ONE WEEK LATER
Hailey's P.O.V:
"Good job girls! I'll see you on Friday." Coach Philips shouted.
I took a swig of my water bottle and then we all jogged into the locker room.
In the past week, Mallory and Leigh haven't bothered me at all, aside from some dirty looks and the "accidental" stepping on my feet. Our first game was on Monday of next week. Today was Wednesday. I was kind of nervous, to be totally honest. I played all positions, but Coach wanted me to play center for all the games. It was a home game, so my mom and Jack were coming to watch me.
Basketball kind of interfered with work now, so I made my time to come later...so now I was working from 4:30 to 8:30 every day I had practice, and my boss allowed me to take off for the days I had games, which worked out really good.
I got changed into my work clothes (it was easier that way), and drove to the diner.
I saw Ally right away and waved to her, and she came flouncing over to me.
"There's food in the back for you to eat. I'll cover your section and mine while you eat." She said.
"Wow, thanks Ally. I'll be quick don't worry."
She smiled and I headed into the kitchen.
Mark, the main chef, waved at me, and gestured to the cheeseburger and basket of fries laying on the break table. I sat down and started to eat.
I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and I whipped it out. It was Jack.
Will I still see you at my house at 8:30? We gotta read chapter 25 of To Kill a Mockingbird.
I smacked a hand to my forehead. I almost forgot I had to go to Jack's house after work.
Yes, I'll be there, I typed back.
I put my phone in my pocket, then finished eating.
*
Work ended at 8:30, so I got changed back into my regular clothes and drove to Jack's house.
He opened the door and grinned a little when he saw me. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and jeans with no shoes, but fuzzy black socks.
"Hi." He said.
"Hi."
He let me in. I waved to his mom, then we went upstairs to his room.
He let me go in first, then shut the door behind us. We sat down on his bed and we took our books and binders out.
We read the chapter silently, then we answered the questions on our worksheet.
We finished in over an hour.
"So that was a good chapter, huh?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, this book is way better than I thought. What are you your thoughts on this chapter?"
"Well, I think that Mayella shouldn't be judged for who she has feelings for. It doesn't matter if you're black or white, or poor or rich. It shouldn't matter if you're popular, or a nerd or some loser that nobody is friends with. Everyone should be allowed to talk to who they want to talk to, and have feelings for whoever they want to have feelings for. It just..shouldn't matter." Jack said.
I looked at him closely.
"Are we still talking about the book...or are we talking about you?" I asked him.
He blushed, and looked right at me. I felt hypnotized by his blue eyes.
"I guess I'm talking about myself." He said quietly.
I took a deep breath and watch as Jack moved closer to me and put a hand over one of mine.
"Jack-" I started to say, but couldn't finish my sentence because Jack pressed his lips to mine.
His lips tasted like oranges and they felt soft against mine. It felt really nice. My heart was beating fast in my chest and it felt like it was about to jump out. No matter how nice this was, I couldn't do this. Not after everything that happened. I couldn't have this kind of relationship with Jack.
The kiss started to deepen and I quickly detached our lips before it could go any further.
"What? What's wrong?" Jack asked, cleaning his throat.
I looked away from him.
"I can't- I can't do this." I said.
"What do you mean?"
I stood up and grabbed my stuff and started walking out the door.
"Hailey, wait. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that, I-"
I turned around to face him.
"No, it's fine. I-I have to go, okay? I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, I opened the door and left.
*
I drove quickly home, my thoughts invading my head like an unwanted criminal.
This probably just made things extremely awkward between me and Jack. Truth be told, I was afraid of sex. I was afraid of kissing, I was afraid of relationships. I was afraid of giving myself over to someone. I needed a friend, and Jack was the only one who provided me with that. I couldn't date him. I just couldn't.
I pulled into my driveway and sat in the car for a second, then got out and started walking towards my front door.
"Hey! Hailey!" I heard a sickeningly familiar voice call as I got onto my porch and was about to unlock the door.
I turned and saw it was Sammy, running across his yard to get to mine.
I sighed and placed my hands on my hips.
"What could you possibly want from me? Where's your posse?"
Sammy jogged up the front steps and was now standing in front of me on the porch.
"Yeah, about them..." He trailed off.
I raised an eyebrow.
"I sort of...told them I didn't want to be friends with them anymore." He said.
"What? Why?" I asked.
He shrugged.
"They started to be mean to me and truth is, they're total dicks. And I am better off without them, honestly."
I glared at him.
"So you came to my house to tell me that?"
He shook his head.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything Gilinsky and my friends and I have done to you and Jack. I am truly sorry, and I feel so bad for everything. Really."
I rolled my eyes.
"First of all, a sorry doesn't really cut it. And second of all, I don't think it's me you should be apologizing to."
Sammy sighed.
"I know it's just-"
"Just what, Sammy? Do you think coming over here and saying you're sorry and ditching your friends is gonna make up for everything that you and your crew did? Because it doesn't. And also, you've been acting fricking weird. Like first, you were teasing me and Jack and then you smile at me in the hallway at school and almost kiss me at Jackson's party that one time? What is going on with you?"
He stepped a little closer towards me.
"Look, the first time I knocked on your door, that time Gilinsky dared me to give you a brownie tray full of worms, and you opened the door, I saw how beautiful you were and I felt really bad playing that prank on you. And I felt bad teasing you and Jack. I really did. I just was scared of Gilinsky and what might happen if I didn't follow through. But...it's different now."
"How is it different?" I asked.
Sammy looked down for a minute, then back up at me.
"Because I had feelings for you ever since I first saw you, okay? And I regret everything that I ever said or did to you. And I just wanna-"
Just then, Sammy pushed me up against the door and kissed me hard.
What the hell?
I pushed him lightly off of me right away.
"Why did you do that?" Sammy asked.
"I don't know just..UGH! Everyone needs to stop kissing me!" I said as I unlocked the front door and went inside, leaving Sammy standing on my front porch.