“Hales, you look terrible!” Charlotte comments at the breakfast table. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Charlotte,” Halsey lies through her teeth. She could not sleep all night because of her kiss with Nathan. Halsey was torn whether to tell them of it or not but after seeing how Lincoln almost had a fight with Nathan, she decided that it was best to keep it a secret.
But she cannot forget the incident. Halsey feels ashamed of herself for not being able to stand up against Nathan. Her hands tremble whenever she thinks of him and her heart is beating too fast. She lowers her head, hiding her face behind the curtain of long hair as she eats her cereal.
“Lincoln, did you say anything to upset her?” Charlotte asks her son.
“What? No! She’s just too flustered by her burnt hand!” He exclaims.
Charlotte sighs and sips on her coffee. Even though she is 40 years old, she looks a lot younger than her age. She shares similar features as her son with strawberry blonde hair and a charming persona. There are hardly any wrinkles on her face and her smile is radiant. She maintains herself quite well with many of the neighborhood women throwing jealous glares at her whenever she passes by but Charlotte doesn’t care.
For her, only her family matters.
She owns a music lounge in the area, the only one in their small town. Fiercely independent and protective, Charlotte brought up her son on her own and later, even took in Halsey. Lincoln doesn’t know who his father is and Charlotte is unwilling to talk about it with anyone. The only thing people know is that Charlotte is an unwed mother and she is proud of it.
“Halsey, are you going to work today?” She asks.
“No, I have to babysit for the Smith’s tonight,” Halsey replies.
“Good, then can you drop off a parcel at the Antons’ house on your way?” Charlotte requests her. “They’ve ordered a guitar for their kid but neither of them can make it to the shop today coz of work. So they asked us to deliver it.”
“Sure!” Halsey says with a smile. “I’ll deliver it after school.”
“Great! I’ll be late tonight. There’s a band playing in the lounge and it’ll be packed.”
“Do you need any help?” Lincoln asks. “I can stop by.”
“No, it’s a school night and you two gotta wake up early tomorrow!” Charlotte says at once. “I’ll manage it.”
Halsey and Lincoln glance at each other, both worried that Charlotte is taking up too much stress lately. Making a mental note to pick up some calming balms for Charlotte, Halsey picks up her bag and heads for school with Lincoln.
The school is only a short ride away on the bus. Students are buzzing in the campus, talking loudly or heading for classes. It’s the first day of their lives as seniors and Halsey is excited to know more about her classes. Lincoln walks alongside Halsey, chatting with her about their class schedules. Several girls are giving him flirty glances but he barely notices them.
“We’ve got Chemistry together,” he sighs. “But that’s it.”
“I’ve got a free period at 12 PM,” she says. “What about you?”
“Nope,” he sighs. “My one’s at 10 AM.”
“Oh no…”
It seems that their class schedules are not matching. Halsey is a little disappointed because having Lincoln around makes her feel more comfortable than sitting alone at the library.
“I’ll head off for class,” Lincoln says. “See you!”
He dashes off towards his first class. Halsey waves at him and turns to walk towards her locker. To her surprise, there is a crowd gathering around her locker. They seem to be whispering among themselves and pointing at her.
“She’s so busted!” One of the students giggles.
“She must’ve made Lydia really mad.”
Halsey is confused and she tries to make her way through the crowd.
“Excuse me!” she says to them and finally reaches her locker. To her utter shock, her locker has been vandalized!
Green goo-like substance is splashed all over her old books and the word ‘sl*t’ has been spray painted all over the locker’s door.
Halsey is stunned by the sight. The people around her are jeering and taunting her in whispers.
“Isn’t she the one who always hangs around Lincoln Wright?”
“I heard that she pissed off Lydia by flirting with Nathan!”
“Woah! Two guys?”
Halsey’s heart is beating too fast and she suddenly feels suffocated. She quickly runs away from the crowd, too humiliated to face any of them. Halsey doesn’t know where she’s running but she marches towards the emergency staircase and dashes all the way up until she reaches the roof.
Once on the roof, she closes the door behind her and leans against it, weeping hard.
All her life, she tried to keep her head down and work quietly so that people would leave her alone. She doesn’t want to be bullied by others nor be overly friendly. Her focus is only to get good grades and live a relatively peaceful life. After her parents died, she shut herself in a shell where only a few people were allowed to enter.
Suddenly, she is in the center of attention and she cannot stop panicking. Lydia thinks that she stole Nathan whereas in reality she was the one who was assaulted by him!
