getting by - larry stylinson

chapter 2

tuesday after school

Harry walks up to a seemingly ordinary house, in a seemingly ordinary street. There's no perimeter fence, but other than that it looks normal. A van sits in the driveway and a few flowers litter the garden, the windows are shut and the house is white and neat. But it has to be the biggest house Harry has ever seen, and his house is pretty good. At least twenty bedrooms, surely. Harry pulls his headphones out of his ears and knocks on the door timidly. It flings open and he is met by laughing brown eyes in a female face framed with long curly hair.

"Hey, you must be Harry?" The boy nods and the woman beckons for him to walk inside.

"I'm Jade, the head worker here. It's so nice to meet you!" Jade is tall and fair skinned, with thin limbs and is dressed in a simple pink dress. She looks to be in her late twenties, but Harry has always been bad at guessing ages. He follows her into a light hallway lined with colourful artwork and posters.

"How are you feeling?" Harry shrugs and says nothing, but holds his arms over his stomach nervously. He looks around to take in his surroundings. Through the first door on their right he can see a couch, posters about healthy minds and good wellbeing plastered above it.

"That's the counselling room." Jade speaks up.

"You'll have sessions in there once a week, maybe more if you need. Here, I'll give you a tour now." "The house is split into four 'wings.' North, South, East and West. This is the North wing, but they're all connected. You can go between wings if you want but you need to be in our wing for meals, meetings and curfew." Harry nods and follows her into the closest room. 

An open door at the end leads into a beige themed bedroom with a double bed and candles on the bedside tables. "Staff bedroom, that is. A couple of social workers will be here every night, and you can knock on the door whenever you need, alright?" Harry nods again and they walk back into the entry hall. To the right, Jade shows him a boring plain office room with desks covered in paper stacks and Harry wonders where the other teenagers are. He is not going to survive here alone, he's bored already. Harry walks out of the office and once more finds himself in the colourful hallway.

Just then, a bright blonde boy emerges from round the corner and stops short as he almost collides with Harry. His blue eyes scan the younger boy, giving him a once over and Harry bites his lip nervously, subconsciously pulling his sleeves down over his hands.

The blonde boy pulls a bag of M&Ms out of his pocket, offering one to Harry who shakes his head. He shrugs, popping a handful of the chocolates into his mouth. "This is Niall." Jade speaks up. Niall grins and holds out a rainbow stained hand for Harry to shake.

"'ello! Who are you then?" He's Irish, his accent strong and lilting, and he's dressed in straight leg jeans with a plain black t-shirt. His smile is infectious and Harry can't help but smile back.

"Hi. I-I'm Harry."

He takes Niall's hand, which is warm and slightly sticky. Harry would be grossed out but he quite likes the look of this Irish lad.

"Nice to meet ya."

"Harry's moving in today, sudden intake. Emergency situation, you know how it goes. I was just showing him around." Jade speaks up and Niall grins again, speaking with a mouth full of crunchy chocolate.

"Ah, I see. Want me to take him?" Sue nods.

"That would be great, thank you Niall." She turns to Harry with kindness in her eyes. "I'll be in the office if you need me, okay? Niall's a good kid, he'll show you the ropes." Harry opens his mouth to speak but she swiftly turns on her heels and walks into the office.