Three.
The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday were pretty uneventful. School was on Monday and it was inevitable. So that dreary Monday, with the sun filtering through the blinds and the birds chirping outside, I had to go to school and face all the pity stares I would receive from classmates that I didn't want anything with.
I sat up in bed for a while, leaning up against my headboard. This school year was going to be different, I'll tell you that. No boyfriend to pick me up and drive me there. No one to walk in with me on their arm. No on to talk to their friends and ignore me.
Harry was a burden and now he's gone.
Looking at the day in a new way, I kicked off the covers and threw open the curtain, pulling the string that lifted up the blinds. Pressing the play button on my radio, I got ready to the sweet sounds of shitty pop music. Harry was so into it.
Stop.
This was not about Harry. Nothing was going to be about him anymore. Dressed to impress, I grabbed my phone from the bean bag chair, where it had been since Friday night, and headed downstairs. Mom had the twins dressed in matching plaid shirts and khaki shorts. "They can dress themselves," I say, grabbing the orange juice carton from the fridge. Mom sighs.
Peter was shoving sausage links down his throat and Roger was counting.
"Are you going to tell them to stop?" I ask. Mom sighed, again, and walked over to the twins, moving the plate away from them. They pouted and Roger stuck out his tongue at me. I checked my phone for messages from Naveah. She was supposed to pick me up today.
Dad walked in, adjusting his tie and trying to balance his briefcase on his knee. I drank the juice from the carton wiping my mouth on the back of my hand. My phone beeped.
" can you take the bus? "
What the hell? "Can you drive me to school, Dad?" I asked. Dad looked up from his coffee mug, where I assume he was examining for extra cream. "I can't Hay, I'm late as it is." And he was out the door.
Mom put a hand on my shoulder. "He's late, okay? I'll drive you on the way to the twins' school." I shrugged away her hand. "I'll take the bus."
I grabbed my backpack, loaded with school supplies, waved good bye to everyone, and walked out the door to the corner of the block.
I finally pulled out my phone and messaged Naveah back.
" what the hell? What happened to the ride? "
" niall is taking me. Not like I could ask him if you could tag along "
She's got to be fucking kidding.
" does yancy know you're with niall ?"
" no! of course not. He's just driving me. A friendly drive. See you ar the lockers (: (: "
Friendly drive my ass, she's probably gonna give him a blow job.
The bus rolled up and I mentally prepared myself. Technically, the juniors were the higher power here. After all, seniors should have a car or a ride to school by now. So there was no way I could take a seat in the back. But the back was where all the ruckus was. But the front was where all the nerdy freshman were.
I walked up the steps and literally everything got quiet. I stepped over backpacks and band instruments and found an empty seat in the middle. Behind me, after a snap of her bubble gum, I heard a junior say, "That's Harry's girlfriend."
I ignored the girls and looked out the window, feeling the pulse of the bus as it rolled away from the curb. A couple stops later and the bus braked to a jolt at the lost stop before it drove us to school. I was looking out the window when I heard the clearing of a throat. I looked up and was surprised at what I saw.
"Can I sit here?" He asked. I nodded and took him in. He was tall, dark, with eyes that could probably be an endless pit. His button up shirt was rolled up all the way to his elbows and his arm was covered in tattoos. You could tell that more snaked their way up under the shirt. His hair was dark too, and long, like nearly to his shoulders, and he had light scruff growing on his chin.
When he turned to look at me, I blushed, looking away from him and out the window. "Hi." He spoke, voice raspy, no doubt from a couple packs of cigarettes. I turned back to him. "Hi."
He smiled and looked back towards the front. When the bus reached the loading deck, we parted ways, only to turn back at each other and smile.
I found Naveah surrounded by underclassmen boys at our bank of lockers. She was giving them all equal attention, but the blank glaze over her eyes proved just how truly bored she was. When I reached her little altar, she moved past the boys, ignoring their lustful and wishful stares.
"Hi, Hay!" she twittered, hooking an arm into mine.
"Hey." Together we walked down the hallway, arm in arm. Every time we turned a corner, people silenced their conversations. "Ignore them." Naveah kept saying. But how could I? They were obviously talking about me, whispering words of pity, or simpleton gossip.
We finally made it to our first period where we just stood outside and talked to more people. That's how it usually was everyday. Except, I had Harry with me, so there would've been no reason for me to have nothing to talk about. But now, all the exited my mouth was a lot of "it's okays" and "you don't have to be sorry".
Some people didn't know when to stop.
I did. "Naveah, I'm going in." She hardly looked my way as I walked into the door behind me, only giving me a slight nod of her head.
I took a seat in the back left corner, safe and away from peering eyes. I toss my hobo style bag on my table and reach inside, searching the bottom for a pencil and pulling out a clean and new notebook.
The sound of feet alert me and I see someone shuffle into the seat next to mine. I glance out of the corner of my eye and note that it's the boy from the bus. The one covered in tattoos and with the hair. He looks up and catches me staring. "Hi." he says.
"Hello." I reply. He turns his body to face me and leans forward, elbows on his knees. "You're the girl from the bus, right?" He asks. I nod, also turning to face him. He leans closer, so as to not be over heard by anyone else but me.
"You're the one that killed her boyfriend.'' He whispers, and a shiver runs down my back, tracing its fingers over each bone. I lean back and in my chair.
"What?!"
The guy smirks. "You sure are acting strange. What's the matter?"
"You don't know me." I swallow over the lump in my throat. "You're right. I don't. But you don't know me. And what all I know.''
(zayn'll get a haircut)
