Chapter 7: Avant-Garde Arachnid

24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

Proverbs 31:24-25

Though Hayley wasn't that interested in fashion due to not caring about it so much, she still appreciated the variety of patterns and colors that many fashion designers would create as part of their designer labels or brands. However, there was one particular fashion brand that Hayley respected was Avant-Garde Arachnid. The reason for this wasn't necessarily their clothes (though she did like their color schemes and patterns) but it was due to the fact that her aunt was actually the one who founded the business. She was known in the fashion industry as Latria Espinoza, also known as "The Spider Queen" due to her outfits always having a sort of "spider-web" motif, especially on the dresses. She also had a daughter named Aranea Espinoza who followed in her footsteps and was also an aspiring fashionista herself along with being the closest thing Hayley had to a big sister. This was due to how Beatrice's work schedule was quite busy to the point where she barely had enough time to look after Hayley, especially after her ex-husband abandoned them the moment he divorced Beatrice. As a result, Hayley often found herself spending a lot of time at Aranea and Latria's house though their warm and loving demeanors made it easier for her to handle compared to Beatrice's cold and distant behavior.

Hayley was on her way to visit her aunt and cousin to see if they needed some assistance with anything as she recalled sometimes helping them with the fabrics and sewing, that and she just wanted to give them a friendly hello. Though she had to take a bus to see them, due their store and house being an hour away from the campus, she was able to make it and spot the window where they had just displayed their most recent design. It was a black dress with silver and gray ruffles, long sleeves and a skirt that looked somewhat puffy but was presumably light enough to walk around in or at least sit down. Her aunt and cousin both had a very eccentric fashion sense which made their designs very noticeable in the eyes of the public. Most of their customers and patrons were those who were really into avant-garde fashion (hence the name) or shared their unique quirks when it came to clothing and style. They always made sure to put in their trademark spider web pattern on each of their shirts, dresses, pants and so on while making it both subtle yet noticeable at the same time. It did help bring in the money along with allowing Latria and Aranea to have full creative control over their works.

"Ah, eccentric as always," Hayley commented in amusement and fascination.

"Indeed we are," a female voice said, causing Hayley to jump in shock. Turns out, the source of the voice was Aranea herself. She had a tall yet slender frame with long flowing black hair along with fair skin and silver eyes that seemed to give off a mystical look. She laid against the front door frame and gave Hayley a mischievous grin as she had no problem teasing her cousin from time to time.

"Aranea!" Hayley said as she happily ran to her cousin and gave her a hug, to which the older woman gladly returned.

"Hi Hayley long time no see," Aranea commented as she and Hayley broke the hug before measuring her height with her palm. "Have you grown taller?"

"Maybe," Hayley said in a sly tone. "Who knows? Maybe I'll outgrow you in the future!"

"I highly doubt that," Aranea said while rolling her eyes playfully, causing both of them to giggle. "Let's head inside."

"Okay!" she said as she followed after her cousin into the store. The store and the house were both the same building with the store being placed in the front for business while the rest of the house was at the back or at least on the upper floors. Hayley and Aranea took of their shoes before heading upstairs to meet up with Latria who was currently brewing up something. She turned to the sounds of their footsteps and smiled as she saw her daughter with her niece arrive.

"Aranea, Hayley darlings!" Latria said with a smile as she went to hug them both. "So good to see you!"

"Hey auntie!" Hayley said as she returned the hug. "Good to see you too!"

"So how's my little star doing?" Latria asked.

"Pretty good," Hayley said with a firm nod. "I'm still acing my studies and homework along with having finished midterms which I passed by the way!"

"Oh good for you!" Latria responded in happiness. "Say, would you like some tea? I was just in the middle of making it while Aranea closed up shop."

"That would be great thanks," Hayley said as she and Aranea went to the round table that was located in the dining room. It was spacious enough for them all to eat meals together. Most of the time it was just Hayley, Aranea and Latria that ate together with Beatrice sometimes eating with them though her presence was often rare due to her busy schedule making it difficult to spend time with any of them.

