I dashed out of the last class for the day, feeling good about what I had just learned. ‘God, I love math’, I thought. I walked to my locker to put my books in and pick up my assignments before heading home. I loved this school. In this corridor, the lockers were painted white, and the walls were two shades of blue: deep blue and sky blue. The black and white tiles were well-suited to the stark white ceiling. I always have a cosy feeling when I walk these corridors. I wondered where Hailey was. She usually met me at my locker. I gazed around the corridor, and it didn’t take me too long to find the girl with the curliest brown hair at school, which she always tied up with a blue ribbon—my best friend.
“Hailey!”, I said, calling out to my best friend in the hallowed corridor of Montgomery High School. Hailey turned around, saw me running up to meet her, and continued walking ahead. I stopped short, wondering what came over her.
“Hailey! Wait!”, I called out again, and this time she didn’t answer at all. I stared at her back until she walked out of the corridor we were in. ‘What’s wrong with Hailey?’, I thought to myself. I ran after her anyway and couldn’t find her. I checked the lunch room, the girl’s locker room, and even the gym, but I couldn’t find her. The school hours were already over for the day, and I needed to find her before heading home. I had to break the news to her. Jeremy, the head boy, had asked me out earlier that day. I have been crushing on him since sophomore year, and I had to tell Hailey all about it.
I found her on the tracks. She was jogging. ‘Hailey doesn’t jog or run. What is going on?’, I thought again.
“Hailey!”, I said again, and she didn’t answer me. She kept on running. I ran to meet her and jogged alongside her.
“Hey, Hailey. I have been calling out to you ever since school closed, and you did not answer. What happened? Are you okay?”, I asked.
Hailey kept quiet. I was worried now. “What is wrong, Hailey? Did something happen at school? You were fine this morning. Is it PMS?”, I asked again, suddenly recalling that she was on her period.
“Ugh!”. She replied and started jogging in the opposite direction.
“What is ugh? Is there something going on? Why don’t you say something rather than ignore me like this? I am your best friend, Hailey”.
“Ugh! Shut up, Anna”, she said. I was stunned, and my lips were shaped in a definite 'O'.
“What the hell is your problem?”, I asked.
“You! You are my problem!”, she retorted as she walked away from me to sit on one of the benches.
“What do you mean?”
“I hate you. I hate that you’re pretty. I hate your golden locks of hair—how is that natural? You eat a lot and never get fat, and now the boy I liked the most in school just asked you out!”. She shouted at me, and suddenly the school was quiet. I took some time to recollect my thoughts.
“I never knew you liked Jeremy”, I said quietly.
“I did. I have always liked Jeremy”, Hailey replied with a look of disgust painted over her face.
“Why do you hate me? We have been friends for three years, Hailey”.
“You are too damn perfect! I always struggle with grades, and you don’t even need to read much to pass. I hate that you are better than me”, she spat at me.
“Ah! So, you have been pretending; is that so, Hailey? So, when did you decide to let your mask off and show your true feelings towards me?”, I asked her calmly.
“I was standing in the corner when Jeremy asked you out. You had your back to me, and Jeremy was so focused on you that he didn’t even notice me”.
“I should thank Jeremy then, for I may never have known who you truly are if he hadn’t asked me out while you were there”.
“Just go. Leave me alone”, she said to me, looking away.
“I would leave. I wish to tell you that you were truly my best friend, Hailey, in every sense of the word. I would leave you. Sadly, things may not go back to the way they were. I am truly shocked by everything you said to me today. My best friend hates me. Wow”. I looked at Hailey and wondered why she was like that and if there were moments when she showed me her true intentions without me noticing it.
‘Goodbye, Hailey”, I said solemnly.
“Bye, Anna”, she replied as I walked away. I walked all the way home with a heavy feeling of hurt, betrayal, and regret in my heart.
