Chapter 2 - Broken Hearts

Harley marched into the dorm he shared with Hayden, ready to give his best friend a thorough chewing out, but paused when he saw the state Hayden was in.

Hayden was sitting on the edge of his bed, his face buried in his knees, and his arms hugging his legs, sobbing.

"Hayden?" Harley asked, sitting next to him, "What's wrong?"

Hayden lifted his head, his face wet from tears and eyes bloodshot.

"It's nothing. I'm fine," he lied.

"No, you're not. You've been in this depressive state for months, Hayden! We're worried about you! If you care about yourself, let us help you!" Harley cried.

Hayden shook his head and croaked, "You wouldn't understand…"

"Try me." Harley challenged.

When Hayden still said nothing, Harley sighed and said, "Look, Hayden, you can't keep this up. Everyone in school's figured out that something's wrong with you, and lying to yourself isn't going to help. C'mon, man. You know you can tell me anything!"

"I...I have a broken heart." Hayden croaked.

Harley raised an eyebrow and asked, "From what? Have you secretly been seeing someone?"

Hayden shook his head and confessed, "From Mal. I still love her, but she's with Ben."

Harley's eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped with shock.

"Dude…" he whispered.

"I know, it's wrong, but...I just can't stop thinking about...what-what could've been if I hadn't...if my dad hadn't-!" Hayden stammered before bursting into sobs again.

"I'm happy for Mal and Ben. They're a great couple. I'm glad she's with someone who makes her happy. But I lost the most incredible girl! And I'll never get her back." Hayden continued through the sobs.

"I know. And I could see that she really loved you too, once. But she's moved on, man. And now, it's time for you to do the same." Harley said gently.

Hayden a short bark of sarcastic laughter and said, "That's easier said than done. None of the girls at school are into me."

"Because you've been stuck in a depressive shell for so long that you're hiding your true colors. I'm sure if you acted more like yourself, you'd have girls attracted to you like flies to honey. And maybe the breakup between you and Mal was meant to happen. Maybe she really wasn't meant for your because there's someone else here who is. Maybe your dad forced you to break her heart because he knows something you don't." Harley suggested.

"You're not making this any easier!" Hayden growled, his fists and hair starting to ignite.

"I'm just trying to give you some tough love. My point is, you can't dwell on the past forever. You need to find someone who can help you move on. I can help you with that if you want me to. Okay?" Harley asked.

Hayden nodded, and said, "Thanks, bro."

"'Bro?'" Harley asked.

"Yeah, you're like my...what's the phrase the AKs use...brother from another mother." Hayden said, smiling a bit.

"I like it, bro." Harley said, beaming.

Hayden smiled a bit, but then his face drooped and said, "Can you give me some space. I need some time alone to sort through my feelings."

Harley nodded and walked out of the dorm, shutting the door behind him and shooting a quick text to Claire and Mal, "Meet me in the library. Something very important to discuss!"

At the same time…

Claire walked in the dorm she shared with Fran to find her laying down on her bed, her face buried in her pillow, sobbing.

Claire paused, not sure how to handle this, and quietly walked towards Fran.

She lightly tapped Fran on the shoulder and mumbled, "Fran? You okay?"

Fran suddenly sprang into action, grabbing Claire's wrist and twisted it, making Claire yelp and her eyes water.

"Claire!" Fran cried, recognizing her roommate and letting go of her wrist.

"I'm sorry," Fran said shakily as mascara stained her tears ink black, "I guess my instincts from back on the Isle haven't quite worn off yet."

"It's fine," Claire said, wiping her eyes on her shirt sleeve and on the bed next to Fran.

"So, what's been going on. Why have you and Hayden been so upset lately? Have you two started some kind of drama club?" Claire joked half-heartedly.

Fran shook her hand and whimpered, "Have you ever known what it's like to be in love with someone who doesn't love you back?"

"Uh...no." Claire said, confused.

"Right, Mason's your first boyfriend. I keep forgetting that." Fran said, sitting up.

"Who are you in love with that doesn't love you too?" Claire asked.

"Hayden." Fran whispered shakily.

"What?!" Claire cried.

Fran nodded and sobbed, "But it's hopeless. I've seen the way he looks at Mal. He's still in love with her. I've been trying to get him to like me for months, but nothing's worked. I don't know what to do."

Claire sat silent for a while, and then sighed.

