Not Perrie Edward's Little Sister

Worksheet War

“Ok class, I hope that you were paying attention to that video because now we will be completing a worksheet on its contents.” Said Mrs Garacelli with a thick Italian accent.

Italian is one of my favourite subjects, but I’m careful to never say so out loud. Everybody would think that I’m more of a nerd than I already am. 

Mrs Garacelli handed out a piece of paper to each student. Harley was sitting next to me, imitating her. I was struggling not to laugh, however my face fell when I saw what we were working on.

The Family. Colour in the pictures of everyone in your family and write a short description of their looks and personalities in Italian.

I stared at the empty Dad shape felt sick. Empty, empty and gone I thought. Then I saw the Mum and sister shapes, and I scribbled them out with a black marker.

Mrs Garacelli came over to our desk, and I thought she was going to say something to me. Instead she bent over to Harley and whispered something into his ear. I saw his arms tensing up and I knew something was wrong. Before I got to say something, he stood up.

“Whata are youa doinga?” asked Mrs Garacelli, alarmed.

“I have a fucking family!” he shouted. I was shocked. I’d never seen him swear before, ever.

He tipped his desk over, grabbed his bag and ran out the door. In a split second I made a decision to follow him outside. I was going to be in so much trouble.

I ran after him, and followed him out the door. Normal girls would have struggled to keep up with a guy, but all those pajama runs with Steve meant that I was easily able to catch him.

“Harley!” I shouted. He turned around. “Let’s go to the park.”

We made it there, puffing, and I asked him for an explanation. “Look, it’s just family stuff.”

I raised my eyebrow, and he told me everything. His Dad was a drug addict, and his Mum recently became an alcoholic. His old teacher contacted Child Protection and his been in care ever since.

I gave him a small hug. I didn’t want to make a big deal, because its obvious that he only told me because he trusts me. We hung out at the park until we knew we both had to be home.