Pretty short but here's an update for ya :) Pleasssee let me know what you think! What has your guys' favorite part of the story been so far? x
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"Mom!" I practically yelped, pulling my hand out of Harry's immediately. "Hi," I sent her a half smile before hugging her, partly because she's my mum and yeah, I did miss her, but also because I was hoping to distract her from the fact that I'm getting home at midnight and with a boy.
"Where's dad?" I asked her, looking around, completely forgetting that Harry was standing awkwardly behind me witnessing our reunion.
"He couldn't make it this time around," she half heartedly explained while she eyed Harry up and down, "Who's this?" She asked skeptically.
I inwardly groaned, "This is Harry, my, uh," I didn't know what to say. Teacher? Friend? Date? Boyfriend?
Lucky for me she didn't seem to care about my trailing off as she walked toward him and stuck her hand out toward him, "Nice to meet you Harry."
He cleared his throat before he gave her his hand, shaking it. She turned to me with a glare, basically telling me I was in trouble.
"Why are you home so late?" She asked me, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Of all days for her to show up, it just happens to be the one day when I'm home at midnight.
"I, uh, we were just," I stuttered before Harry spoke up for me, "We were studying, Mrs. Groves."
I shot him a thankful look. I've never introduced a boy to my mom and I was planning to keep it that way. She didn't even know my best friend (Scottie) was a male. Even though he's gay, she'd probably still get mad about me associating with the male gender.
"Until midnight?" She asked him with her arms still crossed.
"Yeah, we have a calculus test tomorrow and I was helping her with some of the information we've been learning about," he explained and I smirked at the fact that he was telling the truth even when he was lying. Because we did have a test tomorrow, even though he will be the one grading it and I will be the one taking it. We both still have it.
"Like?" She quirked an eyebrow, trying to catch us in our lie.
"Just about integrals, you know definite and indefinite and stuff. Boring, if you ask me, but she asked me for help today so I helped her. We were at the library 'til it closed at 6, but she still wasn't getting it so we went to the park down there," he pointed in the direction of the park behind my house before continuing, "And just lost track of time, I guess. I'm sorry for keeping her out so late."
"Hmph," was all she replied.
"Why did you need help with calculus? Aren't you good at math, Miranda?" She asked me and I heard Harry snicker, but lucky for me, my mom didn't.
"That's what I thought," I scoffed, "But the teacher completely sucks this year and I haven't learned a thing. Harry's helping me get my grade up though," I inwardly laughed at me insulting Harry when he can't defend himself.
"Hey, he's not that bad," Harry scoffed and I rolled my eyes, looking toward my mom, "Teacher's pet" I mouthed, pointing at Harry.
"What's your grade in that class?" My mom asked, digging her phone out of her pocket, most likely to look up my grades on the lovely website that the school has. I couldn't lie because she'd just see it online in about 2 minutes.
I cringed as I spit out, "I have a D." I closed my eyes waiting for her reaction and slowly opened one when nobody was talking.
"A D?!" She finally shrieked at me and I rolled my eyes. "That's almost failing, Miranda! You're graduating this year, how could you be so careless? It was a bad idea, having you live here by yourself. You obviously don't have the discipline you need. Maybe you should just come to London and live with your father and I."
My eyes widened and I immediately shook my head, "Mom, that's so unfair, this is my senior year. You can't expect me to move two hours away?!" I realized I was raising my voice, so I lowered it near the end.
"What's unfair is you having a D in math, which has always been your best subject. This is your future we're talking about!" She pinched the bridge of her nose, an annoying habit she does when she's mad.
"My future? It's one D, I hardly think that's going to effect my future," I scoffed, getting annoyed at her reaction. I've always had A's and B's my entire life, how is one D going to kill me?
"It can though, Miranda, which is what you don't understand. I want you studying extra hard to fix that D. I don't want to see it on your report card when it comes. If I do, you're moving to London with your dad and I, and that's final," She stated as she began walking up the stairs.
I rolled my eyes, almost yelling back at her before I heard a voice to my left speak up, "I can help her?" Harry spoke up. I almost forgot he was here.
"No," she barked and I rolled my eyes again, "I want her calculus teacher helping her so I know she's studying. And don't even go near her until she has a B, she doesn't need any distractions."
I know it may seem like she's a total bitch right now, but she's not always like this. I guess it's not everyday she finds her daughter waltzing in the house at midnight with a boy only to learn that she's almost failing her calculus class.
She was on the top step before she turned around, "And you better be out of my house before I finish using the bathroom," she stared pointedly at Harry and pointed at the door.
