Idealisms

Chapter 16 - Back to School

I never thought I'd be this excited to go back to school. In all fairness, I was more excited to see my friends (especially Tom). The nurses had determined that I was healthy enough to head back, still emphasizing the fact that I was to avoid startling myself, and I was ecstatic after being cooped up in the infirmary for two weeks.

My return to campus was on a rainy November morning. My shoes squelched in the mud and my hair had expanded to twice its size due to the humidity just from a short walk across campus. Even all the beautiful autumn leaves were all gone, for an extra layer of dreary. I didn't really mind though. To me, campus had never looked more beautiful –I was filled with a newfound sense of hope ever since Jean had told me that Tom still cared about me. I couldn't wait to finally see him.

Except I didn't. I heard from his friends that he wasn't in any of his lectures today, and when I met up with Caro for lunch, Jean and Victoria were there, but not Tom. From the moment I saw Caro again, she was glued to my side; she hadn't taken her arm off of my shoulders ever since, insisting on 'making sure I stayed safe". Jean greeted me with a "Hope that concussion didn't knock all the smarts out of your head!" as he reached out and tousled my hair. Victoria told me "Its great to have you back" with a shy but genuine smile. She was often a quiet person, but I had never felt more appreciated by my friends.

However, in the back of my mind, I was itching to ask one question, where was Tom? Somehow though, I couldn't bring myself to say the words. I returned to my dorm that night feeling like the day had been wasted, only to find I'd gotten some mail. I rarely got mail and I had just sent Margaret her letter, so there was no way it had even reached her yet; no chance it was her response already. I flipped over the postcard only to find it was from Max. I skimmed it over, it basically said he wants me to come back to Brighton because he wants me to be the queen to his king at his school, and how we should probably snog. Cue the eye rolls. I stuffed it in the bottom of my bag and flopped onto my bed.

The following day wasn't much different. Same thing the day after that. My fifth day back in school I was starting to lose hope, but I managed to catch a glimpse of Tom in the cafeteria as he was leaving. Or at least, I thought it was him; who else could it be? Was he avoiding me? I thought to myself, weaving through the crowds as I tried to catch up with him.

Right as he turned a corner, I grabbed his hand. "Tom wait! Why you avoiding me?" He lowered his head but still didn't turn around. I couldn't see his face. But, he didn't let go of my hand either. "What's going on, do you not want to be friends with me anymore or wha—"
Tom whipped around and pulled me into a tight embrace. I smiled into his shirt. So we were still on good terms.

I heard a sniffling, and pulled away from the embrace to see that Tom's eyes were red and verging on teary. "Oh no, what's wrong?"

He pulled away, letting go of me to wipe his nose with his sleeve and blinking away tears. "Harriet, I thought you'd died! Well, then Caro convinced me I was being dramatic, but if you'd gotten amnesia or suffered brain damage it would have been my fault!"

I blinked slowly. "Huh?"

"You fell down those stairs because of my carelessness! I could have never forgiven myself if something had happened to you!-"

"Erm, but something DID happen to me. I've got a concussion" I mimed knocking on my head as if it was hollow. "And it's not your fault, Tom, accidents happen! You're forgetting I was drunk too, and wearing a long gown, hence, very prone to tripping." I smiled at him.

He dropped his gaze and scratched the back of his neck. Uh oh. He usually does that when things get awkward. "Uh, right. We were drunk. Listen Har, glad you're okay. I've got class now, talk later?"  He rested his hand on my shoulder before walking down the hall.

I winced internally. Probably shouldn't have brought up the drunk thing.