Popular Ch. 03

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"I'm sorry about tonight, Hayden." Leo quietly said.

"Sorry for what, Leo?" Hayden glanced at Leo. "It's not like you forced me to drink that many beers."

"If I would have known you weren't used to drinking I could have kept an eye out for you." Leo said with a smile. "That's not the only reason I'm sorry though. I'm sorry for what happened earlier tonight at the club. I hadn't meant to leave you out, but sometimes Noah can be really high maintenance. I'm so used to him just pulling me in I didn't even realize we had left you hanging."

"It's okay, Leo." Hayden smiled reassuringly at him. He hadn't really expected an apology, but was pleasantly surprised to get one. "It's not like you guys are used to me hanging around. It's pretty easy to forget that I'm around."

"Fuck that, Hayden! That's not true." Leo couldn't help the anger that came from him. It surprised him, and it obviously surprised Hayden because he looked a bit shocked. "You aren't easy to forget. I don't like hearing people putting themselves down."

"It's not putting yourself down if it's the truth." Hayden mumbled. "I'm used to people not realizing I'm around. Tonight wasn't the first time it's happened to me, and I'm sure that it won't be the last either."

"Bullshit!" Leo's anger began to burn a bit hotter.

"Look, Leo, I'm not blaming you for what happened tonight." Hayden cut him off. "You don't have to apologize for anything. I appreciate that you guys asked me to hang out tonight, and I had an awesome time, sick stomach or not."

"You sound like this was a one time thing." Leo heard it in Hayden's voice. For some reason he thought they wouldn't hang out with him again.

"The three of you have a really tight friendship, Leo. Anyone can see that." Hayden explained. "I would bet that the three of you have been friends for a really long time." Leo cringed when Hayden said the word bet, but Hayden didn't notice. "It's not easy to become part of a friendship like that. I can't expect that just because we hung out tonight that I'm going to be a part of that."

"We wouldn't have lunch with you and then ask you to hang out if we weren't interested in being your friend, Hayden." Leo said. "It wouldn't make sense for us to try to get to know you if we didn't want to be around you."

"I've had people interested in being my friend before, Leo, and trust me, the interest wears off after awhile." Hayden sadly said.

"That's not going to happen with us, Hayden. What can I do to convince you of that?" Leo practically begged, but he didn't care. It made his chest hurt to see someone so sad and alone. No one should ever be made to feel that way.

"Look, it's something I'm used to, Leo, and something I honestly don't feel like talking about right now." Hayden pleaded.

Leo was going to say something else, but was interrupted as Hayden emptied what was left of his stomach. Leo continued to rub Hayden's back and tried to calm him down. Hayden's body shook, and after a few moments Leo realized that it wasn't from Hayden's stomach being upset. He saw silent tears slide down his friend's face, and it made his heart ache with compassion for the guy. Leo tried to comfort him, but Hayden quickly stood up.

"I'm sorry, Leo. I'm turning into a complete mess, and if you don't mind I'm going to head back to my room." Hayden quickly glanced at Leo and gave him a sad smile. "No matter how it seems I really did have a fucking amazing time tonight. It was really great to hang out with you guys. I'll see ya around."

Hayden quickly took off leaving a surprised and shocked Leo sitting on the bench. He wanted to take off after Hayden and make sure he was all right, but Leo knew that Hayden didn't want that. Leo started to understand why Hayden didn't talk about his past much. He couldn't even imagine the pain that his new friend went through.

No matter what Hayden said Leo still thought of him as his friend. He was determined to do whatever was necessary to prove to Hayden that not only was he a friend, but that Hayden's friendship was something worth having. The whole concept of the bet with Noah was completely out of his mind. Leo was focused on one thing and one thing alone, and that was to make sure Hayden realized what an amazing person he was. Leo had to talk to Lexie, and the sooner he did that, the better.

Hayden stumbled into his dorm room and quickly locked the door behind him. He had spent the last half hour in the bathroom being sicker than a dog. Hayden sat on his bed and pulled off of his shoes. The rest of his clothes quickly followed until he was completely naked. He booted up his computer and waited impatiently for the programs to load.

