Dragging the brush through my wavy blonde hair I smile to myself in the mirror before grabbing hold of some gold earrings and stuffing them into my ears.
"You're excited aren't you?" Elena exclaims, watching me from her cocoon of blankets in bed.
"I haven't seen him for nearly two weeks." I reply, "Of course I'm excited."
"I'm jealous," She muses, "I wish I had a boyfriend to visit me." She continues, grabbing hold of another blanket, "Maybe he'll bring you flowers?"
"I doubt it."
"Why? He's definitely missed you as much as you missed him." She points out.
"How do I look?" I ask.
"Absolutely gorgeous." She grins and I roll my eyes.
"You flatter me." I scoff, grabbing hold of my brown bag from the bed and hooking it over my shoulder. "Don't lose your keys today because I'm not coming back to let you in!"
"Already ahead of you!" She grins before holding up the lanyard around her neck, her keys dangling from it as she sits up.
"See you later." I laugh as I walk out the room, shutting the door behind me. The hallways are alive with people today, the weekend making the campus a hive for visitors. Politely moving through the crowds I can't help but smile at the scenes of students hugging their parents, grinning widely as they laugh and drag them into different rooms, desperate to show them college life. Or part of it anyway.
I wish I could have experienced that, my parents coming to visit me, proud of what I've achieved. I'm grateful for Elle, she's the best family I could ever ask for, but she can't hold me in her arms like my Mom, can't be protective like my Dad. I miss them.
I make my way down the pathway towards the parking lot, walking so fast, desperate to see him again. Haydon and I were barely apart back home, especially during Summer. Of course, it helped that I spent my free time with Becky anyway, always at their house until the late hours of every day.
Haydon and I were friends who grew closer every time we saw each other, both having a love for English. It was unintentional that we fell for each other, and Becky took a lot of convincing when she found out. We tried to keep it a secret from her, both of us agreeing that we needed to make sure what we had was real before we told her. Unfortunately neither of us had the willpower to stay away from each other and she walked in five days later, her best friend and brother's lips locked together. That was not a day I'd like to live again.
Turning the corner I smile as I notice his red truck immediately, my boyfriend leaning against it. His black hair is slicked back, his blue jeans and checked shirt fitting him nicely. I widen my grin as he notices me, his face lighting up as he pushes away from the truck. I practically skip over to him, throwing myself into his arms.
"Haydon!"
"Sav!" He greets me, pulling away from me slightly to look down at me. "I missed you."
"You too." I smile, watching as his emerald eyes glimmer in the slight sunlight.
"I brought you something."
"You did?" I ask, feeling a smile sweep across my face. Maybe he really did do what Elena suggested - chocolate, flowers? Whatever it is, I can't believe how thoughtful...
My thoughts trail off as he turns back towards me, a pile of fabric in his hands.
"Elle sent up your green scarf. She said you'd want it now the weather will be getting colder."
"Oh." I manage before shooting him a quick smile and grabbing hold of the scarf. That's still thoughtful of him. "Thanks."
"No problem." He grins, leaning down and pecking me on the lips, "So this is college."
"It sure is!" I exclaim, "Shall I show you around?"
"Why not?" He smiles.
"This way!" I grin, grabbing hold of his hand and dragging him along behind me. "It's easier to show you the library first. Wait until you see it! It's huge!" I declare and he laughs, easily keeping up with his long strides.
"Okay!"
*~*~*
"So Edgewater Post have told me that I need to get a qualification in journalism before they'll consider me."
"That's so unfair." I object, glaring down at my ice cream as we walk around the College park.
"I always knew it would be tough." He replies, shrugging before taking a lick of his vanilla ice cream.
"That town is backward." I scoff, "I stick with my argument. You should move away."
"Wanting me to have a qualification isn't backward, it's actually the modern way of looking at it." He argues softly, finishing his ice cream as I shrug, "And, I don't want to move away."
"But in another city you could find plenty more opportunities and companies that don't require you to have a qualification to join." I try softly, "Edgewater is too small."
"Edgewater is fine."
"Don't you ever feel like you've outgrown it?" I ask, wrinkling up my nose before taking a bite of my chocolate brownie flavored ice cream.
"No. It's where I grew up." Haydon smiles, "You don't miss Edgewater Valley at all?"
"I miss Becky." I answer and he laughs.
"Of course."
"And Zara."
"How's she doing?" He asks.
"I think she's loving it." I reply, "She started speaking Italian down the phone to me the other day so I'm fairly certain she's fitting in well in Europe." I add, "I can't wait for her to come back and cook us a gourmet Italian dish. She's bound to learn while she's over there."
"Gourmet?" He raises an eyebrow.
"Pizza will do." I giggle.
