Heyyy guysssss! Eek, another chapter! I am on a rollll! 

Hope you enjoy!

Hailey

I fucking swear, Noah is really trying to make me rip my own fucking hair out.

This whole day, he has been talking to me nonstop. And me, of course, since I refuse to speak, I have pathetically writing him nonstop notes in class to leave me the hell alone.

I never thought I would become that girl. You know, the type of girl who sneaks notes in class and tries not to get caught by the teacher? That is exactly how I have been in all my morning classes with him so far. Thankfully, since I don't have him in fourth hour, which is Gym, I got a small break from him.

But of course, after gym there's always lunch.

I sit at my normal lunch table, gritting my teeth while I stare down at my mashed potatoes that are so watery, they run through my fork. Gross, yes, but at least that's better than the alternative: punching Noah square in the damn face.

Control yourself, Hailey.

Shut the fuck up, subconscious.

"...and that's what happened with the dead squirrel. Ugh it was so gross, I swear to you there is something wrong with my brother. Like, who picks up a dead squirrel, sniffs it, then rips the head off and later applauses himself for it?"

Only someone in your crazy ass family.

He sighs and sits back in his chair, "Only someone in my crazy ass family, I guess."

How did he-  I'm not even gonna ask.

He glances at my plate full of food and then at me. "You should eat," he says.

I look at him like he is insane. He chuckles. "Yeah," he picks up his own fork and tries to scoop up some of the mashed potatoes but they just run through it. "Not very appetizing, is it?"

I shake my head, my lips curling in disgust. 

A few seconds of staring at the table and I notice he is unexpectedly quiet. I look up at him through my hair. His eyes are trained on me, studying me, as if he needed to figure me out. This just irritates me further. 

I snatch my tray from the table, about to swirl around to dump it before Noah can follow, but instead my stupid tray has other ideas. I move too fast and the tray flips toward me, spilling all over my shirt and then running down to my sweatpants. I drop the tray in shock.

I see people's heads turning towards me, people staring at me. And I'm suddenly not invisible anymore. People's whispers now seem very loud. I hear them jeering at me, scoffing at me, saying things like "what's wrong with that girl" and "clumsy bitch". It's like everyone around me is haunting me, the voices screaming in my ears. 

I want to crumble into a ball. I am overwhelmed. The voices... they won't stop...

Someone is shaking me. "Hailey? Hailey, you alright?"

I look up and of course, it's Noah. 

"Cmon, I'll help you clean up the me-"

"Leave me alone."

Everyone around us goes quiet.

Tears stings my eyes and I curse them for being there. "Leave me alone!" I screech, my voice raw from not speaking for so long.

"Hailey I-"

"No, don't you dare say another word," I hiss. I talk lower so only Noah can hear me "What is wrong with you? You've been here two days and all you do is try to get under my skin. Why can't you leave me alone?"

I don't give him time to answer, walking fast out of the cafeteria. I expect Noah to follow me, but he doesn't.

Good, he got it through his thick skull. 

I run to the bathroom. I face one of the mirrors, my elbows on the sink, my hands both covering my nose and my mouth. I stare at myself in the mirror.

"Why would anyone even want to be near me?" I whisper. 

"Why shouldn't people want to be near you?" a sudden voice asks.

I whip around, only to she a girl I don't know walk out of one of the bathroom stalls.

I stare for a minute before I recover. "S-sorry I didn't know anyone was-"

"You didn't answer my question," she pauses. "Why shouldn't people want to be near you?"

I lower my gaze, staring at the ground. "How can you even ask that? I mean, look at me. I'm such a worthless human being."

She doesn't answer at first, and I glance up. I am surprised to see she is softly smiling.

"Is that really what you think?"

I simply blink, not knowing what to say.

"At first glance of you, I see someone who is hurting. Even if she feels numb. I see someone with a dark past, someone who is afraid of opening up," she says, looking slightly downwards with a sad smile on her face. 

I stare at her, my mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

"What- how-" I stutter.

She chuckles at my shocked expression. "It's really not that hard to see. But of course, most people are so dense these days."

Her smile is contagious. 

"I'm Esther, by the way," the girl says.

"Oh um... Hailey."

"It's nice to meet you Hailey."

Why is she being so nice? How on earth is it like she can see right through me? We just met less than five minutes ago!

"So why did you rush in here like someone about to be crushed by a dozen elephants?" she laughs.

"Oh, this guy was really annoying me," I glance at my shirt that still has mashed potatoes on it. "And I kinda spilled food on myself."

Esther pulls some paper towels out of the towel dispenser and hands them to me. I hesitate. She grins, "Don't worry, I don't bite." 

I roll my eyes. "Thanks," I mumble, taking the paper towels from her.

She starts to walk away, "Hey Hailey."

"Uh what?"

She looks over her shoulder at me, "If you ever need someone's ass beaten, just let me know," she says as she winks at me. Then she walks out of the bathroom.

I'm left confused again. Another person to involve themselves with me. 

It's uncomfortable, but maybe I could grow to like it.

Just maybe. 

***

Yo my loveliessss! 

Okay, right now I am planning weekly updates. On what day, I'm not sure. Set schedules for posting hardly EVER work for me because I am a hot mess hahaha. 

So hopefully I will update at least once a week, maybe more, maybe less. But I am gonna try to push myself a little more.

Thank you all!

Love Lexi ❤️❤️❤️❤️