Wednesday, March 21

Harry's POV

"Okay mum, I'm going to school," I call, sliding my jacket on.

"Harry wait a second! Come over here a minute."

"I'm going to be late," I tell her, slightly annoyed. When I round the corner I see Adie standing near the peninsula. She hasn't left the house yet, but she's been walking around a bit more, getting herself food and watching TV in the living room.

"I'm going to drive you," mum says. "Adie and I need to talk to the principal about her finishing the year."

"You're going to school?" I ask Adie. She shrugs.

"Probably not. I've missed a lot, I don't think I'll be able to rejoin our class this year."

I frown and sit in the chair next to where she's standing. With Adie getting better I just started picturing us walking the halls together again. I like school a lot better when she's there and now that probably won't happen. Shitty.

"We don't know that for sure," my mother says. Adie just shrugs again. When I take another look at her I realize she's actually wearing real clothes, the ensemble including the bracelet I gave her. I've only seen her in pajamas and her mother's sweater for about six weeks.

"We should go, I don't want to be late for class."

"Great," mum chirps. "Ready, Adison?"

She nods and I smile encouragingly at her before following her out the door. She hasn't been around more than five people at one time in the last few weeks, so hopefully by the time we get there the hallways aren't too crowded. As we drive Adie just stares out the window in the passenger seat, twisting her ring quickly around on her finger. I've noticed that the faster she moves it around the more nervous or anxious she is.

"Ads, you okay?" I ask from behind my mum. She doesn't respond so I reach forward and gently put my hand on her arm. She jumps a little and turns to look at me. "You good?"

"Oh umm..yeah. I'm okay." She smiles slightly and turns back to the window. I look at my mum in her rearview mirror and she gives me a worried look. I don't like this. This could set her back and that is the last thing I want for her when she's finally feeling better.

When we pull up to the school after a painfully silent drive I practically jump out of the car. I run around the the other side as Adie is opening the door and finish the job for her, extending my hand. She looks at it and smiles up at me as she slides her hand into mine. She climbs out of the car and I shut the door for her.

"You sure about this?" I ask quietly. She sighs and nods her head a few times. "Okay. Do you want me to come with you?"

"You have class," she says.

"I'll miss it, I don't mind."

"It's fine, Harry. Your mum is coming with me, I'll be okay. We just need to figure out how I can finish the year. I'll be fine."

"You sure?" I ask, reaching up to tuck a windblown hair behind her ear. She nods again and smiles at me, more confidently this time. "Alright, but just text me if you want me to come, okay?"

"Harry, shouldn't you get to class?" my mum calls, staring at her phone. I sigh to myself and pull Adie towards the school, mum following when she finally looks up. She better not be on that damn phone the whole time. She needs to pay attention to her. When we get inside I squeeze Adie's hand for comfort. I feel her other hand close around the same one she's already holding, her body hidden behind my arm when she sees all the people in the hallway. My mum heads straight for the office and I follow quickly, glaring at the people staring at Adie like she grew an extra arm or something. He fucking mother died. What is their problem?

"Okay Harry, get to class," mum says again.

"It hasn't started yet, I'll wait with you guys," I insist, holding the door to the reception area open. Mum stares at me for a minute before looking down at Adie and giving in. We sit in the waiting area, Adie keeping my hand on her lap. She twists my own ring around on my finger now, instead of her own. I feel like she's wearing down a layer of skin, but I don't care. If she needs to do that to stay calm then that's what she'll do.

"Alright, Principal Hayes will see you now," the desk lady says. I used to come in here all the time but I still have no idea what her name is. My mum stands up and smiles at Adie, nodding her head towards the door of the office.

"You'll be fine," I whisper. She looks up at me and nods her head once. I look at my mum's impatient expression and roll my eyes as I stand, pulling Adie up with me. I wrap my arms around her. "Text me if you need me."

She nods again and I quickly kiss her on the cheek before walking out of the office. When I get around the corner I sprint to my locker. I have history law first period and my teacher is such a dick when people are late.

---

To: Adie
How'd it go? everything good?

I set my phone down on the lunch table and pick at my disgusting cafeteria food. Adie never texted me about the meeting, so I don't know what happened or if she's okay. I'm starting to worry.

"Harry, calm down. I'm sure she's fine," Louis says, quiet enough that the others don't hear.

"I just wish she would text me or something."

"She will. And if she doesn't, you'll probably see her. You do live in the same house, remember?"

I roll my eyes and laugh a little. Maybe I am being a little obsessive. If something was really wrong then I would know about it. My mum would have at least let me know.

"So is she coming back?" he asks.