Once his computer was up and running he went into his documents and clicked on the icon that was entitled ‘journal'. Hayden had begun keeping a journal back in high school. There were many times where he went through deep depressions, and he found the only way to help make himself feel better was to write out all of his thoughts and emotions.

Anyone else may have turned to their friends or a sibling, but Hayden didn't have anything like that in his life. He knew that his parents loved him no matter what, but he just didn't feel like he could open himself up to them like that. Hayden quickly typed in the day's date and the time. He typed about what had happened that day, and he wrote about the awesome night that he had.

He hadn't meant to open himself up to Leo at all, but Hayden couldn't help it. There was just something about Leo that made Hayden's defenses come down, and that scared the daylights out of him. When that happened with anyone in his past the outcome was always the same. Hayden ended up getting hurt, and it was something that he didn't want to happen again.

Hayden wasn't sure though that he could stop himself from opening up to these new people that appeared in his life. Something seemed different about the three of them, and that excited Hayden. More importantly though, it made him even more fearful of what could happen. Could things turn out the way they always did or could it really be different this time?

Hayden continued to type until he felt his eyes start to droop. He knew that he needed to get to bed before he fell asleep at his desk. Hayden saved the file and turned off the computer. He crawled under his covers and let out a huge yawn. Even with all the ups and downs that the night had, it was still one of the best nights of his life. Hayden hoped that things were turning around for him. So much so, it was the last thought on his mind as sleep finally overtook his exhausted body.

Popular

By: Michael Philips

Chapter Four

"Can you please explain to me again why this couldn't wait until a decent hour in the morning?" Lexie yawned again as she looked over at Leo.

It was a little after nine o'clock in the morning, and Leo had woken her up knocking on her door nearly twenty minutes ago. She pulled her exhausted butt out of bed to find him standing there in the same clothes he had on last night. The only thing that saved him was the bag of food he carried with him. Leo had stopped at a diner on campus before her wakeup call and picked them both up breakfast.

"Lexie, I haven't even been to bed yet." Leo sighed as he forked some egg into his mouth. "If you could have seen what he was like last night, you would totally understand what I'm talking about."

"You haven't been to bed?" Lexie thought he had just slept in his clothes. She was surprised that he hadn't had any sleep. Lexie started to get worried because she had never seen Leo like this. "What the hell is going on, Leo?"

"I couldn't sleep, Lexie." Leo rambled. "You didn't see how sad he was. Hayden really believed that last night was most likely a one time thing."

"Why would he think that?" That got Lexie's attention. She was wide-awake at that point. Leo was rambling so fast she could barely understand him. "Leo, you need to slow down. I've never seen you this worked up before. Calm down, twin, and tell me what happened."

Leo gave Lexie a blow-by-blow explanation on what had happened on the Court last night. Lexie was upset that Hayden had been so obviously hurt in the past. What really surprised her was how upset Leo was. She knew that he was a compassionate person, even if it was a side of him not many people saw, but he was really getting upset about the situation. Her suspicions grew in her head, but she decided that it wasn't the right time to bring them up.

"So we need to form a game plan on how we are going to convince Hayden we are going to be his friends." Lexie said after Leo paused to eat some more of his food.

"I knew that I could count on you, twin!" Leo finally grinned for the first time. "We need a good plan though. I don't want it to seem like we're smothering him or anything. We need to make sure that we don't make him so uncomfortable that we scare him off."

"If you don't want to scare him off, Leo, then can I suggest you going back to your room and taking a shower." Lexie wrinkled her nose at him. "You look like hell and I can smell the bar smoke and alcohol on you from here."

"I look like death warmed over don't I?" Leo grinned at Lexie after giving himself the once over.

"You look even worse, though I admit I didn't think that was even possible." Lexie tried to look serious, but a giggle escaped from her lips. She was just cutting into a piece of sausage when she felt something hit her in the head. Lexie saw a piece of bacon fall down onto her plate. "You will pay for that, Leo, but not right now. We are NOT getting into another food fight in my dorm room. Is that understood, twin?"

"Yes, ma'am." Leo replied in a little boy's voice.

"Stop being cute, Leo. You know I can't stay mad at you when you do that." Lexie growled at him.

"If I stop being cute, Lexie, then I would cease to exist entirely." Leo looked at her with a small pout. "You wouldn't want that to happen would you?"

