Broken (The Charade Trilogy)

Chapter 14

Broken

Lightly, I knocked on Harry's door. I stood waiting for an answer but there wasn't one. When I was about to knock again, a voice behind me startled me and I froze in my tracks.

I peered over my shoulder and found myself relieved as I stood facing Harry with grocery bags in his hands.

He smiled and bowed his head in my direction while setting the bags down.

"Need help?" I asked, kindly.

He pointed to the bags as he unlocked the door.

Once it was open, I gripped the bags and made my way inside, Harry following, shutting the door behind him.

We set the bags down on his tiny counter covered with books and paper.

All this time I've been wrong about Harry. He came off as the type to not care about school work or learning, but it appears that he really does care.

It made me smile to know that he's changing so much for the better.

I picked up a book and read the first page. "So you've decided to study law, huh?"

He looked over his shoulder from the mini fridge that he was shoving his groceries into. "Yeah." His back straightened and he made his way closer to me. "After figuring out everything with Madeline and Johnny, I thought it'd be interesting to completely understand the whole situation."

I nodded my head, comprehending his statement. "I actually came here to talk about Madeline and Johnny. . ."

"Gosh Sky, can't we just forget about them? They're locked up now. They won't harm you or your family." He took a sip from a water bottle.

"Besides, I don't want Celine finding out. This campus is not the best place to discuss this kind of stuff."

"Then lets go get lunch." I offered.

He walked over to the door and peered down the hall before speaking. "Just tell me now. But make it quick."

Before telling him how I felt about Madeline and Johnny attending the dinner, I took a deep breath and prayed he wouldn't take it the wrong way.

"So, you're basically telling me that my parents can't come to the event, but yours can?" He clarified with an angry tone, just what I feared would happen.

"Well that shouldn't be such a big deal if they're locked up, you just said so yourself."

He took a long, drawn out breath and shut his eyes. "I'll make sure they don't attend."

A smile formed on my face as I gave Harry a friendly hug.

When our hugged ended, he looked at me with a puzzled look. "But what am I going to tell Celine when she asks where they are?"

He made a point, but it's nothing I can't solve. "Just tell her they got caught up in something at home and couldn't leave in time to make it."

His head nodded a couple times.

"Harry, thank you so much. I owe you big time." A reassuring smile formed across my lips.

"No I owed this one to you."

I gave him a questioning look.

"Helping me find Celine the past two times, remember?" He joked.

I found myself chuckling because Harry even noticed how much of a drama queen Celine is and how it's quite pathetic that she ran away twice.

Before heading out, I thanked Harry again for keeping his parents away from the campus dinner and told him multiple times how much it meant to me. No matter how many times he denied it, I still continued to remind him that I owe him.

"All you owe me is your trust." He explained to me. "If I can continue to trust you with my secrets then I'm happy."

We said our goodbyes and I headed back to my dorm, passing Celine on the way.