Chapter Seven: Someone Like Him
311 Words
" She’d built a life where love wasn’t the point. But then he smiled like he knew all the parts she’d tried to forget."
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Hailey hated Thursdays.
They felt like unfinished promises — not close enough to the weekend to breathe, not far enough from Monday to recover. But this Thursday came with something else.
Him.
Chase was already at the community center when she arrived. He was laughing with the kids, fixing a banner, looking like he belonged to a life she had no business stepping into.
He saw her, and that same warmth lit his face like the sun coming through clouds.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” she replied, hating how breathless it sounded.
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They spent the afternoon prepping booths for the fundraiser — cutting signs, untangling fairy lights, making awkward conversation between paint spills and stolen glances.
At one point, she dropped a stack of raffle cards, and he knelt to help her pick them up. Their fingers touched.
She didn’t pull away.
He didn’t either.
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Later, while stacking chairs, she broke the silence.
“You’re not who you used to be.”
Chase raised a brow. “Is that a compliment or a warning?”
She looked at him. Really looked.
“No... it’s just weird. Back then you were all loud and cocky and... too much.”
He chuckled. “And now?”
“Still cocky. But there’s... more.”
Their eyes locked for a moment too long.
And then, without thinking, she said, “Someone like you doesn’t usually notice someone like me.”
“You’re wrong,” he said, stepping closer.
Her breath caught.
“I’ve always noticed you, Hailey.”
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And there it was again — the way he said her name. Like it was his favorite word.
Her walls shook, but didn’t fall.
Not yet.
- Writer
