Save Me

iv. hate

"Harley, you're next."

Harley stiffened when his name was called, and his eyes visibly widen. Gord just looked at his expression questioningly before gesturing for him to stand in front of the class. Slowly, Harley got up, and Harith knew that the mage was reluctant to move when his feet shuffled noisily against the floor.

Harith bit his lip before raising his hand. He knew that this topic was going to give a bad outcome. Harley was most likely not prepared to talk about his mother. "Sir, I can go first if Harley's not ready."

Harley whipped his head at his direction, and Harith caught the look of surprise on his face. Unfortunately, Sir Gord doesn't know what's going on, and he merely let out a chuckle. "Harith, we're talking about Vance here. Have you ever seen him not ready?"

Harith muttered a curse under his breath, and he watched as Harley fidgeted anxiously in front of the class. The Mage Genius kept opening and closing his mouth, but no words came out of him. And, now that Harith was seeing him like this, this was probably the first time Harley looked nervous when he was about to talk.

One of his classmates, Drake, raised his hand. His tone was mocking when he said, "What happened to you, Vance? Cat got your tongue?"

A girl, Samantha, let out a giggle. "Come on, Drake. He's the noble Harley Vance. I'm sure he'll start insulting us 'peasants' in a minute."

The whole class snickered, and Harith knew that Harley wasn't going to last any longer. He watched as the mage clenched his sides, and his voice was barely audible when he said, "My mother, she..."

Everyone instantly fell silent when tears start to fall off from Harley's cheeks. The Mage Genius quickly wiped his face before running out of the classroom. Gord tried to stop him, but he couldn't when Harley immediately disappeared by leaving his hat.

"Does anyone know whether Harley might have some conflict with his mother?" Gord asked, looking around.

Harith caught Nana looking at him, and she sent him a gesture to chase after Harley. He gave her a nod before dashing out of the classroom.

Before he left, he heard Nana say, "Sir Gord, Harley's actually..."

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Harith could feel himself slowly starting to panic when he couldn't find Harley. He had tried searching for the mage in the restroom, but he wasn't there. He knew that Harley's hiding spot was outdated, but now was definitely not the time for him to change hiding spots.

Where could he be?

He stopped running the moment he heard a sniffle. He took a few steps back, and he let out a sigh of relief when he found Harley hiding in a corner, right under the stairs. He made sure that his footsteps were light when he approached him, because the last thing he wanted to do was scare the mage away.

"Harley," Harith called softly. Said mage currently had his knees drawn to his chest, his face buried under his hat. He could see Harley twitching, but there was no response from him. He decided to call again, "Harley–"

"Why does my mother hate me so much?" Harley whispered. When he lifted his face, Harith could see his eyes starting to water. "Why can't she be a mother like those other mothers?"

"Harley, I–"

"Why can't she brush my hair, sing me a song, or at least caress my face?" Harley said, his face furious. The next thing he knew, the mage was already shouting, "Why must she pull my hair, scream at my face and hit me all the time?!"