Lost Hearts: A Love Story By Annie LeBlanc |✓

Chapter Three: The Morning News

{Annie's pov} When I woke up I realized that I probably looked like the biggest dork on the planet because I was smiling so much. Last night had been great, at this point I knew that I really liked Hayden, but I had no idea if he liked me back. What if his teasing was just like a brotherly thing? Or just a friend? Besides, I had heard rumors that he and Mackenzie Ziegler were dating, and there was no way I'd be able to compete with her.

I ate my breakfast and got ready for the day, "We're going to the beach today, Annie. You might wanna wear something different." Mommy said from the kitchen as I was walking into the living room. "The beach?" I said, "Why are we going to the beach?" Mommy laughed, "You sound genuinely upset to be going to the beach, you love the beach, what's wrong?" I smiled at her, "Nothing's wrong, I just really wanted to wear these pants." At that we both laughed and started getting ready to go. I changed into a cute black crop top and white shorts and went out the door. We met Hayden at Chipotle down the street, got in his car and left towards Santa Monica State Beach to hang out for the day.

When we got to the beach Hayden and I decided we wanted to go on a walk down the boardwalk, "Sooooo......" he said bashfully, "I had a great time last night." He smiled, he was blushing madly. "Me too!" I responded cheerfully, "The fountains were really fun!!" For a moment we made eye contact but both looked away, "So.... How's MacKenzie?" I asked calmly. "Huh? Oh, I don't know, I haven't spoken to her in a couple of months." He was looking down at the sand, he looked as if he was trying to hide something. "What?! Why not? I thought you two were.... Great friends!" He laughed, "Yeah well, it hasn't been all that simple." He looked at me for a split second and I saw the disappointment in his eyes, "Hayden what's wrong? You can tell me, it's okay..." I put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

He sighed, "Two months ago I broke up with MacKenzie." I felt guilty because I suddenly got a jolt of happiness and hope inside, but then I felt bad for Hayden, he was so upset. "What happened?" I asked quietly. He looked at me with pain and anger in his eyes, "She cheated on me," He said, looking off into the distance, "And I caught her, she tried to deny it but when she realized I didn't believe her she flipped out on me. She started blackmailing me and telling everyone bad things about me, even after I left her she continued saying all that crap about me." I thought for a moment, I had seen just a few weeks ago Hayden had deleted most of his social media. "That's why you deleted all of your accounts," I said sadly, "I'm so sorry Hayden, you didn't deserve all of this, no one does." He looked at me and smiled, "Thanks Annie, you're amazing."