Free Falling for Hadie by Komal Kant

someone, that’s all.”
    “Anyone I can help you find?” Kance’s offer was nice enough, but it was obvious she didn’t like the fact that my attention wasn’t solely on her.
    “Nah, I’m good.” I said, and then quickly became distracted as I glimpsed Hadie through the crowd, her back to me as she pulled books out of her open locker.
    “Are you sure?” she asked.
    “Uh huh.” I nodded again, craning my neck around Kance’s head so I could keep my eyes trained on Hadie.
    “So, you did you play sports back in New York, Lincoln,” she asked, looking me up and down. “You definitely have the physique for it.”
    Oh, gross, she was flirting with me. Her mouth curved in a smile that she probably thought was seductive, and she was running her fingers casually around her upper chest to draw my eyes there.
    This girl had clearly been around town and I wasn’t interested in taking a ride.
    “Uh, yeah, I did,” I said, and then noticed that Hadie was zipping up her bag. “Sorry, I gotta go. It was nice talking to you, Kance.”
    Before she could say anything else to subdue me, I was running down the hall towards Hadie who had slung her bag over her shoulder and was just about to shut her locker.
    “Hades, hey!” I called out as I neared her.
    Hadie visibly jumped at the sound of my voice and she turned her head, her hand lingering on the edge of her locker. She looked extremely flustered when she saw me and her eyes darted left and right, like she was trying to find the nearest exit.
    Okay, that was weird. Only yesterday she’d opened up a little and I’d caught a glimpse of what she was really like. Had she miraculously changed overnight to her old self?
    “I’m glad I caught you before first period. I checked my schedule this morning and realized we don’t have English today, so I wanted to make sure you were still going to show me around after school.”
    Hadie had this weird look on her face as she nodded. For some reason, she looked panicked. “Yeah, um…I’ll wait for you at the front gate in the afternoon.”
    “Great, I’ll see you then,” I said, wondering if I was being too forthcoming. I had to ask, I had to know if something was wrong. “Are you okay? You’re acting kinda weird…”
    She nodded vigorously. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just not feeling the greatest today, but I’ll get over it.”
    I wasn’t buying her excuse for a second, but I let it go. If she wanted to keep something to herself then that was her business and had nothing to do with me.
    “I’ll see you in the afternoon then,” I said with a nod.
    Hadie gave me a forced smile, her fingers pale as they clutched the locker. “See you then.”
     
    ***
     
    Hadie looked a lot better by the time she met me by the front in the afternoon. Whatever had been bugging her in the morning didn’t seem to be weighing on her mind anymore, which was a relief. I was glad she was over it; otherwise it would’ve been a really awkward afternoon.
    “Should we take my car or yours?” Hadie asked once she’d waved to Estella, Lana, and Mariah, who were blatantly staring at me.
    “I didn’t drive today,” I said, conveniently leaving out the part where my parents had taken away my driving privileges a year ago.
    Sometimes it sucked to be me.
    “I guess we’ll take my car then.” She led me across the street and past a few houses before stopping at a silver Audi that was in pretty good condition.
    I let out a breath. “Nice ride.”
    She shrugged. “My parents upgraded, so I got their old car.”
    My parents would never get me a car like that even if I was allowed to drive. Becky maybe, but not me.
    Once we were in the car, Hadie wound her way through some unfamiliar streets before driving onto the main road of the town where all the commercial buildings were. And by commercial buildings I meant a gas station and a few essential shops. At least they had a movie theater here.
    Hadie pointed out the diner where she worked, her