Heartless Hailey

Hailey lost her heart. It happened one day, when she noticed that her heart no longer skipped at the sight of the ice cream van. She put her right hand on her chest above the space where her heart should have been, and the familiar rhythmic thumps were gone. She looked all over for her heart. In her school bag, under her desk, under her bed back home, in her own locker, in the lockers of all her friends. It was nowhere to be found.

Without her heart, Hailey became a very efficient person. She was no longer prone to procrastination - her head knew she had to get something done, and her body obeyed the commands to action. She was no longer sad at all, so she didn't need time to mourn, cry, or heal. She didn't get distracted by the allure and excitement of skipping school, heading out to movies, or going on dates, so she attended every class, went home right after, and did her homework. She no longer got angry at her parents, her sister, or her friends. She didn't feel fear in the dark, and worry left her.

Within a few months, Hailey was the top student of her class. She juggled multiple different responsibilities too - class monitress, head of the student council, volunteer referee at sports events, editor of the school newsletter. She never felt any inclination to take days off, or any need to please anyone. She was methodical and effective.

The day Anne transferred to Hailey's class, from another school, Hailey barely registered it. She was too focused upon her lessons, school work, and extracurricular activities. The first time she took note of Anne, was when she was no longer top of her class in a mathematics test. She wasn't upset, she just took note of her position as second, and registered the fact that the new student was first. She calculated the steps she would need to take to regain her position as top of the class; not for pride, or to please her parents. Simply because she knew being top of her class would get her places in future.

Three tests later, Hailey was still in the disadvantaged position of runner-up. She was working to her maximum capacity, and was feeling the strain on her physical body. She had headaches and aching muscles from lack of sleep, was less efficient in her work, and she had to give up several non-academic activities. She knew that, if ever she would be to get her heart back, she would be inundated by feelings of inadequacy. Jealous would stab her heart, twisting and writhing - afterall, Anne had her heart, had her distractions and her feelings, but she was still a better student than Hailey was.

Not that Hailey felt any of this. She simply noted down what she knew she would have felt if she had her heart, and made the decision to Take Steps to protect herself, based on the possible scenario that she may one day regain her heart. She would Take Steps to ensure that her future was as bright as it could be.

Hailey asked Anne out the day after yet another test result had been released - Of course, Anne was first, Hailey was second. She expressed admiration for Anne's intellect and humbly asked for advice as to how Hailey herself could do as well as Anne did. Anne was not a competitve person at all. She was merely academically brilliant. She also had a generous nature, and she agreed to give Hailey tips and guidance. In exchange for an ice cream, of course.

As they sat at the ice cream stall on Hyacinth Hill (no one had any idea why it was thus named. There weren't any hyacinths to be seen on this hill), they chattered about things other than work. A few times, Hailey would bring up the topic of studies, and Anne would try her best to answer her questions, but the topic would invariably shift to other aspects of life. It turned out that both Hailey and Anne were animal lovers, football fans, and had the same favourite authors. At least, that was the impression Anne got. After laughing really hard at a particularly funny anecdote that Anne told, Hailey leapt from her seat in excitement, and went to the balcony. The ice cream store had a nice wooden balcony that overlooked the scenery below the hill. Anne joined her. They leaned against the railing, taking in the beauty of the surroundings. In a supposed act of impulse, Hailey climbed over the railing and stood, one step from falling to an almost certain death, holding onto the railing with her hands, arms twisted slightly back. Anne panicked.

"Get back over here!" She hissed, looking back nervously to see if anyone had noticed. The balcony door was closed, and there were few patrons in the ice cream store. No one was on the balcony, and no one was seated at a position where they could view the balcony through the small glass window. Hailey grinned, a devil-may-care grin, and said "The view, unhindered by the railing, is amazing."

"You can just lean over the railing, it's the same thing! Get over here, I'm really worried"

At that, Hailey lifted her arms, and let go of the railing. Anne gave a tiny shriek and held on to her. "Are you crazy?!" She yelled. Hailey grinned even wider. "I trust you. I know you won't let me fall. This is thrilling."

Anne looked at her, touched, and in disbelief. "You aren't scared of falling? This is crazy." But she broke into a wide grin too. The girls smiled at each other, bonded by the thrill of the moment. "I think," Hailey said, "the potential of falling makes me feel alive. It makes me feel...more intensely. There's nothing in the world like that feeling." Anne looked at her, shaking her head, amused. "Try it." Hailey looked at her, smiling coyly. Anne hesitated.

In the store, the owner was wondering about the two girls who went to the balcony. It had been raining earlier, and the chairs and tables out there were probably still wet. He wondered why they were taking so long outside, when they probably didn't have any comfortable seating out there. Perhaps they had tissues. Or perhaps, and he shuddered at this thought, they were lesbians, and were making out on the balcony. Many couples did that at his store. He was a right-wing, judgmental and square-minded person. He knew it, but he didn't see what was wrong with that sort of character. He had lost multitudes of kinder, nicer friends, but he would never change his doctrine to please others. He headed toward the door to the balcony, to check on the girls. To make sure they weren't sinning in his store. They did have a weird, sensual vibe going on when they were chatting in the store. As he was halfway to the door, a patron waved to signal for his attention. He paused, then turned around to take the patron's order.

Meanwhile, Anne had climbed carefully over the railing, and held on tightly to the railing as she stood, a step from falling. Hailey was laughing and giggling, apparently exulting in the thrill of the moment and the bond they were sharing. "You're right, this is great!" Anne gasped out, still terrified, but reveling in the terror at the same time. Hailey held her hand, and they shared an intimate smile.

The store owner swung the balcony door open, just as Anne fell.

Later on, when answering the questions of the police, he deliberated as to whether or not to tell the police officers what he thought he saw. For the briefest fraction of a second, he had seen Hailey retract her hand from Anne's back, as Anne toppled off the side. But Hailey had started screaming in horror, and reached her arms out in an attempt to grab Anne. He figured he probably imagined or misunderstood the significance of the gesture. Hailey was, afterall, sobbing beyond consolation and utterly distraught. She had even blacked out for a few minutes, from her intense grief. She couldn't have meant to...no, he thought decisively, shaking his doubts off. She was merely a school girl, who took a stupid risk and paid the dear price of losing a best friend.

At the end of the night, Hailey went home to crying parents, and deep down, she knew that she would never regain her heart.