Halsey sobs alone, the stress of the kiss and bullying too much for her to grasp.
“You really have nothing else to do except crying, huh?”
She is startled to hear Nathan’s voice and looks around. He’s lying on the ground, seemingly asleep.
“I-I…” she stammers.
She squirms under his cold gaze.
“You’re really pathetic,” he states and gets up. His silky hair is almost shining under the bright sun. The shirt he wore is untucked and his tie is also slightly loose but even with a messed up attire, he looks like a Greek God.
Greek God of war.
Halsey doesn’t comment but stares at her knees. Whose fault is it? She thinks. Her sadness is starting to be replaced with anger which shocks even her. She is rarely angry, preferring to restrain her emotions but after last night, she cannot help feeling enraged.
Yet, her fear of Nathan overwhelms her anger.
Nathan stands up and dusts off his clothes. “Girls like you cry and cry for a savior to save them,” he taunts her. “A desperate plea for attention. What a sad life you’re leading.”
Halsey’s lips quiver and she wants to retort at that. She doesn’t want anyone to save her; she just wants to be left alone.
But she bites back her retort. Nathan only looks at her with disdain and walks away, not looking back at her.
…
Lincoln is staring at the mess at Halsey’s locker. One of the boys he plays basketball with informed him what happened and he rushed to see the scene.
“Who the hell did this?” He demands from the boy.
“I heard that it was Nathan and his friends,” the boy claims. “Apparently, his girlfriend got pissed at Halsey for some reason so he and his friends-”
Lincoln doesn’t wait to hear the rest. He can tolerate Nathan badmouthing him but insulting Halsey is unacceptable to him. Lincoln is outraged but he knows that fighting with Nathan isn’t enough.
He’ll have to beat the son of a b*tch in his own game.
Within seconds, he bursts into the basketball coach’s room.
“Coach!”
An elderly man in his fifties looks up at him. The man is Coach Nelson, one of the strictest teachers in the school. He has been coaching the team of Bayers’ High for over twenty years and leads them with an iron fist.
“Lincoln?” He frowns. “What’d you want?”
“I’ll accept your offer,” Lincoln reveals. “I’m gonna play for the basketball team.”
The door to Nelson’s room is slammed open for the second time that day. Nelson sighs and looks up to find Nathan standing there, glaring at him. “Why the hell would you do that?” He demands. “Take Lincoln into our team? He’s no good!” “Have you seen him play?” Nelson asks, going back to the documents he was studying. “Coz I have and he’s a damn good player.” “basketball is a serious game, Coach!” Nathan exclaims. “He has no practice in playing with a high school team-” “He plays great underground and I’m sure he’ll be equally good in my team,” Nelson says curtly. “If you have a problem then it ain’t my problem.” Nelson’s tone is authoritative and final. There will be no more arguments on this and Nathan is furious. He storms off towards the boy’s locker where the other players are changing into their clothes. Lincoln is there as well, already changed into his basketball jersey. The Coach also assigned him a number: 10. Nathan storms into the locker room and charges right at Linc
Halsey is completely stunned and scared. Her hands are shaking at the sight of him. Memories from last night and that morning are swirling in front of her eyes, making her very nervous. Nathan approaches the deck and stops right in front of her. Halsey feels like a tiny mouse in front of a giant as he looks down at her.“Your friend joined the team today,” he states. “Did you know?”Halsey fervently nods her head. Her heart is beating too fast and for a wild moment, she’s afraid that he’ll kiss her again. What if he does?“Tell him to quit,” Nathan orders. Halsey slightly looks up, surprised by his demand.“Tell him to quit the team and I’ll tell my friends to lay off you,” he offers. “Lydia’s the one who wrecked your locker, right? I’ll tell her to stop if you tell your friend to quit the team.”“No.”Nathan blinks in surprise. Even Halsey is shocked by her own audacity but she couldn’t stop herself from saying it out loud.“What did you say?” He whispers in a dangerous tone.“I-I wo
Halsey sneezes out of cold. She’s in the car with Nathan, too nervous to talk. The events of the day had taken a toll on her. All she wants is to go home and hide under her blanket. No person ever scared her as much as Nathan Jacobs did. “You live with the Wright’s huh?” he asks in a deadpan tone. She nods in response. “C-Charlotte is my godmother,” she says. Nathan’s fingers clench around the wheel but he shrugs it off. “Is that your place?” he asks, pointing at a two storeyed house near the town’s cafe. “Yes,” Halsey replies. “I should get going…” As soon as the car stops, she runs out of it but to her shock, Nathan follows her. She instantly grabs her spare gl