"That sounds appropriate." He laughs. "Well good for her. She always said she liked Italian art." He finishes and I nod, gazing around at the wooded area that we've walked into. It reminds me of running through the woodland back home when I wanted to get away from Elle. Right now I can't even understand why I ever wanted to be away from her, missing her is now a daily occurrence.
"Did Elle seem okay? In the apartment by herself?" I can't help the questions that slip out of my mouth.
"Yeah." Haydon confirms, "She seems fine."
"So there's nothing new happening in Edgewater?" I pry, wanting to know the state of the town I left behind. My so-called hometown.
"No."
"I should have known," I roll my eyes, grabbing hold of his arm to pull myself closer as we traipse through the fallen leaves.
"Oh wait!" He exclaims and my eyes widen, flying up to meet his, "Harry Masters died."
"Harry Masters?" I blurt, eyes widening even more, "As in owner of Sunnyside Diner, greasy haired old man, my old boss Harry Masters?"
"Yep." Haydon confirms, "Heart attack right in the middle of the kitchen."
"Wow. Poor Bert." I mutter before glancing at him, "They only had each other."
"Apparently he's looking to sell the diner. Without Harry he doesn't see the point."
"As if anyone is going to buy that diner." I can't help the scoff that bursts out of my mouth. It was an awful place to work and an equally awful place to eat. It still baffled me why people went into the diner, the milkshakes being the only positive, and they were always made by Breda or I.
"You had a lucky escape. Breda is still there."
"She is?" I raise my eyebrows, surprised, "She's probably still saving for college. Poor girl."
"It's her choice." He shrugs.
"Hey!" I exclaim, "It's hard. I should know."
"I know." He grins, pulling us to a stop and turning me to face him. "I'm proud of you." He says softly, reaching down and placing a hand around my waist. "Of how hard you've worked."
"I'm proud of you too." I smile up at him, placing my hands on his arms as he pulls me closer.
"Proud of my rejection letters?" He scoffs, laughing slightly.
"I'm proud of your determination." I counter, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Plus, every rejection letter may drive you further away from Edgewater Valley." I giggle.
"Ah, I see." He laughs, placing his hand on my back. "Very tactical."
"I know!" I laugh and he grins, clutching to each other as we laugh.
"Savannah?" A deep voice calls out. I feel Haydon tense, his hand on my back tightening as I shut my eyes in frustration.
Here we go Savannah, you've been caught out.
Haydon was never supposed to know he was at the same college as me. I slowly look around, my eyes falling on Brett and the petite, red-haired girl next to him. He smiles softly at me before I glance up at Haydon quickly to see his expression harden as he stares at Brett.
"Brett." I greet softly, "This is Haydon." I gesture beside me.
"Yeah I remember. Becky's brother?"
"That's me." Haydon replies bluntly. "Nice to see you."
"You too." Brett agrees, tension flowing through the air. He gestures to the girl beside him, "This is Cara."
"Hi." She smiles.
"It's great weather." I blurt out, desperate to ease the tension.
"Yeah..."
"Apparently it's going to be a mild winter." Brett announces and I raise an eyebrow wondering why I started this ridiculous conversation.
"Mild?" Cara asks, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Not too cold." Brett explains.
"Oh..."
"That's a shame." I comment, "I wish it would snow at Christmas."
"Me too! It makes it magical." Brett agrees, smiling, "It's a shame we don't get any here."
"It is." I nod as Haydon tightens his grip around my waist.
"You should see New York in the snow. It's beautiful." Brett exclaims. "I was there for Christmas last year. We were lucky it snowed. It's not like the films you know, it doesn't happen every year!"
"If only Christmas was like the films! All that snow!" I grin at the thought, excitement bubbling in my stomach at the thought.
"I agree." Brett laughs and I smile before glancing up at Haydon. The smile immediately slips from my face at the thunderous look on my boyfriend's face and I glance back at Brett and Cara, shooting them a small polite smile.
"We should get going."
"Us too." Brett agrees.
"Good to see you." I smile softly as Haydon grabs hold of my hand.
"You too." Brett declares before they turn, walking back the way they came. If only they knew the damage they just caused.
"Haydon." I try slowly, looking up at him. He shakes his head, unwilling to look at me as he begins to walk away, myself struggling to keep up as he storms through the park, "Haydon!"
"Don't Haydon me Savannah!" He snaps, whirling back around to face me, "You didn't tell me he was here."
"It wasn't relevant!"
"Then why didn't you mention it?" He retorts.
"Wha..." I splutter as he stalks off once more, back towards my dorm building, "Haydon!"
"I'm going home Savannah!" He yells back at me.
"Haydon don't be like this!"
