You would think I didn't work today... geez... these chapters have just been spitting out of me! I'm glad though, because the more I write, the closer to the end we get:)
So, this is what everyone has been waiting for... Tyler finally finds out...
Chapter 17 – The Truth
Things seemed to be going well; it had almost been two weeks since her blow up with Aaron in the hall, and her heart-to-heart with Reid in the bathroom. Her and Tyler were closer than ever, and talk about after Graduation and college were in the mists.
"I think we should move in together," Tyler stated as he looked across the lunch table at his girlfriend.
"You think so?" Hailey asked questioning his decision.
"I mean if you want to, it was just an idea…" Tyler stated as Reid joined them.
"What idea?" The blonde asked taking a seat next to Hailey who bumped shoulders with him casually.
"Me and Hailey moving in together after graduation…" The brunette stated as Caleb, Pogue, Kate and Sarah soon joined them.
"Kate and I were talking about her moving in to my apartment with me…" Pogue nodded.
Sarah looked at Caleb expectantly, "I don't know babe… what about my mom?" Caleb asked.
"She's been a lot better since the whole Chase incident…" Sarah blurted out.
"Chase incident?" Hailey raised her eyebrow.
"Nothing," Caleb stated glancing at Sarah. "Just this fight that happened between me and that transfer, Chase Collins…" Caleb covered.
"Oh," Hailey smiled glancing at them.
"Well, we're all going to BU starting in the fall, and Caleb and Sarah are going to Harvard…" Reid pointed out. "Maybe we should rent a townhouse or a house or something in between, and we could all live together?" He shrugged his shoulders.
Pogue stopped chewing his food and stared at Reid, and Tyler tilted his head in through, "I think that is probably the smartest thing I've ever heard you say…" Caleb commented looking over at Sarah and Kate.
"See I'm not as stupid as you think I am…" Reid grinned cockily.
"That's not a bad idea…" Hailey pointed out.
"We should run it by our parents and see what they say…" Caleb pointed out.
"Always the responsible one…" Pogue laughed as he put his arms around Kate.
They all chatted about getting in to the college's of their choice, with the two 'braniacs' as Reid called them going to Harvard after all. They all parted and went to their next class, and things were seemingly well until after school.
Hailey's class was dismissed early and she found herself running in to Reid on her way to her locker. The two chatted briefly as they came around a corner only to hear an argument breaking out in the middle of the hall way.
"What is your deal Aaron?" Tyler's voice was loud and sounding as though he was on the last straw with the curly haired brunette.
"You, you are my deal Simms…" Aaron pointed at him vigorously.
"You left us alone for nearly a month, and now… now you want to bother us again?" Tyler questioned. "She told me about your fight, and that you haven't talked to her in weeks… so what's changed now?"
"Oh she told you about our fight, huh?" Aaron asked with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah, she did…" Tyler stated glaring at him, his eyes narrowed in on the lanky boy before him.
"I bet you she didn't tell you the truth, did she?" Aaron gave him a snide look.
"Of course she did, Hailey wouldn't lie to me…" Tyler insisted.
"That's what you think Simms…" Aaron smirked.
Hailey wanted to jump out and stop Aaron from saying what he was going to say but she couldn't move, she couldn't even let herself speak. She looked up at Reid with terror in her eyes as the blonde got ready to interject between the two, Aaron blurted it out.
"Your entire relationship is a lie…" Aaron smirked. "It was all a bet…"
"Aaron, no!" Hailey jumped from around the corner, just as Aaron finished telling Tyler. She could feel her heart drop in to her stomach.
"Hailey?" Tyler turned to see Hailey standing there her eyes wide as saucers as Reid came from around the corner. "Bet, what bet is he talking about Hails?"
Aaron smirked at her as he leaned against the lockers, "Go on Hails, tell him about our little bet…"
"Aaron why would you do this?" She asked getting closer to him; the tears falling from her eyes as she felt her insides fluttering wildly. "Why?"
"You did it to me first…" He growled.
"You were supposed to be my friend, my best friend…" She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him.
"Things didn't go the way we planned them, did they Hails?" Aaron growled.
"Hailey what is he talking about?" Tyler asked glancing back at Reid who was trying to keep quiet.
"I fucking hate you," She whispered harshly as she turned to look at Tyler. "I'm so sorry," She whispered.
"What bet, Hailey?" Tyler asked his face turning red. He wasn't sure if it was from the emotions, from his fight with Aaron, or what was going on.
