Forty five

Hailey's gaze wandered out to the field as her heart roamed through various thoughts. She absentmindedly twirled a strand of her hair, hoping for the class to end quickly so she could return home. Was it to see Nolan? No, she objected to herself. Perhaps it was to finish up her writing. She tried to convince herself of that, but deep down, she knew she was lying to herself. She wanted to see Nolan so badly that she had pushed aside all her worries about Cassidy and Luke.

"Hailey, do you want to come with me?" Tara's voice jolted her back to reality. She turned slowly to face her.

"To where?" Hailey raised an eyebrow. She wasn't really curious since she knew it would probably be one of the socialite parties, but she wondered why Tara would invite her in the first place.

"My bad. I mean the Raymonds' party. Their first granddaughter got engaged, so they are holding a celebration banquet, and my family got invited," Tara explained, just as Hailey had expected.

Hailey nodded slowly. Ta