Safe | zarry adoption

t w o

The next day I walk into history, relieved by the fact that there was no homework due. Mr. Styles stood by the door, greeting students as the walked in.

"Good morning, Ms. Weber. How are you doing today?"

"I'm fine, thank you," I mumbled despite the fact that I had been awake until 2am working at the coffee shop.

I took my usual seat towards the back of the classroom and pulled out my notebook, prepared to zone out for 45 minutes while Mr. Styles droned on about something that I wouldn't understand anyway.

A few minutes before class ended, Mr. Styles pulled out two stacks of papers. Great. Homework. The whole glass groaned and he smiled. "Let me know if you need any help, that's what I'm here for. This will be due on Friday. Jason, Leo, can you pass these out?"

The two boys got up and starting dropping the papers on everyone's desks. When the papers dropped on my desk, I looked down and internally groaned. The homework was based around everything Mr. Styles had just covered — meaning nothing I knew. Just my luck. Before anything else awful could happen, the bell for lunch rang. I quickly got up and went to the library, hoping to get a more secluded spot.

I found a spot in a corner and pulled out the sheet we had just gotten in history.

What were five major impacts the Vietnam War had on the United States?

Fuck. I'm completely fucked.

Mrs. Broadfoot always counted our homework towards our final grades, so I figured that Mr. Styles would too.

Which meant that I was going to fail.

I sighed and skimmed through the rest of the questions, seeing if there were any that I could answer. None.

"Hi, Kasey. Getting a head start on your homework I see." I flinched and looked up to see Mr. Styles looking down at me.

"Uh... yeah," I replied, looking down.

"Do you need any help? It's a tough assignment. I have all of your lunch period free, I was just going to check out a book." He held up the book in his hand as proof. "You can come back to the classroom and we can work on it together."

"I'm-I'm fine, thank you though."

He frowned. "Are you sure? It wouldn't be an issue at all. I have a copy of the notes and everything if you need it. I have nothing better to do anyway."

"R-really?" I asked, just to make sure.

"Yeah, of course! I'm just going to check out this book and we can head back, okay?"

I nodded and put the worksheet in my backpack, zipping it up. I caught up to Mr. Styles and hesitantly walked next to him.

"Did you bring a lunch today? I don't see you carrying one." Mr. Styles seemed disappointed, if that made any sense.

"No, um, I forgot to pack it," I found myself saying. More like mom forgot to get a job to pay for food for me to eat.

"Well, I have food in my classroom to share, no worries. My husband always makes the best food."

"How-how long have you been married?" I asked, trying to make small talk to not seem as boring.

"Almost three years, although this will be our first anniversary in the states."

"Are you from England?" I asked quietly, scared that it was a stupid question.

"What was that, love? Sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"S-sorry, are you-you from England?" I repeated, my cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"Yes, I am. I grew up in Cheshire." His voice sounded wistful, as if he wished he never moved to the almighty state of Michigan. I didn't blame him. We walked into the classroom and Mr. Styles took a seat at his desk, gesturing for me to pull a chair up next to him. "Alrighty, what do you need help with?" he asked.

"Uh, mostly all of it," I said, looking down. "Sorry, it's just, just hard to focus sometimes."

"That's quite alright love, we all have our days, yeah?" I nodded sheepishly. "Here's a copy of all that we went over today. If you look that over, things will start to make a lot more sense. Why don't you read that tonight and let me know tomorrow if you need any help. It's not due for four more days, so take your time." Mr. Styles pulled out his bag, revealing his lunch — a salad and granola bar. "Here, love, take the granola bar and we'll share the salad."

I hesitantly took the bar and unwrapped it. My stomach rumbled. I ducked my head, embarrassed. "S-sorry."

Mr. Styles laughed. "No need to apologize. That's what the food is for."

I bit into the bar and god, it was so good. I wasn't able to eat since the muffin at the café I had around midnight, which was also the only thing I had eaten in the past 48 hours. I quickly devoured it, slightly embarrassed by how fast it disappeared. Mr. Styles then invited me to eat some of the salad, which I gratefully accepted. He explained that he made the croutons from scratch and his husband came up with the recipe for the salad.

Their children one day will be so lucky, I thought. They didn't have to worry about where their next meal would come from, or if their parents were going to hit them for opening the door too loudly. Soon, the salad was gone and I was listening to Mr. Styles drone on about the weather and sporting events and things I didn't really care about, but I nodded along with what he was saying. Before I knew it, there were only two minutes before lunch ended and Mr. Styles was packing up his containers. "Well, Kasey, it was very nice to spend lunch with you. Remember to read over the notes and ask me if you have any more questions, alright?" I nodded, thanking him. "And if you ever want someone to eat lunch with or you would like to have some of mine, I would be more than happy to spend it with you again. I don't want you going hungry, I'm here to help, yeah?"

"Thank you, really," I said again honestly. No one has cared this much for me for longer than I can remember.

"Of course, Kasey," he replied, putting his hand on my shoulder and squeezing it slightly.

I quickly left and headed to my math class, trying to not let myself get too attached to him. Because he'll eventually find out, and if he finds out, then he'll leave.

sorry for that shitty ending but my brain is completely fried,,, new update coming tomorrow though!! i took my ap hug exam today and i don't think i failed!! anyway, love you all <3 (aka the one person reading/voting on this lol)

- asteria