Under the Willow Tree

Chapter 4 Lizzy

"How was your first day?"

I asked Harry as we met in front of the office doors at the end of our last class period. We walked through the crowded hallways towards the front doors of the building. We had planned on going over to Brew Haven, the coffee shop in the strip mall. Ben was going to pick us up but from the look of Harry's face, he didn't seem too excited to go anywhere but home.

"I'm kinda tired, I'm not sure if I want to go to Brew Haven."

"Are you okay? You seem sad.''

"I'm fine, just tired."

I nodded my head and held onto his arm as we walked out into the courtyard and got into the bus that would be taking us to Harry's house. We sat in the same seats as before and I saw Harry resting his head on the glass. He was acting kind of strange, but I didn't want to push him. He would come to me when he was ready to tell me whatever he had going on. It had always been like this, even when we were little.

While the bus drove down the street, I looked out the window and thought about how this would be our very last school day. Neither of us planned on going to college. I would go to a tech school and Harry planned on staying in his band and making it big. They were semi-popular on YouTube in other countries. which didn't make much sense to me because nobody knew of them here where we lived. Like how does that work out? I was glad that they were getting recognition, it was just a strange concept to me.

When the bus finally pulled into our stop, I let Harry out first before walking behind him and noticing that we were the only ones getting off. There were also a lot fewer kids on our bus than there had been the years before. We walked to his house just down the street and I saw his mom's car in the driveway. Laura was never home this early. She was usually out at the Soup Kitchen where she regularly volunteered at. Harry's parents had only had Ben and Harry, so they had a lot of free time now that they were pretty much grown up. My parents on the other hand had Willow, Asher, and I. Why they named them after trees, I have no idea.

We walked in and saw Laura on the couch watching a show that I didn't recognize. She liked to watch Spanish soap operas. She said they were more entertaining and filled with drama, which she liked. I saw she had Killer the 14-year-old chihuahua in her lap and was scratching under her chin. I said Hi, before walking past, towards Harry's room to get my overnight bag. Harry walked over and sat next to her. When I came back out of the room, I set my bag down next to the front door and walked towards the couch. I sat on the other side of Harry leaning my head onto the arm of the couch. Killer got up from Laura's lap and walked over to me. I picked her up and set her on my lap.

"How was school?''

she asked as she petted Harry's hair.

"It was fine."

Harry responded without looking up at her.

She looked over at me and I nodded my head in agreement. We sat there watching the TV for a while and my phone went off. It was my mom asking me when I would be home. I told her that I was waiting for Ben to come home so he could give me a ride home. She offered to pick me up, but I declined. She already had her hands full with Willow and Asher and I didn't want to add anything to her list of things to do.

Harry and I both knew how to drive but neither of us had a car yet. Steven, Harry's dad, had taught us both to drive sophomore year together. When he taught us, Harry drove the car into a fire hydrant and absolutely wrecked the little Toyota we were using. Needless to say, he wasn't trusted with a car, and I just plainly didn't have one. Although my mom did let me borrow hers occasionally.

"What time is Ben supposed to be home?''

I asked Harry.

He looked at the clock behind the TV and said.

"His last class ends at 4:30, so he shouldn't be too long. Why?"

"He's supposed to give me a ride home.''

I said looking over at him and saw him wrinkle his eyebrows a little. Harry thought Ben liked me, which in hindsight I now realize that he thought that of everyone. With Ben though, it was different. All three of us had grown up together and I saw them as brothers. I don't think I could ever see either of them as anything more. People automatically assumed that because I was a girl and Harry and Ben were boys we were going to end up together. I had never felt any sort of romantic feelings toward them so I knew that would never happen. I think Harry was mostly scared of me replacing him with someone else, something I could never do. I don't think I was as close to my siblings as I was to Harry. We went through so much bullying together as kids and were there for each other more than anyone else had. We understood what the other was going through and knew how to be there for each other.

"Why'd you make that face?''

I asked him.

"What face?''

he asked, shaking his head.

"The one you just made.''

" I didn't make a face."

''You absolutely did.''

"I did not."

Just before I was about to reply Ben walked in and looked at us sitting on the couch.

"I could hear you guys from outside,''

he said as he pointed his thumb to the door.

I pointed to Harry and said.

"He started it.''

Harry glared at me, and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Can you still give me a ride home?"

''Yeah, let me just put my stuff in my room."

Ben said as he walked away.

I stood up from the couch [=-and hugged Laura and said goodbye. I set Killer down on one of the cushions next to Laura and gave her a little pat. She yapped at me before laying her head on the cushion and falling asleep. Harry stood up and walked with me over to the front door. I turned around and pulled one of his curls, he swatted my hand away and I smiled at him. I really did like his curls; they were arguably one of my favorite features of his. He smiled back at me before giving me a quick side hug. It was kind of strange for him because I was usually the one to hug him, not the other way around but it was nice. I bent down to grab my bag and told Harry I would text him when I got home before walking out the front door. As I was reaching the door to the car's passenger seat, Ben walked out. He sprints to the driver's side unlocking the doors for me to get in.

As he pulled out of the driveway and down the street, we were mostly silent with only the soft hum of the radio playing in the background.

''So, how's college so far?" I asked Ben.

"It's alright. It is still school after all. Although my professors are really cool. One of them went to an Ivy League and discovered this crazy new theory about people with dissociative identity disorder."

"Isn't that similar to what your grandma had?"

"No, she had schizophrenia, similar symptoms but different disorders. She struggled with sudden changes in her perspective of reality."

He rambled on about the symptoms of both disorders and how they were different. Ben was interested in all things psychological. He said that it was one's mind that broke you and had the ability to put you back together. He was probably the smartest person I knew, and I really enjoyed listening to him talk about everything he learned. It was nice to hear a person talk about something so enthusiastically.

He pulled into front of my house and unlocked the doors for me to get off. I thanked him before getting off and grabbed my bag. I closed the door and walked onto the driveway and waved at him. I saw that my mom wasn't home yet and checked our mailbox, before pulling out my house keys and opening the door. Ben sat there waiting for me to walk into my house before leaving.

He rolled his window down and said,

"Bye Lizzy." before driving away.