Pinky Promise

A loud, buzzing sound cause Hallie to bolt up in her bed, surprised, before rolling onto the floor.

"What the hell?" Hallie said, standing up and looking around and she rubbed her elbow, the only injured part of her. She glanced around for the cause of the horrible noise, her sight landing on the alarm clock on her bedside table. "Why do I...?"

All of a sudden, it all came back to her in a rush. It was Monday morning, and she was waking up to her alarm clock instead of a message from Luke. It took her a moment for the memories of Friday evening to sink in as she slowly realized that she was wrong: her elbow wasn't the only thing that hurt. Her heart did, too.

"Hallie, honey, are you awake?" Her mother knocked softy on the door before entering.

"Mom, please let me stay home today," Hallie whispered as her lip started to tremble. She scrunched her eyes shut, hoping to prevent tears from sliding from under her lids, down her cheeks.

"Oh, Hallie," her mom said, sitting onto Hallie's bed and pulling her onto her daughter onto her lap. "I know this is going to be really difficult for you, and I wish I could let you stay home...but you know that that will only make it more difficult to go back to school and face him... Besides, you never know... he could meet you today in front of the house, ready to apologize and tell you how stupid he was." Hallie let out a sniffle and a tiny giggle escaped from her lips as she wiped her eyes and stood up.

"You're right, mom," Hallie said, standing up and turning towards her closet. "Everything will be okay... thanks, mom," she said, turning to give her mother a hug before shooing her out of the room so that she could get ready.

*

Hallie made her way downstairs and into the kitchen, where, after much debate, she put two bagels into the toaster and got ready for what she was hoping to be at least an okay day at school.

After slathering butter and jelly on one bagel and cream cheese on the other, she gave her mom a one-armed hug goodbye before making her way out the door.

As she walked down to the end of her driveway, Hallie was made aware of two things: one, the school bus was down the road, and two, Luke was standing at the end of her driveway. She grinned as she quickened her pace towards him. "Hey," she started to say to him.

"Before you get to excited," Luke said, "My mom doesn't know what happened, yet... she'd be pretty pissed if I told her... that's why I'm here today... I didn't want her to suspect anything.

Hallie's heart felt like it stopped. Many emotions started to flood through her - depression, confusion, swirling through her until she decided on anger. Just as the bus started to pull up to her driveway, she turned towards him. "Here," she said. She put her bagel between her teeth, separated Luke's, and sandwiched his head between the two halves, just as the bus doors swung open. Hallie smirked the smirk of self satisfaction before turning and stomping onto the bus, flinging herself into the seat directly behind the driver and starting to eat her bagel. The school day hadn't even started and already she wanted it to be over.

*

Finally, lunch time. Granted, she had the same lunch period as Luke did, but at least she wasn't sitting awkwardly next to him in a stuffy, quiet classroom, trapped in the seats that they'd chosen next to each other for the rest of the year in, as her teachers explained when she tried to plead with them, their permanent seats.

As she walked out of the lunch line, turkey sub and Hawaiian Punch in hand, she looked around, feeling lost. She had no idea where to sit. She looked over at her old table where Luke was sitting. Bailee had plunked herself in his lap, arms wrapped around his neck. She looked over to Hallie, where she gave a self-satisfied smirk before turning back to her ex best friend.

Hallie ground her teeth in anger. Eyes flashing, she threw her lunch in the garbage and started walking towards Luke and Bailee, unscrewing the cap of her sugary beverage as she went.

She stood before the two of them. They the three of them stared at each other, wondering what Hallie was doing there and what she was going to say.

“Bitch,” Hallie said contemptuously. She upturned her Hawaiian Punch upon Bailee’s bottle-blonde hair as she shrieked in anger. Hallie shook the last drop out, dropped the bottle on the ground and turned to walk away, only to walk straight into the vice principal, Mr. Williams.

“My office, Ms. Mason. Now,” he said, leaving no room for argument. All around then she heard a chorus of “Oooh…!”

She swung her purse over her shoulder and followed Mr. Williams down to the administration office.

*

“Hallie…” her mother said as she marched into the principal’s office. “What is going on?”

“Hey, mom,” Hallie said, glaring down at her low tops as Mr. Williams strode into the room.

“Hello, Mrs. Mason, please take a seat,” he said, sitting down behind his desk. “It seems your daughter walked up to a Ms. Todd today during her third period lunch, unprovoked, and dumped an entire bottle on her head.”

“Who is Ms. Todd?” Mrs. Mason turned towards her daughter.

“Bailee…” Hallie mumbled.

“Oh dear…” her mom said. Honey, give me a moment with Mr…” she referred to the name plate on his desk, “Mr. Williams, okay, dear?”

Hallie nodded silently and made her way to the uncomfortable wooden chair outside her office door. She couldn’t hear anything, only the low mutterings of her mother and the deep reciprocations from Mr. Williams.

After about fifteen minutes, her mother came out and offered her hand to her daughter, who took it and pulled herself up.

“We’re going home, Hallie,” Mrs. Mason said, leading Hallie to the car directly outside the school.