I hadn't been able to take my mind off Haydn since Friday and it was Monday. The entire time I kept replaying our night together over and over again and I knew I had to somehow make a move, but my plans were delayed by my friends and the bad news they brought with them.

"Oh my god, Cristina! Why didn't you tell us Wesley and some college guy were fighting over you at the party?" Blanca exclaimed as she and Logan cornered me at my locker.

Well, there goes that happy smile.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?!" I shot back in shock and Logan nodded.

"Yeah, literally everyone's talking about it." She added and I groaned, leaning against my locker. "You were hooking up with a college guy on the sofa when Wesley came over and started to fight him cause he wants you back."

"That didn't even happen," I mumbled as massaged my temples. "I was just sitting on the couch when Wesley came over and tried to get me to leave with him- he was so drunk that when I moved away from him, he fell into some guy's lap. I left after that since all my friends decided to leave without much warning." I pointed out calling and watched them sheepishly look at one another.

"Yeah, sorry about that Cris- we didn't mean to leave you there." Logan apologized and Blanca mumbled an apology as well. "Besides, don't even worry about it- I'm pretty sure everyone will have forgotten all about it by lunch." She reassured me with a smile, and I believed her, I mean high school gossip didn't last long, did it?

"It's okay guys," I said and I couldn't help the smile that made its way onto my face. "I actually ended up having a pretty good night." I shrugged just before the bell rang and I could see that they were dying to ask me questions, but we had no choice but to split up and head to our respective classes.

I moved from class to class in a daze as I tried to stay focused on making it to lunch, partly because I was hungry but mostly because so I could be with my friends, with them my anxiety didn't make my heart want to claw its way out of my chest or get so worked up I start seeing black dots in my vision.

You see, Logan was a liar- they didn't forget about the rumor by lunch, they just made it worse. Everyone stared and whispered as I walked down the hall and entered my classrooms (well that's what it felt like), and to make matters worse when I was in the bathroom I heard the rumor had gone from two boys fighting over me to Wesley catching me having sex with the guy and then knocking him out.

"You look terrible," Roxanne commented as I sat down at our lunch table, everyone's eyes on me since I stepped foot in the cafeteria.

"Thanks," I muttered sarcastically before I lay down on my arms defeated.

"Bad day huh?" She sighed and not even the sympathy in her voice made me feel better.

"Understatement of the year," I mumbled as I heard Logan and Blanca sit down. "Half the school thinks Wesley and I are back together while the other half thinks I'm a slut for sleeping with a guy I met at a party." I ranted, I hated slut-shaming regardless at who it was directed at but especially when it was me.

"I'm sorry honey." Roxanne cooed as Blanca rubbed my back soothingly.

I didn't want to tell them that the main reason why I was so upset was because I was worried that Haydn believed any of these lies. I didn't want her to think I was with someone else before I went out with her.

My phone chimed, taking my attention away from my friends stares as I looked at the message and my heart stopped.

hey cristina it's haydn, i got your number from landen in english. i just wanted to know if you'd be up for a tutoring session today.

Well, thank you universe, and Landen from English.

I'm not going to lie, the thought of seeing Haydn, especially with all the rumors circulating, was scary since I didn't know which ones she believed or what she thought of me anymore.

Yeah sure, what time do you want to meet?

we could meet in the library just after school and go over the homework from mr patel?

Perfect, I'll meet you after school 💓

"Cris!" Blanca exclaimed, bringing me out of my tunnel vision and my head shot up to meet her gaze but she just pointed in the direction of the shadow that was looming over our table and when I turned, I was faced with none other than Harry Jacobson, a senior basketball player who was sporting a shit-eating grin. I didn't really know him; he was an acquaintance at most, and we'd never actually spoken to each other. But he was more-or-less conventionally attractive with curly dark brown hair, green eyes, and tan skin, it also helped that he stood at 6'3- too bad he was kind of an ass.

"Um, hi?" I asked questioningly as he stared down at me.

"Cris, hey." He grinned in a cocky manner, and I immediately lost interest in anything he was about to say.

"Did you need something?" I asked in a bored tone as I held back my frustrations.

"Yeah, I actually wanted to know if you wanted to go out this weekend? I've had my eye on you for a few months and a little birdie told me you're single now, so what do you say me and you go out together?" He smirked and I gave him a tight-lipped smile as I stopped myself from rolling my eyes.

"No thanks," I shook my head before turning away from him, but it seemed he wasn't paying much attention to me.

