My Teacher, Louis Tomlinson

Chapter 28- They left me

Skye's POV:

Three weeks.

Three weeks without school or human contact, except for my social workers, therapists, nurses, and companions in the mental ward.

Some of them are nice. Most of them are crazy, especially my therapist. Crazy to believe my lies, that is.

They've decided to keep me here until my court date, which happens to be today. I'm not sure if they don't allow visitors or if Mr. Tomlinson, Harry, and Ashton stopped caring about me. Ashton probably doesn't even know what happened. Unless Mr. Tomlinson told everyone... I would hate him for that.

"You ready, Skylynn?" My social worker, Tara, asks me. I nod.

~~~

The court hearing is dull. It is decided that I will be sent to the nearest orphanage, which is surprisingly in the area. Tara tells me that I'll probably be allowed to finish out the year at my school, but she's not sure about anything after that.

She helps me settle into a room with five other girls in the orphanage. No one makes an effort to talk to me. I can tell that I'll be an outsider here too. I bid goodbye to Tara, and she hugs me, as if we've formed any sort of bond in the past few weeks. She has visited me, though. So I guess that's one thing.

I begin to unpack my very few belongings, including my antidepressants, which I set on the nightstand. I go to the bathroom, and when I return I see one of the girls holding the bottle.

"I don't believe we've met." She sneers. "I'm Sarah, and this is little Anna." She introduces herself and the younger girl next to her. Sarah seems to be around my age or a year younger, while Anna looks about seven or eight. Anna looks scared. She nods at me as her name is said.

"I'm Skylynn." I tell them. "And those are mine." I reach for the pills, but instead I get a fist in the face. It wasn't a strong punch, but it shocked me so much that I stumbled backwards.

"Not anymore." Sarah taunts, shoving the bottle into her pocket and strutting away, Anna at her tail.

After dinner, I return to my room to find a bunch of the other girls raiding my suitcase and taking some of my clothes.

"Here, you can have these." They throw a heap of dirty, ripped articles of clothing at me.

That night I can't sleep. I'd been sleeping well at the hospital, likely thanks to the medicine they'd been giving me, which I no longer had. I get a couple of hours before I'm woken up and instructed to go to school. I'd have to walk, they said, but at least it wasn't far.

My locker had been undisturbed in my absence, which I was very grateful for. This would likely be my only sanctuary for a while.

"SKYLYNN!" Ashton nearly screams. He engulfs me in a huge, unexpected hug that I almost flinch away from. I hug back weakly. "Hi."

"Where have you been?!" He demands, still hugging me. "I was worried sick, but Mr. Tomlinson told me not to be."

I went rigid at his name. Ashton must've felt it, because he pulled away until he was just holding my shoulders.

"What happened?"

"Mr. Tomlinson didn't tell you anything?" I asked.

"No, he said you would. I've been texting you nonstop, by the way."

"Sorry," I apologize, "I lost my phone."

"That sucks."

"And I moved."

"Really? Where to?" He asks.

"The orphanage."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

The bell rings and interrupts whatever Ashton wanted to say.

"I need to get to class." I say.

"I'll see you at lunch?"

"Yeah."

The day passes uneventfully. I tell Ashton an abbreviated story of what's been happening, leaving out the suicide attempt and hospital part.

I dread music. I don't want to see Mr. Tomlinson, after he abandoned me over the past three weeks. I got my hopes up about him.

Stupid Skylynn.

He asked to see me after class, but I slipped out before he could stop me.

~~~

The next few weeks were pretty uneventful. I would wake up before the other kids, walk to school, stick with Ashton and avoid questions from teachers (especially Mr. Tomlinson), and walk back to the orphanage. The kids were usually doing school work for an hour after I got home, and then they would come up to the rooms. I got picked on by most of them except for a select few, including Anna. Anna was nice. She didn't talk much, though. Most days I got picked on or hit a couple of times, but never unbearably bad. The kids took part of my dinner, so I didn't eat much. Coming off of the antidepressants was hard, especially because I couldn't sleep.

One particular night, I kept losing control of my body just before falling asleep. I wouldn't be able to move, and my breathing got really shallow.

Upon further research, I found out it was sleep paralysis.

The next day I was even more tired than usual. I fell asleep in music, because I figured Mr. Tomlinson wouldn't care, but he woke me up after only ten minutes before giving me detention after school.

There goes my only time to myself. By the time I get back to the orphanage, all of the kids will be done with their work.

The bell rang and students left as I put my head back down on my desk. Ashton patted my back on his way out in a comforting way.

Mr. Tomlinson put a mug of tea down on my desk after about ten minutes of me trying to sleep and him not saying anything. I couldn't tell if he was mad at me or what.

I pushed the mug away. I'd read that caffeine only increases the likelihood of sleep paralysis.

As if he read my mind, he said, "It's decaf, and it's supposed to help you sleep."

I looked up at him and saw the kindness and sincerity in his face. Tears unwillingly rolled down my cheeks. He understands me. At least somewhat.

"You're not sleeping much at night, are you?" He asks gently.

I shake my head.

"And are you getting hit?"

Some days I come in with bruises or scratches, but they were so much smaller than what I was used to that I thought no one noticed. I didn't have makeup to cover up either, since the other girls took mine.

He frowned when I didn't respond.

I finished my tea quickly and put my head down again. I heard Mr. Tomlinson get up and sit next to me. His hand stroked my back comfortingly, and after the initial contact, I didn't flinch. I fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

The next thing I knew I was being woken up. I looked at the clock. I'd slept for four hours.

"We should head out" He says.

I nod.

"It's raining, I'm driving you there."

"Thank you." I say. I hope he knows how deeply I mean it.