The Five Dimensions Part 1: Shadow World

Chapter 13

Finally, hockey practice was done. It had gone on much longer with all the people trying out, and Coach had insisted that Hailey stay until the very end. She was just about to walk into the changing room when she nearly bumped into Nolan. Taliyah wasn't with him; Hailey wondered where she had gone.

They stood there awkwardly for a minute. Hailey could already feel the anger from their fight coming back. But she also felt a tinge of pain because they hadn't talked for a while now and, although she wouldn't admit it out loud, she was already missing him.

"Hi," Nolan said.

"Hi," she answered shortly, her eyes shifting around nervously.

"So..." he began, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "What's up with you and Ash, huh?"

"What?" In her shock, Hailey forgot that she wasn't looking at Nolan and stared at him.

"Well, you know." Nolan still looked a bit embarrassed, but Hailey knew him well enough to see the hint of judgement in his eyes. Any thought of missing him flew right out of her mind. What right did he have for being judgmental? Especially when she wasn't doing anything.

"Would you shut up?" Hailey snapped.

"It's still true. He's totally into you and you're playing with him," Nolan replied. His arms were crossed, as if he was a stubborn little child.

"I am not playing with him. I don't like him." Hailey shoved past him to get to the changing room. She didn't feel like starting up the fight and right now Nolan was getting on her nerves.

"Yes, you do. I can see it," he said, determinedly, just when Hailey had her hand on the door. She turned around forcefully and glared at him. His face was creased with seriousness. Then Hailey gave him a one-handed push, not with a playful smile, but with an annoying expression.

"If you're such a love expert, why can't you tell Taliyah is totally in love with you?" Hailey blurted out because she couldn't stop herself.

"She's what?" Nolan took a step back, looking at Hailey with a stunned face. She bit on her tongue with frustration. She did not mean to blurt that out.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that." She cursed herself for being so stupid. How could she?

"Yeah... right," he said distractedly and walked away, his wide eyes looking at the ground.

"Nolan, wait. I didn't..." But he was already gone. Hailey turned back to the changing room door, thinking about how utterly dumb her action had been. She understood why Nolan was so shocked. No one had ever been in love with him ― at least that either of them knew of ― and he had never been in love with anyone either.

She tried to find her phone in her bag, but she couldn't. She let out a moan of frustration and pulled the bag in front of her.

After rumbling for five minutes, she threw her bag on the ground in frustration. She had to send a text to Nolan, she had just blown up a bomb in his face and she had to explain how sorry she was.

"Damned phone!" Hailey yelled.

"Are you looking for this?" a, now familiar, voice said. Hailey sprung around and saw her phone dangling from Ash's fingers.

"Where did you get that?" she asked, suddenly out of breath. She told herself to act normal, there was no reason to be weird. It was just Ash. No big deal. As long as she didn't look into his hypnotizing eyes for any extended period of time, at least.

"You left it on the field," he answered. Hailey tried to remember even getting her phone out of her bag, but she was sure that she hadn't.

"No, I didn't," she replied firmly. "Where did you really get it?" She studied him closely. Usually, Hailey didn't look at him directly, for long anyway, but something was off. He was also not telling her to stop staring. He seemed to be happy about it, actually, even if she was glaring.

"Like I said, I found it―" he began to say.

"Don't, Ash," Hailey interrupted impatiently, stepping very close to him. Her finger jabbed into his chest and her eyes were on level with his mouth, but she turned her face up to shoot a fiery look at him. A shock like electricity went through her. She'd never touched him, even with just a fingertip. She didn't let the shock sound in her next words. "Don't lie to me."

He stared at her as if he didn't understand something. This lasted only for seconds but it felt like much longer. Hailey suddenly realized just how close together they were. His eyes were even more mesmerizing from close by. A strand of his dark hair had fallen free of its usual perfect wave and was hanging right above his right eye, lightly touching his forehead.

She thought it would have felt awkward, being this close, but it didn't; it felt... right. There was no other way to say it. He grabbed her hand and Hailey's eyes widened. Her mind blanked out and she was scared of what he would or wouldn't do. She wanted him to stop and go on at the same time. This was all very weird for her. She usually hated people being in her personal space, even Nolan.

He put her phone in her palm and folded her hand around it. Then he stepped back. Hailey was ready to slap herself for thinking something would happen. She didn't even want anything to happen, so why did she feel so disappointed?

"Let me drive you home," he said with a steady voice. Hailey had hoped he would show that the whole thing ― even though it wasn't a thing ― had affected him in some way. Apparently, it hadn't.

"I can walk," she replied with a terribly small voice. If she hadn't felt like someone had turned her upside down, she would've added something sarcastic, but she didn't.

"I insist." His tone was final in a kind way. Hailey felt even worse because he probably knew exactly what effect he'd had on her. She shook her head, but still followed him to his car, scowling all the time. They didn't say anything on their way there, but she had the feeling that he was keeping a close eye on her.