"To be honest, Fran, neither do I. Maybe you could try finding another guy?" Claire suggested.

"I've tried. All my thoughts keep wandering back to him." Fran whimpered.

She then stood up and announced, "I need to go bake something. Working with my hands helps me feel better."

"...Okay, bye." Claire said awkwardly as she left.

Claire's phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out to see a text from Harley.

Claire got to her feet and walked to the library, leaving a note for Fran to tell her where she'd gone.

Also at that time…

Mal knocked on the closed door to her dorm frantically, determined to get answers.

"Come in." Evie said in a friendly manner.

Mal opened the door, and then took a step back. She had not expected Evie be sitting on the floor of her dorm with Audrey, Jane, Ruby, Lonnie, and Ally sitting next to her in a circle.

"Hi, Mal!" Everyone said.

"Uh, hi." Mal said awkwardly, leaning against the door, "Evie, do you have a minute to talk?"

"Sure, just let me finish with them first." Evie said politely.

"Okay. I was just going to talk to you about why Hayden and Fran have been acting weird." Mal said, shrugging and turning towards the door.

She stopped though as the girls in the circle gasped, and she head the clatter of a dropped teacup.

Mal turned to see the girls staring at her in shock.

"You mean, you know?!" Jane asked, looking both amazed and horrified.

"No, I was just going to ask Evie. But it looks like you guys know, too." Mal said.

All of the girls in the circle looked around the room at everything except Mal, and Audrey cleared her throat.

"Why won't you guys just tell me?" Mal asked, joining her friends in the circle.

"Well, you see, Mal, it's a complicated issue. We're not sure how you'll take it." Ally said sheepishly.

"I'm a tough girl. I'm sure I can handle it." Mal asserted.

"We know, it's just...that isn't the only issue. We're worried it may interfere with your relationship with Ben." Ruby responded, her hair graying.

"What?" Mal asked, confused.

"I think we should tell her. She needs to know the truth." Lonnie said firmly.

"I agree. My mom always says honesty is the best policy. Plus, she might be able to help us." Jane said.

"But Ben and Mal's relationship could suffer!" Ally cried.

"I doubt it. They've been together for so long, and grown so close, I don't think anything could tear them apart at this point." Evie countered.

"Uh, excuse me," Mal butted in, raising her hand, "Hi, still here. Are you going to tell me what going on or not?"

The girls looked at Evie, and she sighed and said, "Okay, fine. The truth is, Mal, the reason Hayden's so upset is because he's still in love you with you. He wants you back, and he's broken-hearted because you're with Ben. And Fran's upset because she's in love with Hayden, but he wants you. So we've been trying to figure out how to bring Hayden and Fran together."

"We're sorry if this makes things...awkward." Audrey said, giving a fake smile to try to help Mal feel better.

But it didn't help. Mal's mind was reeling, trying to take in everything she'd just heard. Her cheeks were burning, her heart was pounding, and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Mal?" Evie asked, concerned.

"I need to go." Mal said, running out the door, ignoring the text in her phone.

Ben...Mal thought frantically as she ran, Where's Ben?!

Ally grumbling, "I told you we shouldn't have told her," was the last thing Mal heard from her dorm.

In the library…

Harley was pacing back and forth, not sure how to break the news to Claire and Mal. Then again, maybe Mal already knew, depending on what Evie and the others had told her.

Claire soon joined him, biting her nails and looking anxious.

"Hey," Harley said uncomfortably.

"Hey." Claire replied awkwardly as the took a seat in one of the chairs, "So, where's Mal?"

"I don't know." Harley said, picking up his phone, "Let me text her."

Hey, Mal, he wrote, Claire and I are meeting in the library if you want to talk to us about what you found out.

Can't, Mal responded, Need to talk to Ben. TTYL.

"I guess she's not coming," Harley said, setting his phone down, "She said she needed to talk to Ben."

"Ah. What she found out must've rattled her, then." Claire said sadly.

"Yeah. I can kind of see why." Harley said gloomily.

"What? What did Hayden tell you?" Claire asked.

Harley looked around the room to make sure no one was eavesdropping, and leaned and whispered, "The reason he's been so upset is because he's brokenhearted. He's still in love with Mal, and he wants her back, but she's with Ben. He says he's happy for them, but he's still really upset."

"What?! After all this time?!" Claire asked, eyes going wide.

