episode 2... Haley's perspective
558 Words
Everyone in this town is losing their minds over some new farmer girl. Sage, or whatever her name is. Big deal—so she plants parsnips and smiles at everyone like she’s known them forever. Who cares? Not me. Except… maybe I do. Just a little. I mean, come on. She’s always walking around like some countryside princess with those dusty boots and that messy ponytail. People act like she’s so interesting just because she talks about seeds and wild onions. Wild onions! I post one outfit photo and barely get a “cool pic” from Penny. Sage mentions mushrooms and suddenly she’s everyone's favorite? Please. I saw her talking to Leah the other day. Leah. Who barely talks to anyone. But there she was, laughing—like, full-on giggling—while Sage said something I couldn’t hear. I was across the plaza pretending not to watch, but I saw everything. The way Leah tilted her head, how Sage handed her something (probably a weird plant), and how Leah just... kept smiling. It was annoying. I was watering my succulents when Sage showed up with a daffodil in her hand. Of course. The “cute” gift. She stood at my door, bright-eyed like a golden retriever. “Hi, Hailey!” she said. I blinked. “What do you want?” She paused, her smile faltering just a second. “I thought you might like this.” She held out the flower. I crossed my arms. “Do I look like I collect weeds?” She didn’t flinch. Just chuckled like I was funny. “Guess not. I’ll keep it then.” She tucked the daffodil behind her ear and walked off. Like that. No drama. No trying to win me over. Just... walked away like she didn’t care whether I liked her or not. I watched her go, and for some dumb reason, I kept watching. She waved to Vincent, crouched to pet Dusty, even smiled at George like he wasn’t the grumpiest man alive. People smiled back. People noticed her. Later that day, I caught Leah sketching again by the river. I walked past and peeked over her shoulder. “Is that… Sage?” I asked, trying to sound bored. Leah jumped. “W-what? No. It’s—uh—just a girl. Random.” Sure. Random. I rolled my eyes and walked away, but my chest felt weird. Like someone had taken my perfect, sparkly snow globe and shaken it. Like everything inside me was bouncing around and I couldn’t get it to stop. I hate that feeling. I don’t know what Sage thinks she’s doing. Coming in here all sweet and mysterious and totally messing up the order of things. This town had a rhythm. A social hierarchy. And I was fine with the way things were. I liked being the one people looked at when I walked by. The one people whispered about, even if it was just “Hailey looks so cute today.” That was mine. And now... I’m not so sure anymore. Maybe that’s why I keep looking at her when I think no one’s watching. Just trying to figure her out. Figure out why she’s bothering me so much. Or maybe... it’s not bother. Maybe it’s something worse. Something dangerous. Something like... jealousy. And I hate that even more.
- Writer
