Artwork [h.s]

nineteen

On the next day, when I walked into my maths class, Niall was already inside and sitting at his desk. I made my way towards the desk next to Ella, momentarily glancing at the back of the class to discover Janette was back in her usual place.

I sat down, glancing at Harry as he walked towards the desk next to his friend.

"Why are you even interested in him that much? Yeah he's hot, but he's an asshole" Ella commented, looking up from her phone.

I shrugged, not replying to her.

She put down the phone and opened her notebook as the teacher came in. "Just think of Aiden, he's lovely and kind, basically everything Harry isn't. You'd have to be stupid not to like him."

I sighed as the class started. Of course Ella would have to share her opinions with me on that day as well.

For that reason, when my free period came, I took it as my chance to spend some time alone, away from her insistent chatter.

I was sketching on the stairs when Harry came to sit next to me again. I kept drawing, pretending not to pay much attention to him, even though my senses were heightened by his simple closeness. For a while, the only sound was the scratching of pencil on paper.

"Come with me" he said all of sudden.

I turned so fast towards him that I almost felt my neck snap. "What?" I asked him, pretty sure that I had heard him wrong.

He stood up, walking down the couple of steps that separated him from the street, making me realise I'd understood correctly.

"Why?" I asked him again, but he just shrugged in response. I hesitantly stood up, closing my notebook and giving a fast glance to the building behind me. "I'm not skipping my last class" I deadpanned.

"You're eighteen" Harry said giving me a weird look, but he didn't sound pissed at me.

I bit my lower lip as I realised he'd basically said the same thing Aiden had told me a couple of weeks ago. "Technically, I'm seventeen" I replied, my mind working fast to come to a decision. I could've stayed there and completed my day like I'd always done, or I could've gone away with him, to do nobody knew what. I hated that the decision seemed so easy for me to take. I sighed, putting my notebook and pencil into the pocket of my coat and walking down the couple of steps. "I was born in December" I added when I saw the confused glance he'd given me.

We started walking down the road next to each other in silence. I gave him some subtle glances every once in a while, conscious of his presence next to me.

After a while, rethinking of the exchange we'd just had, I realised how little we actually knew about each other, despite having spent so much time together since the start of the year. "How old are you?" I dropped the question casually, hoping that he would've answered it.

"Nineteen."

I looked at him in surprise, stopping in the middle of the pavement. "Did you fail a class?"

"No" he simply replied while staring right ahead, as if he wasn't enjoying the conversation for some reason.

I put my hands in my pockets frowning. "Did... you fail a whole year?" I asked him as we resumed walking, even though it didn't seem likely. I didn't know much about Harry, but he didn't look like the kind of person that would've failed... everything.

"No." He gave me a side glance, before letting out a little sigh. "I didn't go to school for a year when I was younger" he shared, a hint of something that felt like hesitance in his voice.

"For a whole year? Your parents must've freaked" I said. "Did you at least do some kind of work?" I asked him, and he shook his head. "I bet your mum went crazy about that" I commented.