"Yeah, crazy, right?! Anyway, what did Fran tell you?" Harley asked.

"Fran's in love with Hayden, but she's noticed that he still loves Mal. She's upset because she wants Hayden to love her, but his sight is set on Mal." Claire mumbled.

"Wow. Poor Fran." Harley breathed sadly.

"Poor Hayden." Claire added under her breath.

"Wait, Fran's in love with Hayden?!" Harley asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Yeah?" Claire asked.

"That's it!" Harley shouted excitedly, rising to his feet.

"Shh!" the librarian hissed.

"Claire," Harley said, sitting back in his seat, "We have to bring them together!"

"Bring them together?" Claire asked, puzzled.

Harley nodded vigorously and said, "Think about it! Fran's upset because she wants Hayden to like her, and Hayden's depressed because he's stuck on Mal! If we bring them together, Fran won't be unhappy anymore, and Hayden will finally be able to move on and he'll be happy, too!"

"So we solve both their problems! Two birds with one stone!" Claire quietly exclaimed.

"Exactly!" Harley whispered eagerly.

"But where do we start?" Claire asked.

"You start by letting us help you!" Evie said, sitting down next to them, with Audrey, Ally, Lonnie, Ruby, and Jane in tow.

Claire and Harley flinched, and then Harley huffed and said, "Jeez, you guys scared us! How much of our conversation did you hear?"

"Just the part where you realized Hayden and Fran need to be brought together. We're sorry for eavesdropping, we were just coming in to discuss ways to get them together when Evie overheard you talking about the same thing." Ally apologized.

"How long have you two known?" Audrey asked.

"We just found out after Harley talked to Hayden and I talked with Fran." Claire explained.

"Right, you're their roommates!" Lonnie whispered eagerly, leaning forward in her seat, "That means you must know them really well, right?! That'll help us even more!"

"She's right! We've been trying to get them together since we noticed the problem, and nothing's worked, but maybe that's because we don't know them as well as you two do!" Jane mumbled, beaming.

"Wait, I've got an idea!" Evie cried, standing up.

She ripped a sheet of poster paper from against the wall near the librarian's desk, grabbed some markers and walked back to the table.

Evie drew a T chart on the paper and put "Hayden" on one side, and "Fran" on the other.

"We'll each put down what we know Hayden and Fran like and are interested in, and we'll circle the things they have in common. That'll give us a clearer picture on how to get them interested in each other!" Evie said, passing markers out to everyone.

"That's a great idea!" Claire said.

"Yeah, I just wish Mal was here to give us more information about Hayden." Harley said.

All the girls except Claire winced, and Ally said, "Well, you see, we told Mal about what we knew because she asked, and she kind of...freaked out. She ran off, and we don't know where she went."

"She told me through text that she went to see Ben." Harley said, showing the text on his phone.

"Ah, that makes sense." Jane said sadly.

"Anyway, let's get to work." Evie said, beginning to write on Fran's side of the poster.

At the same time…

Mal ran towards Ben's office, not sure whether she wanted to scream out of confusion, be angry at Hayden for not being able to let go of the past and leaving Fran brokenhearted, or sob for breaking Hayden's heart.

She did know, though, that she needed Ben's strong arms to hold her together, and his gentle words to calm the emotional storm churning inside of her.

Mal frantically knocked on Ben's door, and breathed a temporary sigh of relief when Ben answered, "Come in."

Mal pulled the door open and quickly closed it behind her.

Ben smiled at Mal, but then frowned when he saw the look on her face.

"Mal?" Ben asked, rising from his desk, "What happened?"

Mal tried to tell him, but her throat was so constricted from unescaped sobs that only choking noises came out.

"Mal?" Ben asked, walking towards her.

Mal blinked, and suddenly Hayden was walking towards her, teeth clenched and tears running down his face.

"Mal…" he moaned, his voice shaky from overwhelming sadness.

Mal cried, too, and said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"What?" Hayden asked.

Mal blinked again and Ben was standing before her, looking concerned.

"Why are you sorry? Is this about what happened before cotillion again?" Ben asked.

Mal shook her head and grabbed onto Ben, sobbing into his shoulder.

Ben held her back and whispered, "Shh, it's okay. It's alright, Mal. Just take some deep breaths. You hear my heartbeat? Focus on that."

Mal nodded and tried to focus on the sound of Ben's heart pounding as he held her, and backed up so the were sitting on a small cushioned space in front of a window.

