Catch Me

Chapter Nine: Homesick

Chapter Nine: Homesick

Haleigh could feel her heart beat in her chest, and her cheeks begin to turn red as she read the text from Zander. She held back a smile as she and Sam gathered their belongings and headed out the door, and back toward their dorm room.

The rest of the day passed by quickly. Haleigh spent her time watching Netflix and helping Sam whenever she got stumped on a math problem. When noon time came the two walked over to the library where Haleigh found a couple books she was excited to read. She left Sam who was typing away on a computer, probably working on something for the school newspaper and walked back to her dorm room by herself. Haleigh spent the rest of the night reading before she fell asleep.

The next morning Haleigh's first class of the week started at eight am. Haleigh was not a morning person, she hated that she had class this early. She forced herself out of bed when her alarm went off at seven. She quickly ran to take a quick shower, brushed her teeth and her hair and made her way back to the dorm to get dressed. She pulled on a pair of black leggings and an oversized blue and black flannel that stopped just above her knee. She paired the outfit with a white scarf, and her converse, quickly grabbed her geometry book, and headed off toward her class. She liked to get to her classes early. Walking into a classroom full of people always made her anxiety spike. Haleigh hated when all eyes were on her, so she like to arrive 15-20 minutes before the class was actually supposed to start.

When she arrived at her geometry class she seemed to be the first one there. Not even Professor O'Malley seemed to be present. The room was dark, she flipped on the lights and picked a seat in the middle row. Haleigh pulled out her text book and a spiral notebook as well as a Bic pen. This was the only class Haleigh didn't use her computer to take notes. She flipped open the cover of her spiral notebook and began to doodle as she waited for the rest of the class to arrive. She could feel the tiredness in her eyes, and cursed herself for not stopping by the cafe to grab a coffee.

Soon the classroom began to fill with students. Professor O'Malley arrived around 7:55 with his briefcase slung over his shoulder. He was a weird guy. His glasses always seemed like they were too big for his head, they slid down his nose every five minutes and he was constantly pushing them back up the bridge of his nose. The frames themselves took up most of his small face. He also seemed to have a severe case of adult acne. Despite his appearance, Professor O'Malley knew what he was doing. He was a brilliant man, and was patient with all of his students. He made it a point to ask if there were any questions at the end of each class, and encouraged those who needed extra help to either stop by his office or meet up with his teacher's assistant for clarification. He cared about his student's success which was a rare quality for a college professor.

Toby burst through the door of the classroom just as Professor O'Malley was about to start his lecture for the day. Toby was out of breath, and flushed. He looked like he had just ran a marathon. He spotted Haleigh from across the room and eagerly made his way toward her, grabbing the empty seat beside her.

"Thanks for joining us Mr. Finnegan." O'Malley joked as he closed the classroom door, something he always did to block out any noise that might come from the hallways.

"Thanks for having me, Professor O." Toby joked back, making himself chuckle. His signature smirk was plastered to his face. Haleigh didn't understand how his face didn't start to hurt after all the smiling this guy did.

O'Malley made his way over to the blackboard, ignoring Toby's corny joke and started his lecture. He wrote key vocabulary words and equations on the chalkboard.

"What are you doing this weekend?" Haleigh was startled as Toby began to whisper to her. Was he crazy? She was trying to pay attention.

"Going home." She whispered back, still focused on O'Malley's words as she frantically took as many notes as she could keep up with.

"That's too bad. Kappa Sigma's having another party, was hoping you could come." Haleigh's heart jumped up to her throat at the thought of another party. No way was she ever going to one of those things again. What a disaster that had been.

"Sorry." She whispered back, shrugging her shoulders. She was thankful she had an excuse not to go this time. 

By the time the class was over Haleigh had taken about seven pages of notes, something she was sure would come in handy when she went to do her homework later that evening. Toby walked with Haleigh as they made their way toward the art building. The lecture hall where Toby's next class was happened to be right by the Ceramics studio which was Haleigh's next class.

"If your plans change please come to the Kappa party this weekend? It's going to be awesome." Toby begged Haleigh for what seemed to be the millionth time since O'Malley had dismissed their geometry class. "I promise it will be so much better than the last party. The Wailing Donkeyz are playing again..." He smirked at Haleigh who seemed to be interested in this bit of news.

"I'm sorry I already made plans with my dad." Haleigh lied. She had actually forgotten to give her dad a call last night. She could see Toby's grin fade, his head fell to look at the ground. "But sometimes he likes to change plans on me." Haleigh blurted out. She didn't like it when Toby's smile left his face, it turned him into a whole different person. She was beginning to like the overly happy guy who was Toby, and it was just weird when he didn't have on that smile.

"Great!" Toby's smile returned as soon as Haleigh said this. "Text me later!" Toby shouted over his shoulder as the two parted ways. Toby headed right, on his way to the lecture hall, and Haleigh bared left on her way to one of her favorite classes, ceramics.

****

Haleigh's week went smoothly, she was growing more and more confident on the pottery wheel in her ceramics class. She had gotten an A on her reflection paper for her Art History course, and the geometry equations were coming easily to her. The rest of her classes were going fine as well.

Haleigh had tried to call her dad a couple of times but never received an answer. It wasn't until Thursday evening that she heard back from him. He had left her a short voicemail when she had been in her American Literature class.

"Hey Bub," This was something her dad had always called Haleigh, from the first minute he laid eyes on her. "Just callin' ya back..." The Vermont accent was prominent in his voice. He sounded tired, but that wasn't unusual. Haleigh knew how hard her father worked. She had grown up watching him break his back to make ends meet for him and his kids. "I been workin' a lot more this week. I'll be workin' through the weekend up at the ol' wood mill. Ain't no use comin' to see me this week. Let's plan on somethin' for next weekend. Gimme a call whenever yer free. Love ya, Bub." Haleigh made her way to her dorm room before returning her father's phone call. They chatted for a while Haleigh told him how her classes were going and how she had received an A on a paper for her Art History class. He said he was proud of her and told her about the different random jobs he had been working on recently. They had a pleasant conversation for about a half hour before they hung up, promising each other they would talk soon.

"Who was that?" Sam looked up from a magazine that she was reading as Haleigh hung up the phone.

"My dad." There was a lace of disappointment in Haleigh's voice. She had been looking forward to seeing her dad, as well as her brother who was home on leave from the Air Force; not to mention the family dog. Sky was a ten year old beagle who had taken a liking to Haleigh from the moment they had brought her home. Sky normally slept at the foot of Haleigh's bed, though as she was growing older it was becoming harder and harder for Sky to get on the bed at all. When Haleigh had lived at home she helped her on and off the bed. She was worried no one was giving her any attention now that Haleigh was away at school. She couldn't think about it, it was just making her sad. Besides she would see her in a little over a week.

"Change of plans?" Sam's voice brought Haleigh back into reality. Haleigh nodded a response. "This means you can go to the Kappa Sigma party!" Excitement took over Sam's body. Haleigh groaned, and dramatically plopped down on her pillows.