Other Side of the World

She leaned back against the lockers door, hugging her books tightly to her chest as she shot a disgusted look to the boy hovering in front of her. It’s been well over a month since she studied at West Eaton School and truth be told, being introduced to the new system was making her head spin. So the last thing she needed was someone who, over the past month, had been endlessly ‘harassing’ her. And she did complained to the school’s guidance counselor but Liam had this extraordinary power of wriggling his way out of trouble (that, or maybe the counselor gave up on him).

“What is it that interests you so?” Haley said, frowning and she tried to push him aside but unfortunately for her, he won’t budge.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“I have a boyfriend,” she curtly replied.

“Yeah, back in the States. Haley, Haley,” he chuckled, clicking his tongue. “Don’t you know that long distance relationship is a myth? It’s true, you know. In fact, recent studies showed that people who are involved in long distance relationships would only last 5 months, max. And whoever exceed that time period would end up devastated because their partner cheated on them. And they might end up being at the bottom of the ocean. I reckon dead flesh is not good for the cute little fishies.”

“Are you done?” Haley interrupted, rolling her eyes.

“No, not really,” he said, a slow smirk forming on his face.

Haley cocked her head slightly to the side, giving him an innocent smile before slamming the heavy textbooks she had been hugging to his chest with enough force for him to stagger back, almost falling on his ass.

“So sorry,” she said, not even an ounce of remorse could be heard in her voice.

Liam’s smirk eventually morphed into a curious expression as he looked at Haley walking away before she turned round the corner. He leaned against the lockers, his fingers ruffling his light chestnut-colored hair, amusement shone in his bright blue eyes.

He always liked a challenge.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Annabelle Smith threw a scrap of paper at Haley, trying to grab her attention. Annabelle was the first friend she made in the school and it certainly helped that she lived right across the street from Aunt Becca’s house. Annabelle was a lively girl with soft auburn hair that curled on her shoulder and hazel eyes. The both of them got along from the first ‘hello.’

She was playing with her hair when she inquired, “daydreaming again? You look bothered. Liam being a pig again?”

“I’m just…homesick, I guess,” Haley muttered, shrugging.

Not really.

She knew that graduation was coming up for Nathan and she knew that his work and assignment were probably up to his eyeballs. But every time she called her, he seemed distracted. Maybe she shouldn’t have complained, considering that nowadays he didn’t even answer her calls. It had been 2 weeks. It wasn’t like him to disappear without notice.

She tried calling her dad to see maybe Nathan was hospitalized.

And then she remembered that her dad transferred to another hospital in Seattle a week ago.

She wasn’t homesick. She didn’t even know where ‘home’ was at the moment.

She was worried that she might lose someone important to her. And she wasn’t even there by his side.