My Motorcycle Guardian

Chaoter forty-five: Seatbelts save lives.

Unedited

Ms. Pave sat across from Noah and I. After Doctor Helmsworth left, I had moved to sit next to Noah, watching my English teacher carefully.

Slowly, it all began to make sense.

"That's why you only listen to her." I said, breaking the long silence. I glanced at Noah, who was staring hard at his clenched fists, then to Ms. Pave, who watched me with a tired smile.

I've never see her so...drab. Her hair was clipped away from her face, but some tendrils still fell across her tear streaked face. She didn't wear any makeup, and she wore a large grey sweater. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that she had rushed here the instant she got the call.

I suddenly remembered what Addie had told me that day about her mom's abusive boyfriend. Suddenly, Ms. Pave seemed like the strongest person ever. A single mom and working as a teacher, and still manages to smile every time I see her.

"Addie's school starts after ours...you have to drive her there then come to school...making you late everyday." I said slowly. Ms. Pave nodded, reaching out and brushing a strand of Addie's hair behind her ear.

"I can't hire a babysitter. They're ridiculously expensive nowadays. And I've always trusted your class to not get to crazy, so I allow thirty minutes to yourselves while I drop Addison off." She explained.

I looked to Noah next, who refused to meet my eyes.
Hellmington High had a policy that states that no relatives, wether it be student-to-student or student-to-teacher, can be in the same class.

"They don't know..." I breathed, surprised by my own discovery. Noah nodded, finalizing my guess.

"When my parents started to travel more and more...I became violent, angry, what ever you want to call it. Elizabeth was the only one who could help me." He nodded towards Ms. Pave.

"So we kept it a secret that we were related so that she could be there when ever I lost my temper or just needed a familiar face." Noah explained. Ms. Pave reached across the bed and took his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"My sister never realized how incredible her son is." She muttered, giving Noah a soft smile. "When she left, I stepped in. It worked out perfectly. He'd take care of Addie when I couldn't, and I'd drop by the house every so often to see how he was coming along."

My brain was being twisted and pulled as I tried to wrap my mind around it.

My English teacher...was Noah's aunt...

"You excused us!" I suddenly blurted, making them both jump. "When we were absent, you excused us so that the school wouldn't investigate!" I pointed at Ms. Pave, and a hint of the old smile I remembered began to return.

She nodded, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "Noah explained everything to me." She suddenly gave me a grim, pitiful look. "I'm so sorry, Hanna." She whispered.

I swallowed thickly and took her hand.

"Thank you." I said, meaning every breath of it.

"For everything."

***

"The hair color looks nice on you." Ms. Pave said as we walked through the halls of the hospital.

I laughed softly and smiled. "Thanks. CJ thought it would help with...you know." I said, shrugging.

Ms. Pave suddenly took my hand in hers, making me look over at her.
"How are you holding up with that?" She asked softly. I swallowed again, wetting my lips.