Rising Sun

Chapter Thirteen

Friday night passed like any other, and Sunday came without hesitation. Skylar had hardly heard from Hayley, and she was starting to drive herself insane thinking about the look in Hayley's eyes when she told her she was wearing Tom's jersey.

Hayley had been absent from AIM nearly all weekend aside from Saturday afternoon. Skylar messaged her about Friday night and she responded that she was going out of town to see her grandparents and wouldn't be back until tonight. Skylar was hesitant but also eager to talk to her. She didn't want to keep toying with either Tom or Hayley, she wanted to be honest with both of them. She had no idea what she really wanted, though. She'd contemplated what to do all weekend and went over all her options, and coming to a decision had been the hardest thing she had ever had to do.

She decided to log onto her desktop and see if Hayley was, by any grace of God, available. The wait for her computer to fire up was begrudgingly slow, and she'd made sure no one was on the phone so she could get online. She'd had too many conversations interrupted by her parents or sister needing to yak.

haygibs84x is online

"Shoot." Skylar said under her breath. A part of her wanted her to not be online so she didn't have to face her own fears. She had decided that she was going to cut things off with Hayley, but she still wanted to remain friends. They had many of the same interests, and Hayley was undoubtedly the coolest person she'd ever known. She was afraid of totally losing her, and hoped she'd be open to just being friends.

Skylar typed, deleted and typed over and over. There weren't any words she could find to say what she wanted. She wanted to be in a relationship with Tom, she liked him, and he was good for her. She had a crush on Hayley, sure, but how much of that could be due to wanting to be her best friend? There were a lot of things wrong with the entire situation, and Skylar couldn't make sense of any of it. But either way, she was going to hurt someone, including herself.

She sighed and slumped back in her seat, defeated. I should just wait until school tomorrow, she thought.

Just as she was about to give up and turn her monitor off, an IM notification came through.

Hey, just checking in. How's your weekend been?

Shit.

It's been okay, I slacked on homework though and really need to get it done, per ush.

It wasn't a lie, but she had finished it earlier in the afternoon. She couldn't think of what to say.

You? Slacking? That doesn't sound like you. LOL. :)

Skylar sighed and slunk in her chair. Did Hayley really have to be friendly with her right now? At least she didn't seem upset with her from Friday. She was worried she'd shut her out again.

I know, I'm never a bad student. :/ but I've gotta get it done. Can we talk tmrw b4 homeroom?

As soon as she sent the message, she groaned. Hayley had to know something was up, she hadn't ever been this dismissive before. That was normally Hayley's style.

Sure. :)

She quickly signed off without saying goodbye, angry at not only the situation, but herself. She was about to hurt Hayley, and she knew that. But she was about to hurt herself, as well. She knew Tom was the right option, but she couldn't help feeling guilty for everyone involved.

*

"You guys, you'll never guess who asked me to homecoming last night!" Lindsay exclaimed as the girls made their way to school. Skylar was driving, for once. "I can't believe I forgot to tell you."