Artwork [h.s]

thirty-two

I glanced up when someone sat next to me, a sigh leaving my lips when I realised it was just Ella.

She took out her book and her pencil case, putting them on the desk in a orderly way, before turning to look at me. "So?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "So what?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well since you're friends with Harry now, I was wondering if you know how he is. You know, he got stabbed on Saturday."

I widened my eyes as soon as I took in her last words. "Hang on, what?" I asked, finally properly turning to look at her.

"What?" She said snappily, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you just say stabbed?" I said confusedly, frowning.

She snorted, clearly annoyed by the way I was acting. "Yeah, apparently he got stabbed during a heated fight at a party on Saturday."

"How did that even..." I started, but I stopped right away, knowing that it wasn't my place to let her know what truly had happened. "Yeah, he's fine."

"Oh thank god" she said with a little smile, widening her eyes as soon as the words left her lips. "I mean, not that I care about him. But it's nice to know he's still alive."

I gave her a faint nod, not feeling like starting to question her actions, and turned my head to the other side, just to see that Harry's usual seat was empty, and that Niall was sitting on the one next to him.

I suddenly realised why I still hadn't seen him around that day. He hadn't come to school. I frowned, starting to worry. Niall has texted me he was supposed to be released the day before, in the early evening. Then why wasn't he at school? Maybe he wasn't feeling well? Or even worse, what if something had happened, and he hadn't been released? I took a deep breath, trying not to overthink it all before knowing what was truly going on.

All of sudden Niall glanced in my direction, probably sensing my gaze on him, and his blue eyes met mine. He gave me a little shrug, before taking out his phone and typing away.

After a few seconds my phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out, discovering that Niall had sent me a text.

From Niall: at home.

I looked up and gave him a slight nod to show him that I'd read, making a mental note of going to see him later that day as the teacher came into the room with a cup of coffee in his hands.

•  •  •

I got off the bus and I covered the small distance between the bus stop and Harry and Niall's house by foot, not taking long thanks to my fast step.

When I arrived I double-checked the number, making sure that it indeed was the house Harry had dropped Niall in front of the day he'd given me a ride home, not trusting my memory too much, and I made my way towards the front door and rang the doorbell.

My nervousness started to grow as the seconds went by and I bit my lower lip anxiously as I started rethinking my idea of checking up on Harry. He probably didn't want to see me, especially after how I'd left him the other night, without as much as a goodbye. Probably his parents wouldn't have wanted to see me either - if they even knew who I was, that is, because what kind of person wouldn't even visit their friend in the hospital? They probably thought I was an awful person. I wondered if I could even see them as Harry's parents at all. I knew they legally were, but did Harry see them as his parents, or as some people that were just taking care of him? I didn't know, and that made me even more nervous, since it increased my chances of possibly messing up.