𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙯𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 ➳ 𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘺

(14) It's Name Is Hayley

Hayley took Taylor into the empty locker room of the auditorium. She felt incredibly nervous and anxious but there was no way she could leave tonight without telling Taylor the truth. He just had to know.

"Big night..." Taylor trailed off, trying to make small talk. He assumed his friend was about to come out to him, which he was totally okay with.

"I bet you're really confused" Hayley finally spoke to Taylor with her natural, feminine of voice. It felt good to do that despite the tricky topic of discussion.

Taylor shook his head and shrugged. "What is there to be confused about? I totally understand you."

Heading for a bench seat that was against the wall of the locker room, Taylor took a seat. He wasn't planning on being away from Lynn for too long but his face was still in quite a lot of pain.

Hayley thought that Taylor was on the same path as her in what she was saying, so she continued. "Look, I know I should've told you earlier, but I just didn't. Um... I guess it's just gonna come out... I'm-"

Before Hayley could explain that she was in fact a girl, Taylor thought he knew exactly what was going on. He didn't want his friend to feel upset or bad about the situation, so he went on to finish the sentence.

"Gay. I know you're gay" Taylor completed what he thought Hayley was going to say. He gave a smile and nodded. "I'm okay with that, I hope you never thought I wouldn't be."

Feeling taken aback, Hayley paused for a moment as she replied the last few minutes in her mind. She could see where Taylor was coming from but he was very wrong.

"Oh, no, I'm not gay" Hayley explained with a denying shake of her head. "It's really sweet of you to say that though. You're such a nice person."

"But you just-" Taylor began, pointing at the door to signal Zac who was out in the auditorium. When Hayley didn't budge, he tilted his head in thought. "Ok, now I'm very confused."

"I'm a girl" Hayley admitted, feeling a rush of relief after she'd finally let the words out. She knew she was into Taylor the first time she'd seen him. She only wished they had met some other way.

Taylor let out some chuckles before rolling his eyes. Was this all some prank? A joke? What was his friend on about? "Yeah, and I'm dating someone named Ashlynn who looks 'just like Ariana Grande'", he referred back to the time the pair had first hung out. "Can we just go back to the prom now? Forget all that Alex business even happened?"

Hayley shook her head, walking closer to Taylor. She stood in front of the guy so he couldn't get up too quickly.

"I swear to you, I'm a female" Hayley frowned, upset with Taylor for not believing her. Still, she was really only angry with herself for putting him through what she had.

Taylor got up and began to walk away from his friend, feeling a little irritated. He wanted to get back to Lynn who was probably worried by now. Hayley didn't go to this great length only for Taylor not to listen to her through, so she grabbed his hand and turned him around.

Taking a deep breath in, Hayley slowly started to unbutton her white formal shirt to reveal her black lace bra underneath. She wasn't sure what two sacks of flesh on her chest even meant anymore but maybe it would get Taylor's attention for at least a brief moment.

Hayley thought of all the people going through hard times with their image and feelings, trying to live life without being put down for not identifying as what they're being conventionally labelled as. She was sure she was being shameful right now. She only wished she thought a little more into being a 'guy' before actually trying to.

The girl knew that what she had done wasn't fair. She realised now that her article had gone too far. She learnt that dressing a certain way wasn't going to fool adults into thinking you can achieve something better than others can. Still, none of it could be a mistake, she was sure she met Taylor for a reason. That reason was because she believed he was her soul mate.

"Are those... Are those what I think they are?" Taylor asked, feeling gobsmacked at the sight in front of him. So Hayley wasn't lying? "Where do you get off having boobs, Hayden?"

Hayley ignored Taylor's ignorant comment, knowing that it was only said out of anger - the anger he definitely deserved to be feeling.

"It's Hayley. My name is Hayley. I'm sorry" Hayley introduced herself properly, her shirt still exposing her chest. "There... There was this journalism contest. I needed to prove I could win because my teacher only saw me as the popular girl, so I became a geeky guy, but then it didn't work... And then I stayed... And I met you, you're wonderful and so I wrote all about your makeover and-"

"Bullshit!" Taylor exclaimed, a million thoughts running through his head at once. He had no idea what was happening, except for that Hayden was some made up character to prove a point. "I can't believe you. You used me as a fucking guinea pig. How could you? Was I just some nerd pet project?"

"You're so wonderful, Taylor" Hayley repeated, hoping the guy would understand how she was feeling. "I wish you could understand how much you mean to me."

"You're just one of those crazy girls" Taylor grunted as he slowly started taking steps away from Hayley. He didn't want to listen to any more lies. "Whatever you think we have, Hayden, it's all built up on lies."

"No, come back" Hayley begged, reaching out to take Taylor's hand once more. She felt crushed inside when he ripped himself out of her hold. "You have to believe me! I love you, Taylor."

"Right, because you have been SO honest to me" Taylor scoffed, having had enough of Hayley. "You're the most selfish person I've ever met."

Hayley was exhausted. She let Taylor walk away as she stayed buttoning her shirt up in the locker room. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Hayley noticed that the chlorine in the pool water that dampened her hair was making her brown dye drip down the sides of her face and down her neck. She looked like total crap but something about that gave her some motivation to keep on fighting.

Running toward the locker room door, Hayley pushed it outward and continued to run across the auditorium. Finding Taylor, she turned him around and reached up for a kiss. Much to Hayley's delight, Taylor kept the kiss going for a solid moment.

The students surrounding the pair were making 'ooh' sounds, some even finding it necessary to snap pictures of the interaction. Of course, no one knew Hayley's real story. Well, except for Jenna, who was gasping as she watched everything that was happening.

Moving himself away from Hayley, Taylor looked out to his peers. "It's name is Hayley, she's lied to all of us", he announced.

Pushing past Hayley, Taylor headed off toward Lynn so that he could at least try to enjoy the final hours of his prom night. He couldn't think straight, everything was so confusing.

Hayley turned around slowly to see everyone staring at her. She nervously smiled before looking at her wrist for a watch that wasn't there.

"Wow, would you look at the time? It's ten already. I better get going now", Hayley called out, putting on her Hayden voice for one very final time. "Have a nice prom, everyone!"

Zac watched his now ex girlfriend humiliate herself in front of a school she didn't even  go to and he couldn't care less anymore. Hayley clearly didn't want him.

"Hi!" Zac greeted a girl that was walking past him. He shot the girl a friendly smile. "You've got a date, don't you?"

Watching as the random girl nodded in response, Zac let out a sigh. Still, there were plenty more girls in this auditorium, so who knows? Maybe Zac could find a replacement Hayley in no time.

Jack, across the other side of the dance floor, was making out with Tay. They'd just been discussing the pros and cons of a friends with benefits relationship - and guess what? The pros outweighed the cons. Jack finally got what he'd been dreaming of.