Searching for Hailey Bradshaw

Chapter 15

Hailey was finally finishing her Psychology paper the next afternoon when Sasha came barreling inside their room.

"Hailey!" she exclaimed and plowed herself against her roommate in order to give Hailey a huge hug. "Oh my God. I just got an A on my History test and it's all thanks to you."

She hugged Hailey again. "Thank you so... so much. I never could've done it without you."

"But..." Hailey frowned in confusion. "But I didn't do anything. I just..."

"You made it so much easier to understand," Sasha told her. "Before, it was just a bunch of boring events that didn't mean anything. History was memorizing names and numbers. But you made it all come to life. It was like people actually lived before us and they had problems just like we do today."

Hailey wanted to say, "Well, of course they did." But Sasha looked so stunned to learn that fact for herself Hailey couldn't burst her bubble. Instead, she let Sasha's words soak into her ego and she swelled with pride and accomplishment. She'd actually done something worthwhile and commendable.

It felt good.

Letting the emotion wash over, she started to think. She could get used to watching someone 'get it' the way Sasha just had. She could definitely get used to repeating history to other people in a way they could understand. And she would love to do it every day.

Becoming excited about that idea, she left Sasha, who was now on the phone, telling Tony about her test score. Hurrying into the hall and up to the third floor, she went straight to Daniel. He'd left his door open as he usually did and Hailey didn't even pause to knock on the frame, she just skipped inside.

He was at his desk, stooped over this laptop and typing a paper. As she rushed toward him, he glanced up. She could tell he was exhausted by the way his hair stuck up in the back and his eyes blinked repeatedly. To Hailey, however, he'd never looked so wonderful.

Still reeling from her exciting decision, she launched herself at him and caught him off guard with a hug. He laughed in surprise, though, and pulled her close, cuddling his face into her hair.

"What's this all about?" he asked.

"I just decided what I want my major to be."

"That's great. What'd you decide?"

"I want to be a history teacher," she announced.

He stared at her for a moment and then slowly nodded. "Okay," he said as if he expected her to go on.

Hailed squeezed his fingers. "I helped Sasha study for her history test the other day. And I actually helped her... more than her own history Professor had." Grinning, she added, "She got an A on her test. Can you believe that?"

Daniel wasn't so surprised. "Well, yeah," he answered. "Of course I can. You're a history buff. I mean, come on. You read the Life and Times of Abraham Lincoln just for the fun of it."

"It was called Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power," she corrected irritably as she sighed. "And you're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

Daniel grinned as he reached up to touch her face lovingly. "Probably not."

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother," she muttered.

"I think you'd be an excellent history teacher," he said, growing serious.

"I actually taught Sasha something too," Hailey continued eagerly. "It's one thing to know your history, but to pass that on to others..."