𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙯𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 ➳ 𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘺

(10) Two Worlds Collide

Standing at her vanity, Hayley put some makeup on for the first time in over a week. It felt pretty good to finally be more like herself again.

Wearing a snakeskin halter top and mini black skirt, Hayley completed her look with with some heels. She wanted to look nice for Zac because she knew she hadn't put much effort in lately.

Beside Hayley was Jenna, painting her toenails. She'd come over after school for some best friend time and offered to help Hayley get ready for her date.

"So, are you doing anything tomorrow night?" Hayley asked her best friend as she applied some mascara.

Letting out a small yet dramatic sigh, Jenna slumped and showed a little bit of self pity. "I'll be eating ice cream watching The Bachelorette... Probably."

Hayley placed her mascara wand back inside its tube and snuggled closer to her best friend. "Jenny, will you be my date to the prom?", she asked in a jokingly romantic way. The question itself couldn't be any more serious, though.

"Why would you want to go? I thought you said you weren't going to bother with it?" Jenna asked her friend, feeling confused. "You said you barely know anyone there."

"Well, that has changed. I promised Taylor I'd go with him, and if I don't, he'll blow his chance with Lynn" Hayley explained her other life. Laying down on her bed, she let out a sigh. "Lynn... Freakin' Lynn... I'm such an idiot."

Jenna joined her best friend and sat on the edge of the bed. Reaching a hand out, she held Hayley's and raised her eyebrow. She knew her best friend better than anyone else did, so she knew something was up.

"Hey, I thought the whole idea was to get Taylor a date? What's wrong with this Lynn girl? Is she too pretty?" Jenna joked, probably not doing the best job at comforting Hayley.

Hayley slowly sat up and shook her head. "No, not that... I just think she's not the right girl for Taylor. She seems like trouble. She seems like a lot of girls we know."

"So what you mean is that Taylor needs someone more like you?" Jenna asked, seeing right through her best friend.

Hayley got up from her bed and headed for her jewellery stand. She forgot how good Jenna was at reading her emotions. "I don't need a Taylor when I have a Zac", Hayley lied to herself.

Jenna nodded along to what Hayley was saying but wasn't actually buying into it. "But do you like Taylor?"

"Of course Taylor has come a long way with all of my help. I got him to stop shopping at Geeks R Us, for starters" Hayley admitted, not expressing her exact feelings.

As Hayley checked out her look one last time in her mirror, she could hear her best friend giggling quietly.

"Taylor is nothing but research" Hayley bluntly stated, trying to force away how she really felt. "My article is coming along well, I just feel like I need something to tie it all together."

Jenna knew that Hayley had some sort of feelings for Taylor but wasn't going to press it any further. She decided that she'd let the girl figure it out on her own. There was still one way she wanted to help, though.

"Okay, fine, I'll go to the prom - under one condition", Jenna started as she gave her friend a hug. "You absolutely cannot tell any of our friends."

Hayley walked off from Jenna and grabbed her clutch. Adding her phone, lipstick and other essentials into it, she spoke. "Do you think I'm proud of all this? Because I'm certainly not."

"That's the sad part, Hayley, you're the best date I've had in months and it's not even real" Jenna complained, blowing her finger and toe nails dry as she spoke.