The Switch

Chapter 7: Hayley

I'm dabbing a damp cloth on Will's forehead when his eyes flutter open. He's been out cold for almost an hour now. "Will?" I say, my voice sounding unsure.

He lifts his head and rubs the back of it. "What happened?" he asks me.

"You passed out. How are you feeling?" I ask in a quiet whisper.

I don't know why I'm whispering, but that seems like how my voice wants to come out right now. "My head hurts," he tells me.

Scanning his face, I see the bruises starting to form where Kyle punched him earlier. I stand up and offer my hand to Will. He takes it and I pull him up. "You should probably lie down. If you need me, I'll be out here."

Will nods and heads to his bedroom. Once I hear the door close, I sit down on the couch and pull out one of the books I had just gotten at the library. Reading will help me avoid thinking about this whole fucked up situation.

I'm lost in my book when Will reenters the living room. "Hey," he says, yawning.

I look up from my book and give him a small smile. "Hey."

"I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that I don't have a spare bedroom. Do you mind sleeping out here?" he asks.

Weird way to start a conversation, but okay. "Yeah, that's fine. I really appreciate you letting me stay here."

"Of course."

The conversation dies with that and the room gets eerily quiet. The only thing I can hear is our breathing. I look away from him, trying to think of something to talk about.

The only thing that comes to my mind is our situation. It may be a bad idea but I'm going to venture to talk about it. "Wanna talk about it?"

Will looks at me. "About what?"

"What just happened," I reply.

He looks away and runs a hand through his hair. "I guess so."

"If you're not ready, we can hold off on this conversation for a while," I tell him.

"No, it's fine. It'll feel better to get it all out," he responds.

I nod even though he's not looking at me. "You can go first."

Will sighs and begins talking, "I don't know how I could've been so oblivious. She told me today that she was going to the library with you." He pauses and looks up at me. "Did you even go to the library?"

I hold up the book I was just reading and he resumes talking. "I'm guessing she wasn't there with you. She said that she was hanging out with you a lot recently. Is that true?"

With a shake of my head, I answer, "Maybe once or twice in the past few weeks but I've been busy with looking for potential job options for when summer ends."

"What about Kyle? Has he said he's been hanging out with me a lot lately?" he presses.

"Yeah, actually. Have you guys been?" I ask.

He purses his lips. "No, same thing with him. Only a few times."

"I guess they came up with that plan together," I say with a sigh.

Will nods sadly and continues speaking, "I just don't know how we didn't see the signs. I guess we had enough trust in them to not ask the person they were hanging out with."

He stops talking and I think I see tears coming to his eyes. He rubs his eyes and doesn't say anything about it. "Yeah.. trust. That's something I'm not going to have a lot of after this," I say.

"Me neither. I can't believe we just lost our best friends. We've been friends since we were twelve. I can't believe they'd give that up for cheating on us. It hurts so bad, I don't even know how to fully describe this pain.

"It's like a heartbreak but worse. I think losing your friends hurts worse than just your partner, you know? And now that I'm thinking this over, I'm not sure I ever really loved Courtney. I only said it on occasions, but she said it more than I did. Knowing that she didn't really mean it is like a slap to the face. I hate being lied to, and that's what we just went through. Three straight weeks of lies," he says, explaining his feelings on the situation.

I take a minute to soak in everything he told me. "Kyle and I were together for longer and we said our 'I love you's' of course, but it feels like it all amounts to nothing now. I feel like when Courtney came up with the idea for the switch-"

Will cuts me off. "That was Courtney's idea? She told me it was yours."

"No, she came up with it. I just thought it would be fun. Ugh, more lies just keep coming to light. Well, when she came up with the idea, I probably should've seen it as a warning sign. But, there's that word again, trust. I trusted her. I trusted Kyle," I explain.

He lets out a breath, indicating that he feels the same way. "At least we still have each other, right?"

I nod. "You're one of the only people I trust now."

"Yeah, you're just about the last person I fully trust. I have other friends of course, but you guys were so close to me. I feel like my other friends don't know me in comparison. Now, I can't even bear thinking about being in the same room with Courtney and Kyle. I hope I never see them again," he tells me.

I'm not nodding in agreement to that last part. I don't know if I never want to see them again. I already miss Kyle, what if I forgave him? If he promised he'd never do it again, would I take him back? "Hayley?" Will says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Sorry, I'm just lost in thought. In a way, I'd like to see them again, just to clear things up. And honestly, if Kyle asked me to take him back, I really might say yes. I can't help missing him," I rant.

"What? You'd actually take him back after what he did? What if he did it again? How would you feel after that? As your best friend now, I'm forbidding you from going back to Kyle," he says in an imperative tone.

I roll my eyes. "I'm a grown woman, you can't forbid me from doing anything."

"It's for your own good, though," he says with a frown.

With a sigh, I lie back on the couch. "But what if he doesn't do it again?"

"Then you've proved me wrong. But I don't think that'll happen. People don't change that easily." With that, he gets up and gives me an almost condescending look before going back to his bedroom.

I check my phone for the time. Eight P.M. already? There are also a few messages from both Courtney and Kyle. I swipe them away and put my phone on do not disturb.

Sleep. Sleep is what I need. This past week has been worse than I could've ever imagined. I look around but there aren't any blankets in the living room. Glancing at Will's door, I consider asking for one, but I don't want to bother him. He seemed pretty pissed at me for the last part of our conversation.

I curl up on the couch and close my eyes. All I want right now is the world to go away. Talking to Will was nice, since we could get everything out. But when he got mad at me, everything went from better back to bad.

After about five attempts of trying to fall asleep, I finally doze off. Unfortunately, though, I wake up a few times during the night.