Cheap Shot by Brittney Mulliner
Haley
I lied.I wasn’t doing okay. I was surviving, but the first week of school was almost over. I’d managed to sleep two full nights and only had one panic attack when I sat down to plan out my study schedule and realized how much I had to do. At least I found all my classes, made it on time, and didn’t see my brother or his fans. Those were the tiny victories I had to remind myself of, otherwise I wouldn’t make it to the end of the month, let alone the whole school year.
“That’s it for the day.” The English Lit professor closed his binder, and I tucked the syllabus into my notebook. “Instead of taking attendance each day, I’ll give you a prompt, and I want a paragraph response.” He raised an eyebrow and smiled at the low groans. “Don’t overthink it, just write. Today, I’d like each of you to write down an experience you’ve had recently that changed your perspective. It can be something small or big, I don’t care, as long as you can explain why it impacted you. Turn it in on my desk, then you’re free to go.”
Something that changed my perspective? Several ideas popped into my head: what happened last year, moving here, adjusting to a new school, a new roommate, Reid’s kiss. . .
“Hey?” a voice whispered next to me. I glanced over to the smiling redhead. “Do you have a piece of paper I can use? I only brought my laptop.”
I flipped to the next blank page and carefully tore out a piece of lined paper and handed it over.
“Thanks.” She ducked her head and started writing.
I was overthinking.
Okay, what was the safest option? Probably living with someone new, but what could I really say about that? Emery was gone a lot. I’d only seen her awake for a few minutes two days ago. Other than that, she got home after I was asleep, and I left for class before she woke up. She left a note on my desk yesterday wishing me luck and saying she would be busy for the next little while.
It wasn’t like I expected her to be my instant best friend—she had a life and friends here—but I hoped we could at least eat together every so often or complain about our days. It would take time to get used to. That was all.
At my last school, my roommate and I hung out nearly every day, especially for the first couple of months as we got used to college life. Now I knew that was a lucky break, not the norm.
Emery and I hadn’t exchanged numbers yet, but I left a note for her, asking if she wanted to get dinner tomorrow night. It was a Saturday, so I wasn’t holding my breath, but at least she would know I was making an effort and interested in getting to know her.
I wrote a few sentences about realizing that I might not be as important to someone who was important to me. It wasn’t a plea for sympathy, just something I’d recently learned. A lesson to accept and move on from. When I was done, I gathered my things and closed my gray backpack before taking the stairs down to the front of the small auditorium to turn it in. This was one of my largest classes, with at least a hundred students, so it made sense the professor didn’t want to waste time with taking attendance when one of his assistants could go through and mark our names. I doubted anyone would even read what I wrote.
Political science was a short walk away, and I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched. When I looked around, I didn’t see anyone paying me any attention, so I ignored it. Being around Ethan for one day must have made me paranoid. I couldn’t fathom how he made it through a normal day of classes with how many times he was stopped.
One perk I discovered of flying under the radar and not really having any friends was that it was easy keeping up with the few assignments I’d been given. Being a social recluse would be good for my GPA.
I was one of the first to arrive to class and was able to claim a desk toward the middle, along an aisle. On Wednesday, the room filled up about halfway, with fifty to sixty students. Since it was a general elective, I expected it to be more popular, especially since the workload didn’t seem too bad from the syllabus we went over.
“Good afternoon, class.” A middle-aged woman with a bunt, blond bob addressed us from the front of the room. “We’re diving right into things, starting with chapter one.”
I flipped open my textbook and pushed it up to the corner of the desktop so I had room for my notebook. Most of the other students had laptops out, but I found I retained information better when I wrote it out. If I needed to later, I would type them out so I could review for tests easier like I had in high school.
She moved quickly, and we ended up covering two chapters in forty-five minutes. “Now, I’m going to give you the last five minutes to break into your groups and make plans for the project.”
The pen tumbled out of my fingers. Project? Groups?
I glanced around the room, finally recognizing that it was even emptier than it had been the first day. When did she mention a group project? I glanced through the syllabus and stifled a groan. On the very last page. A project that would take all semester and required working with three to five others.
We were in college with different class schedules. Not to mention those that also had jobs, sports practices, and obligations at home … and some people didn’t even live on campus. How was this supposed to work? I closed my notebook. No wonder there were so few people. I would have dropped the class for another option if I realized it sooner, but it was past the deadline now.
Several groups had already clustered together, and my heart rate jumped. Flashbacks to being the last kid picked in elementary school went through my head. No one wanted to be in that position.
“Hey?” a voice called behind me. I didn’t want to turn in case they weren’t talking to me.
A tap on my shoulder followed. I twisted in my seat to see four grinning faces. “Do you want to join us?” a mousy girl with pink glasses asked.
