Second Heartbeat

“Haley!”
“Jimmy!”
“We did it! We graduated!”
“Correction Jimbo, Matt, Zack and I graduated, you were expelled last month for ‘accidentally’ setting the bleachers on fire.”
“It WAS an accident.”
“I’m sure it was Jimmy.”

He gave me a hug and ruffled my hair a little, causing me to scoff and push him away a bit. Zack and Matt came up to us then, followed closely by my parents and Amy.

“Well done sweetheart.”
“Thanks Mom. I’m just so glad it’s OVER!”

Both my parents hugged me and I even got a hug from Amy.

“So, Haley, what are your plans for after this summer?” Zacky’s Mom, Rachel, asked me.
“Um…” I noticed Zacky behind her shaking his head as hard as possible, obviously not wanting me to tell her about going to university. “I’m not sure yet, I’ll probably just get a job or something, while I figure out what I wanna do.”
“At least you have SOME sort of a plan.” She said, glaring at her son who just rolled his eyes.

For a while I just hung around Zacky, Jimmy and Matt, talking and laughing while our parents were chatting behind us.

Something caught my eye though as I scanned the crowd. There were groups of people EVERYWHERE except for one lone family who stood away from everyone else. There was a Mom and Dad, a guy who looked to be maybe in his mid to late twenties, a young girl who couldn’t have been ten yet and one other guy that I knew all too well. Brian.

I wanted nothing more than to be able to go and talk to him but since that evening we sat on the bench the two of us had shared no more than the occasional glance in the hall. He’d even had to switch English classes and my partner after that couldn’t have been more different to Brian.

He didn’t seem to make any other friends either and every time I realized that, a wave of guilt washed over me that I couldn’t control and I broke down.

“Haley? Haley? HALEY?” Matt was snapping his fingers in my face.
“Huh, what?”
“Quit staring at him. He’s nothing but a complete dickhead.”
“You say one more word you’re gonna be going home in a coffin Matt.”

He looked at me, surprised that I was defending the guy who had broken my heart.

“Haley, are you okay?”
“I’m FINE.” I snapped.
“Whatever you say little sister.”
“By thirty minutes, get over it douchebag.”
“The only douchebag here is…”
“You say his name and I will not hesitate in turning your lights out.”

I glared at him for a minute and for that minute he looked absolutely terrified, I’d never acted like this with him before but he was walking on EXTREMELY thin ice.

“Haley, Matt, we’re gonna get going, you’re all gonna stay here for the students’ party right?”

Mat and I both nodded, our previous tension forgotten and our parents both hugged us again before leaving along with most of the other parents.

As soon as the last parents’ car had peeled out of the lot someone yelled through the hall, “PARTY TIME!”

We all yelled back and whooped in response and then the party REALLY got going. I went hardcore that night, knowing that this summer was going to be the last before I left for college, after that it was a lifetime of work and the thought was depressing so I buried those thoughts and just lived for the moment… the whole summer.