"Great, I'll- wait, did you say no?!" He exclaimed, obviously shocked that I turned him down.

"Sorry, but I'm just not interested." I shrugged but he didn't seem to like my answer.

"Come on Cris." He pleaded as he squeezed my shoulder and I immediately moved away from him. "Just one date, besides now that I know you put out on the first date, I know we're going to have a good time." He winked at me, and my blood began to boil, but instead of rocking his shit- like I desperately wanted to do- I simply stood up and met his cocky gaze with my burning one.

"Don't you have a girlfriend in junior year?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him, well aware she was actually on the cheerleading team. "Sophia, was it? Pretty blonde on the cheerleading team?" I asked and watched in delight as his face went pale. "Touch me again and I will ruin your fucking life." I seethed and with my words lingering in the air it didn't take long for him to turn around and go back the way he came.

"Jesus, I wish I got that on tape." Blanca grinned and I shot her a look that told her not to start with me- not today.

"I'm leaving," I muttered as I grabbed my water bottle from the table and stormed off to my next class- everyone's eyes staying focused on me yet again.

My friends knew I just needed some space to cool off, so they let me leave and even though I desperately wanted to head to the roof and hide for the remainder of the I day I silently made my way to biology, where the anxiety of the seeing Haydn after all the drama was enough to make my head spin. The last thing I wanted her to think was that I was screwing around with a bunch of guys before I went out with her, and I was still trying to figure out how I could drop a hint that I'm into girls, and her, and her hearing rumors that I'm straight and fooling around does not work in my favor.

Thankfully Mr. Patel was absent, and our substitute teacher just let handed out worksheets and made us work in silence and I spend the entire lesson answering with my Airpods stuck in my ears. Blanca even tried to talk to me, but I wasn't in the mood to talk, hell after my experience with Wesley I didn't even want to meet with Haydn so at the end of the day I was sitting in my car, ready to ask Haydn if we could reschedule when a message popped up.

do you mind if we change the venue? it's really hot in the library, can we meet outside? the table in the shade?

I read her message and bit my lip as I thought about my options. I guess I could lie and just go home but then I would probably regret it later that night when I'd be struggling with the biology homework- or I could just get it over with.

Yeah sure, I'll meet you there in 10

I took a deep breath before I grabbed my tote bag and got out my car, locking it behind me as I walked the shaded area of the school. Haydn wasn't there when I arrived but nonetheless, I sat down and scrolled through Twitter as I waited and within a few minutes I felt her presence at the table. When I looked up, I met her beautiful honey-colored eyes and a sympathetic smile as she sat down, and it was then that I saw two McFlurry's that sat on the table, and I smiled.

"I heard you had a bad day." She said softly and I nodded.

"Well between being slut-shamed for something that didn't happen and harassed by Harry Jacobson I do have to say it's one of the more terrible ones," I replied with a small smile.

"I figured, that's what I brought this." She said with a smile to match mine and as she passed me a McFlurry our fingers gently brushed together, allowing that pleasant tingling feeling to spread through my body. "I'm sorry about today."

"Thanks." I smiled gently. "It's just frustrating because none of it even happened, Wesley tried coming on to me at the party, but I ran as soon as I saw him- he got into a fight cause he's a sloppy drunk," I muttered as I played with my ice-cream before bringing it to my lips.

"Yeah, I kinda figured. I didn't think you'd get back together with him after what happened at that restaurant." She said as she ate her ice-cream and I nodded in agreement. "I saw you in the cafeteria with Harry by the way, and when you told him off me and my friends couldn't stop laughing, he looked terrified." She said with a little laugh, and I grinned which made her smile even bigger. "That's what I was looking for." She winked and I immediately felt my cheeks heat up.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I lied and it didn't take her long to call me out on it.

"You're such a liar!" She laughed before returning to her smile. "But it's okay, keep your secrets, I don't care." She said sarcastically. "Also, if you ever need someone to beat him or Wesley up then just say the word." She smiled and those goddamn butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." I nodded and she shook her head.

"Anytime," She reassured me as her golden eyes met my brown ones and I felt myself being pulled in, the beautiful swirls of gold, and flecks of hazel completely distracting me from the reason why we were there in the first place- until she crashed back to reality first. "Oh, um, the biology homework." She said turning to rummage through her bag and I swore at my lack of concentration before begging my mind to focus on biology- just biology.

Overall, I was glad I decided to stay, Haydn really managed to turn my terrible day into a more okay one.