Love Only Happens Once

Chapter 13

Haley

~ The next morning ~

I opened my eyes to find myself looking towards the ceiling. I turned my head ready to see if Sasha is sleeping, but when I did I was met with the gleam of the sun shining in my eyes. Well...not really shining more burning excruciating pain into my pupils. After the spots cleared, I surveyed the area and realized I wasn't at my dorm room at all. I was on a leather couch with a blanket draped over me and oddly enough it smelled like Jeremy. That's when everything came rushing back to me...OMG WE KISSED!!!! I groaned out load. I can't believe I did it, I have to get out of here. I quietly got up and folded the blanket. I picked up my phone, keys and found my shoes. When I felt as though I had everything I needed I hauled azz out of there and practically ran to my dorm room. Once I turned the corner towards the dorm room I took a deep breath, letting all the tension go. I also realized Jeremy's apartment wasn't too far from the university which worked out in my favor. I walked into my housing building in a slight haze going over everything that happened yesterday. Too soon I reached my apartment where I quietly tip-toed throughout my apartment only to realize a few seconds later it was a futile attempt. The sound of someone clearing their throat broke me out of my reverie. Turning slowly towards the sound I found Sasha looking at me with her eyes showing a glare while her body language showed nothing but concern. The sight of her left me perplexed nonetheless which didn't help the thousands of other misplaced puzzle pieces that were scattered in my brain. I stared at her innocently as I tried to figure out what would be the next best thing to say.

"Heyyyyy" I greeted nervously. Her stare unrelenting, she responded too calmly for MY own nerves. The air of tension swirling around her let me know that I was in trouble.

"Don't you "hey" me Haley. Where in the hell were you?" She yelled. "First we hear about what happened between you and Alex. Then you give us a sad excuse of a call not even explaining what happened and if you were okay" she took a deep breath staring at me with a burning and heated intensity. "We were all worried about you and you couldn't even be bothered enough to reassure us you were okay and that we had nothing to worry about. Then to put the icing on top of the cherry cake you don't come home for the rest of the night and come strutting in at 8 o'clock like nothing ever happened" She was trembling with anger at this point. It wasn't that I didn't care enough to reassure them. It was just...that I had a scapegoat and I took it with open arms.

"I'm sorry Sasha, I know you guys deserved a better explanation and reassurance but at the time it wasn't really something I really wanted to talk about. I wanted to forget and end the night thinking of something else". I responded back quietly. To me it made all the sense in the world you know. It was a moment to forget and breath. To let all of my troubles and worries and go and think about myself. Think about things I wouldn't normally think about like ... crushes. It was for me to have true genuine fun. Sasha sighed and allowed her face to soften.

"I understand that Haley but you have to understand that you have people who love you and care about you. You have people around you who want to make sure you're okay. We want to be there to comfort you and see for ourselves that you are able to handle this. There's nothing wrong with escaping but before you escape we would like for you to at least speak to us and meet with us. Is that okay?" she asked. I nodded my yes and gave Sasha a hug.

"So, how are you?" asked Sasha.

"Surprisingly enough I'm fine. I think I have finally rid myself of Alex and I couldn't feel more free about it." I replied truthfully. "I can finally worry about myself and school and not worry when he's going to show up next. You know?"

Sasha smiled. "Awww my little Hales is growing up and moving on" she exaggerated. She hugged me tight and gave me a big smack on the cheek (yuck!). I wiped my face repeatedly after the little stunt she pulled. Eventually I felt clean enough to glare at her without shivering. I scrunched my nose at her and she laughed.