The week leading up to the Coldplay concert went along without a hitch.
It seemed that once the girl was reminded of the event, any emotion other than excitement was wiped from her mind.
The concert itself was amazing, but…what else was there to expect? The music was amazing, the crowd was alive with energy, and the smile that lit up Hayley's face the entire time made everything inside Taylor light up along with it. He loved that smile.
But now it was Sunday night, the last Sunday night of their winter vacation, and Hayley was slowly spiralling back into doom.
Tomorrow was Monday. And Monday meant school.
Believe it or not, school wasn't Hayley's favorite thing in the world. Crazy right? But, the fact of the matter was, she didn't have that many friends. She had Taylor, of course, and before, she'd had Josh. Most of the girls hated her; tiny little blonde girl in colored jeans and band tees, hanging out with two of the most attractive guys in the school? She didn't blame them.
But now that she thought about it, none of the popular girls' empty threats bothered her as much as the treatment she was going to receive from her now ex-boyfriend. The fact that she would have to walk up to her locker, which was right in-between Taylor and Josh's, and not be able to look over to her left and see a warm smile and an open hand ready to clasp hers. She wanted to curl up and vomit.
But there'd be none of that. She'd just have to get over it, right?
Hayley sighed to herself and rolled over, trying to get at least a bit of sleep before the next day.
"So, how was your break? As eventful as I think it was?"
Jeremy nudged Taylor in the ribs a few times with his elbow as the bus went over a rough patch of road and jostled everyone around a bit.
"What do you mean?" Taylor asked, rubbing his eyes. He hadn't slept all that well the night before, thoughts of the little orange (well, it was more a brownish color now, considering the dye was faded) haired girl swirling around his mind, wondering how she would cope with being back at the hellhole that was Franklin High.
"Come on, I heard about Josh and Hayley. And I know how close you are with her…I figured you would have made your move while she was still in the mourning period." The grin on the senior's face was unmistakable.
Taylor rolled his eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"T, come on! A toddler could see that you've got a crazy middle school crush on Hayley. I've just been waiting for her and Josh to end it so you both could get your heads out of your asses and just get together already."
"She's my friend, Jerm. And the breakup was really nasty, I wouldn't take advantage of her while she's still hurt."
The bus pulled to a stop in front of the school and everyone moved to stand, their sluggish movements a telltale sign that they wanted to be anywhere but here.
"Well," Jeremy started, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "If you want her, which I know you do, you better do something soon. Because I can name about 5 guys who would kill for her."
"Mom, I'm leaving for school!" Hayley yelled, grabbing an apple off the counter and a water bottle from the fridge, not expecting an answer from her mother as she darted out the door. The girl had thrown her alarm clock across the room when it went off and overslept, missing the bus as a result. She had just woken up 10 minutes ago, tossing on a Minor Threat t-shirt, a pair of blue and dark blue skinnies and her gray and blue Nikes. Now she was up to the task of jogging to school, and she silently thanked the Gods for letting her live 5 blocks away.
15 minutes later, she was jogging up the school's lawn just as the first late bell was ringing. She ran through the doors, tossing away her apple core into one of the two trash cans, thanking the Gods yet again that her locker and first class were right along the main hall. Climb the stairs and rounding the corner, she collided head on with a taller body.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was late and I was just trying to get to class, sorry," she began chanting as she reached over to lift up the books and hand them back to their owner. But, upon looking at them, she noticed that she was the owner, the Chemistry book covered in miscellaneous stickers and doodles in her handwriting, and the notebook carrying a magazine cutout of Jimmy Eat World. She looked up to see the smiling face of Taylor, adjusting his glasses and beanie.
"You waited for me?" she asked, replacing one of her straps on her shoulder. Taylor placed a hand on her shoulder, a consoling look masking his face. "Friends don't let friends go to class late."
Hayley rolled her eyes and laughed, letting Taylor guide her by her shoulders up the hall to chemistry class. She then smiled to herself, wondering why she thought today would be bad.
By lunch, Hayley couldn't even remember why she had dreaded today. It was stupid of her, really; every moment she had spent with Taylor the past two weeks had been a blast, so why would school be any different? They shared 5 of their 7 classes, and it seemed Taylor had tried extra hard to make the girl laugh and have a great time (while still getting their work done, of course).
Now they were sitting at a lunch table with one of Hayley's only girl friends, Dakotah, and Jeremy, Taylor's senior friend.
"Seriously though, this chicken tastes like ass," Hayley said, throwing the chicken finger back onto the tray and reaching for her juice bottle.
"That, my dear Hayles, is why I take the time to pack a lunch every morning," Dakotah smiled, pausing to take a bite of her sandwich.
"Salivating, Rae. Give me a bite," Hayley said, leaning over and making chomping motions at the blonde girl's hands, giggling when she swats at her nose.
"So why the sudden change?" Dakotah asked, reaching over to grab some of Hayley's chopped and colored hair.
"I don't know. Blonde was boring. I'm ready for some change in my life," she said, reaching across the table and dipping her finger into Taylor's mashed potatoes, sucking them off her index finger before saying, "Oops, missed my tray," and winking to the boy.
He rolled his eyes and tutted to himself, and then groaned a bit at the elbow that was planted into his kidney. He looked over to Jeremy with an annoyed look.
"What?" he whispered, hoping he sounded agitated, but feeling like he sounded exasperated.
"Taylor, come with me back through the snack line, I wanna see if they put more chips out." Jeremy announced to the table, and when the girls did no more than glance over to them before re-immersing themselves into their own conversation, Jeremy grabbed Taylor by his upper arm and dragged him away from the table. When they rounded the corner outside the cafeteria and into the empty hallway, Jeremy turned him around.
"You're turning into a bully," Taylor whined, rubbing his arm.
"Sorry, bro," Jeremy said, patting the younger boy's shoulder. "But this is just getting plain painful to watch."
"Jeremy, I am not going to ask her out any time soon, if that's what you're getting at," Taylor said, leaning his back against the wall.
"No, you can't just ask her out of nowhere, that'd be dumb," Jeremy said, leaning himself against the opposite wall. "How about we do a group thing? Maybe, go to the movies, you two and me and Dakotah? Or bowling or something, I don't know. That way, it's not a direct date, and you two can continue moving at your…painstakingly slow pace," the older boy winced out the last words.
Taylor was quieted for a while, mulling over the idea. It didn't sound half bad, actually. And the last time he'd been bowling with Hayley and Josh, he'd spent a majority of his time picking at her for bowling with the bumpers up. He thought maybe he should try and redeem himself.
"Fine," Taylor sighed, "we'll go bowling tonight, I guess." He leaned up and looked around the corner and back into the cafeteria towards the table where Hayley and Dakotah sat. The two were talking animatedly, Hayley smiling and bouncing around, looking happier than a kid in a candy store. It made Taylor smile.
Tonight would be a good night.