It Happened Last Year

Chapter 3

I remember it all so clearly. Harrison asked me my name.

Hailey, I mumbled softly, not sure why he was talking to me. I knew who he was.

Harrison, but I'm sure you already knew that since you are at my house, he said with a charming smile. All of the girls in my grade dreamt of that smile. He was a Junior like I was, but he was friends with many seniors because of football. He played on the varsity team, every game.

I didn't know what to say back to him, I hardly ever talked to guys. The only time I was around popular ones like him was when Daphne wanted to go to Knocks.

I felt his eyes watching me. You want something to drink? He asked, and nervously I said sure.

I close my car door behind me, leaving my school bag on the passenger seat before heading to the double doors of Knocks. Since school just ended, not many people are here yet, and that gives me room to breathe.

I push past the doors and a woman greats me as she wipes down a booth table. I smile back and scan the room for Jana. Thankfully, I spot her in the corner booth, on her phone. Once I am close enough for her to notice me, she drops her phone and smiles. "Thanks for showing up."

"You thought I wouldn't?" I ask and sit down across from her.

"I don't know. You seemed a little uneasy about it at school, but I'm glad you're here because we have so much to talk about. Start with Florida, what was it like?"

I'm happy that she's eager to start things up again. "Florida was..."

Florida was amazing. It was sunny, humid, busy, and exciting. The people at my school always hung around at beaches, like in movies. I became friends with this girl who loved to surf—and urged me to learn—her name was Lila. Lila and I were stuck together like glue. The guys loved her, and I loved the guys. They all seemed to love their lives, which looked to be an act, but I couldn't care less. Everyone seemed so alive, and Jana reminds me of them.

There is one part that I keep from Jana, though. Mr. Russ. Mr. Russ was my English teacher and my favorite teacher at that. When I first moved to Florida I obviously knew no one, but he was nice to me. Soon, we became friends. He was young, it was his first year teaching and he had just moved to Florida from Seattle. We were both new, in a way. We became close, a little too close. Close enough to the point where I would visit him after school ended, with the classroom door closed. We never had sex. After what I went through in Coldgrove, I didn't want to, but if I didn't have these issues, I'm sure it would have happened. I'm ashamed of myself for it.

It started off with harmless flirting, extra attention in class, asking me to stay after. I thought he was handsome, I thought what we were doing was wrong, so I lost myself in it. It was wrong. That's why I was so I love with the idea of it.

I was damaged.

We kissed a few times, hardly. Whenever things became too heavy I would freak out and have a panic attack.