Long Distance Call | tayley ✓

19 | Luck

[Hayley]

I exhale as I stare at my phone screen. The Twitter app stares back at me. Chad's account, to be specific. It's like he's staring directly back at me through the profile picture of his.

It's weird. He hurt me so badly, yet he still did make me feel important in the time we were together. Or I thought we were. I'm not so sure we truly were together, considering he was married.

But why not follow him?

My thumb hovers above the dominantly white "follow" button. After a moment, I click the button, the space transforming into blue.

See, I would have already invited Lynn over to stop me from doing this. But she's out of town. She majored in graphic design and studied some other art stuff back in college. She's trying to get a job at a place that's an hour or so away. She's most likely currently in the interview, seeing as how she didn't reply to my texts from earlier.

Lynn and I's story of our friendship is a bit weird. She moved down to Franklin, Tennessee when we were in the eighth grade. I sat alone at lunch, and she seemed lost and lonely as well. She sat down next to me with no explanation. My current best friend introduced herself to me, and I thought she was a little weird at first. She wore a My Chemical Romance t-shirt, several bracelets that presented the band and some of their lyrics. So I decided she couldn't be all too bad.

I still just thought of her as just a school friend, not someone I would hang out with. But one day, some of the bitches in our grade came to the table we sat at. They had plenty of nicknames and insults for me, the most used one being 'lesbian.'

One girl used that term, causing Lynn to stand up. I whispered for her to sit down, but she still stood strong.

"How about you shut up, okay? Because what kind of an insult is that? Who cares if someone is lesbian? Hayley isn't, but what the fuck would happen if she were? Not like you're much better, any of you. You know what, I hope your kids turn out to be gay. If anyone will even reproduce with any of you." Following her words, she took her seat. I remained silent. My bullies remained silent. Lynn just went back to enjoying her goldfish crackers.

Pretty sure that moment was when we really became best friends. I don't think it was much long after that when she had come out to me. I didn't care. Nobody had stood up for me before her. Whenever Lynn was around, the girls would do all in their power to stay away. Even when Lynn wasn't around, they wouldn't interact with me. Thank god.

Anyway, I've gotten quite off topic.

A moment after following Chad, I receive a direct message. Before even checking, I know just who it must have been from. And sure enough, it sure is from the person I suspected.

@XChadballX: Hey Hayley! How have you been (:

I sigh. Why did I even follow him? I'm gonna regret this. Too late to turn back now.

@yelyahwilliams: Hey, Chad.. What's up?

@XChadballX: I never got to say sorry to you.. I have a lot to apologize for. Can I see you? I want to apologize in person.

Sigh. I don't want him hurting me again.

@yelyahwilliams: Chad, I don't want to get back together...

@XChadballX: That's not what I'm trying to do. Did you block my number, or were you just ignoring me? Either way, whatever. I tried apologizing multiple times. I have a lot to tell you, please?

That's right. I blocked his number immediately. He knew where to find me if it were a serious emergency.

I shouldn't, but I agree to meeting up with him. We sort a location out. I don't want to meet up with him somewhere private. So we agree to meet up at a nearby restaurant.

I'm the first to show up, sitting nervously in a booth for ten minutes before I witness Chad walking through the door. His exposed arms show that he's gotten more tattoos since our last encounters. He glances around a bit, seeming to be searching for me.

Once spotted, he smiles and heads over to me. He slides into the booth with a smile that I don't trust.

"Hayley, it's --," he starts, but I hold a hand up to stop him from continuing.

Dropping my hand, it's my turn to speak. "Why did you want to see me?"

"Because I never got the chance to truly apologize, and that's stuck with me ever since. Also, you helped me realize that being with my wife was not making me happy. She wasn't the one for me. We divorced not long ago," he explains.

Should I trust him? I believe that his marriage is over now, but there's no excuse for cheating. Who knows, he could do that to me if him and I try this again. I may have not even been the second girl, there could've been others, excluding his wife and I.

"I don't know," I say shyly.

"We can talk. I'll get you something to eat, and we can talk and catch up," he says. That voice of his was once the most soothing sound in my universe. But now I nearly dread it.

I give in, though, and allow for him to buy me a small mac and cheese. I wasn't about to turn down free food, especially some as excellent as this.

I sip at my cup of green tea as he sighs and takes his own seat that's directly across from me. His inked arms rest on the table.

"What happened with you and her?" I ask bluntly, not even bothering to sugarcoat the things I want to say. He knows who I'm talking about, too.

"We just weren't working. The reason I had been seeing you was because she wasn't really satisfying me in any of the aspects of our relationship. Our sex life was dull, she wasn't making me happy. The night you and I met, I had just gotten into a fight with her. I really don't know why I decided to go to a bar that night. I guess I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I just stayed there until I would be forced to leave. I didn't expect to meet someone."

The words he's speaking, fuck, I know he's full of shit. Part of me is aware that no matter what, I'll walk away from this hurt. That is, if this even goes anywhere. But another part of me wishes for things to return to how they were.

Maybe it's just that I need attention. I yearn for someone to appreciate me in the way I've rarely experienced. Now, I've felt this way over two people. That'd be Chad and Taylor, but Taylor doesn't care anymore.

My fists clench when I begin thinking of him. I exhale a heavy breath.

A bit later, I finish up my food. I agree to keep in touch with Chad, as much as I fear what he could end up doing, how badly I could be hurt. He leaves before I do.

But just my luck. As I'm making my way out of the eatery, someone stops me, bumping into me. I raise my gaze to see a familiar face across from me. His somewhat concerned expression softens into a smile.

Josh fucking Farro. Kill me now.