"Not sure. She hasn't told me anything yet. I don't know how that would work, though. She missed-"

I stop short when Louis expression turns to confusion, his eyes landing beside me. I slowly turn to the chair beside me, my face mirroring Louis' when I realize it's Ashlee. She tried texting me yesterday but I didn't see it until hours later, so I just didn't respond.

"Hey guys," she says, smiling nervously. I look at Louis and he shrugs. Ashlee never sits with us, especially since Courtney stopped. When I started seeing Adie and ignoring Courtney she moved on to her next victim. Her lap dogs followed obviously.

"Did you...need something?" I ask, confused. I have no reason to be rude to Ashlee and I'm not trying to be, but this is confusing. If Courtney saw her talking to us she'd be pissed.

"Can I talk to you?" she asks, looking at me. At this point our entire table is staring at the interaction. Ash and I haven't really hung out this year at all, and they know that we used to be close. This is kind of random.

"Umm..yeah. Yeah, sure." I stand and start to follow her out of the caf, but Louis stops me. "What?"

"What does she want?" he asks quietly.

"How should I know?"

"Do you still not remember anything from the other night?" he asks, I assume referring to the party on Friday. I shake my head, no.

"Why?"

"Because I thought...you were with her a lot that night and..." he stops and scratches the back of his neck.

"And....what?" I ask. He stays silent and slowly it occurs to me. He thinks I did something with her. "No, Lou. I didn't...there's no way. I didn't cheat on Adie."

"I'm not saying you did man, I have no idea. I'm just telling you what I saw."

"We were all wasted, you don't know what you saw."

"I wasn't as drunk as you, mate, I remember everything."

"Whatever, Lou. I didn't do that, I would never do that." I turn and walk away, now slightly pissed off. Why would I do something like that? Why does he think I would do something like that? Never in my life. I wouldn't...do something with another girl while mine is at home in bed depressed about her mother's death. That would be the lowest possible thing for me to do. I'm not that guy. I refuse to be.

I find Ashlee waiting near the end of the hall. She's nervously biting her nail.

"What's up?" I ask. She sighs and steps into an empty classroom. I follow and she shuts the door behind me. "What's with all the secrecy?"

"I need to talk to you about the party," she says finally.

"Okay..what about it?"

"Do you remember anything?"

"Not really. Do you?"

She stops and leans back against one of the desks. "Bits and pieces."

I lean against the desk opposite her and wait for the rest, but it doesn't come. She stares at the floor, looking increasingly nervous as time goes on.

"Ashlee, what's going on?"

"Look, I know this isn't something you want to hear but...I think something happened."

I swallow nervously. "What do you mean?"

"Look, we were both really drunk and you don't even remember so it's really not a big deal," she says, trying to make the situation better. Not working.

"Ash, just tell me what the fuck happened," I snap. She looks up at me. Shit. I know where this is going.

"I think...we kissed," she says quietly. My hands ball into fists and I just stare at her.

"You're lying."

She shakes her head frantically. "I'm not, I swear. Harry, I know how much you care about Adie, I wouldn't purposely try to ruin that. We may not really be friends anymore, but I still care about you. I'm not lying, I feel terrible about this."

She steps forward to try and put her hand on mine, but I step away from her. This isn't...it's not happening. I love Adie, I wouldn't do...No. No.

"That's not true," I say quietly. "It's not possible. I would never..."

"I don't remember exactly what happened...how it happened. I'm so sorry, I never meant to betray her like that. Not again. I was just so drunk and..I don't know. I feel terrible."

"It's not true!" I shout. She flinches slightly. "It's not! I would never do that! You're lying, I know you are."

"I'm not," she says, shaking her head.

"Then you're wrong. You're remembering it wrong. I could never cheat on Adie, I would never do that to her. I love her."

"I know," she says, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I know, Harry. I'm sorry, I wish I was wrong. I wish it didn't happen but..."

I shake my head and back away from her. I want to say that it didn't happen and I know that for sure, but I honestly don't know. I have no recollection of the night, it's a complete blackout for me. I want to say I wouldn't do that, but if I was that drunk then who knows what could have happened.

Maybe I did...

I storm out of the room and head straight out the front door, ignoring Niall's questions when I walk by him. I can't be here right now. I need to figure this out, I need to find a way to remember what happened that night. But how am I supposed to do that?

Notes

is she telling the truth? did he cheat on her?!?!!?!?

frikken harry

anywho, my school is going to get super busy the next few weeks, so im only updating when i get certain responses. for the next chapter of this story i would like 5 votes OR 8 comments. whichever comes first.
both would be good too ;)

thanks for reading guys :)