Haunted | h.s

nine » harry

double update whooooo.

(I was thinking about ship names...how about HARIMA? lol ily guys)

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"Alright, so your dorm number is 9618, your textbooks have already been paid for, which you'll have to pick up at the...Harry! Are you listening?!"

I jolt when my mum suddenly raises her voice. "Yes mum, of course I am," I lie. All of this college crap is giving me a headache.

"Then what did she say?" Gemma asks, her eyebrows arched.

I roll my eyes at my sister, who's cooking the special Harry'sfinallygoingtocollegedinner.

"Pretty soon you won't be the only one going to college Gem," I say. "Then you can't act like the smart one anymore."

Gemma scowls. "It's going to take a lot more than college to make you smart."

I open my mouth to reply but mum interrupts. "That's enough. Harry is leaving tomorrow, so we need to spend this time together as a family."

Gemma nods, turning back to the stove where she's cooking. I sigh as my mum shifts through the college papers strewn across the table.

I think back to last night, when Robin got a call in the middle of the night and had to drag himself out of bed to come pick me up at the police station. My mum was angry, but mostly worried when I came home with bloody knuckles and a swollen left eye.

But she didn't scream at me, or ask me any questions about what happened, which I expected to happen.

Instead, she sent me to bed, only after checking to make sure I hadn't broken any bones.

Even now, I'm waiting for her to blow up on me, yell at me about how much of a screw up I am. But this whole morning she's been strangely calm, ignoring the purple bruise beginning to form around my eye, even acting cheerful.

I guess she's saving it. She won't have to deal with any of my shit anymore, now that I'm going to be shipped off to America.

"You know I invited Liam over for dinner tonight, right?" my mum asks nonchalantly, not taking her eyes off the paper she's holding.

"What? Why?" My voice comes out harsher than I wanted it to.

Now she looks at me, peering over the top edge of the paper. "You won't be seeing him for awhile, Harry," she says slowly. "Tonight will be the last time you'll be able to talk to him."

"Do you not want him to come?" she asks curiously.

"Er–no, I mean, it's fine," I say. Liam is alright, I guess. We were childhood friends, but we've drifted apart over the years.

She takes my hand in hers and says: "You can't block everyone out of your life, Harry."

I swallow. I thought she doesn't know what I'm going through, but right now she seems so understanding.

"Now go get cleaned up," my mum says. "Our guests will be here soon."

__________________

"Harry!" Gem knocks on the door. "You can't hide in there forever!"

I ignore her and pad across the room to my bedside table. The only thing sitting atop the oak surface is the picture of Rima and I.

It's longer contained by a frame, since I broke it. I'm thinking about taking it with me, but I don't allow myself to.

I have to let her go.

I exhale, fighting back any tears. She was so, so beautiful. Too beautiful to be taken from the world.