The Chrysalis Project - Chapter 9
We were two awkward people standing in the elevator.
I silently laughed in my head at the scene as I remembered last night’s elevator incident. The scenario was the same, but the tables have apparently turned this morning – the mood was significantly lighter.
My hands were still kind of sweaty though, mostly because the elevator was warm, but it was also partially due to my nervousness about eating breakfast with Hayden Whitehall. He was one of the richest people in Valentino University and quite famous as far as I am aware. Afraid that my hands were a little too sweaty for comfort and that I didn’t want to gross him out, I lightly wiped the palms of my hands on the side of my really damn expensive clothing.
“Can I ask you a question?” I asked as I broke the silence between us.
“Go ahead,” Hayden replied, but his attention was focused on his phone.
“Why are you suddenly being nice to me?” I asked, and continued, “first thing today you’ve already spent seven thousand dollars on me and now we’re going for breakfast?”
“True, I was pretty angry last night.” Hayden stated and let out a chuckle and tucked his phone into his coat pocket, “but we’ll discuss this over breakfast.”
“Okay, so you’re just not going to talk to me now?” I said, clearly annoyed.
“That’s not what I meant. We can talk about the details later on but right now I just want to have a basic conversation. My brain doesn’t like to think unless it’s had food first thing in the morning, a force of habit I guess,” Hayden shrugged.
“Fine, I guess we’ll just stand here, awkwardly and silently…”
He finally turned his head in my direction, however, he didn’t look slightly amused at all. I crossed my arms and leaned back against the corner of the elevator, clearly displeased at his action.
“What,” I said plainly, “I just want to clear the air.”
Hayden put back his phone and tightly pressed his lips together in deep thought, it took him ten seconds to compose something to actually say to me.
“You are only making this awkward by saying it’s awkward,” he looked at me hoping I would already know the answer to that, but I rolled my eyes.
“Well, how am I supposed to get to know you then? Especially without you being able to function or wanting to talk,” I answered.
“Well, I can talk about myself for a bit if that makes you feel less anxious.”
“Okay then, why is the Whitehall family so famous at school then? I didn’t know you from before but I recognize the family name, so you must be connected to the school somehow.”
“We basically donated to the ‘Wallace and Cecilia Whitehall Centre for AIDs Research’, those are my parents’ names. We also own a few skyscrapers around the city, one of which is the famous Whitehall Building. They have observatories at the top floors that look out to the entire downtown view. Have you ever been to any of those places?”
“I can barely afford new socks, what makes you think I have money for that?” I said sarcastically, but partially in a joking manner.
“I’ll take you next time after hours,” Hayden said and smiled.
So, there was a ‘next’ time, I thought to myself.
“So you and I are friends, huh.” I almost whispered.
As my mind tried to figure out how there could be a next time for him and me to talk alone, the elevator dinged and opened its doors to the second floor. Hayden led the way to the cafeteria and I followed him; we sat down at a table near the corner beside the windows that displayed the fall scenery around the campus. As I looked around the cafeteria, I noticed a lot of eyes were on the both of us, some were whispering to each other and the others were just confused.
“Um, why are they looking at us?” I asked hesitantly. Was there something on my face and did I look funny?
“I don’t normally come down here, most people would die to even look at a Whitehall in real life” he smirked confidently.
Hayden then proceeded to call a nearby cafeteria lady to come near us, surprisingly this lady obeyed and rushed to our table. Usually, students had to go order the cashier area to ask for something, not the other way around.
“What can I get for you dear?” The lady asked politely, not looking in my direction.
“I’ll have the waffles deluxe, but for the two of us, please. Also, make it quick, I’m super hungry and so is she,” he smiled.
“Two servings of Belgian Waffles with fruits and sides coming right up, it’ll only take five minutes,” she said and quickly vanished into the kitchen give orders to the chefs.
“That’s weird.”
“What is? The special treatment from staff?” Hayden asked.
“Yeah, what’s that about?”
“Anyone living on the top ten floors has priority and special treatment everywhere on campus.”
“I’m assuming that comes with the family’s influence,” I noted.
“Something like that, everyone is rich in Valentino, but you have to be the top percent of the rich to get even better treatment.”
“Well, good for you I guess,” I responded, “but do you always get waffles in the morning?” I asked curiously, as usually, the kitchen has a menu for the week, and anything off the menu was usually not heard of.
“Not always, most of the time I just get whatever they serve me in my room in the mornings,” he explained, “I have a private chef that likes to get creative with my meals, I texted him this morning saying that I’ll eat downstairs instead.”
“Ah, rich people and their first world problems, I should have known,” I mocked.
Hayden raised an eyebrow, “I wasn’t really complaining. Speaking of which, are you ready to hear my plan for you today?”
The sudden realization that I was here for a reason hit me. I wasn’t here to chat or enjoy talking with him, I was here to receive my punishment for insulting him.
“Do I really have to?” I pleaded, unwilling to listen about my eventual doom.
“Relax,” Hayden said and touched my hands over the table, “I’m not mad at you anymore, you’re a very interesting young lady and I’d hate to kick you out of the school because I assumed you were a hooker, I apologize for that.”
“Then I don’t understand why you still want me to come with you if we’re cool now,” I said.
Ignoring my statement, he said, “I did some research on you while you were sleeping. You weren’t lying when you said you shamelessly work part-time to pay off your sister’s tuition. You’re the only one that has a scholarship at his school, and you’re just an unapologetic piece of shit. You’re an interesting one for sure.”
“Did you just call me a piece of shit?” I responded immediately, super offended.
Fortunately, before I could start another fight, the cafeteria lady came just in time and placed two plates of Belgian waffles on our table. There were assortments of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries on top of the waffles; the powdered sugar almost looked like it was dancing on top of the crispy, crunchy layers of the outer waffle. Some syrup was served on the side, and two cups of lattes were also served as the drink portion of the meal.
Without hesitation, I dug into the delicious looking meal with my knife and fork; as I finished cutting out the waffles by tiny pieces Hayden grabbed the syrup.
“It tastes better with syrup, trust me on this,” he drizzled some syrup on top of my plate.
I poked the first piece of waffle with my fork and shoved it into my mouth, suddenly my tongue was exposed to the sweet flavour and aroma the waffle was producing. The crispiness of the waffle made the chewing experience much more enjoyable; the insides were soft, every bite created a tiny wave of steam.
It took me around three minutes to devour the entire thing; Hayden was watching me the entire time, looking extremely amused. However, he quickly ate as well and we were both finished our meals before our lattes had even cooled down.
“Now I want you to calm down and take a couple of sips slowly,” he commented.
“Why? Aren’t we doing something today?” I asked confused.
“We are, but it’s honestly not a rush considering how amused I really am by how commoners like you eat,” Hayden joked.
“Ha-ha,” I answered dryly, taking a sip of the bitter yet delicious latte.
Hayden and I sat for ten more minutes or so before we had to leave, we did talk about random subjects like how obnoxious some students and clubs are on campus and how ridiculous the school’s reputation really is, but overall Hayden and I both had similar views on how Valentino is a complete shitshow full of spoiled clowns just waiting to get out into the real world. When we left the cafeteria, we both saw a familiar face approaching us as if he had recognized us. When I looked harder, I knew it was someone that I had to confront about yesterday.
Theodore walked right in front of us, looking slightly uncomfortable, but definitely refreshed from a day’s rest. Hayden stared directly back and him and sighed.
“Right, how can I forget about you, Walker?”
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