A PLUS /h.s./

Chapter 18

I drove through the woods on my way back to my house with Mr. Styles in tow with his niece.

I can't believe an hour ago I was pissed at him, and here I am inviting him for hot fucking chocolate. What is wrong with me?

I just don't want to stop being around him. Plus, Madilyn ended up not being his girlfriend but his niece. So I'm not mad about that anymore. More about the fact that he's been ignoring me for two weeks. But I'll be getting answers from him about that tonight, trust me.

I didn't exactly plan on having my teacher and his niece over at my house, I just kind of blurted it out in the moment. It was the way he was hugging that little girl, like she was his entire world and he's never going to let her go again. The way he smiled so big, it looked like his dimples were going to pop out. And the way the little girl looked up at Mr. Styles with admiration, even though he left her in the woods hiding for over half an hour.

And for a second, I forgot he was my teacher again. Just like I always do.

I wish he wasn't my teacher. I wish I could've accepted his phone number that day in the diner, and then texted him. Then we could have hungout as a boy and girl, rather than a teacher and a student. I wish we could have dated and not have to worry about him being 5 years older than me.

Five whole years, wow. Didn't he say that's how old Madilyn was? That little girl is as old as our age gap is. That's crazy. It doesn't even seem like that much.

I sighed as I parked in my driveway, Mr. Styles parking next to me and getting out to unbuckle Madilyn. Once out of the car, she ran to my door and jumped up and down impatiently.

"Harrrrry," She called, "I have to pee, hurry!"

His eyes widened and he looked up at me as if to say 'Hurry up'.

I rushed out and ran to the door, unlocking it and she ran inside even though she had no idea where to go.

I pointed upstairs and she ran up there, me following behind to show her which door. You know, it's really stupid how we don't have a bathroom downstairs. I don't understand the point of it, shouldn't there be one on each floor?

Once I was at the top of the stairs and completely out of breath, I opened the door to the bathroom and gestured her inside. She slammed the door in my face and made sure to lock it, which I laughed at, before going back downstairs to see Mr. Styles awkwardly standing there scratching the back of his neck.

"It's weird being in your house when there isn't a party," he stated as he looked around.

I laughed at the irony, "Shouldn't it be more weird to be at my house while there's a party? I mean, you're a teacher."

He nodded his head and chuckled, "I guess so, yeah, but it's just different like this. So much quieter," he stated and I nodded my head in agreement.

"Yeah, welcome to my life," I sighed and we both just kind of stood there looking around, lost in thought.

We were interrupted by Madilyn bounding down the stairs, "Okay, where's the hot cocoa?" She asked, getting right down to business, I see.

I laughed and turned toward the kitchen, "Follow me."

I looked into my cupboard at the three boxes of hot chocolate that I had. One had no marshmallows, no thanks. The second box had colorful marshmallows, and the third box had regular marshmallows.

I figured she's a kid so she'd probably like the colored marshmallows, so that's what I grabbed.

"Want some?" I asked Mr. Styles as I began to make Madilyn's cup.