“Oi sleepyhead!”Halsey is snoozing in the library, too tired to read that day. She does not sleep well at night because her mind has been filled with Nathan’s threats. He also knows her long buried desire to sing and it only makes her more nervous. What if he tells his friends and they make fun of her?She jolts awake to find Lincoln sitting across her. He looks very worried.“Are you alright, Hales?” He asks. “You don’t look so good.”“I’m fine…”Lincoln leans forward to touch her forehead. “You’re not sick,” he mutters.“I just couldn’t sleep because of the history quiz,” Halsey lies. “I stayed up at night to read.”“You work way too hard!” He groans. “Are you gonna come and watch the game tonight?”Lincoln is going to play his first game that night and he’s very excited. He never played professionally before but the coach has been praising him a lot. Nelson selected him for the game that night which earned the ire of Nathan but Lincoln doesn’t care.“Of course I will!” Halsey excl
Lincoln sprints forward as the ball comes to his direction and he catches it before dribbling it across the court. He is being blocked by a large player with bulky muscles. The player tries to take the ball from him but he dodges it and passes it to another of his teammates.Nathan is at the center, blocked by two players but he goes past them and catches the ball from another one of his teammates. The game starts to become intense as the two teams are locked in a point war while the audience cheers.Everytime the Eagles score, the audience cheers but groans and curses at the opponents when they score. Halsey timidly watches the game, her eyes on Lincoln. She occasionally glances at Nathan as well whose attitude changed from domineering to a more serious one. He is shouting his orders at his teammates or encouraging them when they score but he doesn’t even look at Lincoln. The match continues for a while and Halsey is becoming increasingly worried about the outcome. It’s Lincoln’s fi
“Earth to Halsey!” Halsey is startled and looks around to find Charlotte calling for her. They are at a steakhouse, waiting for their orders to arrive. Lincoln is sitting opposite Halsey, not talking.“What’s wrong?” Charlotte laughs. “You look as if you’re lost.”“I was just thinking about tomorrow’s math test,” Halsey lies.“Study study study!” Charlotte complains. “That's all you can think about! Just loosen up and relax.”She pinches Halsey’s cheek in an attempt to lighten the mood. Lincoln doesn’t say anything but glances at Halsey as if he wants to ask her something but thinks the better of it.“I was just worried…” Halsey says sheepishly. She loathes lying to Charlotte but with Lincoln there, she can’t tell her the truth yet. What if he overreacts? Or worse, picks a fight with Nathan?The food arrives and Charlotte tells them to dig in. Halsey tries to focus on her dinner but her mind is still plagued with the thought of Nathan. What if he told people about their kiss?Halsey
School is bustling with students. It is a warm, sunny day so most of the students are inside the cooler corridors, escaping the heat. Halsey has literature first that day but to her dismay, Nathan also happens to be in that class. He bunks classes most of the time but after getting a warning, he’s forced to join classes.Halsey is sitting in a corner, away from everyone’s gazes. Thankfully, she has not been bullied by Lydia after that day but she’s still watching out. Lincoln still urges her to complain to the principal but Halsey hates confrontations. She wants peace.She takes out her book, a poetry collection of Tennyson. Halsey opens it and starts to read the poem, “Lady of the Shallot” when she feels something slam on the chair next to her. To her shock, Nathan is putting his bag on it.“W-What are you doing?” She squeaks.“Sitting here,” he mutters lazily and sits down. The other students are staring at Nathan in shock as well. One of Lydia’s friends, Daisy, takes a picture and
Lincoln is at basketball practice. The whole team is lined up on the court and they are practicing shooting the ball. He is behind a curly haired boy and is chatting with his fellow players when Nathan enters the court, already in his jersey. Coach Nelson looks up and frowns at him.“You’re late, Jacobs!” He barks. “Ya know I hate late comers! Ten laps around the court!”“Yes sir,” Nathan mutters and begins to run around the court. He’s used to Nelson’s punishment but also knows that as the best player in the team, Nelson has to keep him with the Eagles. Nathan’s gaze meets that of Lincoln’s and the latter only smirks at his punishment. By the time Nathan is done, he is panting hard but is ready for practice. “Listen up y’all!” Nelson yells. “You’ll be shooting the hoops in a serial today. I gotta go to a family event so the session won’t be long. But our next game is in a month so we’ll be practicing twice as hard from tomorrow!”“Yes Coach!” Everyone declares. Lincoln is the first