𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙯𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 ➳ 𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘺

(04) Making Friends

Sitting patiently in the office of the head teacher of English, Hayley watched as the older man read through her article. He had smiled a few times which gave her hope.

Lifting his head up from the article, Mr Lee barely had a moment to try and speak before Hayley cut in excitedly.

"How was it? Did you like it?" Hayley chirped up, sitting up tall in her seat. She was getting another shot at getting an internship, or so she thought.

After being pushed into the pool, Hayley pretended as though she had no idea how to swim. The idea had come to her when she realised she could get Alex back for what he did.

Alex got detention, Hayley got the rest of the lesson off. Win-win! Well, maybe just for Hayley. Using this free time to hand in her article seemed like the perfect chance.

"It was... It was very good" Mr Lee began, nodding slowly. "You definitely have some impressive skills. Maybe some of the best I've read from any student."

Hayley excitedly clapped her hands together with a wide, proud grin showing on her face. Mr Lee gave her a confused look and it dawned on the girl that perhaps she was acting too much like her normal self, rather than how a guy typically would in such situation.

Slouching down in her chair and clearing her throat to avoid embarrassment, the girl put on a deep tone. "I uh... I mean, thanks."

"The only thing is, I can't send this to The Herald" Mr Lee put simply with a shrug. "I can say in confidence that you are a great writer, truly. It's just... The topic was very boring."

Hayley felt the weight of the world fall onto her shoulders. Was all of this for nothing? Was she really just a bad writer? Was Mr McFadden right all along? She began to feel doubt, something she had never felt about her own writing before.

"You've got to grab the reader, really grab them" Mr Lee explained, leaning forward a little. He could see his student was disappointed, so he decided to give some good advice. "Look, just because you're a guy, it doesn't mean you can't write with sensitivity and emotion."

Hayley let out a sad laugh at the thought of this all. Here she was with the head of English practically telling her to ignore the stigma around guys needing to act tough, when the only reason she was in the room was because she thought the stigma of being a woman was limiting her chances. What a roller coaster.

"The other school who was in this competition have already chosen their winners, and I must say, those articles were pretty good. I'm not choosing the winners here until Monday week, so I'll give you another shot at this. Because I do see so much potential, really" Mr Lee offered the student with a friendly smile.

Feeling so silly for thinking she had a chance just by tricking teachers into thinking she was a guy, Hayley fought back tears as she listened to Mr Lee. Picking up her article from his desk, the girl wanted to get out of the room quickly. She couldn't bear any more of this right now.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Splayed out on her own bed was Hayley who'd just put on a fresh change of clothes after her first day at the new school. She was now happily in a pretty floral dress. The girl missed her own style so much and she'd only lived six hours without it.

Jenna had just come over for some best friend time, something Hayley desperately needed. They were laying together and chatting away just like they normally would.

Hayley hadn't seen Jenna since the Friday before which was the day she had first been turned down for the internship.

Of course, being so close, Hayley had already texted Jenna and spilled the details of her entire day. Now that the pair were finally hanging out, they were eating away at ice cream. It was always the best comfort food.