Redemption [h.s]

nineteen

At work we had a huge party, and we all stayed up until past midnight to clean up the mess the customers left right after. I hated people like that, it was as if they didn't even realise that restaurants don't clean themselves and that someone would've had to fix the mess they'd made.

When I came back home, I was so tired that I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow.

•  •  •

The next day I woke up at around ten and checked my phone for new notifications as first thing. There were three new text messages.

From Liam: done.

From Niall: i'm coming back

From Harry: Up already?

I ignored the first two ones, and replied to the third. I sighed when I noticed it had been sent over half an hour before.

To Harry: up now, too late for cupcakes?

The reply came soon after. It looked like someone was sitting next to his phone.

From Harry: I'm afraid so. You can make up with tea though.

I smiled and started preparing myself for the upcoming day. I went back into my bedroom and wore a pair of black jeans and a white comfortable sweater, putting my hair up in a bun.

Once I was ready, I decided to go get Harry personally. I knew way better than to even hope to get into his house by then, so I left the water to warm up on the cookers.

What didn't really cross my mind, though, was the fact that maybe he didn't expect me to come knocking at his door at all. I just realised it when he came to open it in a quite different attire than his usual. He was wearing a simple white long sleeved shirt and grey sweatpants, white socks on his feet. His hair was messy, the 'I just got out of bed but it still looks great' kind of messy. But what surprised me the most was that he was wearing glasses. I didn't even know he had glasses. The sight was quite astonishing. Never had I thought someone could look so good with glasses.

He looked surprised, immediately putting the glasses up into his chocolate hair. "I didn't expect you to come here" he said, a hint of confusion in his voice.

"I just came to bring you to mine" I replied, starting to think that maybe it hadn't been a good idea to come knocking at his door without telling him first. Given the time his first text had been sent, he'd probably been awake for a while and had already started his day. The glasses he was wearing were a visible proof of it. "Are you busy?" I asked, hoping that I hadn't interrupted anything important.

"Not really" he replied shrugging, "I was just correcting some tests." He got out of the house and closed the door, his glasses forgotten nestled into his dark locks.

I smiled his words, knowing that was what a teaching job entailed. "Did you get your job back?" I asked excitedly.

He sighed, looking down, as we walked to my front door. "No, they just have a newbie replacing me, and he doesn't trust himself with doing that."

"Is that even legal?" I asked him with a frown, opening my door.

He laughed briefly. "Not really, that's why I write my corrections on sticky notes. He just rewrites them on the tests"

"I have so many questions about this correcting method. What would the students even think if they knew?" I said, closing my door once we walked in and walking to the kitchen.

"If they did, he'd probably lose his good reputation and honour. Other than the respect of the whole class" he said from behind me.

"What's the next step, getting paid for that?" I asked, taking a couple of cups out of the cupboard.