew, glad that's over with!" Haley sighed as she held gobs of plastic bags from her arms. She'd refused to let Edward help because she didn't want him feeling upset or making those faces if something went wrong. "Yes." Edward said quietly with a slight nod. There had been an unusually high number of people in the store, and had all been quite bothersome. If they weren't circling Edward like a hawk, they were crowding up isles and making huge lines at checkout. There was a moment of silence as they walked before she tried to shake her hair out of her face. "Say, Edward, do you really live in that castle? On the mountain I mean?" She asked and glanced over at the boy whose hands were interlaced again. He looked up to her and nodded lightly. She nodded in return, a bit slower. "So… is this you're first time down here?" She asked curiously, although she probably shouldn't have asked.
Then she knew for certain she shouldn't have when his expression dropped and he slowed to a stop. He seemed to be sucking in his bottom lip even more so than what it normally appeared. He looked about ready to cry but did not respond. Could it be he'd been there before? Was that what was hiding behind those deep void hues? Or could it be he'd never been down here before and felt embarrassed? She bit her lip a bit and managed her way over to him leaning down so that she could look up at him through hers and his hair. "Aw, I'm sorry luv, chin up, and come on. It doesn't matter anyhow." She offered a cheerful tone and backed up as he looked up from the ground seeming a bit curious and bewildered.
Had she said something awkward? She thought to herself, but hadn't caught that he might not have realized that she had called him by a small sort of pet-name for friends, versus the love that he'd only ever heard about. "So uhm… are you hungry? We could grab something to eat before we go back." She offered changing the subject. He seemed to perk up to the idea and nodded very quietly. "Great!" She exclaimed and motioned her head for him to follow her, but her hair fell back into her features. She grumbled lightly as she tried to blow it out of her face. It was quite sudden, making her freeze, as one of Edward's giant scissor-like hands rose up and ever so carefully, gently he moved the hair back behind her ear.
She blinked a bit of at a loss, again. Looking up to him she seemed genuinely curious and surprised. "Uhm… thank you." She stated as he drew his hand back in a bashful manner. She stood for a moment and then cleared her throat before making way for the closest burger joint she knew of. Boy, if this kept up, one day they'd just end up standing still starring at each other forever and ever. It was so awkward, why did it have to happen so often?! It was probably because she wasn't used to someone else anywhere similar to her. It was probably just, an attention disorder or something. It wasn't too much longer before they came across the local burger shop. She went to get the door, but was caught off guard, yet again; as Edward quickened his pace and opened the door by pressing his side up against the bar handle and walking the door open for her.
"Oh, uhm thanks. I can get the door sometime too you know." She said and smiled a bit awkwardly. He suddenly looked like he had done something wrong again and she quickly made her way in. "But it's much appreciated!" She reassured him with an awkward laugh. He looked up almost hopeful and nodded as he too entered the restaurant. They were seated fairly quickly, and then orders would be taken. All of their groceries were on the inside of the booth on Haley's side. They sat at a white and black checkered table with red plastic booth seats. Haley sighed and pulled her hair tie out, her hair falling down all about her, cascading over her shoulders and down her back trailing upon the seat itself. She ran her fingers through it for a moment and went to put it back up.
"No! Please… it looks… nice." She was startled to hear the sudden protest from across the table. Her ocean hues ticked to Edward with a bit of curiosity. "… I'm sorry, what?" She asked a bit bewildered by the compliment. He opened his mouth a bit shyly as of to repeat himself, but was cut off suddenly by a painfully familiar voice. "Oh look here guys! It's the freaks on a date!" His mouth would close just as slowly as it had opened and his hues would drop to the table. He looked a bit injured at the comment, which caused a familiar flare of anger to rise up within her. It was a bit different though, this sort of anger made her want to just… knock someone's lights out. Her hues rose to Jason and Joy with their gang of cronies encircling them.
"It's not a date. We're hungry, we're getting food." She stated bluntly, with a bit of fire to her tone. "Oh, someone's on the defensive side!" Joy cackled and tossed her golden hair from her perfect features. Haley rolled her eyes and turned to say something to Edward but froze with the curious look that crossed his features. She looked at him inquisitively for a moment. He looked shyly up at the group of popular twits and then back to Haley. "What is… a date?" he asked softly and curious, as if no one else but she could hear him. Haley blinked wide eyed and taken a back as suddenly Joy and the others began to cackle loudly. They began to walk away at the motion of Joy and her boy toy Jason. "Good luck explaining it sweet heart!" She called back her voice dripping with sarcasm. Haley flushed lightly and shot daggers to the girl. "And bring him home at a respectable time, he's got curfew you know!" She laughed over her shoulder before her and her crew left giggling like fools.
Haley gritted her teeth her face lit lightly before she turned back to Edward still bitter from their snide comments, only to see the same concerned and curious expression with his scissors crossed amongst them selves causing her to turn a couple shades darker. She slouched back in her chair and sighed a bit tossing her hair back up into the ponytail from earlier with a bit of frustration. Joy just grinded on her nerves so bad all the time and she was at a bit of a loss with how naïve Edward must have been to not know what a date was. "It's nothing." She muttered and felt a bit bad when Edward looked down to the table looking a bit depressed as if he'd done something wrong yet again. God this boy could make Satan himself feel like such as ass. After an awkward sequence of ordering food and getting served Haley could finally look at Edward again, having cooled down a bit from the earlier disruption.
