Talking

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

(Song: Truce by Twenty One Pilots)
I've been sitting here doing nothing for what feels like hours, but has actually only been about forty-five minutes. I'm still facing away from Harry, but I hear him shut his laptop, signaling to me that he is finished with whatever work stuff he was doing.

Two black boots step in my line of vision, causing me to look up. It was Harry, of course.

"Come on. We're going to talk about this in the living room now," he says.

He steps back, allowing me to get up, but I stay where I am.

"Now," he repeats, this time more sternly.

I roll my eyes and push past him, walking to the living room and sitting down on the corner of the couch. Harry sits on the middle cushion and looks over at me.

"El, I don't know what to tell you. You have to start talking. I know you're smart enough to get better grades than what you have right now," he says. He seemed annoyed, but not necessarily angry like he was a few minutes ago.

I don't say anything. Mostly because what he said wasn't true. I am actually just not smart enough to get better grades. The school at the orphanage was pretty terrible, considering we didn't have that much money.

"Okay, you're grounded on Saturday. I'll make it the whole weekend if you don't start talking," Harry says. "I really just don't know what to do, Ellie. You have to talk."

I can't bring myself to tell Harry that I am as stupid as my grades show. Sure, I don't try in school, but that's only because I know I'll fail. I'm way too far behind to catch up. He would be so disappointed in me.

"No," I mumble. "I'm not talking to you."

"Okay, say goodbye to your weekend," he sighs.

"You can't just ground me whenever you feel like it. That's so unfair," I tell him, my voice now at a normal level. Not talking is no reason to ground your kid.

"Who is in charge here, Ellie?" Harry asks. "Because it most definitely isn't you. I want an explanation now."

I shake my head and turn away from him, annoyed.

"Christ, Ellie!" Harry exclaims. "Why are you doing this? What's with this attitude?"

Tears form in my eyes and I try best to blink them away. I'm imagining the look on Harry's face when I tell him that I can't literally can't learn anything. That I am as dumb as my grades say I am. He couldn't possibly still have respect for me after that. I know it.

"Turn around and look at me," Harry says. He places his hand on my shoulder, shaking me gently. "Come on, El. We don't have to be doing this."

I shake my head, still trying my best to stop the silent tears from falling. I'm failing miserably, of course.

Harry groans and I feel his hands place around my hips. He lifts me up and turns me around on the couch before sitting back down. He notices my tears, but doesn't seem to care.

"Ellie, just talk to me. Tell me about your grades. I already know they're bad, I just need to know why. You're only hurting yourself by not telling me," he sighs. Clearly, he doesn't want to be doing this right now. After all, we did spend the last three hours arguing over my grades.

I shake my head.

"Is It your friends? Are they distracting you from your school work?" Harry asks.

"No," I mumble.

"What is it then, El?" He asks with a sigh. He seems to be angry one minute and then defeated the next.

"I... I just can't," I say, choking back a sob and covering my head with my arms. That's it. Now he knows. He knows I'm an idiot and probably wants nothing to do with me.

"You can't what?" He asks. His arm rests on my back as I continue to sob.

"I'm an idiot," I say through my cries.

"Don't say that, El," Harry says, some level of shock in his voice. "You're not an idiot."

"Dad, you don't understand. I'm stupid. I can't learn anything," I tell him.

"What are you talking about, love? You're the smartest girl I know," he says. "Sit up and look at me."

I sit up and lean against the arm rest on the couch. "Talk to me. What do you mean?" Harry says. His eyes have softened a lot.

"I don't understand anything," I tell him.

"Okay, that's okay. Shh, calm down, sweetie," Harry says. He brings me into his arms. "Take deep breaths," he reminds me.

I finally calm down enough to start talking. "The school in the orphanage was just really basic stuff and now I'm doing all these... complicated things. I'm sorry, Dad. I just... don't get any of it," I say.

"It's okay, love. It's not your fault. I just wish I knew about this earlier," he says and pulls me tighter into a hug. "We're going to work everything out. I'm going to help you out, and we're going to get you a tutor, okay? I don't want you to be struggling in school like this."

I nod my head. "Okay," I whisper. It's still confusing to me how Harry isn't upset with me anymore. I know I should accept that Harry is not going to send me back to the orphanage, but the thought always runs through my mind every once in a while.

"Do you have any homework tonight?" Harry asks.

I hesitate before nodding my head. If I said no, he would have known I'm lying.

"Why don't you go grab your backpack and we'll work through some of it, sound good?" Harry says.

"Yeah," I say and stand up, walking to the main entrance to grab my backpack.

I sit back down and pull out my folder with all my homework papers. I hand it to Harry and he opens it up.

"Algebra! My favorite," he says jokingly, nudging my shoulder to cheer me up. Harry always knows how to make someone feel better.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net