Never Meant It - h.g

16

Hayley

"It's so nice to have you back Miss Pollock,"

"Thank God you're okay,"

"We missed you so much,"

"She's so lucky. I'd love to get kidnapped for a while,"

Lines I've been hearing all day. I hated being back here. It felt so boring.

"Everything alright Hayley?" Charlene asked.

"Yeah thanks," I smiled as I looked down at my tray of food.

"Just let me know if anything's out of place," she assured me.

"Well that's what best friends do right?" I smiled.

"Yeah," she laughed & played with her spaghetti on her tray.

"So what was it like?" she asked mutely.

"They didn't do anything bad to me," I started.

"They?" she asked in shock.

"Yes. There were seven boys," I nodded.

"Did they rape you?" she asked as she held her mouth.

"No, no, no," I quickly said.

"It was the Karnis. Know them?" I asked calmly.

"That group of run aways that terrorise the nation & have been on national news more times I can remember? Yes," she panicked, "they took you?"

I nodded & continued eating my lunch.

"Aren't you shaken? I'd sure as hell be shaken," she kept panicking.

"Charlene. They're actually not bad people. Like they all have this brotherly bond that I got to experience," I explained with a small smile.

"But Hayley they kill people. A lot of people. They make people suffer," she said with a shaking voice.

"They're all just misunderstood teenage boys who actually have hearts," I defended.

"I watched this one surveillance tape they showed on the news & one of the guys stabbed him straight. He wasn't even facing him!" she freaked.

"Oh yeah that's how Badger does his killings," I chuckled.

"Hayley! You even know their names!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah I do," I shrugged.

"I'm just so glad you're back. I cried for like a week because my best friend went missing," she sighed & hugged me.

"I missed you Char," I hugged her tight.

"I missed you too Hay," she hugged me. The lunch period ended & we headed back to class.

"Hayley," Charlene called.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Did you kill anyone while you were there?" she asked. I started to think.

I wanted to be honest with her. Proud about it in fact. But I knew she would freak out. But I was tired of having to be considerate & hide certain things because of other people. The Karnis really taught me something. They taught me to not hide your true self. So that's what I did. I showed my true self.

"Honestly, I did. It was one man though but I don't regret it," I blurted out confidently. Charlene looked at me when a face of shock. More shock than I had ever seen.

"Okay," she murmured & walked to her class.