"Alright, what's next?" I ask as look over at Hayden who had his face burrowed in the text book as he had for the last ten minutes.

"We have a few more things we have to add and then we should be all done. If you want, I can just take it home and finish it myself." He says but I instantly object.

"No way I'm letting you do this by yourself. It's my project too, it wouldn't be fair. How about we meet up after school and finish it together?"

Hayden looked over at me, his face surprised and maybe even nervous? It was hard to read his facial expressions so I wasn't sure.

"Like at my house?" He asks, his voice hesitant. "Or mine. Whatever you're comfortable with." I say, waiting to see what he would say next.

He is silent for a moment before he finally replies. "Okay yeah, that sounds good." He says, not looking over at me anymore.

I grin as I gather up my supplies and turn to him. "Okay, my house or yours?"

——

We ended up going to his house and to say I was shocked was an understatement. My jaw was to the floor as I stared up at the giant house in front of me.

"This way." Hayden says as he opens his front door and leads me up to what I'm assuming was his bedroom.

As we step inside, the first thing I notice is the giant bookshelves lining the walls full from top to bottom. I was in shock as I stared at all of them. There has to be hundreds of books all together.

"Wow. I figured you liked to read but I had no idea it was to this extent." I say and Hayden laughs as he closes his door and sets his backpack down on his bed.

"I'm a book horder, I know." He says as he sits down next to his bag, patting the spot in front of him for me to sit.

I walk over and take a seat on his bed before he begins to pull out his text books. I grab my things out too and we get to work.

After what felt like hours we had finished our project completely.

"Finally!" I yawn as I stretch out my legs to get out the cramp I had been dealing with the past thirty minutes.

"We did good." Hayden says as he begins to pack his things away before he sets his bag down on the floor. "Yeah we did." I smile before I too put my things back into my book bag.

"I assume you have to go now?" Hayden says suddenly, his smile now gone. The look on his face made me feel sad.

"I mean I don't have to, unless you want me to." I say and he shakes his head. "No, I don't want you to. You know, I don't have many friends. It feels nice to actually hang out with someone."

Hayden's words broke my heart. He was just like me, except for the small part where I have Leah. "We're friends, yeah?" I ask, smiling softly towards him.

Hayden smiled at my words, his eyes sparkling almost. "Yeah, yeah we are."

From this day forward, I would be his Leah.

——

Hayden and I hung out for a couple hours after that, just getting to know each other more. I learned that his parents were both doctors and that they were almost never home.

That was the reason he had so many books because he would use those to feel less alone and that broke my heart.

Nobody deserved that. Everyone deserved to have somebody there for them, friend or more.

I really felt for Hayden and I was glad that at least now he had me as a friend. I would make sure to be there for him, just as Leah had always been there for me.

That was what friends were for and I wanted to be that for him. Overall, today was a great day.

When I finally went home that night I called Leah and talked to her on the phone for a couple hours. We talked about Ki Hyun and about my project with Hayden.

If there was anything I was most grateful for, it was always having such an awesome friend in my life. The best part was now I would have two and that was the best feeling in the world.

——

I was sitting in the kitchen eating dinner when Leah came downstairs to get something to eat too.

I watched as she grabbed her food and took it to the table, sitting down next to me.

"Mom still not home?" She asks as she looks over at me. "No, not yet. She should be soon, don't worry." I say and she instantly sighs.

"I wasn't worried, alright? I was just asking." She says as she looks down at her food, poking at it. I could tell by the look on her face that she was lying.

I didn't press it though, knowing it had always been a touchy subject for her. Our mother was police officer and everyday there was that slight chance that something could happen and she wouldn't come home.

Leah had always been super worried about that, no matter how many times our mom told her no to worry.

"Oh yeah, you remember that Hayden guy y/n and I were talking about the other day?" Leah then says, changing the subject.

The mention of him sparked my interest. "Yeah, what about him?" I ask, looking over at her to see her smiling now.

"Y/n went to his house today to work on a project. She said it was just the two of them." Leah says, wiggling her eyebrows as if she was implying something.

I felt a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach as I thought about what she may be implying.

"She says the two of them are friends now, isn't that great?" Leah says with a big smile.

I grit my teeth as I feel my jaw clench.

"Yeah, wonderful."