Bitter

nineteen - cal

   Seriously? Zach and Marco just had to tell that Haley guy about everything over the weekend. I never meant to kick the ball into Marco's face, why couldn't he just get over that? Zach and Marco both looked at me all day like I was Ms. Hunter and had just failed them in anatomy. Jason avoided me whenever I'd try to speak to him, even though I'd done nothing to him.

Don't even get me started on Meg. Maybe I was a little harsh with my text last night, but I had been all caught up in the moment and probably should have worded things differently. I attempted to tell her that. To apologize (as best as I could, at least). Attempted to. I never got to speak with her because I was met with her friends shouting in my face about how terrible I was and how Meg deserved better.

For the first time in a while, I sat alone at lunch save for a few other guys who looked like they'd been debating on asking me about Zach, Marco, and Jason. They'd decided against it I guess because no one ended up talking to me.

Classes were about the same, boring, except there was a little more whispering and glancing in my direction than usual. And not for anything good that was for sure. I mostly ignored it, pretended it didn't bother me. I never saw Haley at all so that was a good thing, right?

Though, maybe it wasn't. Maybe he had been sharpening his knife in the janitor's closet or something and was going to attack me later. You never know with West Haley. You could be on top of the monkey bars with him at Landon Elementary one minute, and the next he has you pinned to the ground while he threatens your life.

———

I was walking out to my car as soon as the bell rang, drawing a few curious eyes when people noticed I was by myself. I ignored them just like I had with everyone else for the past seven hours, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face while I made it halfway across the school parking lot.

If it were any normal day, Marco, Zach, and Jason would be walking with me, and if I really wanted, Meg would be too. Except Haley had surfaced from the depths of my mind so I'd never have a normal day again.

I finally reached my car after crossing almost the entire lot, unlocking it, just seconds away from opening the door. That was when I heard quick footsteps behind me and I spun around instinctively. A tight fist was the last thing I saw before it crashed forcefully into my face, fireworks exploding all around me as my jaw instantly ached and burned with an intense heat. My vision was blurred, gray at the edges, but I knew exactly who that fist belonged to.

"Haley..." I drawled, my vision growing clearer. It shouldn't have been a surprise to see that my friends had come with West Haley, though for some reason, it was. I glowered at Haley (who was smirking at me) and the longer I did, the faster my pulse grew, the faster I breathed, and the more I wanted to just knock him completely unconscious.

Something flickered in Haley's silver eyes, mocking me, so I lunged at him, slamming him into the light pole that was conveniently placed behind him. I gave him a hard punch to the side of his face, like he'd done to me, but he didn't seem as fazed by it as I had been. He just burst out in maniacal laughter and shoved me backward so aggressively that I almost fell to the pavement. He pushed off of the light pole, taking one large stride toward me.

I was swaying on my feet as he assessed my every movement, and with no warning, he delivered a sharp blow directly to my nose, sending me collapsing against my car. As I slid to the ground, feeling the warm, metallic blood seeping from nose (right on schedule), I heard Haley asking the question, "You friends with him?"

   I looked up to see Haley was talking to none other than Lydia Bosher. Her light hair was a little messy, like she'd been out for a run, and she was slightly out of breath. She shook her head and the word "good" oozed from Haley's mouth.

Almost as if on cue, my nose felt awfully close to splitting in half and I cursed, flinching when I touched the bridge of it. Was it broken? I couldn't help but grunt in pain. The feeling was so excruciating, it was difficult to pay attention to Haley begging Lydia to come with him and my friends. And she actually started walking with the guy. Had she forgotten how much she hated Haley? How he had, at nine years old, tried to kill her?

   As I watched the six of them amble away, my heartbeat eventually slowed, but a pounding headache ended up arriving and I swore under my breath.

   I caught Lydia glancing back at me. I half-expected her to give me a mocking smile, something that told me she was rubbing this moment in my face. I was amused when her expression was the exact opposite of anything I'd thought it'd be. Lydia's lips were pursed and she looked away from me shamefully. At least that was how it appeared.

   I wasn't sure how she was really feeling, but at least I knew what I was feeling as the blood ran from my nose and I sat against my car. There was a high probability Haley was going to get himself killed one of three ways. The first, he'd mess around with something he's not supposed to (whatever that something might be). The second, he'd mess around with someone he's not supposed to. This second way included anyone that came in daily contact with Haley, excluding me though, because I was the third way Haley could end up dead.