The Player and the Played

36. Turning Over A New Leaf

He hadn't been home. He was outside doing God knows what God knows where and I really wished that I didn't care but I did. It was the day before Prom and I had absolutely no plans. Yay me! I was sad, alone and bored. Everyone was out celebrating because Prom was close and Finals were over except for me. I was going crazy in my room, having reading marathons and glancing at his window. I never saw him.

So, I decided that the last day of nthis blissful week would be terrible. I'd actually get out of the house. I'd do something fun. I'd go for a movie with Bianca or maybe go play basketball with Jesse and my old team if they could come, that is.

I called Reese for the millionth time in the past week and asked him to come over to the basketball court which was almost midway between our two adjoined towns. We called the lovebirds, James and Jesse too and in half an hour, we were all there.

We split up into two teams, me and Reese against the lovebirds and played half court for forty minutes and I felt good after a long time. There was something so satisfying about running around with a team mate you could count on and being too tired to think at the end of it all. Reese and I beat the lovebirds obviously. Our teamwork had always been the best and we were almost psychic as we'd played together for around six years.

"I'm coming to yours, okay?" Reese informed me.

"Nice to know you've asked first," I replied, teasing.

"Oh, fuck you," he said, getting into my car. "I'm not hitching a ride with those two. They are wayyy too sappy for me."

"As if you and Lana aren't extremely high on PDA,"I replied. It was comforting that Reese and I had fallen back into our best friend routine so easily. There were no awkward silences and there was tons of sarcasm. We could tease each other and we were always comfortable around each other. It was like we had never dated and I was glad that the awkwardness had dissipated.

As I went to my room, tossing Reese some clothes that my Dad has left (shocking that there was anything at all since he's never home) to take a shower, I noticed that the light was on. The curtains still covered the closed window but light was peeking through the edges. He was there.

"Hey, Hails, can I shower in your parents' bathroom?" Reese asked, coming in and releasing me from my stupor.

"Uh...yeah, sure,"

"What happened?" he asked and then stopped, noticing Tyler's presence in his room. "It's okay. It's good, even. You guys can finally talk."

"Yeah but maybe later? I mean, I'm pretty sweaty now."

"That's an excuse and you know it."

"Yeah," I replied sheepishly. "What would I do without you?" I asked, hugging him.

"You'd be crying and homeless," he replied.

"Hey!" I protested, laughing.

What we hadn't noticed was that the window had opened. After withdrawing from the hug, I noticed Tyler at his window.

"Tyler? Where've you been?" I asked.

"Out," he replied curtly, his gaze lingering on me and Reese who were still in a half hug. I pulled away. He didn't have the right to get jealous of Reese when he knew that he loved Lana, not me. "And I need to go again now."

"Oh. Okay. Uh bye!" I replied somewhat cheerfully.

"Yeah. Bye." And he left.

"Fuck Prom, I'm not going," I told Reese. "There's no way I'm going to him. He hates me."

"He won't be at Prom."

"He's Tyler Mendes. He gets around.  Someone will ask him and he will go. Or he'll ask someone and they'll agree,"

"I know he won't be at Prom. Trust me. Agent 457 was stalking him yesterday and he informed me that Tyler told someone on the phone that he wasn't going."

"If Agent 457 is wrong, you should get him killed."

"Of course I will. Now are you going to Prom or not?"

"Fuck you, Reese."

***

This was a bad idea. I was going as a third wheel with Reese and Lana because they forced me as they knew I wouldn't go on my own and I saw Tyler. Having fun. With girls.

I felt sick. I felt so, so sick. Now I understood what Brandon Flowers must have felt like when he wrote Mr. Brightside. Except he wasn't cheating on me. Heck, he wasn't doing anything, really. We broke up. I broke up with him. He had the right to be with whoever he wanted to be. He had no obligation to care about me.

"Hailey?"

"Zach?" I asked, completely shaken.

"Yeah. Hailey, you've got to know this- he called the bet off. He called it off when he got to know you. You've got to know he loved you. And he still does. You should give him a chance."

"He doesn't. Look at him with those other girls!"

"Oh, please! There's one girl. And she's like, his cousin twice removed or something. They're literally just friends," he said, rolling his eyes at me.

"Oh. Oh. Um, okay," i Said, going. "And Zach? Thanks." I really meant it. Realising that Zach had turned a new leaf made me feel good, like my advice had worked. It made me feel a little more hopeful for the rest of us.

Oh well, I forgot about all of that when I saw Tyler.