I'll Never Be the Same

Have you ever woken up the day after something amazing has happened and wonder if it was all a dream?

It was hard to believe that just yesterday I had kissed Darren of my own accord. I could hardly believe I had accepted the role of his girlfriend when he asked me not much longer after that. I smiled and pressed my fingers to my lips, remember how Darren’s had felt against mine.

And everything was clear. No more conflicting emotions, no more confusion.

When I was ready to go to school, I heard a car honking in my driveway and I rolled my eyes knowing it was Darren. He insisted that we start riding to school together.

“Hey,” I said, smiling at Darren as I got into his car. Without a word he quickly undid his seatbelt and leaned towards me to kiss me.

I smiled against his lips and he chuckled before pulling away.

“Someone’s happy,” he said, leaning back to refasten his seatbelt.

“Shocker. I know,” I said and laughed. Seriously, what was wrong with me?

Something about this decision just felt right, and I almost wished that I had given into Darren sooner, though who knows if things would have worked out so well. Maybe the fact that he had to put so much effort into this is what made this work; that made me know that I could trust him and that he wasn’t just looking for an easy lay.

Now suddenly, we were the new couple in school. I had turned into one of those people that you look at in a relationship and just want to vomit at the sight of so much happiness. But honestly, I didn’t care.

I didn’t care that people whispered about us as we walked by them hand in hand. I didn’t care that they were speculating and making bets on how long this would last, how long it would take Darren to dump me and run for a new girl.

They didn’t know us and didn’t know Darren. I smiled, knowing that I had gotten through to him and had gotten to know the real Darren, the one that was actually super sweet and cared a lot about people’s feelings.

Becca was at her locker next to mine and she smiled at me as Darren kissed me quickly before heading to his own locker. I watched him go before turning to grin at my locker.

“Okay, where is the real Hailey and what have you done with her?” I pulled my locker open and turned to smile at Becca who was just watching me. She was definitely amused.

“What?” I asked, pulling books and notebooks out that I needed. “Can’t a girl be happy.”

“You look like a girl head over heels in love,” she said.

“Not love,” I said. “Just extreme liking.”

“Well, I’m glad,” Becca said. I shut my locker and we started towards our first class. “It’s nice to see you like this.”

---

I felt myself blushing as Darren grabbed my hand under our shared table in English as Mrs. Shepard talked about the book we were reading. I snuck a glance at him and saw that he was smiling.

His hand moved over mine, tickling my fingers slightly. I wiggled them against his palm before he linked his fingers through mine, squeezing them slightly. I rolled my eyes and snuck another glance to find him looking right at me. He winked at me before returning his attention to Mrs. Shepard.

---

“You want to come inside?” I asked when we got to my house after school. “My mom won’t be home for a while.”

“Sure,” he said, smiling at me as he shut his car off.

We ended up sitting on the couch in my living room together, watching a movie. But I couldn’t focus on the movie. It was surreal, this moment. It wasn’t that long ago that I was cursing Darren Criss and everything that he was. But now, here I was sitting next to him, his arm draped comfortably around my shoulders.

I couldn’t have been happier.

“Hey Darren,” I said, turning my head to look at him. His eyes met mine. “Can you promise me something?”

“Anything,” he said, looking completely serious.

“Promise not to ever hurt me?”

“I would never dream of it,” he said quietly before leaning in to kiss me softly. I smiled at him before returning my limited attention back to the movie. Really, what movie are we watching?