I nodded immediately. “Yeah, thanks.” I pulled up my knee so I could see them all better.
“I’m May.” She nodded to the guy next to her.
“I’m Bryce.” He pointed with his thumb to the guy next to him. “This is my roommate, Chris.” The pair looked like they could be related with their light brown hair and blue eyes. The biggest difference was that Chris kept his head lowered and let Bryce speak for him.
“And I’m Jen.” The other girl in the group leaned forward and her wild, blond curls fell over her shoulders. “We’re supposed to select one country to examine through the semester. Does anyone have a preference?”
I shook my head at the same time Bryce spoke up. “I did a study abroad in Germany. I still have friends there if we ever need help with anything.”
May shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”
Jen nodded and wrote that down. “We should exchange information now just in case questions come up.”
We pulled out our phones and rotated saving our contacts, then started putting our stuff away. I pulled my backpack straps over my shoulders and was almost to the door when Jen caught up to me.
“I know you’re probably really busy, but if you ever want to get together to study, let me know.”
“Oh, I’m not that busy.” I almost laughed. If she only knew how much time I spent alone in my room.
“Really?” She cocked her head and looked past me. I glanced over my shoulder to see Bryce and Chris watching us while May stood to the side, looking at her phone. “Do you want to come get some coffee with us?”
Of course I did. This was the first invitation I’d had to do anything since the party with Emery.
“Yeah, sounds good.”
She grinned, and we met up with the others before heading outside. Bryce led the way to a coffee cart between two buildings. There wasn’t a line, so we were able to order quickly and find an open table in the shade.
“So, Haley, what’s your story?” May asked before blowing on her steaming drink.
Having all of them watching me put me on edge, but I forced myself to relax. This was what people did. This was how you made new friends.
“I’m a sophomore, but I transferred here this year from a school in New York. I haven’t declared a major yet, but I’m thinking about marketing or maybe teaching.”
Chris nodded but didn’t speak. I looked around the rest of the table, waiting for someone else to go. “What about you guys?”
“Oh, we’ve all known each other since last year, so we’re boring.” Jess waved me off. “How do you like West Penn?”
“It’s only been a week, but I like it so far.” My knee bounced under the table, a nervous habit I couldn’t kick.
“Do you play any sports?” Bryce asked.
“No, I’m not coordinated enough.” I forced a laugh. “Do any of you?”
They all shook their heads. Was this whole conversation going to be so one-sided?
“Where are you guys from?” I asked, hoping to get them talking.
“Ohio,” May replied.
“We’re from a suburb of Philly,” Bryce answered, for himself and Chris.
“I actually grew up not too far from here.” Jen rested her elbows on the table.
“Cool, how did you all meet?” I asked, hoping to get them talking.
“We bonded last year in our biology class. It was hard, but we survived together.” May smiled at the others.
“We started a movie night tradition,” Bryce spoke up. “Every other week we get together. You should come.”
“Yeah, if you’re not too busy.” Jen grinned, a little too widely. I felt like I was being set up for something.
She was making me nervous, but it was probably all in my head. “I haven’t met very many people yet, so that would be great.”
“Oh, I just thought you’d be spending a lot of time with your brother and going to his games and stuff,” she mentioned nonchalantly, but with the way the other three seemed to lean in, I got the feeling they’d been waiting for this moment.
My stomach knotted, making me regret the afternoon caffeine.
“If you want people to go with you, you can call us.” She flashed a bright smile. “We can hang out and maybe meet up with him and his teammates after.”
Was that why they asked me to be in their group? They wanted a connection to Ethan and his friends? How did they even know we were related? Clarkson wasn’t all that uncommon of a last name.
I checked my watch and jumped up. “Oh sorry, guys. I forgot I was meeting someone. See you later.”
They called out their goodbyes, but in my haste to get as far away as possible, I didn’t turn around. Why? Why did the first group of people I thought I might actually be friends with have to care more about getting to my brother than getting to know me?
I turned a corner, heading back toward the dorms, and kept my head down. I immediately slammed into something and nearly fell back.
“Oh, sorry!” I didn’t have a chance to look up before hands wrapped around my upper arms. “Haley?”
His voice.
I blinked up at the face that haunted my dreams. “Reid?”
Did the universe really hate me this much? Why did it have to be him? Why did he have to be everything I wanted to stay away from?
“Are you okay?” His deep, rich brown eyes narrowed as he examined my face.
I shook my head. “Not really.”
He hesitated, then dropped his hands as if just remembering he was touching me and I realized I hadn’t even noticed. The panic didn’t come. I only felt that same electricity from when we kissed. “Do you want to talk about it?”
This was a bad idea. I needed to forget about him, not use his shoulder to cry on, but the longer I stared back at him, the harder it was to form words.
Just when I thought this day couldn’t get any worse.