Ariel read her letter, a smile making its way to her face and not leaving while she wrote

“Alex,
Big birthday! You're going to be 18! Got any plans? You have the best excuse there is to have a party so you better get on that…
Maybe you just need to stand up for yourself more, show them who's boss ;) You could always take karate lessons or something and go all ninja on their asses! They won't know what's hit them
Aha, I'm sure that's a very impressive sight, I can do a back flip and a front flip :P
Ah good, the girls are all nice too, hence why they're my friends ;P
By the time you get this it'll be Monday so, how was you're weekend?
Ariel"

She sealed the letter easily, wrote his name on the front and left it on the desk as she turned to Hayley who'd finished her letter and was looking at her phone under the desk. She spoke when she saw that Ariel was done
"It's Matt, he says he wants to talk," then she looked up at Ariel
"I told you he'd tell you in his own time" she responded in what she hoped was a comforting way "are you gonna go see him?"
"He says to meet him outside at break" Hayley answered quietly, glancing up at the clock to see there was only five minutes till then
"Don't stress about it, Hayls, it'll be fine!" Ariel continued with a half smile before changing the subject like she knew Hayley would want her to "What did Jack say this time?"
"Just general stuff, he told me a bit about him. Says he plays guitar in a band, likes Home Alone, uuh, he has a brother and a sister, Joe and May; stuff like that" she smiled a little as she looked at the letter and then turned back to Ariel
"What about Alex?" she asked
"It's his birthday next Wednesday and he's good at getting drunk" she chuckled
"Party guy?" Hayley questioned with a raised eyebrow
"Maybe, I'm not sure" she shrugged back. A part of her hoped not.

It was halfway through break and Anna, Skye and Ariel were sat in their homeroom thinking about possibly doing some homework but not really wanting to when Ariel got the text. She'd been getting a bit anxious about Hayley's "talk" with Matt, glancing at the clock every ten seconds or so, so the vibrating in here pocket was a relief

To: Ariel Wilson
From: Hayley Jacks
I'm in the toilets in science. Can you come here please? x

Ariel tapped a quick response

To: Hayley Jacks
From: Ariel Wilson
Of course, be there in 5 x

"Hayley says she's in the toilets" Ariel spoke as she stood up, picking her bag up from the floor as the other to girls did the same and they made their way to where Hayley was, walking quickly.
"Hayley?" Ariel called into the room when they got there, peering around
"I'm round the corner." A quiet voice responded, a quiet, unhappy voice. The three girls walked into the room more confidently now, turning the corner to the second set of cubicles and seeing their friend sat in the corner between the sinks and the wall at the far side. She had her legs pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped tight around them and her chin resting on top.

"What did he say?" Anna questioned, stepping forward and taking a place next to the red headed girl, throwing an arm over her shoulder.
"We broke up." Hayley mumbled, chewing on the sleeve of her sweater and mindlessly staring at a random spot on the ground.
"What happened?" Skye asked softly as she and Ariel sat opposite the other two girls, all eyes on Hayley. She was quiet for a moment, obviously lost in thought as her mind went back to the conversation she’d had just fifteen minutes ago. Hayley had met Matt exactly where he’d said to and found him waiting, leaning against the wall round the side of the school where people only ever went to smoke. She stood in front of him and laced the fingers together slowly, when he said nothing she squeezed his hand gently and tried to see his eyes which were hidden behind his hair as he looked down at the ground
“Matt, what’s up?” she asked and he just shuffled his feet awkwardly “Talk to me,” she tried, desperation seeping into her voice. There was more silence before Matt looked up, took a breath and spoke quietly
“I cheated on you.”
“You what?” she demanded, letting his hand slip from her fingers. Hoping she’d heard him wrong.
“I’m so sorry, Hayley. It was an accident, I swear. I never meant to, I would never do that to you” she ignored what he said
“Why, why would you do that?” she spat at him, stepping back to get away from him
“I was drunk, I didn’t know what I was doing. I never meant to-” he tried to move closer to her but she stepped back again and interrupted him with another question.
“When was it? And who was it with” she snapped at him and he stepped back, knowing not to mess with Hayley when she’s angry
“At Aleya’s party with Jessica” he sighed in defeat, the gravity of what he’d done only just dawning on him
“You cheated on me with your ex.” She stated. That didn’t help him.
“I know, I’m an idiot and I’m sorry, but we can get through this”
“No, Matt, we can’t. We’re done.” She couldn’t believe the words were coming out of her mouth. She turned to stalk away but Matt grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back
“No, Hayley. Let’s talk about this, we can get past it” he begged but she just pulled her arm from his grip. She tried to think up something to say, something that would make him regret what he did and express the anger she was feeling toward him but no words came so she just glared at him for a minute before leaving swiftly
“I dumped him" she murmured, that surprised the girls, she'd been happy, hadn't mentioned any plans to break up with him and, if she did the dumping, why did she seem so torn up about it?
"Matt cheated on me" she continued in an even quieter voice than before now her friends were close "A-at Aleya's party." when she'd succeeded in creating a whole in her sleeve she moved to biting her nails.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him." Anna swore "The fucking prick. You've been nothing but good to him and he does this to you then leads you on for two fucking weeks! He's gonna be sorry by the time I'm finished with him." she practically growled though she made no move to actually go and find him, her grip on Hayley's shoulders tightening a little instead.
"Are you okay Hayley?" Ariel asked softly but the girl didn't say anything, just continued staring. They sat like that for a few minutes, her friends comforting Hayley by just being there; some freshman came in, muttered something about why the four of them were sat on the floor in the toilets but quickly left when Anna gave them one of her looks that had made even people twice her size leave her alone. Eventually the bell rang and, without a word spoken, the four of them got up, Ariel and Anna who didn’t have a lesson with Hayley both hugged her. The sort of long hug that shows that you care and leaves both people with a nice warm feeling. Then they separated to their own lessons.

Hayley had never been one to really express her emotions, the only times she’d ever cried since she was a small child was when her dog went missing when she was seven, when her grandma died when she was ten and then again when her mum fell seriously ill when she was fifteen. The girls knew she would talk to them about it, rant at them angrily or ask them for advice but she just needed some time to process it. It was a shock to the system she was in no way prepared for.