Catch Me

Chapter Eight: Bagels

Chapter Eight: Bagels

Saturday seemed to fly by quickly. Haleigh spent most of her time cooped up in her dorm room, studying, and writing a five page reflection paper for her art history class. Sam hadn't been around much. Which was a relief to Haleigh. The only time Sam had made an appearance was when she needed a change of clothing and some makeup. Which Haleigh was fine with, after the stressful night at the Kappa Sigma party, and being forced out of her own dorm room, she was happy to have a drama free day.

Shane had called once to tell Haleigh that he had asked out someone named Bryan who was in his dance club. He was over-the-moon excited and was asking Haleigh for advice on what to wear and places the couple should go. She was excited for her best friend and gave her opinion on what outfit she thought Shane should where and what activities the two should do together, then she told Shane to call her the minute he got back from the date with details.

Saturday evening came and Haleigh had managed to finish all of her homework. She contemplated making the hour drive back home to see her dad for the rest of the weekend, but decided against it. He would be upset if she showed up without warning. So instead she sent him a short text to let him know she missed him and would see him next weekend. She wasn't surprised when he didn't respond. He wasn't very good with technology and probably didn't even hear the phone go off. She would have to call him later.

Growing a little bored, Haleigh decided to finish the sketch she had been working on of her grandfather. She pulled out her sketchbook, a charcoal pencil, and a blending tool. She laid with her head toward the foot of her bed and got to work creating the wrinkles in her grandfather's face. She worked until she started to feel herself grow tired, then closed her sketch book and slid under her covers, letting the dreams take over.

The next morning Haleigh was surprised to find Sam in their dorm room. She was sitting on her bed with her face buried in a text book, frantically taking notes.

"Did you know you snore?" Sam smirked, looking up briefly from her book. Haleigh wiped the sleep from her eyes. Confused.

"No I don't." She replied shyly before getting up and grabbing her bathroom bag and her bath robe. She slipped into her flip flops and made her way toward the girls bathroom where she took a quick shower, brushed her hair and teeth and applied some eyeliner and mascara.

She made her way back to her dorm room and picked out a simple outfit; a pair of torn-in-the-knee black skinny jeans, a grey v-neck t-shirt, her favorite navy blue scarf, and her warn out leather jacket.

"Where you headed?" Sam asked when she noticed her roommate was actually wearing something other than some leggings and a t-shirt (which was Haleigh's normal weekend attire).

"Library, I need a new book." Haleigh explained.

"It's Sunday. Library's not open until noon." Sam told her. This explained why Sam wasn't doing her homework in the library like she normally did. "I could use some breakfast, want to go grab something with me?" Haleigh hadn't realized she was hungry until Sam had mentioned food. Suddenly she was over aware of the rumbling inside her stomach.

"Definitely." Haleigh smiled. She grabbed her purse from her desk and slung it over her shoulder. Sam got up from her bed and grabbed her jacket and clutch, and the two headed out the door.

Moments later Haleigh's heart began to race as she found herself outside of a bagel shop. She had been too caught up in conversation with Sam to comprehend what direction they were headed. Sam was telling Haleigh that she had gotten into an argument with Charles last night about some girl he had been texting. Haleigh was doing her best to support Sam, and give her her opinion on the situation.

"I mean, sure he can have friends. Just don't hide it from me, ya know?" Sam held the door open for Haleigh to enter first. Then let it go behind her and the two walked toward the counter.

It was a slow morning, one person sat in a table that was placed in the far corner of the shop, he was sipping on a large coffee and seemed to be taking advantage of the free wifi as he typed frantically on a laptop.The rest of the place was completely empty. They didn't even see any employees working behind the counter. That was until Zander emerged from behind a door.

"Welcome to Burlington Bagel Factory, can I h-" Zander cut himself off as he looked up. His eyes locked on Haleigh's as the two roommates made it to the counter. He cleared his throat, "Um, how can I help you?" Haleigh cursed herself as she felt her cheeks start to grow warm. She knew she was blushing, which only made her blush more.

Behind Zander was a wall covered with display racks, the racks were covered in a vast variety of bagels, from poppyseed, to blueberry, to everything flavored. Haleigh tried to force herself to focus on the different kinds of bagels instead of on Zander. She was failing miserably. Why was she here? Was he going to think she was stalking him?

"Um I'll have a blueberry bagel with low fat cream cheese please. And a hazelnut coffee." Sam placed her order and handed Zander a ten dollar bill and told him to keep the change.

"And for you?" Zander's voice sounded cold, and emotionless. Haleigh felt her heart sink. She wasn't sure what she had expected. Just a few nights ago she had been talking to this man at four o'clock in the morning. He had given her advice and told her to stick up for herself. Why was he giving her the could shoulder now? And why the heck did she care so much?

"Can I have a plain bagel with cream cheese, and a water please?" Haleigh placed her order, trying her best to play it cool. She too handed him a ten and told him to keep the change. She waited for him to say something else to her and felt the disappointment when he didn't. She then followed Sam to a nearby table where Haleigh tried her best to follow along with the conversation. She was just too distracted by Zander's presence.

"Yeah, he's a real jerk." Haleigh was referring to Charles, she was trying to act like she was paying attention to whatever the heck Sam was saying, all the while trying to sneak peeks at Zander.

"Are you even listening to me, Haleigh?" Sam's voice sounded a little angry.

"Of course I am. You were saying that Charles was talking to some girl behind your back... or something right?"

"Haleigh that was like twenty minutes ago. I was telling you about the school newspaper." Sam huffed before she took a bite of her blueberry bagel.

"I'm sorry." Haleigh sighed. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Wouldn't have to do with some steamy bagel shop boy would it?" Sam joked. Haleigh shot her a shocked expression.

"Of course not!" She protested.

"Mhm..." Sam giggled as she watched her roommate squirm.

The two finished their breakfast and chatted about random things. Haleigh told Sam that she planned on going home next weekend to visit her dad, and Sam told Haleigh that she was thinking about pledging for a sorority. She tried to convince Haleigh to pledge with her, but Haleigh refused.

It was at this moment that Haleigh felt something in the universe shift. She wasn't alone like she normally was on Sunday morning. She was with someone, someone she could easily talk to. Someone who was putting the effort in to get to know her. Haleigh felt a weight lift off of her shoulders as she realized she was making a friend. She felt lame for making this realization. Yet she didn't really care. She had someone other than Shane who she knew would listen and help her if she needed. Of course they weren't "inseparable besties for life" or anything, but Haleigh knew at this moment that Sam was going to be a good friend to have around.

Just then Haleigh felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen.

Zander: You look beautiful today...