Teach Me(60)

“Kat said she saw you running out here, and you looked upset. Is everything okay?” He takes a step closer to me.

I have to laugh at that, sharp and cold. “Is everything okay?”

“What’s wrong?” He says it like he honestly has no idea. Like I’m totally crazy for trying to choke back the tears burning through my skull right now.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You bring me to your own father’s funeral to try to make your ex or whatever jealous in front of your entire family, and you want to know what’s wrong?”





His jaw clenches, all the warmth melting from his expression. “I just got finished defended your maturity and now you’re being even more immature than your age suggests.”

“Immature? Coming from you that’s rich. This has all been a game to you, hasn’t it?” I manage to say this without my voice catching, even though my head throbs at the very thought. It’s something I’ve been wondering for a while now, though. The way he constantly pushes me away, the way he hides everything.

“Just come back inside and stop acting insane, Harper. The jealous kid act isn’t attractive.”

I set my jaw hard. “You know what, Jack? No. I’m sorry about your father, I really truly am, and I hope that this whole mess doesn’t affect you or your family’s chance to say goodbye. But I’m done. Acting like I’m crazy for being upset that you never mentioned your ex-girlfriend or whatever, aka my professor, would be here, is not okay. Writing me off as a kid is not okay. None of this is okay, and if you don’t see how fucked up this situation has become, Jack, then I’m sorry, but you’re the one who’s got maturity issues to work on.”

“You’re right,” he says, staring straight into my eyes. “I must have a problem, thinking I could date someone ten years younger than me seriously.”

In that moment, I don’t even recognize him anymore. I whip around and storm up the street. Screw the bus. I’ll walk back to Newcastle if I need to.

Behind me, I can hear the funeral doors swinging, raised voices. Maybe Hannah’s come out to berate Jack some more for his treatment of her. Whatever. I probably agree with her at this point.

But then heels clack on pavement behind me, and I freeze in place. She’s not trying to talk to me, is she? She wouldn’t. It’s obvious she’s won by now. I’m leaving. Bad evil side candy girl is gone. Now Hannah and Jack can live happily ever after.

But it’s not Hannah who catches up to me, puffing out steam as she catches her breath. “Hey,” says Jack’s sister Kat. “I’m sorry about him. Listen, here. Raul!” she shouts over her shoulder.

A handsome guy in a suit—the one who’d been texting in the corner, I realize—paces toward us.

“I can’t leave right now,” Kat says, “or I’d take you myself. But Raul will drive you into Newcastle. Drop her at the train station, love. There’s trains to Oxford pretty frequently, if that’s what you want. Or it’s close to your hotel, I think.”

I’m so stunned that for a moment I can only blink. I wish I could manage a smile, because it’s unbearably sweet of her to ask her boyfriend to drive me into town while she’s powering through her own father’s funeral. I shake my head. “You need him here, with you. I’ll find my own way back.” I force a smile at her.

Kat frowns at me for a few more seconds, before she finally nods. “Okay, but here.” She extends a hand, and it takes me a moment to realize she wants my phone. She plugs in a number. “That’s the taxi company in this area. They won’t overcharge you too much.” She manages a smile.

All I can offer in return is a weak nod. “Thank you.”



Kat swoops in to plant a kiss on my cheek. “No problem. Thank you, for putting up with my big brother. I have a feeling we’ll meet again,” she says before she jogs away.

I only wish I could believe that.





Jack




“She’s a child, Jack. I know you’re pissed at me, but don’t use her as some kind of pawn for revenge.” Hannah shakes her head at me, the way I’ve seen her do with students who failed to pass her exams.

My blood boils red. Literally, I see red at the corners of my vision, and it takes me a few breaths to calm down enough to even reply. How dare she. After everything I’ve put up with from her, to assume that this whole thing is still about her?

“If that’s all you think she is to me, then you’re even more delusional than I thought, Hannah,” I reply, my voice low and dangerous. I grasp her elbow, direct her toward a far corner, because whatever else she manages to accomplish today, she is not going to fuck up this funeral for my family. They deserve better than that. And even if they can’t see how manipulative she’s become, I see it now.