Inside | Shane Harte

13 | Meeting mother

When I slowly open my eyes it's morning again. The sun shines bright into the room and the light causes my eyes to tear up. Without moving my head my eyes scan the sight in front of me, making me realise that I'm back in mine and Crystal's dorm room.

"Good morning"

Shane's loud voice in the moments ago silent room makes me jump and shriek of fear. The throbbing headache hits me like a punch in the face when I get up from the bed. Shane is just casually sitting on Crystal's empty bed, looking at me with that usual numb look on his face.

"You know what, I'm getting sick of you scaring me in the morning all the time, it's annoying"

"Sorry" he shrugs. "Do you want some water?"

Is he seriously scaring the living shit out of me just to ask me if I want water right now?

"Yeah, sure" I mutter and he chuckles while standing up. "What time is it?"

"11 AM"

"Oh no..."

"What? What is it?" he asks with ... Is that a worried look on his face?

"I was supposed to take the train home 3 hours ago!" I panic as I grab my phone that, FYI, has been connected to the charger. When I lighten the screen I see that mother's called 8 times and sent several messages asking where I am. "My mother's been calling and texting multiple times, I bet she's worried sick about me"

"Hey, call her and I'll go grab a glass of water for you, okay?" he says and I nod, and within seconds he's gone out through the door. I quickly dial my mother's number and impatiently tap a finger against my thigh while the dial tones go by.

"Kayla! There you are! I was so worried about you, where are you?" my mother asks when she finally answers the phone.

"Hey mother, I'm so so sorry, I was up late studying and I got so caught up in it that I fell asleep very late. That's the reason I missed my alarm this morning"

"It's okay honey, get ready to take the train in an hour, okay? It's fine" she says and I sigh deeply of relief. I'm so glad that she didn't get mad.

"I will, see you soon mother. Love you"

"Love you honey" she says and I hang up.

"So, how did it go?" Shane asks who apparently had arrived back in the room with a glass of bottle in his hands. I was so busy talking to mother that I didn't even notice him entering the room.

"She's fine with it" I pause while he hands me the water. "I'm taking the train to Owen Sound in an hour"

"Owen Sound? That's like 4 hours away" he states and I nod.

"Yup, it is" I agree and take a sip of the water. "By the way, how did I get here anyway?"

"Right, I didn't tell you" he chuckles. "You passed out while throwing up your guts, so I drove you here in the middle of the night and tucked you in. And just because I'm such a great person, I put your phone on charge as well"

I start laughing and a small smile spreads on his lips, or at least the closest thing to a true smile that I've ever seen on him. I could never imagine that Shane Harte could be this nice, funny and caring person. It's just not like him at all.

"Wow, I'm impressed" I smile. "Or wait... YOU DROVE ME HOME WHEN YOU HAD BEEN DRINKING? ARE YOU COMPLETELY MAD?!"

"Chill Kayla, I don't drink" he tells me and I freeze.

"What? Are you kidding?"

"Uh, no?" he says with a girly voice to make fun of me. I roll my eyes.

"Sorry, just thought that a guy like you drank like an alcoholic on parties and such"

"Okay, but I'm not"

"Okay"

We look at each other for seconds, but it feels like hours, before he walks closer to my bed, watching my every move as I take another sip of the ice cold water. "Anyway, Crystal stayed at the frat house so I crashed on her bed to make sure you would wake up in the morning"

What?

"But... Why would you do such thing? It's not like you care, so... Why?" I ask him, and his eyes wander all over the room. "And also, while we're talking, why didn't you want to kiss me on that dare last night?"

It's not like I care that he didn't want to, but I still can't stop thinking about it. It bothers me. Am I really THAT obnoxious that he can't even kiss me on a dare? Maybe he just wanted me to feel ugly or unwanted, that wouldn't surprise me at all.

He walks even closer to me and sits down beside me on my bed. His hot breath brushes against my cheek, sending chills down my spine. His mouth opens slightly as if he's about to answer me, but it quickly closes again.

"... I'm not doing this right now"

And with that, he stands up and simply just walks out of the room. What just happened?

I sigh and ignore his weird behaviour. The clothes that I prepared last night are placed nicely on a chair beside my bed. I put the loose jeans and shirt with long sleeves on, brush through my long, dark hair and observe the finish in the mirror.

The train ride is out-drawn and boring but after 4 long hours, I finally get to stretch my legs on the ground in my home city. Mother's car is parked right outside the railway station.

"Hey honey! Long time no see" she smiles when I jump into the front seat of her car.

"Hi mother" I say and give her a long hug. It was some time ago since I felt that smell of hers, and my mouth shines up in a big smile. She starts the car and drives us home. All the way we talk about everything and anything, I tell her about my first 2 weeks of school and my room mate.

"So, Crystal is her name?" she says while being fully focused on the road.

"Yeah. She has blue hair and listens to rock music and stuff, completely unlike me. But I like her and her friends. They are really kind. Or... Most of them, at least" I tell her, trying to imply that I like them and I want to see what she feels about it. Mother suddenly look concerned.

"I don't think that you should hang out with those people Kayla. They always bring trouble with them, wherever they go" she says with a slightly irritated tone in her voice, as if she's disappionted in me for hanging out with them. "You should just stay with the more decent people in your department, at least they don't dye their hair in crazy colors and get high on the weekends"

I can't help but feel offended by her comment, but I try to hide it as much as possible and just nod. Well, obviously she's not going to agree with me transferring to acoustic. What am I going to do now?