"Maybe you should hold onto the question until I'm done eating and I'm more awake." Lexie smirked at him and continued to eat her breakfast.

"See if I ever bring you breakfast again." Leo mumbled under his breath.

"See if I don't kill you the next time you come pounding on my door that early in the morning." She teased back at him. "You know we don't have classes today, and it's my one day to sleep in. I could have used it too after last night. Damn, that boy can move, and my body is feeling it today. I haven't moved that much in years."

"Not even last night when Noah brought you home?" Leo ribbed his twin.

"You know Noah might be a man of many talents, but he's lacking in a few." Lexie's face looked perfectly innocent.

"That was a total over share!" Leo whined. "I'm still eating my breakfast here. You shouldn't be talking about such revolting things. I do NOT need to know about my twin's sex life."

"Or lack there of." Lexie said with a sigh.

"Is he still playing all hard to get on you?" Leo's voice was filled with concern.

"I think you hit the nail on the head when you said the word hard." Lexie was definitely frustrated with Noah. "We waited until we were out of high school before moving onto anything heavy. He'll get all excited when we make out, but when it comes time to do the deed, the wind leaves his sail so to speak."

"Do you think he's gay?" Leo cautiously asked.

It was a question that surprised Lexie. Another piece of information was filed away in her memory for later. She had considered that Noah might be gay before, but she knew that it wasn't that. Noah was definitely playing on team hetero.

"No, though I wish it that." Lexie said with a huge sigh. "At least if he was gay I couldn't fault him for anything. I think the problem is my money."

"His family has money. Why would your family's wealth mean anything to him?" Leo asked.

"I think Noah needs to be the one in control. I let him think that he is, but when it comes to finances and things like that, my family is ahead of him. I think he's really uncomfortable with that, and somehow it's subconsciously affecting his….performance." Lexie explained.

"You know that I would be heart broken if things didn't work out with Noah." Leo said with a grin. "I think that if you were to move on I would know the perfect person."

"Let me read your mind." Lexie said rubbing her fingers on her temples. "Hayden."

"You really should work for a psychic network!" Leo said with a wink.

"I'm not psychic, Leo. You just seem to forget we share a brain." Lexie stuck her tongue out at him. "Hayden and I wouldn't work out."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Lexie?" Leo demanded. "I watched the two of you last night at Downbeat. The two of you practically set the dance floor on FIRE! The tension between the two of you was thicker than hell."

"We were both in the moment of the whole situation, Leo." Lexie explained to her twin. "There really wasn't any tension between us at all. Besides, if Hayden is trying to adjust to the idea of having friends, what do you think the thoughts of having a girlfriend would do to him? I thought you didn't want to scare him off."

"Alright, you have a point there." Leo agreed with her. "If you are ever on the market though, don't think for a second I won't try to get the two of you together."

"We'll see about that. So what should we do about Hayden?" Lexie changed the subject on her twin. There would be time later to talk about finding someone for Hayden, and Lexie had some ideas about that.

Leo and Lexie spent the next half hour going over ideas and plans for helping out Hayden. It was a bit surprising to both of them how quickly this quiet guy had worked his way into their lives. The amazing part of it was that Hayden wasn't even trying to. In fact, if anything, he was trying to keep them at arm's length. They finally agreed on a game plan and kept their fingers crossed hoping it would work.

Hayden was munching on an apple as he sat underneath one of the large trees that lined the edge of the Court. It was a cool, shady spot, but he left his sunglasses on in an attempt to avoid eye contact with anyone. He had tried to eat lunch in the cafeteria, but it had turned into an utter disaster. Hayden had felt as if every pair of eyes there were trained on him and inspecting him. He had forgotten about his new look until then.

A sigh escaped his lips as he took another bite of his apple. Maybe the whole makeover thing had been a bad idea. He didn't want to attract attention at Reynolds, but in his attempt to impress Leo, Lexie, and Noah he had ended up doing just that. Hayden escaped the cafeteria before people tried to make conversation with him. The previous night's events were too fresh in his mind for him to really deal with anyone.

"A penny for your thoughts."

