basketball and baseball, the star of all his teams. Artistic. Smart. Funny. And even kinda modest. He could have sat with anyone but one person at lunch. He had the perfect girlfriend. An amazing best friend. And a family he wouldn't trade for the world. But will one look into the past and present show him the small truth he's been over looking may kill everything he once loved... And he won't even mind?
The final seconds ticked down as the ball was passed to Haley. She shot the ball for a three pointer,
to tie the game. It bounced around the rim before spinning out. Haley dropped to her knees. Distraut.
"No." she whispered. "You couldn't have made that Haley? You make that shot everyday in practice! But the one time it actually matters you choke!" her father snarled. She hung her head in shame and shuffled to the car. The cold wind bit at her face, arms and legs but she didn't feel it. She didn't feel anything. When she got home she flopped onto her bed, throwing her bookbag into her closet without even looking.
The next day Haley had a bruise forming over her right eye. "What happened to your eye,
Holden? Hit it while you were choking?" a boy, Seth Clearwater, asked sarcastically, shoving her against the lockers while one of his frieds, Paul, book checked her. Haley picked her things up, biting her lip. She pulled her hair back into a low ponytail. She thought about something else on her way to class. Anything else. She got yelled at. She hadn't done her homework. "WHY DO YOU EVEN BOTHER SHOWING UP?" the teacher screamed at her.
Haley looked up at him with no emotion in her eyes. "It's illegal not to come." she snarled.
"GO TO THE OFFICE!" his face was bright red. Haley stormed back into class grabbed her books and stomped to the office. Once in the office she took her seat. She began doodling on her arm with purple pen. She began with simple loops but as she went they became more grand and artistic. "Hello Holden." the secritary finally said.
"Mrs. Janes." "What this time?"
"Didn't do my homework." she said shrugging.
"Holden you're a smart kid. You just have to try. Is something wrong at home?"
"No." Haley lied easily. "I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night." "Well your test scores at the end of the year bumped you up to Excelerated in everything."
"I guessed."
"You got four and two on all the extended questions." Haley shrugged. Her pen marks had become more sharp as they spoke. Now they faded back to smooth in the silence. She began to hum."Haley here is your new schedule. Don't lose it. And I don't expect you down here near as much. Stay out of trouble."
Her humming stopped. She said nothing as she took the paper. She was tired of lying that she was going to try or stay out of trouble. She trudged to Algebra with her books under one arm. Words. They were pointless to Haley. When she was younger she had stuttered and been made fun of.
Now she always said the wrong thing. She couldn't convey her thoughts into words. Not fast enough.
The thoughts were to fast and rapid, she tripped over the words if she tried to keep up.
She knocked on the door and the teacher yelled to come in. She was given a seat in the back and told to keep quiet. She didn't copy down notes. She doodled in red. The boy infront of her turned around when they were done with the lesson. "Did you get that last example down? I missed it." Haley knew he was lying. She shook her head 'no'. He glanced at her paper. "Wow. That's really good." Haley had drawn one of her reacuring dreams. 'The Red One'. She was standing on nothing with words floating around her, wrapping themselves onto her. She nodded. "What does it say?" Haley shrugged. She had never really paid attention to the words. It was the idea of it that mattered to her. "I'm Jay Henderson."
"Haley Holden. A.K.A. the choker. Sure you've heard of me that way." he winced slightly. He had. He had been there and that was the most emotion he had ever seen in voice was nice though.
That was one of the only times he had ever heard her talk. "What class do you have next?" he asked. She emptied her pockets onto the desk and grabbed one,
tossing it to him. "Your new schedule is mine. Want to walk together?" Haley bit her lip but behind Jay's head she saw some his buddy's shaking their heads 'no' and cracking their knuckles threatheningly. She shook her head. That bothered him. Everyone liked him. He was a likeable kid.
This girl though seemed to have her walls built up and wasn't letting them down for anyone. As she walked out of the classroom he really took in her appearence for the first time. She had glasses and her hair was always up in a low ponytail, her hair was medium length and a dark, dark brown, almost black. She was pretty tan and had dark brown eyes that seemed endless. She was in a loose t-shirt with a hoodie over that and her jeans were loose, torn and grass stained. She could have passed for a jock. But her arms made her look artistic. She had purple, red, green, orange, blue and yellow doodles all up her arms. Yet her classes could have passed her for a nerd. Her silece could have labeled her emo or goth. But she wasn't any of that she was just... Haley Holden. She was real. And she was there to stay.