Roller-coaster

“Uugh, can this day get any better?”

Hayley thought to herself. It wasn’t enough having dreamt about her childhood; the rest of the day seemed much like a chain of bad things happening in a row. She couldn’t go back to sleep after that dream, and by the time she had to went to college, Hayley was almost sleep-walking. When she entered her first classroom, she noticed a weird glance from the other students. But she decided to ignore them and did as her normal: sat on the third row, close to the stairs and opened her cellphone before class started.

It didn’t take her long to understand why some people had been staring and laughing behind her back. She was browsing through Instagram, when Hayley noticed a single photo of James. Normally, she would just scroll over it, probably unfollow that dude to not receive any notifications from him; but the caption on the photo caught her attention. James was smiling cockishly in the photo, while laying on a beach chair with a few beers next to him and three other guys, bare shirted, smiling to the camera. the caption saying: I don’t need her. I got my homies!

Hayley was in between laughing hysterically or plucking out her hair. Or both. For her own dread, she clicked on the comment section, and she almost regrated doing so; the comments were all varied, but they all seemed to support James, which made her sick.

BigMike22 commented:

Daz right, dude. Bros before hoes.

JoshCena commented:

Your homies won’t cheat on u!

Hayley gasped, when did she ever cheat on James? They weren’t even dating! She kept scrolling down.

BeautyBella commented:

Aww, who cheated on you, hottie? I’ll make u forget her😤😈

IsaGomez12 commented:

WHO IS HER? I’LL KILL THAT B**

Aln_Patrick replied to IsaGomez12:

It’s a girl from our college. I saw her before. She’s hot.

BlackEllie  replied to Aln_Patrick:

Yes. I have some classes with her. She is not that good-looking, tho.

That was enough. She stopped reading. Hayley didn’t bother with the mean comments about her, they were mostly from people that never even talked to her before, the only thing they did was to show how ignorant those people were. Since she worked as model, Hayley was accustomed to people’s criticism and hate comments. What mattered the most was that these people were drawing conclusions out of their own fantasies, not even bothering to know if it was true or not.

She decided to send a private message to James. That was one of the few occasions, Hayley got extremely mad.

Hayley: WTH is this about?

You sent James a screenshot.

She noticed when James visualized her message, but he didn’t reply. She grinded her teeth. Now you don’t wanna talk, huh? Above the conversation, there were many texts and audios from James, varying from regret, anger and shame.

Hayley had finally lost her temperament. If he was going to act like a little kid, she would repay that in kind. It was one of her characteristics that always seemed to cause trouble for her, she could be a bit spiteful.

Hayley: We weren’t even dating, you clown!

Hayley:  😂 😂 😂 👌 👌 👉 👉 👉 🤡 🤡 🤡 🤡 🍆 🤏 🤥 🤥 🤥

She blocked his contact, then closed her cellphone, puffing through her nose. Hayley wouldn’t waste more time with people like him.

On the entrance of the classroom, she saw Noel’s figure. Hayley had never been so happy to see her deskmate as of now, at least, it would be better to listen Noel’s screechy voice rather than stay silent on that oppressive atmosphere. Hayley raised one hand to call the girl, but quietly lowered it upon seeing the girl stick her tongue down James’s throat. Noel seemed unaware of Hayley’s presence or even that other students were staring at them. But James had his eyes open, glancing aside towards Hayley. He smirked.

Hayley scoffed, then opened her own book. She wouldn’t give him the pleasure of affecting her with that.

A few minutes passed before she caught a glimpse of a silhouette standing next to her. Hayley raised her head to find Noel, with a smothered lipstick and disheveled hair, staring hesitantly at her. But James wasn’t there anymore, she noticed.

Hayley faked a surprised face.

– Noel. – she called the girl. – I didn’t see you there.

The girl smiled apologetically.

– I just got here, anyway.

Hayley nodded, acting as if nothing had happened.

– Sit down. – she said, making room for the girl.

Noel seemed hesitant, but encouraged by Hayley innocent attitude, she sat by her side. Hayley went back to reading her book, ignoring the girl’s guilty stare. Don’t make this more awkward than it is, she pleaded silently.

– Hayley. – the girl stammered. – I wanted to tell you something.

Hayley suppressed a sigh, then turned to the girl with a clueless expression. – What is it?

– You know James, right? – hinted Noel.

She nodded. – What about him?

– We... you know… – Noel was blushing. – We’re dating now.

My condolences, she thought to herself, but said in a surprised voice:

– Oh, really? Cheers.

– I just wanted to tell you, because I don’t want things getting weird between us – Noel quickly added. – Since you’re his ex and… we’re friends.

Wrong twice.

– There’s nothing to worry about. – she said, calmingly. – James and I weren’t even dating to begin with.

Noel gave her a concerned look. – You don’t need to hide. He told me how close you two were…

– We weren’t though.

– But, it’s the best for you both. – she continued, ignoring what Hayley said. – I mean, can’t get hung up on a relationship when it’s over.