Hayden looked up to find Lexie standing next to him. A smile appeared on his face before he could stop it. If he was going to run into anyone today, he was glad that it was Lexie. There was just something about her that put him at ease. Hayden motioned for her to sit down next to him.

"Thought you might want a sandwich." Lexie reached into the paper bag she was carrying and handed it to him after she sat down. "I hope turkey was okay."

"Why would you think I wanted a sandwich?" Hayden asked as he took the food. His stomach had been grumbling, and the apple really wasn't cutting it.

"I was walking into the Cafe as I saw you make your escape." Lexie smiled at him and then looked out at the Court. "I don't blame you though. I wouldn't want to put up with all the stares either."

"It's a bit overwhelming." Hayden quietly replied as he bit into his sandwich. "Thanks for the food, by the way."

"No big." She replied with a wave of her hand. "I know what you mean about people being overwhelming, though. You should try being a tomboy that suddenly turns into a girl."

"What?" Hayden asked curiously.

Lexie smiled and leaned back against the tree next to him. Hayden was normally uncomfortable with people being that close to him, but it was different with Lexie. There was a calmness and serenity that almost surrounded the girl.

"I met Leo and Noah in kindergarten. I didn't really have any friends at that point." Lexie began her story. "All of the girls were into playing with dolls and dressing up, and that just wasn't my thing. I wanted to run around and play on the playground. So once I met the two of them my tomboy status just kinda kicked in. All through elementary school I was just one of the guys, but that all changed the summer before high school."

"Puberty?" Hayden asked quietly, not wanting to interrupt her story.

"You know it, Hayden." She smiled at him. "Mother Nature hit me, and let me tell you, she was a force to be reckoned with. My body was growing and changing so fast my mind could barely keep up with it. By the time our freshman year of high school was over I was taller than most of the boys, and let's just say I developed other things fairly quickly."

Hayden couldn't help but chuckle as Lexie gave her breasts a glare. It was surprising to him that someone who seemed so confident and laidback had gone through a similar experience.

"It was almost like the ugly duckling that turned into a swan." Lexie giggled. "Then once my braces came off and my mother started showing me how to put on makeup it just completed the transformation. All of sudden I had gone from the tomboy to the cheerleader."

"You were a cheerleader?" Hayden grinned at her. "Were you the head cheerleader?"

Lexie laughed and punched Hayden in the arm because of his reference to Jerrica. She was really enjoying sitting there with Hayden, and she was glad to see him relax and just be himself.

"I never got that far up in the cheerleading hierarchy, but I had fun with it. I've always had too much energy, so all the jumping and cheering was a good way to release it." Lexie explained.

"And based on last night, you had taken up dancing at some point?" Hayden continued to eat his almost forgotten sandwich.

"Most cheerleading teams do dance routines, so I guess it was inevitable that I took some dance lessons. I was fortunate though since I have a pretty natural rhythm. I took to dancing like a duck to water." Lexie made a quaking noise that caused Hayden to nearly choke on his food from laughter. She leaned over and patted him on the back. "Careful now, if I killed you there would be hell to pay. Leo would kill me."

"The two of you seem pretty close with each other." Hayden was able to finally reply.

"Neither one of us have any brothers or sisters, so we kinda latched onto each other early on." Lexie smiled at the memories that flashed through her mind. "It was pretty obvious from the start that Leo and I were on the same wavelength. By the time high school came around we were finishing each other's sentences and all kind of crazy stuff. We look so similar and with our birthdays being only a few weeks apart people thought we were brother and sister, twins in fact. The scary part it is, we are practically twins." Lexie's laughter filled Hayden with warmth.

"It must be really nice to have someone that close to you." Hayden couldn't help the touch of sadness that crept into his voice.

"It's pretty wonderful actually." Lexie had noticed the sadness in Hayden's voice and decided to take a risk. "It sounds like you haven't had any close friends like that."

"I was the typical nerdy kid." Hayden said quietly. "I really didn't have many friends. I was the quiet kid, the one that people usually made fun of. So I turned to other things for friendship, like books, and things like that. So I ended up staying in my house a lot, not really going outside to play or anything."

"It sounds kinda lonely." Lexie's voice was soft and comforting. She didn't want to interrupt Hayden because she wanted him to keep talking, but she didn't want him to think she wasn't listening.