"Like what?" He argues, stopping once more, "Your ex-boyfriend is here and you didn't think to tell me!"
"Exactly! My ex-boyfriend!" I emphasize, "It means nothing."
"Goodbye Savannah." He retorts before turning back towards the parking lot.
"You can't be serious!" I yell, crossing my arms across my chest. I know I'm in the wrong here, I should have told him that Brett was here, but leaving in the middle of an argument, not even attempting to talk this through, isn't that a bit extreme?
"Savannah I need time to think."
"Think?" I repeat, eyes wide, "About what?"
"This." He grimaces, gesturing between us, "Do you still have feelings for Brett?"
"What?" I splutter, "No!"
"Then why wouldn't you tell me?"
"I've barely spoken to him, apart from telling him to leave me alone and that I'll never forgive him!" I snap.
"You shouldn't have said one word to him." He seethes, taking a step back towards me. "He doesn't deserve any of your time but once again, you're giving it to him."
"I am not!"
"Then what was that display back in the park?"
"Display?" I scoff, "I was being polite!"
"I love the snow!" He mocks, "Oh Brett, me too!"
"How dare you!" I explode, snapping at him as I take a step closer, our argument being broadcast to the entire campus. That's the lucky thing about college, most people don't know who you are.
"How dare I?" He shoots back, "If you didn't want to talk to him Savannah, you wouldn't. So you've forgiven him."
"God no!" I grimace, "I'm just saying I'll be civil to him because..."
"Because then he'll want to get in your pants again."
"Excuse me?" I dare him to continue, my eyes ablaze with fury.
"I'm going home." He says softly before turning and heading swiftly to his truck.
"Haydon!" I exclaim as he turns on the engine, attempting to walk towards the truck before he begins to pull away. "Haydon!" I yell out, a few tears finally escaping and running down my cheeks.
He pays me no attention, driving out of the parking lot as fast as he can.
*~*~*
"S?" Elena exclaims as she walks in, letting the door slam behind her. I look up from the corner of my bed, my tear stained face an obvious giveaway as to how Haydon's visit went. I pull my phone away from my ear as it diverts straight to his voicemail once more, chucking it down onto the bed.
"We stumbled across Brett." I manage and her eyes widen. "Haydon's gone home."
"Oh Sav..."
"He wouldn't even listen to me." I sniff, grabbing hold of a new tissue as she walks over, "I should have told him."
"Sounds like he over-reacted."
"I would react the same if he had this sort of history with a girl." I have to admit, looking up into her curious eyes, "Brett wasn't just a fling E." I continue, "I fell for him so hard, I didn't even know how to get over it. I spent most days at Becky's." I explain, looking back down at the pile of tissues, fiddling with the edge of one to keep my hands busy. "Haydon helped me get over him, he distracted me. He took me to one of those places where you throw plates at the wall." I smile slightly at the memory, "He knew how much I cared for Brett." I mutter, "He didn't over-react."
"Oh, S!" Elena breathes out before reaching over and pulling me into her arms. I lay my head on my shoulder, angry at myself for my own stupidity.
"It's not fair that I didn't tell him."
"Why didn't you?" She asks quietly.
"I knew this is how he would react." I laugh sarcastically, "I was hoping that I would never speak to Brett again, and then Haydon would never know."
"Look, you lied to him." Elena shrugs, "But if he doesn't forgive you then it's his loss."
"But..."
"What happened to the Savannah who doesn't put up with any shit?"
"I never used to be like this you know." I reveal, smiling at her enthusiasm, "It was only after what happened with Brett."
"I don't believe you."
"I used to let Ashley treat me like shit." I explain, shrugging.
"Brett's ex? Didn't you tell her to go to hell?"
"No." I reply, laughing. I wish I had. "I just accepted it. Until I got in a fight with her after Brett left." I explain, "We were both kicked off the team."
"S, you're bad-ass!"
"I just wish I had been the same during the time I was with Brett." I scoff, "Or not with him. I don't know what we were."
"But you learnt how to be a bad-ass from that experience." Elena lectures me, grabbing hold of my hand, "Everything in life happens for a reason."
"Did anyone ever tell you how wise you are?"
"No." She laughs. My phone suddenly buzzes and I grab for it, eyes wide as I glare hopefully down at the screen. Clicking on Haydon's name I open the message, praying for a miracle.
I'm sorry. I over-reacted. Give me time.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This chapter is a little longer - sorry about that but I couldn't think how to compact this down any more!
Thoughts on Savannah's choice to hide the truth from Haydon?
Remember to hit the little star at the bottom of the page! Each vote actually helps author's work rise in the various categories on Wattpad, making them visible to more and more people. Help share Savannah's story by voting for the chapter if you enjoyed it 💙
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••