The Teacher // Josh Dun

.:thirteen:..

oh it's a lonG ONE

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Tuesday went by. So did Wednesday. Devon didn't show up on Thursday, but she did Friday. He assumed that Thursday was the day of the funeral. When she showed up on Friday, Josh was immediately worried. Since what happened, he was concerned about whether or not she was taking care of herself. He didn't want her to come to school if all she was going to do was space out and barely make it through the day without breaking down.

Josh pulled his book bag onto his shoulder after he threw his lesson book in, then cleared his desk of any personal items. He grabbed his keys and locked his door.

And Devon's door was still open.

This was unusual. Devon was usually out before Josh. She hated the meetings that she would sometimes get caught up in. She couldn't stand it when Josh pestered her on her way out.

Josh peeked in her doorway curiously. "Devon?" He called out, but got no answer.

Then he saw her at her desk.

Her head was down, her cheek resting on her papers. She fell asleep in the twenty minutes after her last class was dismissed.

"Hey," Josh got down and shook her lightly. "You gotta get up." He said quietly.

Devon lifted her head up, a piece of paper sticking to the side of her face.

"You got something there," Josh said as he pulled it off. "How about you get home?"

Devon nodded slowly as she rubbed her eyes. "Yeah. I should probably do that."

"Do you want me to drive you?" Josh asked.

Devon shook her head and got up. As she tried to walk, she stumbled a bit.

"Whoa," Josh gasped. "Take is easy." He held onto her arms.

"I'm fine," she yawned. "W-Where are my keys?"

"Jesus Christ how did you even get through today?" He asked.

"Well, I had to use one of my vacation days yesterday and today I had to make up for it." She explained. Her eyes were droopy and barely opened.

"They would've given you a sympathy day for what happened." Josh informed her.

"I don't need sympathy." She yawned again. "Ow." She winced and put her hand on her forehead. "My head."

"Okay you obviously can't even walk so I'm not letting you drive." Josh told her.

"That's not your decision." She shook her head.

"But I'm still making it. I'm driving you home. You're gonna get some sleep." He said.

Devon shook her head again. "No I can't sleep in that house." She whined.

That's when Josh realized that this was the worst he's ever seen her. She was sleep deprived with dark purple bags under her eyes. She was pale and her cheeks were tear stained. She wasn't being mean. She wasn't being problematic and stubborn. She wasn't herself.