Chapter 79: Line Between Reality and Make Believe

I ended up in Hayden’s car and I felt so angry that my chest felt like it could explode at any moment. Crossing my arms over my chest I stared out of the window. Although I was thankful that Hayden didn’t completely blow our covers and tell my friend about everything that was truly going on, I still felt like he had invaded my private space.

My friends and everything that happened inside that restaurant during dinner was a part of my real life. It was a life where he didn’t exist and didn’t have a place in. How can he not understand that? I don’t want this mafia nightmare that I was going through to be a part of my real life. I felt so stressed out about all this and I felt like I was going to cry.

I prayed that this ride would be over soon. I just wanted to be alone and sort myself out. Someway or another, I’m going to have to find a way to correct the misunderstanding with my friends. This is going to be so complicated and painful. My head started to ache, and it wasn’t a pleasant sensation.

"Are you mad?" Hayden asked abruptly, disturbing the silence of our drive back.

Do I look mad? Well, if that’s the case, it’s because I am. I am so out-of-my-mind mad right now.

"No…" I muttered a big fat lie. I just didn’t want to talk to him.

Knowing that I was this close to exploding, I just wanted to be left alone and any answer that would lead me closer to that outcome was the answer that I would choose.

"You’re not very honest. Your face looks really scary right now…" Hayden said teasingly.

I didn’t find his joke funny, and I didn’t care what my face looked like. What I cared about was protecting my ’normal life’, but it seemed that I had failed on that front as well.

"Ok…" I said, not knowing what else to say. Seriously, whatever. Just please stop talking to me.

Hayden was silent for a moment, and I thought that his awkward conversation had finally came to an end, but I was so wrong.

"If you’re mad about what I did then, I’m sorry. I just wanted to know more about your life…" Hayden spoke up without looking at me.

Honestly, I didn’t think that he would apologize. For that, I guess I had to give him a little credit. However, I didn’t think that he understood why I was angry.

"Why would you want to know more about my life?" I demanded to know.

"Why not? Don’t tell me that you think there’s nothing interesting in your life…" Hayden asked, sounding a little amused.

"That’s not…" I began defending myself but then decided to just drop it.

That’s not what I meant but I was losing my patience with him. I put a hand on my forehead as I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. I don’t know how I’m supposed to deal with this guy. I could feel Hayden’s eyes on me, and he waited for me to continue with what I was saying.

"I don’t think there’s a need for you to know anything about me or my life. That’s all," I said stiffly.

"Then what about mine?" Hayden asked suggestively.

"About what?" I asked, slightly puzzled.

"My life. Don’t you want to know anything about my life?" Hayden asked, sounding very friendly.

"No…" I replied without hesitation.

"Hmm…that’s unexpected. My life is pretty interesting…and most of the time girls really want to know about it. Not that I’ve ever told them or shown them anything…" Hayden said.

Well, sorry that I’m not particularly interested.

"I don’t know…I just don’t think that we should get involved in each other’s private lives," I said, hoping that he would understand.

"Why do you think that?" he asked, clearly not understanding me.

"I guess, it’ll just make it hard and complicated when we go our separate ways when the contact expires…" I tried my best to explain.

"How so?" Hayden asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"Well, take today for example, I have to find a way to tell my friends that you’re not really my boyfriend. I have to find a way to tell them that you’re not really a part of my normal life…" I continued to explain.

"I don’t see why you have to go through so much trouble to do that," Hayden said casually.

"Huh?" I said, feeling completely lost.

"I mean, if you would just accept me as your boyfriend and a part of your life, then you don’t have to correct any misunderstandings with them, right?" Hayden said suggestively.

Am I hearing this right? This is so crazy. It’s like we’re not even talking in the same language anymore.

"That’s…crazy. Why would I want that?" I said as I turned to face him.

The car was stuck at a red light, and I found out that Hayden was watching me. The earnest look that he had on his face gave me pause. He can’t be serious…can he?

However, the look on his face darkened soon after he heard my words. It felt like I could hear the roaring of thunder and lighting in the distance as if a really bad storm was approaching and that was all because I could sense Hayden’s apparent anger. Honestly, I couldn’t fully understand why he was suddenly angry.

"Hayden…" I said his name softly.

**Ring ring**

Suddenly, my phone started ringing. The ringtone of my phone cut through the tense atmosphere between us. Hesitantly, I glanced down at the phone in my hand and saw that one of my friends was calling. Just as I was about to answer the call, the phone was suddenly snatched out of my hand.

I blinked in surprise as I looked unbelievably at my now-empty hand. Quicky, I turned to Hayden and saw that he held my ringing phone in his hand. Why did he take it?

"Please…give me back my phone," I said before reaching out my hand towards my phone.

"No…" Hayden replied as he pulled his hand away from mine, keeping the phone away from me.

--To be continued…