Surviving the Harrison Boys (Re-write)

one // the week before

Joel pulled up to Westlife and I internally groaned. Our school was actually shit. I'm pretty sure the teachers were over the whole teaching thing quite some time ago. Don't even get me started on some of the kids that go here.

Hell, I'd be considered one of the horrible ones, and to be honest, I didn't do much. I just tried to learn what I could so I didn't fail at life.

I climbed out of the car with Joel behind me. He gave me a small smile and wrapped me in a hug. "I'll see you in pastry, yeah?"

"Yeah," I mumbled into his chest. Joel placed a quick kiss on the top of my head before running off to join his group of friends.

I proceeded towards the school and pushed open the squeaky red doors. I walked past the cafeteria and gymnasium to get to the library.

I greeted Mrs. Drake with a wave and headed to the fiction section. I just grabbed a random book and sat down in a beanbag chair, beginning to read.

By the time the bell had rung, I was nearly finished the book. Reluctantly tucking it back into its original spot on the shelf, I gathered my belongings and jogged out of the library, running to my home room.

I opened the door and shuffled to my seat in the third row. Luckily, Mr. Mane hadn't arrived yet, so my ass was saved today.

Derrick Greenman, a freshman taking junior classes, and in desperate need of braces turned around and winked at me. "Hey, cutie. Made it by a landslide, didn't ya?"

He smacked his gum thrice as he spoke, and I tried my best not to scrunch up my face in disgust and amusement.

"I did." I nodded.

"Lucky for you, because here comes the devil himself." Derrick's voice lowered to a whisper as Mr. Mane staggered in the room.

He was an average man, slightly bigger, with a balding head and beady brown eyes that watched a student's every move behind his brown Harry Potter looking glasses.

As far as I knew, he was still living with his mother, even though he's been both married and divorced, twice. I'm pretty sure he was seeing the history teacher, Miss Augustine.

Mr. Mane slammed his briefcase down on his desk and huffed. Papers were sticking out, and it wasn't even closed properly. Mr. Mane looked nothing less than a mess.

"Good morning, students!" His voice boomed as he smacked a ruler against the edge of his desk. Derrick jumped slightly and my heart rate picked up.

"Today has been a dandy day for me so far!" Mr. Mane exclaimed loudly. His eyes looked wild and his face was turning redder and redder by the second.

"I mean," he scoffed, "it's no big deal that my girlfriend cheated on me with one of my colleagues, a man I considered to be my best friend? No big deal, right, Miss Jamieson?"

My eyes widened as everyone's necks slowly craned in my direction. I gulped and shrugged. "Um, not really, sir."

"Eureka!" Mr. Mane jumped up in the air and I was pretty confident that half the class, along with me, feared that he was going to fall over and break something, whether it be an object or a body part. "Someone else besides me finally understands it! I never thought I'd see the day! It is a big deal! A very big one, at that."

I actually felt bad for Mr. Mane. It was clear that he was really hurting now. I guess he considered Miss Augustine to be "the one". Although, it was none of my business, he had also said that about the two other ladies he'd had a fling with. But you know, it was none of my business or anything.

He sighed and put a hand on his forehead. "Students, be honest. Am I ugly?"

I was starting to question what his motives were. Everyone kind of glanced at each other awkwardly, waiting for someone to answer.

"You're not the best looking cookie on the plate," a quiet blonde girl who was also in my English class spoke up, "but loving yourself for the way you are is the most important thing."

"I need someone to love me!" Mr. Mane cried.

"Then find someone who loves you just as much as you love yourself." She gave the blubbering man a warm smile.

Mr. Mane huffed and crossed his arms over his chest like a small child. The whole class simply sat there and watched him, waiting for him to say something. I was kind of hoping he would release us. I had the urge to go and finish that book.

Finally, the man wiped his nose with the back of his hand stood up, waving us off. "You are all dismissed. Anyone gives you problems, send them my way."

With that, most of the students gathered their things and zipped out of the classroom. I was one of the last ones to leave. I glanced over my shoulder at Mr. Mane, who was sitting at his desk with his hands, sobbing. I frowned and left, not able to watch any longer.

***

I caught up with Joel at his locker. He raised an eyebrow, surprised to see me. "Um, isn't your homeroom class on the other side of the school?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, but Mr. Mane had a breakdown and let us go before things even really started."

"Oh," Joel nodded, "yeah, I heard about that. How's he doing?"

"Beats me. I haven't seen him since I left the classroom." I said as he closed his locker and we slowly began walking to our pastry class.

"I feel bad for the guy sometimes." Joel ran a hand through his hair.

"We all do."

We continued our walk in silence, but it was a comfortable one. I never felt uncomfortable around Joel. He was basically my brother. I was 99.99% certain that he would never do anything to me.

Joel opened the door to our classroom for me and I smiled at him, walking in as he came in behind me. We sat at our station together and talked until our teacher came in and proceeded to try and teach us.