everything I didn't say

thirteen

I walk into the apartment and my head begins hurting instantly.

"Julie!" I call into the area.

"Yeah?" She calls back from the kitchen and I smile when I see her.

"Hey." I say as I set my bag on the kitchen table.

She's waiting for something to be done in the microwave, I hear the noises and look over and see it running.

"So Niall went to UCLA?" I ask her and she turns her head to me. 

She's got her hair in a ponytail and she looks sleep deprived but I don't make comments about that.

She raises her eyebrow. I nod. 

"Uh, no." I hold up the notebook. 

"When is that from?"

"I assume when he was a freshman here." 

"Did you read the whole thing?" She hops off the counter and opens the microwave door. 

"No, only the first part. I plan on reading the rest later." She nods, stirring the contents of her bowl. 

"Did you know he went here?" I ask and she shakes her head without even looking up.

"I can't believe he went here and didn't tell me." I huff.

"I bet theres a lot he hasn't told you." She blows on her food to cool it down, exiting the kitchen.

I have a lot of work to do and I'm tired, so I decide on talking to Niall about this some other time. 

**

The next day drags on slowly and boring, and none of my classes interest me the slightest.

After school, I drive down to Walmart to get some groceries. Our refridgerator at the apartment is reaching empty, so it's time to restock.

I grab a cart and begin heading down each aisle, picking up some random foods here and there. I head to the frozen section of the store and turn down the frozen foods aisle.

There picking out a tub of ice cream is Professor Small. I see him shut the freezer door and he looks up and notices me. I wave him over.

"Leah, hello." He says politely so I smile.

"Hi." I answer. "I was actually wondering if I could ask you something?" I take advantage of the out of the classroom setting.

"Of course, what is it?" He says kindly.

"It's about Niall.." I look up to see if his expression has changed, and when I see that it hasn't, I continue. 

"You said that he didn't have a final assignment, and I was just wondering why?" I ask.

"Because Niall left halfway through the school year." He explains. 

"Why?" I ask. He looks around, presumably to see if anyone is around. Nobody is.

"I don't know if I should be telling you this, but, he was, well, he was expelled."

"Expelled?" I gape. "For what?"

"There was an incident. Such a shame too, he was such a great student."

He looks down to the container of ice cream in his hands. "Well, it was nice seeing you. I'll catch you in class tomorrow." He smiles before walking off. I look at the ground and begin to wander what kind of 'incident' got Niall expelled halfway through the year.

I grab the rest of our groceries and head to the checkout. I give the cashier my debit card and take the groceries and load them in my car.

I drive down the street from the Walmart and stop at the small drink shop there.