"Mom!" I yelled at her, not tolerating her rudeness any longer, especially to Harry, "Just because you're mad at me doesn't mean you need to take it out on Harry. He was only helping me study, he wasn't gonna spend the night. God," I muttered but she simply ignored me.
I rolled my eyes before walking outside and standing on the porch, waiting for Harry to stand next to me.
"Well, that was fun," I heard him say from next to me and I cracked a smile.
"I'm sorry, she's not normally that bitchy. I promise," I sighed, sitting down at the edge of the porch, letting my feet rest down on the step below me.
"Nah, I get it. She kinda does have a reason to be mad, I mean a boy brought her daughter home at midnight. That's not exactly the best first impression," he sat down next to me.
"That's not it, though, I don't really think she cares about that. She's always been a freak about my grades, I think the D is what's bothering her the most. The midnight thing just added onto that, I guess," I leaned my elbows onto my knees, resting my head in my hands.
"Not to take her side or anything, but she's kinda right. You have a 61% in Calculus. It's only the first month of school and you're literally 2% away from failing. If you don't bring it up, it could make you ineligible to graduate," he put his arm around me and squeezed me closer to him. I found myself smiling at that, even though I should probably be frowning about what he just told me.
"I know," I sighed, "I'm too stubborn to get help."
"I can help you," he simply replied and I looked at him.
"But my mom said you can't help me?" I looked at him questioningly.
"She also said she wants your teacher to help you. I'm your teacher," he grinned at me, both rows of teeth showing through whilst also pointing at his face.
I nudged him while smiling, "You know, I sometimes forget you're my teacher."
"And I forget you're my student. It's weird, I'll be teaching in first hour and I'll look over, and there you are. I sometimes don't even expect you to be sitting there, even though you've sat in that spot everyday for the past month. Like, I don't know, it's just weird," he rambled on, beginning to play with his bottom lip with the hand that wasn't currently around me.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," I replied, looking up at the stars.
I knew my mom would probably be finished with the bathroom by now, so I began to stand up.
"Hate to ruin the moment and everything, but you need to leave," I said, leaning down to grab his hand and pull him up, followed by dragging him to his car.
"Well thanks," he said sarcastically and I laughed.
"Sorry, my mom's already pissed, I don't want to see her when she realizes you haven't left yet," I told him as we stood in front of his car door.
"Really, though, Randi, I had a lot of fun tonight. Thank you for coming with me," he told me sincerely.
"Thank you for taking me," I smiled back and for the second time that night, my heart felt like it was going to explode as he leaned in again.
There was nothing to interrupt us this time. My mom was inside the house, and the car door I was leaning against wasn't going to fall open anytime soon.
He didn't waste much time, getting straight to the point as he softly touched his lips against mine.
This was definitely different than my first kiss. For starters, it wasn't with James Ramano. Harry didn't have greasy hair or glasses, even though if he did I would still find him incredibly attractive I think. He didn't poke his tongue out against my lips, and his lips definitely didn't taste like cheetos.
Instead, they tasted like Chapstick. And not the cherry or strawberry kind, but the original. The one with the black wrapper. There was also a hint of peppermint on his lips, which I've grown used to smelling whenever I'm around him.
The kiss was short but sweet, and before you could count to 5 he was pulling away.
I was practically grinning ear to ear when he pulled away, so extremely happy that he kissed me. He actually wanted to kiss me, not because he had to but because he wanted to, and that's a feeling that I've never felt before. A feeling that I never wanted to forget.
I looked up into his eyes, "Can we please pretend that was my first kiss?" I blurted out and immediately wanted to slap myself for ruining the wonderful moment.
Harry chuckled and nodded his head yes before leaning back in and softly pecking my lips.
"And there's your second," he smiled before pulling away.
"Goodnight, Randi," he said while opening his car door and sliding inside.
I waved goodbye to him as he pulled out of my driveway, not moving until the lights of his car were out of sight.
I slowly walked inside my house, now noticing that all of the lights were off.
I tip toed up the stairs, wondering why my mom didn't make sure Harry had left right after she got done using the bathroom. Probably because she didn't care. She never does. Unless it has something to do with my grades, that is.
I turned the light on in my room before going into my closet and getting some comfortable clothes to change into. I ended up wearing baggy sweatpants and a tshirt, before laying in my bed and plugging my phone into the charger.
I looked up, noticing the light that was still on in my room. I don't think I'm ever going to break this habit.
I sighed before getting up to shut it off and going back to my bed. My head hit the pillow and I fell asleep instantly, with a smile on my face.