Harmonies of the Heart | 🧡 Jailey 💙 | The Music Freaks

Chapter 3: A Silent Melody in a Choir of Harmonies

The rain came pouring down outside on Thursday afternoon. Nobody seemed to be bothered to do their work; it was the first biology lesson after their assessment task and they had little to do so early in the next unit.
After going through the PowerPoint, the students were expected to complete a few textbook questions - Hailey obliged, slowly getting through them one by one, but she could see most of the other girls looking up prom dress photos. Hailey, like many students, was growing more excited about the event. It was still about a month away, but the buzz about it had been growing since before the start of junior year.
Hailey looked at Jake sitting beside her. She wished she could go to prom with him.

Jake concentrated hard on his work this lesson. Something had changed since he had started studying with Hailey; it was like he finally realised how important, but simple to complete, all the schoolwork was. He just needed to make a start on his work, and it would be smooth sailing from there (for the most part). So, even though it was the final few minutes of class, he worked on his textbook questions right up until the last one. After all, the more work he did now, the less he'd have to do later.

The bell went for the start of lunch, and the students got up from their seats to leave. About half of them were lucky enough to have their lockers in the science building, but unfortunately for Jake and Hailey they needed to get to the music building - through the rain.

Hailey tucked her book into her messenger bag as she stared through the misty window, dreading what was to come. Jake, on the other hand, looked between Hailey and the wet weather, taking it as a challenge.

He smirked at her. "Wanna race?"
Hailey gave him a look, crossing her arms. "That's not a good id-"
"I'll beat you to the music room!" He yelled, throwing all caution to the wind and bolting out the door into the rain. Hailey gasped, looked back into the empty classroom once, and then sped out after him.

They dashed across the school courtyard. Hailey lagged behind Jake, focusing on not slipping while holding a book over her head. He zoomed far ahead at first, but stopped to wait for Hailey once he got to the door. He had to give her a fighting chance, of course.

Hailey's heart skipped a beat as she noticed Jake standing at the entrance. She rushed up to him, and put her hands on her knees.
"What are you doing?" Jake exclaimed suddenly. "Catching your breath? Oh, I'm sorry Princess, take all the time you need." He leaned against the wall and grinned, but didn't see the cheeky glint in her eyes.
"Oh, thank you, kind sir," she replied with mock innocence, "that's awfully considerate of you. Bye!"

Jake blinked in shock as he realised Hailey was gone, and turned to see her dashing down the hallway.
Hailey snickered as she approached the music room, hearing shouts from behind her. Jake managed to catch up and they were about neck and neck. "Too cocky, Jake," she laughed as they ran. He rolled his eyes back at her.
They slowed to a jog as they got closer, laughing and grinning at each other. Hailey felt exhilarated; her heart was pounding in her chest and it wasn't just from the race. Adrenaline rushed through her veins as Jake looked at her with those gorgeous brown eyes. She whole-heartedly adored him.

They opened the door of the music room and Hailey's heart shattered.

"Jake!" chirped a bright-eyed girl, turning to look at them both. "And Hailey, hi!"
"Daisy!" Jake's face lit up, making Hailey wither inside. She was frozen still as Jake walked closer and they immediately struck up a conversation.

Every ounce of joy Hailey previously felt was gone in a second. It was now replaced with anguish; a growing ache in her stomach.
She took a deep breath and moved past them, busying herself with the microphone stand. There wasn't much she could do if they were going to talk. She couldn't keep building up her expectations of her relationship with Jake, though - she was setting herself up for failure and it needed to stop.
Hailey felt a sudden pang as another thought came to her. What if they were already dating?!
Her eyes drifted up to look at the pair - they looked so happy together. Picture-perfect. After all, they were Jake and Daisy. Daisy and Jake.