Always

Chapter 54

I was irritable all day, finding myself annoyed by the slightest of offenses: people walking slowly in the halls, probably innocent glances that I took the wrong way, accidental nudges as I walked, everything. The more I thought about it, the more I thought my decision to meet with Lydia and Haley was a bad idea.

I had agreed to meet them only because of Harry's nudging, after they had taken me by surprise. I was certain that if they were to have asked me when I was alone, things would have gone in a very different direction.

Fidgeting in my seat of my last class, I anxiously waited for the bell to ring so I could leave the slowly compressing room; I felt like I was being suffocated in here, and I needed to speak to Harry so I could get through this ordeal.

Finally, the bell rang and announced the end of class. I sprang up from my seat and practically ran out of the room, desperate to get to Harry. Thankfully, I found him arriving at my locker the same time I did, relieving some of the anxiety that had slowly built up from the last time I saw him.

"I don't want to do this," I told him immediately, coming to a halt in front of him. He sighed as he leaned down to press a kiss to my cheek.

"Why not?" he asked as he pulled back.

"They don't deserve it, first of all," I started. He gave me a disapproving look. "And, I don't need them as friends. I'm perfectly happy spending all my time with you."

"You need other friends, Joey," he told me gently.

"I thought you wanted me around all the time? Won't this take away from that?" I reasoned, trying to get him to agree with me so I wouldn't have to do this.

"Yes, of course I do, but it's good for you to have friends other than me," he said.

"You don't," I pointed out before I realized how harsh it sounded. I opened my mouth to apologize but he waved me off and shrugged.

"I never really have, and that's fine, but you're used to having a lot of people around you. At least just give them a chance? For me?" he pleaded, his lips splitting into an adorably wide grin, showing nearly all his teeth. How could I argue with that?

"Fine," I conceded, frowning at him.

"Thank you," he said, grin stretching, if possible, farther across his face as he took my hand and kissed my palm before we started down the hallway to leave.

Our car trip home was quiet, but not uncomfortable. My mind was spinning with what they could possibly say to explain themselves. I had a hard time believing that I could trust Haley; she had hardly seemed sincere at all and didn't have a good history of making apologies and meaning them.

Lydia, on the other hand, seemed a little more heartfelt as she spoke to me. She had always been the softer of the two, more likely to apologize and feel regret for her actions.

A thought occurred to me as Harry pulled into my driveway to drop me off.

"Why don't you come with me?" I asked excitedly. Alone, this would be miserable, but with Harry, it would maybe be bearable. And, to be honest, it would probably turn out better for them if he was with me, forcing me to be nice.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he replied, deflating my short-lived hope.

"Why?"

"It doesn't really have anything to do with me," he said, shrugging and looking at me apologetically.

Actually, Harry, it has everything to do with you, I thought. He didn't know that, though, and I hoped to keep it that way. He didn't need to know the awful things they had repeatedly said about him, or the crude remarks Colt had made to me.