New Guy on the Street (Larry)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Soup and Crackers

The rest of the week came to an end very slowly. I suffered through every single day. When I wanted to cry, I realized I had nobody to cry to, so I wouldn’t let the tears fall. I couldn’t let Mr. Wright see me broken. He wouldn’t win completely.

The next week, while I still was very upset over what happened, I was more concerned for Louis. I hadn’t seen him at school since the breakup, but I figured he was just avoiding me.

Turns out that wasn’t the case.

“He hasn’t shown up to work in over a week,” Mr. Wright complained at the dinner table. “He’s called in sick every day.” I stared down at my plate and poked my green beans with my fork. Hearing talk of Louis made me far from hungry. While I wanted to get up and leave the table, I stayed put. It seemed that Mr. Wright knew more about Louis at the moment then I did. I just wanted to hear what he had to say before I excused myself.

 

“Hmm,” my mother said while spreading butter over the top of one of her rolls, “that’s strange. Mr. Tomlinson doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to skip out on work that many days in a row.” She was right. He wasn’t. Louis was very faithful to everyone. I was so lucky to have him. And now I didn’t have him because of Mr. Wright. “Harry,” my mom said, grabbing my attention away from my thoughts.

“Uh… Yeah?” Both pairs of eyes were now glued on me and the faces they belonged to were staring at me strangely.

“Didn’t you hear what I just said to you?” She asked me, looking concerned and a small bit annoyed.

“No, sorry,” I respond quietly. “I was daydreaming I guess.”

About Louis.

“I asked you if you had heard anything from Mr. Tomlinson. You’re usually always together.” I looked back down at my plate. What was I supposed to say to her? I couldn’t tell her that I hadn’t heard of Louis in the past week, because then she would know something happened. I couldn’t tell her that I had, because then Mr. Wright would think that he was faking being sick and would rat him out to his boss.

I was stuck.

“Yeah… uh… he’s pretty sick right now,” I muster up, not looking away from my plate.

“Really? Maybe we should go over there and see how he’s doing. I could cook some soup or bring him some of tonight’s leftovers depending on how sick he is. How sick is he, Harry?” She asked me. I didn’t know what to say.

“I don’t know,” I speak coldly. I was extremely ready to get past the subject of Louis.

“Really?” She asks, sounding surprised. “Last time he was sick, you wouldn’t leave his side! What happened?” I shake my head.

“I just couldn’t afford to get sick during finals week,” I respond. It was a good lie, seeing as this week was the last week before winter break.