if only

4

I was woken up by someone shaking me. My eyes open to Kourtney's face inches from mine.

"Kourt, what's wrong?"

"Your alarm kept going off, you didn't hear it?" she shows me my phone and I see the time. "You're late."

"Oh fuck," I whine, jumping out of bed. I was lucky it was Friday and the dress code for teachers wasn't strict. "Parker is going to bite my head off for being late."

"I'm sure she'll understand." Kourtney tucks herself into my bed as if she was about to fall back asleep. "Tell her you were up all night grading papers and she'll think you're really dedicated to the job."

"Or that I can't handle it." I do my little jumps as I squeeze on tight jeans. "I don't want to lose my job."

"Rylee, you're a great teacher." she mumbles through the pillow she shoved her face into.

"Thanks, Kourt," I whisper to let her sleep.

I didn't get to grab any caffeine or anything to eat before heading out. My whole morning was a rush trying to get ahold of my boss, making it to the school safely and I was definitely anxious as I walked through the empty halls, knowing students were waiting for me.

When I finally make it to my classroom, it was dark inside and a note was taped to the door that had directed students next door.

Next thing, I hear Harry's door open and he slips out. I don't acknowledge him and just unlock my room, entering silently. Harry and I haven't spoken at all for a week and a half; since that little chaos at dinner. He would give me little waves and nods when we saw each other, but no words. I assumed he decided to not be friends with me which was okay.

"Are you doing okay, Ms. Eversteen?" he asks, saying my name slow like he always does, though, I get startled because I didn't know he followed me in, "I asked Parker about you and she wasn't sure what happened either."

"I already spoke with Parker about it and everything is all okay." I assure him, not making eye contact at all. I move around my room acting like I had something to do. "Thank you for taking my students during this period, I appreciate it."

"Anyway," Harry starts awkwardly. "We can do dinner tonight if you can."

I frown, a little taken aback. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You know, dinner." he shrugs as if it was something obvious that I should know. "Remember, you suggested dinner at my place would be better-"

"That was over a week ago." I point out. "And since then, you've done nothing but ignore me the whole time. I thought you decided on not being friends."

"I was just busy." he explains. "I had a game this past weekend and another one tonight."

"You have one tonight and plan on having a dinner party?" I question.

"It's the only time slot I have."

"Harry, we don't have to have this dinner." I stifle out a laugh, plopping down in my chair behind the desk. "Maybe we were just supposed to be colleagues and not friends."

"I want to do this dinner." he says, walking up to me and towers me. "Please," he playfully pouts as he begs and I giggle.

"Okay fine, I'll be there." I give in. "Should I bring anything?"

"Monique and Kourtney and some apologies, please." he smiles widely. "Oh and some wine would be nice."

-

The school was let out hours ago and I was stuck in my classroom grading. My brain was exhausted from reading over two hundred papers about each student's life. This assignment was a great idea in the beginning, but I didn't realize how much time it would take to grade them.