"You want some crackers like usual?" Aranea asked, prompting Hayley to nod eagerly.

"Yes please!" she responded with a chirp, making Aranea smile before heading off to get them. Pretty soon, all 3 of them were seated together sipping tea and eating the soda crackers that Aranea and Latria had together. Hayley didn't know why the crackers tasted so good with the tea, especially since she liked to dip them in the tea itself for extra flavor, but it tasted good every time she did. As they were eating and drinking together, the 3 ladies began talking with each other over what they did for the past few months.

"So, Hayley," Latria said, causing Hayley to look up in curiosity. "Anything interesting happen during the break?"

This made Hayley blush as she didn't know if she should tell her aunt and cousin about what happened with Zane, especially since she kept it a secret even from her mother. However, because she trusted her aunt and cousin along with having confided in them in the past, she believed that it wouldn't hurt to tell them about what happened.

"Funny you should mention the break," Hayley said as she started blushing in embarrassment. "This is gonna sound really embarrassing to you guys."

"Oh come on, surely it can't be that bad," Aranea said with an amused smile.

"Well you're probably gonna laugh when you hear this," Hayley said as she began to tell the story of how she met Zane at a party he was holding thanks to her friend inviting her to join the others. About the games, the events leading her to slap Zane and yell at him before storming off in anger, the surprise meeting at the bookstore and the mall, the apology she gave to Zane at the library and finally, the discussion she had with both Zane and Janine. Once she finished telling her family about this, she saw them with wide grins which was a sign that teasing was about to ensue.

"Oh so I see you found yourself a boyfriend," Aranea teased, causing Hayley to blush before shaking her hands rapidly.

"Nonononono that's not it at all!" she claimed in shock. "He's just a..... friend... that's all. Yeah! A friend!"

"Really?" Latria asked in a cheeky tone that showed how little she bought Hayley's claim. "Considering how you didn't even like being around men in the past, no thanks to your mother's brainwashing, I'm surprised you are able to hang around him without getting upset."

"I was pretty upset when I saw him again at the bookstore," Hayley admitted in a shameful tone. "Back then, I was just trying to follow mother's example and not let myself get fooled by men and their charms especially considering what happened with.... well... you know who."

"Right, we do," Latria said as she scowled at who Hayley was alluding to. The moment Latria found out that Ajax cheated on her sister and broke her heart to the point of turning her into a cold-hearted misandrist, she wanted to grab her sewing needles and jab them into his eyes. Though Latria never really liked Ajax, as she suspected that he was rather shady and suspicious, she learned to tolerate his presence for the sake of her sister's happiness. But now the entire Espinoza Family had to deal with the consequences that Ajax left in his wake, namely the heartbreak and bitterness that both Beatrice and Hayley experienced thanks to his callousness. The fact that Beatrice was turning her daughter into a miniature version of herself was a clear indicator that they both needed serious help, which was why both Latria and Aranea tried to give Hayley the warmth and love that she desperately needed along with trying to convince her that not all men were slime. Though it seemed like their attempts failed, the fact that Zane was apparently a good influence on Hayley gave them hope that the young woman would learn to trust men again.

"Again, we're sorry to hear about what happened with your family," Aranea assured Hayley when she saw the young woman look sad just by thinking about her father. "But we believe that maybe this Zane could be a good man for you. He sounds nice judging from the way you speak highly of him."

"Well I wouldn't say he's just nice," Hayley said as she began blushing just by thinking of him. "He's friendly, generous, not to mention ridiculously forgiving, easy on the eyes, has great leadership skills and is very mature compared to even the other fraternity members."

"Sounds like someone has a crush!" Latria said in a sing song tone, causing Hayley to become even more embarrassed.

"WHAT?!" Hayley nearly screeched the moment she heard her aunt say that. "NO I DON'T!"

"Really? Considering that you've spoken high praise about him," Aranea said with a smirk.