When Mal stopped sobbing, Ben gently pulled her face towards his and mumbled, "Tell me what happened. Please."

"I found out why Hayden and Fran have been so moody lately." Mal said shakily.

"Why are they upset?" Ben asked.

"Because…" Mal said, drawing a deep breath, "Because Hayden's still in love with me, but I'm with you, so we can't be together, and he's brokenhearted. And Fran wants Hayden, but Hayden can't move on and see her as a romantic partner, so she's depressed. And this is all my fault!"

"No, it's not." Ben said, holding her tightly, "Mal, you didn't know Hayden was still in love with you, and you didn't know Fran wanted Hayden. Besides, Hades forced Hayden to break up with you, you didn't break his heart. This is Hades's fault, not yours. Hopefully this will all be over soon."

Mal nodded and hugged Ben tighter, feeling her pulse speed up.

"Would you leave me for him?" Ben asked, sounding scared.

"What?! NO! Of course not! Hayden's a close friend, but I wouldn't leave you for him. I love you far too much for that!" Mal cried.

To prove it, Mal leaned up and kissed Ben on the lips, melting into him. Ben kissed with equal force, and after a while, she felt him trembling and breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" Mal asked through her giggles as she pulled away.

"Yeah, I just got a bit turned on." Ben said sheepishly.

Mal laughed, and Ben smiled bashfully before giving her a peck on the nose.

"Come with me to dinner tonight," Ben said suddenly, taking Mal's hand, "I want to spend some quality time with you, and I think it'd help take your mind off that issue with your friends."

"What about our date we have planned in a few days?" Mal asked.

Ben chuckled warmly and said, "You think couples can only see each other once a week? We can still do our Saturday date. I just want to spend more time with you. No one's ever made me feel the way I feel about you, not even Audrey. It's not everyday you form a bond like this with someone, Mal. You're special to me, and I want to be with you. I love you."

Mal kissed Ben's cheek and said, "I love you too. And yes, I'll go to dinner with you tonight."

"You're the best." Ben mumbled.

"No," Mal said, pulling back into a hug, "You are."

In the library…

"Wow." Evie said breathlessly, looking over the chart they'd just completed, "I had no idea Fran and Hayden had so much in common."

Everyone else in the group nodded, staring at their T chart. There were so many circles.

"Well, now I'm more convinced than ever that they need to be brought together! They'd be such a great pair! Ooh! We should set them up on a blind date!" Ruby suggested.

"I'm not sure how they'd react to that." Lonnie said gently.

"No, I think Ruby's right." Harley countered, trying to keep his tone kind, "And I'm not just saying that because she's my girlfriend. Getting them together on a blind date could be how they get to know each other better, and become more attracted to each other."

"Maybe we could make it a double date so it'll be less awkward!" Ruby said excitedly, her hair slightly glowing.

"Yeah! God, I love the way you think!" Harley said, turning to his girlfriend.

Ruby hid her face in her hands and her hair grew brighter as she said, "Thanks, Harley."

"Maybe we could turn it into a triple date, and Mason and I could come along, too." Claire suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Jane said.

Most of the girl's phone's suddenly chirped, and they all looked at their phones and grinned.

"Awesome! Melody just posted a new video!" Audrey cried.

"Onto where? ViewTube?" Claire asked.

Ally shook her head and said, "Melody has her own vlog that she runs in her spare time. It's like a blog but with videos instead of words. She calls it One Story because she once heard a quote, 'We're all in this story together.' Melody likes to talk about interesting things that are happening in school and during the summer, her personal life. It's really interesting. You should subscribe to her."

"Alright, I will!" Claire said, grabbing her phone.

"Me too!" Harley said, also getting his phone.

"And me!" Evie added.

"The library will be closing in 5 minutes!" the librarian announced.

"Oh, shoot! We gotta go!" Lonnie cried, grabbing her bag.

"I'll take the poster!" Audrey said, rolling it and picking it up.

"Let's meet up tomorrow and discuss the blind date idea." Harley suggested, pocketing his phone.

"Aren't your siblings arriving tomorrow? Won't you need to help them settle in?" Ally asked.

"Yeah, you're right. Friday, then. Same place and time." Claire said.

Everyone nodded and walked out of the library as the librarian announced "The library will be closing in 2 minutes!"