A new teacher at Liberty High School, Raina Hadley is young, intelligent, and genuine. A single mother, she takes a job as a History teacher at Liberty after the tragedy of Hannah Baker's death. She is a strong willed single mother, devoted to her s...
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omgitsjess and 512 others liked this
raina_h: how did I ever get so lucky? now I can take my loverboy w/ me everywhere I go. <3
@Bwalker: well he's one lucky guy Ms. H ;)
@omgitsjess: we knew you would love it when we picked it out.
@c_jensen: you two are so in love it makes me sick
@j_atkiss: dang Ms. H you got this dude whipped huh?
@ty_dphotos: wow Ms. H someone must like you an awful lot! When do we get to meet this dude?
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Monty's POV
I had been spending every bit of my spare time with Raina, and it was getting harder and harder not to tell my friends about her. Part of me knew they would be supportive, all but Bryce, just out of jealousy. I had been sitting in my Jeep almost an hour after school was over, just making mental notes.
One, a comprised list of everyone who knew about my relationship with Raina so far.
Jess, Clay, Justin, and Zach.
Two, a list of reasons why I hadn't told the other people in my life.
1. Bryce would be furious.
He constantly went on about Raina, and had some weird idea in his head that she wanted him. They would "eye fuck" as he called it. When, truth be told, Raina had told me she got seriously bad vibes from Bryce. And she had good reasoning. He was a shitty dude, for the most part. He didn't have a lot of redeeming qualities. But, he had pull, and I knew he could fuck mine and Raina's life up quick if things went badly.
2. Raina's job
I'd hate myself forever if she lost her job over me. I mean, of course I'd get a job if she lost hers. I'd take care of her and Ashe, and I wouldn't have a second thought about it. But she loved what she did, and she was so good at it. Everything at Liberty had gotten better when she got there, and not just for me. So many students came to her with their problems, and she helped and cared for every single one like they were her own child. It was one of the best things about her. Her love. Her heart.
3. My dad
It's no secret that my dad is kind of a piece of shit. He's always put his hands on me and my mom. It's nothing dramatic or shitty to me anymore. It's just another day. But if he found out I had been dating my teacher for almost 5 months now, he would beat the fucking brakes off me.
I rested my head on the steering wheel. This was exasperating. It was worth it, don't get me wrong. But it was shitty, not being able to tell people, "hey, that's my girlfriend and I love her."
I love her.
Fuck, but I did. I loved her so much. I mean, I was completely oblivious to the concept of love before I met her. I had no idea what any of it meant, how special it was. How freeing and liberating love could be. It had made me someone different in the few months I'd known her. I was kinder. I actually talked about how I felt now, instead of hitting the nearest person. I had never wanted a kid in my life. Fuck that. That would ruin my future. Or so I thought. But, when I looked at Ashe, or when he cuddled up to me on the couch and fell asleep at my side, it made me feel funny.
Not haha funny. It made my throat tight, and tears well up in my eyes. That I, Montgomery De La Cruz could ever care so much about this tiny human being that someone else created. That I would do anything in my power to protect him, and his mom. That I'd throw baseball with him in the backyard sometime in the future. It made me look at my life, and reevaluate.
I was graduating in 5 months. It was the start of December. I had five months left of being unaccountable, as far as being a real adult went. And then, that's when things would get serious. Half a year ago, if you would have asked me where I thought I'd be after graduation, I would've told you, far far from Liberty. Somewhere on a baseball scholarship, banging every freshman sorority girl I could get in my bed.
Now all I can see when I look ahead after May is waking up in the arms of a beautiful woman, every single day. The pitter patter of tiny feet scurrying across the hardwood. The sound of Mickey Mouse saying, "Hiya, everybody, it's me, Mickey Mouse!" (on a continuous loop, embedded in my brain) every morning while we ate breakfast. I can see me kissing my girl before we both leave for work, us taking turns dropping Ashe off at the Standall's. Watching her cook dinner after I've been away from her all day, thinking, "I have got to be the luckiest guy in the world."
For me, there was no other choice at this point. If Raina and Ashe weren't a part of my daily routine after graduation, I'd lose my mind.
It took me a minute to realize I couldn't breathe, and even longer to realize it was because I was crying like a baby. My chest was heavy, and my head ached. The sun was going down on our sleepy little town. I looked at the time on my phone. 7:30. I'd been in the parking lot of the school for almost 3 hours. I was so scared. Scared of losing Raina, scared of how the future was going to play out. But I had a few tricks up my sleeve, and a few ideas on how to keep her around, no matter how stressful things got.