"Yeah but-"

"And you said that he shares the same interests as you," Latria pointed out.

"Right but anyone could-"

"Plus you did mention that he was easy on the eyes just now," Aranea added with a toothy grin, making Hayley blush.

"HEY! That was a slip of the tongue!" Hayley cried out, causing the other women to giggle even more.

"Yep, definitely sounds like you have a crush," Aranea commented while snickering behind her hand, causing Hayley to grow more frustrated.

"NO! I! DON'T!" Hayley insisted, despite her face growing redder by the second while banging her hand against the table's surface. This caused the other women to stop giggling in surprise while Hayley thought about what she had just done. "Do I?"

"Well it looks like it," Latria responded while still wearing a sly grin on her face.

"Don't worry Hayley," she insisted in a gentle yet still mischievous tone before placing a comforting hand on her cousin. "We don't mind it at all."

"You don't?" Hayley asked with hope in her eyes, making Aranea and Latria almost gush over how cute she was.

"Of course we do," Latria stated in agreement. "It's perfectly normal to experience crushes now and then but it depends on whether the person you love returns your feelings and is worthy of them."

"Yes but," Hayley responded. "Mother told me that romance was nothing more than a waste of time and it was better for me to just focus on my studies and future."

"But is it something you REALLY want to do?" Aranea asked in a stern tone. She saw an opportunity to finally break Hayley from her Beatrice's control and give her the life she deserved, namely a normal and happy life full of love instead of loneliness. While she respected her aunt and understood that she was trying to protect Hayley from getting her heart broken, she didn't like how extreme she was when it came to her "methods" and the fact that she neglected Hayley for so long while still expecting her to follow in her footsteps didn't make it any better. Latria felt the same way as she too didn't like how harsh and domineering Beatrice was when it came to what she thought was best for Hayley while not caring about what Hayley herself wanted. If getting Hayley together with a good man would help break her from her mother's control and potentially stop Beatrice from being such a misandrist then they were going to go through with it come what may. This may be our only shot at freeing Hayley from becoming Beatrice 2.0, Aranea thought to herself as she saw Hayley start to question her mother's belief.

"I.... I don't know," Hayley responded as she was at a complete loss of what to say. "I... I really don't know...."

"Then why don't you give him a chance?" Latria asked politely, causing Hayley to almost freak out and violently shake her head.

"Oh nononono," Hayley said as she looked at the in fear. "I can't. I can never do that. Not to mother! If she finds out then she'll... she'll... I can't find the words!"

Seeing that Hayley was on the verge of breaking down, Aranea immediately got up form her seat and went to wrap her arms around Hayley before whispering in her ear in an attempt to calm her down.

"Shshshshsh," Aranea said in a soft tone as she rubbed Hayley's back and placed her cheek on Hayley's head. "It's gonna be alright. Just breathe, like we taught you."

Hayley remembered how her aunt and cousin taught her to breathe in and out whenever she got stressed or anxious, which was a lot to be honest, and did so as they said. After doing it a couple of times, the young woman found herself calming down after being both patted and comforted by her cousin and aunt. Once she calmed down, she began to clear her head and think rationally again, but the idea of falling in love was still a new thing to her. Could it really be true? she thought to herself in confusion and fear. Have I really fallen for him? Suddenly, when she checked the clock and saw that it was getting late, she immediately got up and began packing her things while putting on her jacket.

"Thanks, sorry for the abrupt visit but I'll be going home now, bye!" she said in rapid fashion as she walked out of the room and went back downstairs, leaving Latria and Aranea sitting at the table with surprised looks on their faces. However, their faces turned from amusement to worry as they looked to each other and wondered if Hayley was going to be alright.

"Do you think we were being too much for her?" Aranea asked her mother.

"I don't think so," Latria responded though her tone was unsure. "Though I believe that whoever this Zane boy is will be the one to help Hayley get out of her shell and maybe break free from Beatrice's grasp."

"Yeah I hope so too," Aranea responded with a sigh. "I really do."