#Chapter 07 Someone Stranger

“Hey, Cynthia?”

I snap out of my thoughts as I quickly shut my mostly empty locker, surprised to hear someone call out to me. But I recognize who it is a moment later, turning around to see Hailey. She looks at me, her worry clear through her glasses lenses.

“I heard vaguely about what happened at the pool. Are you okay?”

I nod in response to my somewhat friend. We met in Drama Club. She’s a performer, but I prefer working in the background, getting everything to work smoothly.

We started talking a bit more after I drew a poster for one of the upcoming performances. She’d complimented it eagerly. Since then, we occasionally chat, though we’re not super close.

She has an easygoing presence, so I don’t mind speaking with her sometimes.

“Fine…uhm…Alex helped.”

“Yeaaah, I heard about that, too,” she laughs a little, though there is still worry in her tone. “Uhm…I figured, since it seems like you and Alex might end up, eh, kind of knocking into each other, there’s something you should know