A/N This has nothing to do with the plot but I'm throwing it in there. Also, just realised that Hayley and Max's initials and H&M, which is a shop which my mum's cousin used to work at. Also I keep saying mom instead on mum because my thumbs are too lazy to go that far. Also, I genuinely meant to put this up yesterday, but I fell asleep watching Holby... again...
I'm nervous. Really nervous. Meeting Hayley's parents for the first time. She says that they'll like me, but not many people have liked me before. If they're anything like their daughter I'm sure they'll be lovely. Max isn't coming, which seems unusual as normally they do everything together. "Hi! You must be Yana! Hayley's told us so much about you." Hayley's mom greets me.
"All good things... I hope?" I say quietly. She's quite intimidating. Hayley gives me a small smile.
She's silent for a moment, which leads me in to a panic that I'm not a good enough friend for Hayley, in her eyes at least, and that she hates me. "Of course! Just as long as you're not encouraging her to be friends with that boy."
"Who's 'that boy'?" I ask, quietly again, and I think I'm beginning to realise why Max hasn't come with us. Why does she not like him?
"Do you know Max? Max Flint? He's in our form." Hayley asks giving me a look which clearly says, please don't blow this for me. Hayley's a bit of a rebel then?
"Oh him. I don't know him too well. I'm sort of new." I look up at Hayley's mother innocently. She seems to buy my lie. Which she should because I was a spy trained for eleven years and I haven't lost my entire game yet.
"She mentioned, and good, I wouldn't want you, either of you, mixing with that sort." Hayley takes me away to her room before I ask anything else.
She brings out a notebook with a finger to lips to shush me. 'I'll tell you tomorrow,' she writes, 'she's listening'. I nod. I'm yet to have an opinion on Hayley's mother but I can already see that might be kind of thing she would do. She's the fussy pushy type that I hate. I'm glad Pepper's not like that. I can already see that Hayley and her mother's relationship is strained. I'm not sure what's up, but I'll ask Max. He'll probably know.
"So what's up with your mother and Max?" I ask Hayley the next day at school before Max has arrived. We're waiting for him by our lockers and Hayley keeps opening hers and slamming shut again which leads me to believe that something happened after I left last night.
"She thinks he's trying to corrupt me and make me lose my virginity." Hayley replies, nodding, like it's just a fact.
"Oh." I reply. I've never got that vibe from Max. What happened between them which made her mom think that?
Hayley has to see a teacher at the beginning of lunch so Max takes the chance to talk to me about last night. "So you met Hayley's mom last night then?"
"Yep. You're greatest fan." Max snorts.
"Hell yeah."
"What happened there?" I ask, wondering if I'm going to far. I want to know though. I need to know if there's any trigger things, or things I shouldn't say around Hayley's mom.
"Oh she hates me because my uncle and her slept together when they were 16 and she got pregnant." That would make sense, if Hayley says her mom thinks he's trying to sleep with her. "Hayley has a half sister. But I've never met her. She's 26 anyway. Hayley knows her but she moved out eight years ago, when Hayley was five. So her mom hates me by association, though technically Jenna's my cousin. Me and Hayley didn't know when she became my friend though."
"Right."
"I've never met her. But... I don't know. Hayley loves her. But she hates her. She thinks their mom loves her more. But she doesn't, Hayley just can't see that. She loves them differently. She's trying to protect her by saying she shouldn't be friends with me, because of what Jenna did and all the messes she got in to, Jenna and her mom. But Hayley doesn't know about that, and I only do because my uncle told me. Hayley's mom believes I'm bad, but maybe my family does have a rep." What does he mean? There's a silent pause there, in which Hayley sneaks up on us. "She has pink hair."
"Talking about Jenna?" Hayley says, and Max screams. I snigger.
"Yep we were. She has pink hair." Max repeats.
"No she doesn't. She dyed it blue last month." Hayley argues.
Hayley lies to her mom about going to my house after school a couple of days later. Apparently Max's mom doesn't know Hayley's Jenna's sister, and is fine with their friendship. We have to pick up Max's little sister from her school which is fine. He has a little sister, an older sister and an older brother. It must be nice to have people older than you to look up to, help you out a bit.
Max's mom is nice. She leaves us alone. She's called Lucy. Max uncle is there, and he recognises Hayley as his sort of step daughter. Max's mom goes out to work a bit later.
We don't actually do anything at Max's house just mill around really. It was really just for me to meet his mother. Max's uncle offers to drop me and Hayley home as he's going to Hayley's house anyway, since Jenna's come over for a couple of days.