It Happened Last Year

I feel suffocated like all their harsh eyes are focusing in on my throat, mentally choking me. I swallow, step further in, let the door shut behind me. “Hello, I’m Hailey. I’m new,” I say and turn to the teacher, they were right, he is good looking, but a little too short for my taste.

Mr. Freeman’s face is blank, surprised maybe, then he comes back to life. “Oh, o-of course. Take a seat, it’s an open seating chart.”

I smile, painfully, and turn back to the crowd. They are staring or whispering to each other, it’s one or the other. There is a seat right in front and I make my way over until a girl suddenly places her bag on the chair. I look at her and she glares.

With a sigh, I find another seat in the middle of the classroom. I step over bags and move to sit down. Once I am sat, I place my bag by my feet and look up. The girl that was sitting in the desk beside this one has now moved across the room. Everyone is watching me. I want to cry.

“Alright everyone,” Mr. Freeman slices through the silence, not knowing what to do, “let’s continue. We were taking turns saying our names, something we like, our favorite class, and what we did over the summer.”

I am thankful that he updated me, though I knew, already, what they were up to.

A guy a few seats behind me starts up again. “My names Bradley. I like to play football, my favorite class is lunch, and over the summer I played football, hung out, you know.” I remember him. He was a friend of Harrison’s, he was with him when he walked into the kitchen.

“My names Jacob, I like to hang out with friends, my favorite class is Spanish, and over the summer I went on a cruise.”

“My names Daphne,” oh no, “I like to dance, my favorite class is anything without liars in it, and over the summer I didn’t run away like a little b-”

“Daphne,” Mr. Freeman cuts her off, giving her a warning.

Once it is my turn to share, I say whatever, doubting that anyone actually cares. I like to write, my favorite class is English, over the summer I went to the beach, nothing noteworthy. The last thing I need is more attention.

Once the class is over, I rush into the hallway with my head down. This is what I was scared of, large crowds. My next class is across campus, Earth Science with Mr. Long, and I pray to God that Daphne doesn’t join me again.

I got a glimpse of her as I left the class. Her hair is longer, lighter in color, she has a beautiful face, perfect body, and a dance team shirt on, everything she strived for. There was a look in her eye almost telling me to get out. It is hard to believe that we were once friends.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Something stops me in my mission to safety, something hard. I stumbled back with a red face and look up at my victim, the person who I had stupidly run into. Are they going to yell at me? Laugh at me?

I meet his dark, unfamiliar eyes, and before I realize what a catch he is, “sorry” is spilling from my lips. “I’m such a klutz.”

My heart seems to pause a moment when I study his face, the stranger’s jawline is enough to have any girl at this school blushing. How come I don’t know him?

“It’s fine,” the tall, muscular, mysterious, swoon-worthy, shall I go on-says to me, then moves past.

My eyes follow him until he disappears into the crowd. A few people around are watching, but they don’t seem interested in me, rather the fact that I bumped into him.

Who was that?

Like I have anyone to ask.

Just on cue, it happens, like an angel sent from God, I hear her beautiful voice. “Holy shit, Hailey!”

At first, I thought it was another student, ready to cuss me out or fight with me about Harrison, and how what I did was wrong. But no, it is something much better.

When I turn to the side, Jana, my once best friend grabs my arm and yanks me into the flow of walking students, the one I was in before running into Mr. Mystery.

I don’t know what to say to her.

Jana was my one good thing before I left, she was the only person who didn’t shun me. I couldn’t tell if she believed me or not, but Jana never fought with me about it. She listened and we moved on, even if everyone around us was turning against me. She was my one reason to stay. The Cons outweighed the Pros.

“What on earth are you doing back here?” She asks rapidly. “I thought I would never see you again.”

Her blue eyes are alive, full of excitement and happiness. Her cheeks are pink, her hair is chestnut and full, Jana is the spokesperson for life, if there ever was one. “I-I lost your number when I got a new phone. I wanted to tell you that I was coming back, but I didn’t know how to reach you. To be honest, I didn’t know if you wanted to talk to me.”

She glares at me jokingly. “Not want to talk to you? How? You’re my best friend, stupid. Even though I should hate you because you left me, I’m going to move on and try not to have a heart attack because you’re actually right in front of me. This is insane. What made you come back?”

A smile lights up my face and I thank God for this gift. “My Dad and his wife moved to Canada. She’s Canadian. I couldn’t go so I moved back in with my mom.”

“They got married?”

I nod. “Just a few months ago. What have you been up to? We have so much to catch up on.”

Jana groans. “Oh God, I know. Let’s meet after school at Knocks, we can talk over milkshakes, okay?”

I hesitate.

Knocks, the number one hangout for the students of Coldgrove High School. Daphne used to drag us there over the summer before Junior year so she could talk to Clara about trying out for the dance team. She knew Clara always hung out there on Fridays.

It is a small, fifties style diner that has been here for years. It’s a town favorite.

Not wanting to risk my chance at rekindling my friendship with Jana, I agree and we go our separate ways.