"Do you remember that night at Nicky's when I took you home…" Hailey looked up at Tyler.
"Yeah, what about it?" Tyler asked.
"When Aaron and I were playing pool," She tried hard to get the words out but it was too hard for her.
"We made a bet…" Aaron interjected glaring at Tyler. "She wanted to up the ante on our game.." Aaron smirked. "And guess what, I won…"
"Hailey…" Tyler was almost breathless when he said her name, his face showing his sadness as she nearly fell apart in front of him. "Is this true?"
"Yes," She whispered. "He told me that I had to make you fall for me, and then break up with you after you were completely head over heels for me… to break your heart…" He could just barely understand her through her tears. "I didn't know you then Tyler; I agreed to do it before I knew you…" She grabbed his face in her hands and looked him dead in the eye. "It was before I fell in love with you… I really care about you… and…"
"You've got to be kidding me…" Tyler's face was flushed; he felt the stinging in his eyes and glanced over at Reid who didn't look a bit shocked at all by what Hailey had just said.
"Tyler, I'm so sorry…" Hailey stated tears streaming down her face as she looked up at her boyfriend. "I've been trying to find the right way to tell you myself, but I just couldn't find the right time…"
"You knew about this, didn't you?" Tyler looked at Reid, tears slowly falling from those deep blue eyes.
Reid couldn't say anything, he opened his mouth but nothing came out. Tyler bit his bottom lip and shook his head.
"How can you say that you love me…" Tyler whispered looking down at her. "All of this was based on some stupid bet… some stupid bet that you made with him…" He pointed to Aaron. "Of all people, it had to be the one person that hates me and my friends more than anything…"
"Tyler, I do love you…" Hailey managed to squawk between her sobs. "I love you more than you even know…" She took a deep breath and the bell rang the hallway flooding with bodies. But it seemed like everything stopped.
'I hope you're happy…" Tyler stated harshly. "Because you got what you wanted…" He glared up at Aaron who was silent watching everything unfold before him. "I just had my heart broken,"
With that Tyler walked past her as Hailey pleaded with him to stay. She glared at Aaron and grabbed on to his coat before he could leave her to her demise. She stared him cold in the face and slapped him.
"I hope you fucking rot in hell," She whispered harshly before shoving him in to the crowd and falling to her knees.
The tears poured down her face as she rested her head in her hands. Hailey ignored the people walking by, not caring what they were saying about her. Not caring if anyone saw her cry. She had just lost two of the most important people in her life; her best friend and her boyfriend.
"Hailey, I'm sorry…" Reid's voice seemed out of place, she felt his cold fingers on her face lifting her chin up to look at him.
"Why…" She huffed trying to catch her breath, "Why are y-you sorry?" She asked squeezing her eyes shut. She put her hands over her chest, and she literally felt as if someone had just ripped her heart out.
"I just stood there, I didn't defend you… I really didn't help the situation…" Reid stated as he helped her up.
"I just want to go crawl in to my bed and die…" She leaned her head against the lockers. "You should go talk to Tyler… leave me here… he's your best friend…" She whispered wiping her face with the back of her hand.
Reid didn't say anything he gave her hand a small squeeze before running in to the crowd to look for Tyler. Hailey rested her head back in to the lockers and slid back down to the ground, not caring if she tripped anyone, or if anyone was looking at her weird.
Reid ran out in to the parking lot and saw Tyler's black Hummer sitting in the parking lot. It was on but he wasn't going anywhere. Reid ran over to it, hoping that his best friend wouldn't leave before he got there.
He threw open the door and Tyler was leaned against the steering wheel and his body was shaking as the music was turned up loudly. Reid shut the door quickly and turned down the music. He received a sideways glare from his best friend.
"I can't believe you knew about this…" Tyler stated his voice was shaky, his eyes were bloodshot and his face was red. "You are supposed to be my best friend, Reid…"
"I am your best friend, Tyler…" Reid stated as he reached over and turned his best friend's car off. "Look at me,"
Tyler sighed and looked over at him, his eyes were much darker than usual, if Reid didn't know better he would have nearly thought Tyler was using.
"I didn't tell you because I promised Hails I wouldn't…" Reid stated. Tyler's mouth fell open and he stared at his best friend in complete shock. "But I did it for you," Reid said. "You both love each other, regardless of the stupid bet she made with Aaron…" Reid tried to fix what just happened. "She's been wanting to tell you ever since she told me… she was just trying to find the right time…"
"Don't make excuses for her…" Tyler stated glaring over at Reid.
