Chapter 2: Build Up

“Hey Hailey?” she didn’t stop, recognising the deep voice immediately. “Hey, Hailey, wait up!”

She spun around, knowing full well that she was going to be late to English. “Yes?”

“I gotta talk to you. You keep brushing me every time I try,” whined Jeremy.

Hailey tried really hard not to stare at his perfectly defined jaw, straight nose and god-carved lips. Keyword being tried. She couldn’t help it; Zoë was right, the boy was gorgeous. And he smelled great, too. “I’ve been busy,” she explained slowly, struggling to get words out in the right order.

“Yeah. P night is really taking over the school, huh?” he grinned at her.

“Almost as much as one of the Brumby’s games. Look, I gotta go to English.”

“Now wait just a second,” he said, pulling her by the elbow. Her skin seemed to heat at his touch. So hot… She wondered if he could feel the violent heat of her own skin. God, she hoped not. “You know what I want to ask you, I don’t need to say it twice.”

“Um… I, er,” she mumbled.

“Go out with me.”

“Huh? But…”

“C’mon. It’ll be fun. We can go see a movie, or…” he smiled easily at her. “What’s holding you back, Ateara?”

“Sorry. I can’t….,” she said, stepping from his grasp and darting forwards. “I have to go to English.”

She heard his sigh as she rounded the science lab, and giggled.

The Presentation Night was less than five hours away; they had spent weeks and weeks practising. Dylan’s grandparents were coming. Zoë’s family were throwing a party afterwards. Hailey and Dylan’s families had been invited back to their place for dinner. Zoë was doing a scene from Macbeth with her theatre group. She was hoping to be accepted into the Seattle School of the Performing Arts. In fact, so were Dylan and Hailey. P Night was a showcase of the school’s talent; there were scouts every where, from selective performance schools and universities across the country. It was an opportunity and a half; hundreds of important people to watch you succeed. It was also a certain way to screw up your entire career, if you were to fail.