"Have a safe trip!"
I waved until the car disappeared, the sound of the engine fading into the distance. Hayden didn't even glance back. He just grabbed his luggage and walked toward the main building.
The Hayden I remembered from before, my Hayden, would've carried mine too. Always a gentleman and too careful with me.
This Hayden… he was distant.
"Hayden!" The name slipped out before I could stop it. He turned his head but kept walking like I was nothing. His lips moved, muttering something I couldn't catch, but I knew it wasn't good.
"Wait up!" My legs carried me faster until I rushed ahead of him, blocking his path. He stopped, barely, his frown deep and annoyed.
I forced a smile. "Hi. I never really got to introduce myself the other day. I'm Stephanie Porter. But you can call me Steph." I held out my hand, hoping, stupidly, that he'd shake it.
He didn't. He just looked at my hand, then at me. The weight of his stare burned through me until I dropped it back to my side, slightly embarrassed.
"Um, thank you for… telling your dad to give me a ride," I tried again, desperate to break the wall of silence.
Nothing. He just stared, like he didn't see me as someone worth answering.
"Are we good?" My voice cracked at the end, a little too hopeful.
His silence was louder than words, and I hated how much it stung.
I told myself he was just mad about the suspension. He did love playing, and maybe he wasn't over it yet. That had to be it.
But then he exhaled irritably, "If you don't have anything useful to say, stay out of my way."
My stomach sank. I opened my mouth, fumbling for something, anything that would make him stop looking at me like that. "Oh… I just wanted to ask—uh—"
But he was already walking away. Just like that.
"Wait," I blurted, my hand shot out before I thought about it. He spun back faster than I expected, and instead of grabbing his wrist like I meant to, my fingers caught on his belt. My palm brushed against something as solid as rock.
My cheeks reddened instantly. My breath hitched, and before I could stop it, a laugh, shocked and nervous, bubbled out of me.
No way. No way.
What in the world did I just touch?
His eyes widened and before I could stammer out an excuse, he pushed my hands off, closing the space between us. "Are you sick in the head?!" His voice thundered. "You're sexually harassing me now?"
"W-what? No! I—I didn't mean—" I stumbled back with my hands raised. "That was an accident."
My cheeks were on fire and my pulse wouldn't slow.
"Hayden?"
We both turned. Kai stood a few steps behind us, letting his eyes move from me to Hayden. When his gaze landed on me, it tightened, clear enough to keep me rooted.
"You coming?" Kai asked him flatly.
Hayden didn't look at me again. "Stay away from me." He brushed past, his shoulder roughly grazed mine, as he walked with Kai.
I wanted to follow, to explain myself and fix whatever this was turning into. But Kai's eyes froze me in place. That one look told me I wasn't welcome.
I let out air I didn't know I was holding. I stood there, watching his back retreat, wondering why—why he'd been hard, why it mattered, why I couldn't stop replaying it in my head. That made my face burn hotter.
I hurried back to where I'd dropped my suitcases, already picturing how I'd drag them inside before anyone else noticed me standing there alone.
But when I reached the spot… it was empty.
My chest sank. I blinked, thinking maybe I'd misremembered, maybe I'd left them by the steps or tucked them closer to the wall. I circled the entrance once, twice, scanning every corner.
Nothing.
Panic rose inside me. My things couldn't just vanish. I'd left them right there. I knew I had.
The sound of laughter from the students nearby seemed to only irritate me.
I clenched my fists, refusing to look. I didn't have time to care about whatever joke was going around; I needed to find my bags.
"I'm finally going to make Hayden fall in love with me… How? I have no idea. I'll seduce him…"
My blood stopped flowing. I tilted my head before I could stop it, letting my body pull me toward the sound even though every part of me screamed not to.
No. No, it couldn't be.
The closer I pushed through the crowd, the faster my heart hammered. My skin suddenly felt cold and hot all at once.
Then I saw my luggage at the center, ripped open. All my clothes, my underwear, my spare uniform; all of it scattered across the floor for everyone to see.
Standing on my spare uniform was Sofia, holding my journal. Her voice alone taunted me. "I've already lost him once before. I won't let it happen again."She closed my journal with a snap when she saw me. "Pathetic, isn't it? All Hayden, Hayden, Hayden..."
The students merciless laugher filled my head once more.
The judging eyes of those students flicked from her to me, some wide with amusement, others sneering. They were all laughing at me. At my words and my things spilled open like garbage.