She blinked seeing him try to pick up some of the steak fries on his plate, or fumble for the silverware when that didn't succeed. She smirked lightly in a bit of disbelief and shook her head trying not to laugh aloud. Edward would look up suddenly confused hearing small giggles escape Haley's mouth after he'd finally managed to royally massacre the French fry betwixt his scissors. "Here, I'll help you out. But only this once!" she said a bit on the quick side with a very mild blush. She reached across the table and picked up a French fry that hadn't been cut to ribbons or smashed and held it up before his mouth. She couldn't help but open her mouth a little as she did such as if her opening mouth might have made him do the same, or as if she could do the opening of the mouth for him.
He looked to her for a moment and hesitantly dropped the French fry in his hands and very cautiously opened his small mouth. For some reason this made Haley smirk as she fed him the salty potato stick. She didn't notice at all as she chuckled under her breath and seemed to brighten up as she attempted to help him eat a bit more. Usually the end of the fry would be sticking out of his mouth like a fat and flat cigarette or a candy cane when it didn't fit in you're mouth all the way. She was having fun. Here, this person, Edward, he wouldn't judge her or make ridicule. In fact, he didn't seem to mind her company or style at all. It seemed, like she was accepted for who she was. She could hardly remember a time, if any that she laughed out of just having fun instead of being laced with spite.
She wasn't thinking of these things as she carried on, too wrapped up in what she was doing to think. Perhaps she would think about it later on in life. For the time, she was enjoying herself without even really realizing it. Time would pass and she would have scarcely eaten before the joint began to lock up for the night and kicked the two out. This time as they left, Haley made sure to get the door and coaxed Edward out the door. As they strolled back she went over what they'd gotten to make sure they had everything, she'd paid for the dinner for the two of them and had ended up paying for Joy's things too. They hadn't sent Edward with money; probably for fear that he might tear it up.
She stopped a bit of a ways down the street from the Myer's home. She glanced up to Edward who'd stopped short noticing she had as well. Her hues cast back to the Myer's home and the giant swan in their lawn. She sighed lightly and Edward would cock his head slightly. "See that bush?" She asked in an explanatory tone. He glanced up and his hues lit a bit as he nodded in the affirmative. "The Myer's have to outdo everyone, and always do be it with money, or parties, or looks… and now they're having someone do their bushes." She continued and looked up to Edward raising a hand to one side of her mouth. "I don't like them so don't tell anyone this, but they're bushes are kind of cool…" She stated and blinked as her hues fell to the others 'hands', She paused for a moment and her features warmed slightly as she looked up to the lit up expression on Edwards features. "Wait a minute…" She said lowering her hand. She stared at him for a moment. "Did you-?" She started but needn't go any farther with the question as the other ran up and snipped a small branch that stuck out from the side of the swan's belly.
She took a little breath, why hadn't she thought about that? After all, she didn't really know anyone in town that could be that skilled with shears, and he was the only one with scissor hands… She smirked lightly and chuckled a bit shaking her head as she caught up. "Very nice." She stated and walked the other to the front door. As she was shuffling through the bags to get what was Joy's the door would open with a disgruntled Joy looming in the doorway. "Well, well. If it isn't the freak squad." She sneered looking down upon Haley. Haley glanced up and her good mood was instantaneously destroyed. "Whatever Joy, just take you're things. You didn't give Edward any money so you're fathers going to have to pay my dad back. The receipt is in the bag with you're tampons." She stated bluntly. Joy's features seemed to flush lightly as she glanced from Edward to Haley again and back again. "Get in here!" She snapped to the male, which caused Haley to look up suddenly from collecting Joy's bags to Edward who lowered his head lightly and scurried in. She felt her spirits drop a bit but watched as he'd look past Joy's shoulder starring at her a moment before he was suddenly called from within the house and with regret in his hues he was called off.
She growled lightly and tossed Joy's bags to her a bit roughly. Joy stumbled a bit but regained her composure. "He's not some sort of dog." She spat at Joy and turned taking her bags of things with her. She heard Joy sneer and mock lightly before the Myer's homes door was slammed close behind. Haley stopped short at the end of the drive starring for a moment at the swan and for a moment she felt a pit of displeasure and a strange ache in her stomach before she managed to make her way home. She ignored the feelings as she wrestled the key out of her pants pocket and unlocked the door, walking in on a dark living room. She made her way to the kitchen after re-locking the door and managed to get things put away fairly quickly.
Boots would carefully make way up the stairs before entering her room, taking her hair down and she glared at her book covered bed. She would remove her boots and shove the books to one side before casting herself upon the bed. A sigh would escape her lips as half lidded and dull hues starred into the darkness before she drifted off, her head full of thoughts she couldn't form clearly.