teacher ♤ s.t [rewriting]

36 ♤ Eternity

36 ♤ Eternity

S H A Y N E ♤

I knocked gently on the window of my car, trying to grab her attention. Courtney had stolen my keys to get into my car last night, so there wasn't really a way to wake her up.

Her eyes gently fluttered open on the other side of the glass. A frown formed on her lips once she realized it was me, turning away.

"Oh, doll, please, don't be like that," I pleaded gently.

I hadn't gotten any sleep last night, to tell the truth. She was like a drug. If I wasn't cradling her against my chest, I couldn't fall asleep. My hair was ruffled, and I had dark circles underneath my eyes that looked gray in the bathroom mirror.

Courtney rolled down the window the entire way, watching me warily.

I resisted the urge to reach in and hug her, knowing she needed her space.

"Yes?"

"Please, I-I, can we talk?"

That's how we ended at an abandoned iHop at seven in the morning, sitting across from each other at a table in the corner.  Courtney wasn't going to eat, so I wasn't going to either.

"I...Courtney," I didn't know what to say.

"It's okay," she murmured.  "I'm trying to understand why you did it. The PTSD is understandable, but I don't feel like that's all, so I'm not going to press about it."

"I... thank you, Court," I stumbled.  "I'm really sorry about snapping about the other thing you said, it just, I really don't like him."

She nodded. "I'm sorry for saying it. I didn't mean it at all. You're nothing like 'he who shall not be named'," she apologized.

I placed my hand out to her cautiously, glad that she reciprocated by slipping her small, delicate hand on my palm.

"Do you wanna come with me to the nursing home to say goodbye to my dad?" I offered.

"Do you want me to?"

"I asked, didn't I?" I smiled gently.

"I- sure," she mumbled, a shy smile gracing her lips, color flooding her cheeks. "In our pyjamas?"

"Yeah," I grinned.

Courtney glanced down at her body, looking at my light pink shirt on her body and my sweatpants cinched tightly around her waist.  I don't know how she wasn't frozen in the car last night, but she did have the keys, so I guess she could have turned the heat on.

"O-okay," she mumbled, her hand still gripping mine.

♤

We walked in through the doors of the nursing home, still latched onto each other. We looked like absolute zombies as we stood by the front desk, messy hair, dark under eyes, rumpled clothing.

They finally let us into see my father, who was reclining in his chair, his fingers fiddling together.

I walked over to him gently, Courtney timidly following along behind me.