{18+ COMPLETE} For the past three years, Bren Hadaway has been preparing to die.
When he was sixteen, he watched his dad murder his mom. And ever since, he's been counting down the days until it was his turn to be at the end of a gun. And Bren has...
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As it turned out, I remained awful at Geometry.
I think Reese taught me more about math than I taught him. Actually, I learned a lot from Reese. I learned his last name: Havens. I learned that he'd had a crush on this girl named Sarah for forever. And I learned that he scored exactly twenty-three points in his last basketball game, but Sarah only showed up at the last minute to watch him miss a three-pointer.
I didn't really like kids. But I liked Reese.
So the next time I heard the chatter of the after-school group—Directions, they called it—meeting in the basement, I went to find Reese. Because, you know, he was a cool little shit of a thirteen-year-old.
Reese smiled without reservation when he saw me, and that quick trust from a kid that probably allotted very little to the people around him made me smile back. All I did was smile. But I felt a lot more than the simple friendliness that a smile showed.
I didn't know how to describe it, but it was there, in my chest.
Sitting down next to him, I listened while Reese explained how he got a good grade on his last assignment, despite my shitty help. He then transitioned into talking about Sarah and basketball and his annoying English teacher, and I leaned back in my chair, trying to remember when my worries were as simple as that.
But I also knew that wasn't fair to say. Reese probably had a lot of other worries, too. The ones he kept guarded, the ones he put walls around.
And besides, a worry is a worry. It didn't do any good to weigh or compare them.
Listening to Reese's worries for a bit took my mind off of mine. I barely even thought about the note I'd left out for my dad before I left for work.
Unfortunately, it wasn't too long before Collins interrupted.
"Oh, Bren," she said, surprise dancing in her eyes as she walked out of her office. "What are you doing down here?"
Even though we worked in the same building every day, we didn't usually run into each other. We'd kept our distance, just like I asked for when I took the position.
I cleared my throat and stood. With a glance at Reese, I told him I'd catch him later and walked over to Collins.
She cocked her head to the side. Lowering her voice so the kids wouldn't hear, she said, "I didn't mean you had to come every day. Rachel is here." Collins pointed across the room to the dark-haired college student.
Shrugging, I replied, "I know. I just wanted to see how Reese did on the assignment we worked on."
Collins nodded slowly. "Uh-huh."
"Yeah," I went on, "And he has a test coming up, so I was thinking I'd drop tomorrow to see how it went."
"We don't host after-school hours on Thursdays." She had a funny little grin on her face. "You'll have to wait until Friday."