– There wasn’t any relationship…

But that didn’t seem to matter to Noel, for she kept on going: – And I just want us to not become strangers…

What’s the problem with this girl? Are we having two separate conversations?! Hayley thought. Is she talking to another me in some alternate dimension or something? I don’t care about James or you. Fuck it, I don’t even know his last name.

Hayley smiled as prettily as she could. – You don’t seem to be understanding me. I have nothing with James nor will I ever have. Half the girls he claims are his exes are just made-up names to make himself look cooler. I’m not angry or sad or whatever, so you don’t need to worry about it. I told you last time, you’d do me favor by going out with him.

That seemed to have an impact on Noel.

– So, you’re not angry we’re dating? – she asked.

– No. – she reassured the girl.

That put an end to the conversation and soon they went back to normal, with Noel blabbering about her new boyfriend and the party on the weekend where she had got drunk with several people. But Hayley wasn’t paying attention to any of that. She could still hear some whispers and laughs from the other students on her back, some peeping to see what would happen, so she had to fake a smile throughout all the class, pretending to not see them.

When the classes changed, she was relieved to find an excuse to not see Noel again. Truth was, the situation bothered her. Not for the relationship in itself, her words before had been true, but because she was being dragged into it.

She got her lab coat and headed towards the chemistry lab, where she would have classes about Biomedical Research with Mrs. Jones. The professor was giving a thorough explanation of drug development and the important connection it had with toxicology, interconnecting the two subjects. But Hayley couldn’t seem to focus her attention into it. By the time she realized, the professor was already assembling the students in groups of two.

Hayley watched as the other students partnered with friends and colleagues. She would have also done the same before, but the thought of having to endure another awkward situation stopped her from that. She was already planning of convincing Mrs. Jones to let her do it by herself, when she noticed a lone student, on the first row, quietly making notes.

Alice Miller.

The girl was known for being a genius. But also known for her quiet and timid personality. People would flock around her to ask questions about the subject when the professors had failed to do so, and the girl would calmingly answer them, even though the classes had long ended. For some reason, Hayley never liked the girl, or rather, she had a one-sided rivalry with her. Different than her fellow classmates, Hayley wanted to achieve good results by herself. She lived her entire life being compared to others with nobody believing that she could be smart enough. Deep down, Hayley wanted to prove them wrong, but she knew that even standing next to the girl would make it seem like her efforts were but the accomplishments of Alice Miller.

But today, Hayley was just too tired to care for any of that. She was tired of constantly proving herself.

– Can I sit here? – she asked.

The girl’s angelical face looked at her, surprised, as her golden locks fell on her reddened cheeks.

She nodded quietly.

Hayley didn’t bother to pleasantries; and Alice also didn’t make an effort for small talk. They sat in silence, absorbed studying on their own and answering Mrs. Jones’s printout in a notebook. The first few questions she answered quite easily, but after a while, she got stuck on some more complicated problems. Hayley frowned at the equation, knowing she had done something wrong along the way. She must have been sighing for a long while, for she felt a light poke on her shoulders.

– Uhm, hello? – called the girl. – I think you did this part wrong.

Hayley murmured, stressed. – What?

Alice trembled in her desk, she seemed panicked and her pristine blue eyes watered as if she was going to cry. Hayley softened her tone. – Sorry, could you repeat that?

The girl nodded, approaching their seats, and pointing at the part of the equation Hayley was staring a few moments ago.

– This part here is wrong. – she explained. – Try using this formula to get the answers, then convert everything to the same measure of the problem.

– But isn’t this formula better? – Hayley pointed towards some scribbles she had on the edge of the page.

The girl shook her head. – No. You should only use it, if they give this value. – Alice showed it on her textbook. – otherwise, you end the question with multiple errors.

– ‘kay. – she agreed. – Let me try then.

She remade the equation, yet this time using the formula the girl had shown her. For her own surprise and misery, it worked. As much as she hated having received help from someone else, she couldn’t not feel grateful for Alice.

– Thanks. – she said.

– Don’t mention it. – Alice went back to her seat.

The girl seemed solitary on her own, but not lonely, as if she enjoyed being like that. Hayley couldn’t stop thinking of another person who also had that same expression. She found herself nearing the girl again and asked:

– Say, would mind if we did this together?

***

They finished the project together. By the end of it, Hayley realized Alice was much timid and nicer than she previously thought. A bit panicky, but as soon as they talked for a bit longer, the girl relaxed around her.

Hayley felt a sting on her chest. She wanted to see Alex.

Should I send her a message? No, no. What if I bother her right now? Hayley looked at the clock, it was a bit past noon. Alex could be on a break right now…

She had just packed her things and said goodbye to Alice, since they only had a few classes together. Hayley passed the hallway, wondering if she should send Alex a message or just lay down somewhere before the next class. It was a tiresome day, after all.

At the entrance of the building, Hayley saw a familiar shape, looking around, lost.

She smiled; without Alex noticing and approaching behind her back, she touched her shoulder from one side, and immediately went to the other. Alex had completely fallen for the trick, and as she turned around to find the culprit, she saw a smiling Hayley waving at her.