"I'm not trying to Tyler, I'm telling you the truth," Reid stated.
"It's a little late for the truth now…" Tyler sighed as he cranked up the SUV and drove to the dorms.
Hailey stayed put she didn't want to move, she didn't want to get up and she wanted to disappear. No matter what she did she couldn't stop the tears from falling.
"Hailey?" A soft female voice came, it was a lot closer than she originally thought, as the person said her name again.
She looked up and saw a very blurred Sarah Wenham kneeling down next to her, she buried her head in her hands and tried to ignore the blonde, but it was no use. She knew Sarah too well, and if Sarah set her mind to something, she was going to succeed with it.
"Hailey, what's wrong?" Sarah asked.
"It's a l-long story…" She stuttered.
"I've got plenty of time…" Sarah stated glancing around noticing that the school was pretty much cleared out.
"Trust me," Hailey gained a little bit of composure. "If I told you, you wouldn't be so nice to me right now…"
"Does this have something to do with Aaron?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah," She nodded biting back another sob.
"Look, I'm not here to judge you, Hailey… I just want to be a good friend…"
Hailey looked up at her again and helped herself off of the ground, with a little bit of help from Sarah, "Are you sure you want to know about this?" She asked.
"Of course, c'mon I'll drive you back to the dorms…"
The ride back to the dorms was abnormally quiet, she knew she would have to tell Sarah and at least she would hear the truth, or her version of the story. After arriving at the dorms Hailey invited Sarah up to her dorm to explain to her what happened.
Hailey laid it all out there for Sarah, telling her everything that she could remember about the bet, the conversations with Aaron, and the actually falling for Tyler. She explained to Sarah that she didn't want to go through with the bet as soon as she got to know Tyler.
Sarah sat like a fish open mouth and all, listening to every word of her explanation and not interrupting at all.
Hailey collapsed on to her bed and stared up at Sarah who was sitting on the extra bed, "I'm the most horrible person in the world…"
"We all make mistakes…" Sarah piped in. "We do stupid things, and regret them later…" She got up and sat down next to Hailey who sat back up. "I mean if I were Tyler I'd be pretty upset,"
"He has every right to hate me, I know…" Hailey pulled her pillow to her and cuddled up to it. "I never felt like this before… I mean I thought breaking up with Reid was bad… my god…"
"You can still win him back," Sarah offered.
"How?" Hailey shrugged. "I totally screwed everything up…" She sniffled and glanced over at Sarah, she knew she looked like hell, and probably did not deserve how nice Sarah was being to her.
"You may have screwed things up, but you can apologize… you can offer to start over again… something…" Sarah stated.
"He probably won't even give me the time of day…"
"You won't know until you've tried…" Sarah stated.
Sarah sat with her for a while and finally after a call from Caleb, a not too happy Caleb from what Hailey heard, she decided to leave. Hailey gave her an appreciative smile and gave her a hug.
"Thank you Sarah," Hailey stated.
"For what?" Sarah asked.
"For being a good friend, even after…" She trailed off.
"Hey… it was the bet that made you date him, but it didn't make you fall for him…" She shook her head.
"Still, thanks…" She whispered.
"Call me if you need to talk… ok?" Sarah asked.
Hailey forced a smile and a nod as she closed the door behind Sarah.
Sarah shook her thoughts and walked downstairs to meet with Caleb. She was halfway across the lobby when Caleb yelled her name.
"What were you doing talking to her; did you hear what she did to Tyler?" Caleb asked as they walked outside together.
"She's our friend Caleb, and you heard part of the story, I let her explain to me what happened…" Sarah stated calmly trying to ease Caleb's fierce attitude.
"She probably lied, just like her relationship with Tyler, was all a lie…" Caleb muttered.
"Caleb," Sarah glared at him. "What is wrong with you, calm down…"
"You don't understand Sarah…" Caleb shook his head. "Tyler has been through enough in his life, he really loved her… and she tore his heart out…"
"She does love him, she didn't want to go through with the bet after she got to know Tyler… she realized what a great guy he was but Aaron used his powers of manipulation…" Sarah explained.
Caleb sat back and listened as Sarah told him Hailey's side of the story.
The reverse psychology seems to be working so I'm going with it. DON'T REVIEW... DON'T PRESS THE BLUE BUTTON, don't do it! ;)
I've already got the beginning of the next chapter done, so you might get lucky today, you might get lucky tomorrow we'll see:)