Quiet || hs

25

Everyone had left the gym and I was here with no ride. Monique offered a ride, but I didn't feel like dealing with her parents bombarding me with questions. Her parents are a bit up their asses and stuck up, I guess you could say. Luckily, she's nothing like them.

I lightly knock on Harry's office door before pushing it open. Harry stood behind his desk, flipping through papers. His eyes shift up to me and he rolls them.

"What is it, Rylee?" he says with his deep voice.

"I don- I need a r- can you ple-"

"Spit it out Rylee." he snaps, crossing his arms. "I'm sure you didn't have a problem speaking when you told Monique."

I breathe out angrily and shut his door behind me. "I didn't tell her. She walked into my room unannounced when you were sleeping in my bed."

"Why didn't you tell me right then and there?"

"I tried, but you got that phone call and rushed out without even a goodbye or thank you." I say, dropping my gym bag on the floor and walk toward him. "I couldn't tell you at all today because you weren't here. Then you got upset at me for being a little bit late. I was a only a little bit late and you yelled at me. Monique is right, I can tolerate you treating me like shit because I let it happen in my last relationship so I'm used to it." my voice started to raise toward the end because I was getting furious. I'm not the one who get angry that much and he was pushing my buttons.

"I would've did the same to any of the other girls on the team if they were late, but you were the one who was." he says, not sounding a least bit empathetic at all. "So stop comparing me to your ex and saying I treat you like shit. I'm just playing fair and you shouldn't have thought I would treat you different because of the behind the scene shit we do."

"This is why I can't do relationships." I sigh, sitting on the couch in the corner of his office. "I'm not saying this is a relationship, but we're arguing like it is. I don't want to fight, I want to focus on my last year of high school and volleyball."

"Look," he walks over to sit next to me. "I'm sorry for accusing you of telling Monique. I should've let you explain."

"Monique really doesn't trust you." I laugh out.

He inhales sharply. "That's what I was afraid of. Today during practice, she gave me this nasty attitude." he tells me. "This is exactly why I didn't want her to know because I bet I lost her respect."

"She just helped me through my last relationship. He's not much older than you and she just doesn't want me to get involved with a guy who's older again. He used me and hurt me."

"Rylee, I don't want to hurt you. That's the last thing I'd ever want." Harry looks me in the eyes. "I'm not taking advantage of you, you know that right?"

I smile. "Yes, I know."

"Today, I was talking to my lawyer." he tells me. "I-I'm trying to get a divorce."

I scoot away and frown. "Harry-"

"I tried keeping our marriage together." he interrupts. "I'm just so unhappy. I love Caroline, I do. That's why I'm getting a divorce because I can't do this to her. I've been cheating on her and she really doesn't deserve it."

"So it's my fault-"

"No, no it's not." he stops me. "I've had an affair before and things got out of hand. She found out and we thought moving to another area would help our marriage to get through it. Now that it's happening again, she just doesn't deserve this."

"But I'm still partly the reason."

He sighs. "Yeah," then stops me before I spoke again. "But mostly about me. If I force this relationship any more than I'll just go mad. Caroline wants something more while I just want to live my life."

"Why'd you marry her then?"

"I met her my freshman year of college. Our relationship turned from best friends to actually being in love. It was a stupid decision we made because we wanted to believe we'd be together forever." he explains and I stand up to slightly pace. "I love Caroline, but she deserves better than a scumbag cheating on her again."

"You're not a scumbag," I shake my head.

"Thanks Rylee, but I am." he chuckles softly. "I'm here with one of my students while my wife is home waiting for me."

"Then I'm the scumbag." I inhale sharply, crossing my arms.

"No-"

"Yes Harry," I stop him. "I knew you had a wife, but I kissed you. I was the one who led you on and now a nice woman will be heartbroken."

Harry stands up and pulls me into a hug. "I don't want you to speak anymore. I just thought you should know about my divorce and let me explain so you didn't blame yourself."

I lightly push him away on the verge of tears. "But I do blame myself. I'm a home wrecker and that's something I never wanted to be because it's happened to me." I tell him. "Don't get the divorce Harry. You don't have to get it because we're done with this. You can try to fix your relationship."

"Rylee no, I've already tried." he tries pulling me back. "My marriage was destroyed way before you came into my life. Understan-"

"I understand that you're leaving your wife for a seventeen year old student. It's just stupid of you to do that Harry."

"It's-"

"I broke it off with Brennen because I didn't want a relationship. You freaked out because you thought I wanted a relationship and now you want something?"

"You're the only one who can keep me sane when I go off on the girls. Don't-"

"No Harry, we're done with whatever this was." I say about to walk out. "Please, stay with your wife."

"Rylee, don't do this." he grabs my arm. "I like you. I really like having you in my arms, kissing you and the conversations we have are the best part."

"You say that now, but will you say that five years from now? We probably won't even remember each other then because I'll just be like Caroline where you find someone much more interesting." I blurt out, warm tears actually slide down my cheeks. I wipe them away before speaking again. "That might be next week because I'm not even interesting. I'm the quiet girl that sits in the back of class. I don't know why you didn't just let that first kiss go."

"Because when you kissed me, it felt different!" he starts getting frustrated. "Rylee, I will always remember you and I would never find someone better than you because you're the best thing that's happened to m-"

"Did you say that to the wife you're about to serve divorce papers to?" I question softly through my teeth. "I may be a teenager, but I'm not stupid Harry. I've been in a horrible, messy relationship before– as I've mention many times, but you just want to hurt me. Well that's too bad because I'm not falling for it. Find someone who is actually naive enough to fall for that shit."

Harry sighs loudly, trying to find words to say. "I don-"

"Goodbye Harry," I interrupt. "Our whole teacher-student relationship will restart tomorrow."

I quickly left his office before he said anything. Tears slowly fall down my cheeks. I'll have to be walking home now.