Other Side of the World

Haley tried to call him twice on that (very early) Saturday morning and was met with the sound of a lady’s voice asking her to leave a voicemail after the beep. Frustrated, she sent a short ‘happy birthday’ message and congratulating him on the upcoming graduation ceremony due in – she looked at the calendar and sighed heavily – 10 days.

Even though she hated thinking about crappy thoughts but she couldn’t help it. There were just too many possibilities as to why he wasn’t answering his calls or even bothered to go online anymore. And each one of those possibilities made her feel guilty for even thinking of them in the first place. It was driving her insane, really. So she called Dan.

“I haven’t been to the hospital for a while,” Dan explained, sounding hassled himself. “So I wouldn’t know where Nathan is. Now, Haley, stop concocting your own tales as to why he’s not answering. Maybe he’s just busy.”

“I know but—”

“Which reminds me, not that I don’t miss you and all, but I’m quite busy myself right now, so.”

Taken aback, Haley told him that she understood and they both hung up.

She didn’t really understand what was happening. All she could feel was a sudden drape of sadness falling on top of her, nearly engulfing her. Usually, Dan would make time for her and vice versa. Whatever happened to that cycle?

It was as if she wasn’t even in their lives anymore.

So she was irrelevant.

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

“You’re pathetic,” Liam pointed out, forcing another eye-roll coming from Haley. She must’ve been rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time that day because for some reason she was starting to get a headache. The only downside she could think of by being friends with Annabelle was that her boyfriend, Aaron Lee was close friends with Liam Taylor.

So hanging out with Belle meant hanging out with Aaron. And that meant occasionally meeting Liam too. It was some sort of a vicious cycle of friendship, Haley thought bitterly.

And because it was a habit for her to reply to people (it would be rude otherwise), she couldn’t help but shoot an exasperated look towards the blue-eyed boy with the messy uniform and she had a sudden urge to strangle him with his loose tie.

But she couldn’t help but wonder if she picked on the little details of his dressing just so she could hate him more. If it was Nathan, she probably wouldn’t have cared a little sloppiness here and there.

It was Tuesday and still no word from her so-called boyfriend.

“And why, do tell, am I pathetic?” Haley drawled, not planning to pay even the slightest attention to his explanation.

Liam shrugged nonchalantly as he leaned back in his seat. “Ever since you’ve got here, you’ve been brooding about your boyfriend. It gets boring after a while. So he doesn’t call you lately, so what? Maybe you’ve been calling him a LOT and it tends to get a wee bit desperate, don’t you think so?”

Belle rolled her eyes at Liam and snapped, “would you leave her alone? Goodness.”

Haley stared at Liam intently, trying to burn a hole through his head. But she couldn’t deny the truth in his words. She felt as if this whole Nathan fiasco was making her feel as if she was dependent on him. She was the one trying to convince everyone before to be optimistic, what on Earth was she doing? She was being hypocritical.

But could she really blame herself? Nathan was probably dying somewhere. He probably had already…

Panicked, she shook her head violently. No, stop thinking about negative crap, Haley told herself inwardly.

Liam looked hassled as he run his fingers through his hair. “I’m not trying to be harsh. I’m just stating my opinion. I mean, Haley doesn’t seem like the person to be all depressed over a guy. But then again, what do I know?”

She gritted her teeth as she realized Liam was right.