Little Secrets (h.s. au)

two

I lay in bed, trying to understand my situation. Harry is my new teacher. I used to think teacher/student relationships were horrible but now it’s happening to me. It doesn’t seem bad anymore but I’m still so skeptical. 

As my body curls deeper into my blankets, a rock is thrown at my window. I get up and open the window, Porter standing at the bottom.

“You need to come with me. Devin needs us,” he says, my head nodding.

Dressing myself quickly, I walk downstairs and go with Porter down to Devin’s house. Police cars sit in the driveway and I see Devin tearing up. He walks towards us and I wrap my arms around him, his head nuzzling into my neck.

“One was found upstairs and the other was on the stairs. The son called,” someone says, my arms holding my best friend.

“He killed her and himself,” he cries, my lips pressing to his cheek in sympathy.

“You can stay with me,” I say, his head nodding.

Porter walks over to us and I start to feel horrible, my arms holding onto Devin. After the police allow him to go, I take him to my house and my mom joins us.

“I’m taking him to my room,” I say, her head nodding. Once up, I bring him into my arms again and he holds onto me, crying still. My fingers grip his hair and I rub my thumb along his nape, holding him close.

We get into my bed and I hold him for comfort, easing the pain slightly. I stay with him, making sure he’s okay. I stay home from school to be with him, going to the funeral with him, and I take us to school on Friday. We walk together, his hand on mine for protection, and we walk into our study hall together.

“Do you want to stay with me until you feel ready to move in with your grandma?” I ask, his head nodding.

“You’re more of a family than she is.”

I take his hand and we work through some of our homework together, his eyes still so sad looking. Our school day goes slow and we separate after lunch, my hug to him long.

“I feel horrible,” I say, Porter wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

“It’s not your fault. He’ll get better,” he says, my head nodding.

He helps me with my calculus homework and makes some jokes that cause me to laugh. We walk into English and I take a deep breath, Harry passing out papers to all of us.

“Brandi, see me after school so I can get you everything you missed,” he says, my head nodding.

Class continues, answering questions on advanced writing and literary techniques, and the bell finally rings. After homeroom, I walk into Harry’s room and shut the door.

“Have a seat,” he says, my head nodding. I sit down and he grabs a chair, handing me papers.

“What happened?” he asks, my eyes shutting.

“I-I needed to be with Devin,” I say, his lips pursing.

“So you skipped school,” he says, my head nodding.

“His father…shot his mom and then killed himself,” I tell him, his eyes softening.

“He’s like a brother to me,” I explain, Harry nodding his head.

“If you need anything, you can always talk to me,” he reminds me, my head nodding.

“I know. So what did I miss?” I ask, smiling at him.

He explains that we need Catcher in the Rye, the book already at my house. As he goes over all the sheets, he tries to hold my hand but I pull away.