Meet Me In The Hallway // H.S. ✓

Chapter 3

~Just let me know I'll be at the door, at the door~

It took Harry a year to become the best and youngest driver in Holmes Chapel and the surrounding area. He was still too young to drive officially; he had stopped going to the go-kart track by now.

Most of Harry's money went to trivial things, as was to be expected of a fourteen year old. New clothes, trainers, gifts for his mum and sister. But the little money that he did happen to save went to the future - whatever that would be for Harry. There was no way of telling where illegal street racing would land him.

Anne wasn't an idiot. She knew that Harry snuck out every night, and most weekends too. But his grades stayed up, he never missed school, and he still had good relationships with his friends. So she let it slide for the time being. She had no idea where he went - most nights she thought that he went to the nearby park. Maybe he rode his bike.

But on the particular Saturday night in question, when she checked in on Harry - he was gone, as usual, and so was her car. That was something that she had never checked for once - Harry didn't know how to drive. He was fourteen after all.

Using the fancy LoJack tracking she had installed once Gemma started using the car, she found the car down at the docks.

The docks were a shady part of town. And they weren't real docks either - Holmes Chapel wasn't near the water. The docks were just near the edge of the east side of town - otherwise known as the bad side of town. Where there were drugs, parties, and street racing.

After thinking about it for more than two seconds, Anne knew which one Harry would be doing tonight. And had been doing for the last year, maybe.

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If Gemma was a tattletale in her younger years, Anne was an even bigger tattletale. But it was a good thing that she raised a semi-good son. He didn't try to make a break for it when the cops showed up. Although if he had, he would've made it. But if he tried to go home, Anne would've taken him down to the police station, so it didn't really matter.

Others did try to run, but they didn't make it far.

Everyone was handcuffed and put into police cars - although it was not a very orderly affair. Harry was sobbing buckets, and organizer kid - whose name was Kevin - and his friends were begging the officers to, at least, let the kid go. He was only fourteen after all.

They were good kids. In a way.

Down at the local station, all of them were put into a cell. Harry was still crying buckets, and Kevin and his friends were trying to calm him down. But he kept sobbing, and it only intensified when the guards called his name and brought him into a conference room where his mom and a police officer were.

"Harry Edward Styles!" Anne yelled, immediately coming up and hugging her son. She was angry but glad that he was okay. Once she hugged him, she really laid in on him. "Stealing my car! Street racing! You're a child!"

Harry did not offer any explanation for his actions - he just kept crying. This was new territory for him, and he did not want to step one foot further. But he was already waist-deep in this mess.

"He needs to be reprimanded," was the first thing the police officer said. "He is only fourteen and was caught street racing. This is a serious matter, especially in Holmes Chapel."

Anne nodded gravely. "What is to be done?"

The police officer and Anne talked for a while and decided to forgo a trial of any sort - Holmes Chapel was so small that he would just talk to the judge in the morning about his decision and that would be that.

"What is the decision?" Harry finally spoke.

"Three months in a correctional juvenile facility."

Harry's tears were renewed immediately.

"But, he's only fourteen. Kids don't go there unless they are fifteen."

"Well, he needs to be taught an extra lesson." The officer told Anne, and then sent them on their way. Harry was to report to the facility in the morning.

The two of them were there for another hour, getting everything squared away. Harry did not stop crying until he passed out in the back of his mum's car on the way home.