Glen lay face up, staring at the plain white roof of room. Right now, he was in the nurse office where Miss Lauren had forced him to stay since she wasn't sure he was in the right state of mind to return back to class.
In truth, Glenn wasn't okay in his head right now. What had happened earlier kept replaying in his mind. The thought that someone would be so crude just to get him was troubling. Before he had come to the school, he had lived a fairly peaceful life with Mac but now, that peace was being threatened. And that worried him.
Glenn closed his eyes and waited for the school bell to ring. Miss Lauren had said she'll come look for him then and they'd go pick up his brother together.
He wasn't the only one paranoid after all.
After waiting for a few more minutes, the sound of the bell ringing entered his ears. Glenn forced himself to get up from the plain white bed, picked his bag and walk out of the room. He made his way to the nurse office.
The nurse, a nice lady in her early thirties smiled up at him when he walked in and he returned a forced one.
"Hope you're feeling better already" She said
Glenn knew she was trying to start a conversation, probably wanting to know why he was here when he was perfectly fine.
Nodding his head, Glenn turned to the door just as a knock came on it and Miss Lauren let herself in.
"Good afternoon ma" the nurse greeted when she saw the teacher step in
"Afternoon Debbie" Miss Lauren replied and turned to Glenn "Let's go"
As they stepped into the hall filled with students, whispers erupt around them. The new of what had happened the the library had spread throughout the year one students already.
"Does it bother you? That people are whispering I mean" Miss Lauren asked when they walked out of the school doors.
Glenn shook his head
"No. Let them whisper" he said, his voice low, almost like he was talking to himself yet Miss Lauren heard him loud an clear
Miss Lauren nodded in reply and lead him to her white Nissan Sentra, packed among the other cars belonging to the teachers in the school.
Glenn stared at the vehicle. If he wasn't so 'lightheaded' right now, he'd be gushing about how cool it looked.
"Where does your brother school?" Miss Lauren asked after they got in
"~" Glenn replied
Miss Lauren started the car and turned out of the parking lot. She drove in the direction of the school. None of them spoke and they soon reached Mac's school
Mac was as always waiting outside for Glenn.
Fixing his expression, Glenn stepped out of the car and not even a minute later, a figure came running into his hands
"Big bros, whose car is that? Is it for the pretty sister whose house we slept in yesterday?" the energetic child asked looking at the fine car behind Glenn's shoulder.
"Pretty sister?" Glenn face turned into a frown "I told you you are too young to go about calling girls pretty" he said.
"But it is the truth!" Mac whined
Glenn rolled his eyes and took his hand
"Let's go" he said and lead the boy to the car.
When they got in, Mac at the back seat and strapped in.
"Miss Lauren, your car is so beautiful." the boy complimented
Miss Lauren smiled at the boy
"Thank you Mac. How was school today?"
"Wonderful. My class teacher couldn't come to school today and there wasn't any substitute available so we spent the whole day playing games" Mac said with a huge grin and then went on to give a very detailed explanation of how the day went as Miss Lauren pulled out of the driveway and drove off.
They arrived at Miss Lauren's mini estate and they went in.
"You two can go keep you bag in the room you slept in yesterday. Also, I've prepared cloths you can change into on the bed." Miss Lauren said and headed to her own room.
After a few minutes, the three had dinner and Glenn followed Mac outside to play. He did this because he was trying to delay his 'talk' with Miss Lauren as much as he could. Of course the lady would want to have a conversation with him especially after everything that has happened.
Although she hadn't mentioned it yet, Glenn had a feeling she wasn't going to let them return to their home. However, this doesn't bother him much. He had planned to move out of that rundown street anyway.
Glenn found himself watching Mac run around on the grass at the back of the mansion. He was chasing those tiny insects that glowed in the dark.
After catching one, Mac ran back to him
"I caught one!" he exclaimed excitedly and opened his hands to show the small creature to his brother but the insect flew away immediately.
Mac gasped in shock and Glenn laughed, his first real laugh in hours. Pouting, the younger boy sat down saying something like 'not fair' under his breath.
"You can't blame it. If you were in it's shoes, you'll also fly away" Glenn said ruffling the younger boy's hair
"Still not fair!" Mac whined "I worked so hard to caught it"
Glenn smiled and lay back on the grass. Mac copied his action
"This place is so big and beautiful." he said and let's out a loud yawn "Do you think we could live in a place like this in the future?"
Glenn hummed in reply
"And Miss Lauren is so nice. She insist I call her Big sis though" Mac said "She's reminds me of your mom"
A frown settled on Glenn face
"Our mom" he said
However, he doesn't get a reply from Mac as he usually would. Turning to check, he saw the boy already asleep. Poor thing was exhausted from playing all day and chasing insects all evening.
With a smile, Glenn got up and picked him. He walked back into the mansion and upstairs to the room Miss Lauren had let Mac sleep in the day before. After that, he went downstairs to see if Miss Lauren was down from her room
"Glenn" the call came from the dinning room and Glenn went there.
He saw Miss Lauren dressed in a large comfortable looking shirt and seated at the dinning table with a glass of water in front of her. For the first time, Glenn saw the young lady with her beautifully long hair let down, flowing past her shoulders and down her back like a piece of artwork.
"Yes Ma'am" Glenn replied settling himself into the chair opposite her.
Miss Lauren gave him a warm smile
"Mac is asleep?"
Glenn nodded in reply
Nothing beating around the bush, Miss Lauren quickly got down to the point
"I want to talk to you about what happened at the school today" she said, the smile on her face disappearing to leave a serious expression
"I won't tell anyone" Glenn immediately said hoping she'd leave it at that but the woman laughed
"Of course you won't but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about" She said "Have you ever seen anyone die before Glenn?"
"Yes Ma'am. My great great grandpa died a few years ago. He was poisoned" Glenn replied
"Oh" Miss Lauren replied seeming lost in thoughts for a moment. She shakes her head and continued "How did you cope with that?"
Glenn shrugged
"I was two when it happened so I don't really remember much" he replied
"And your parents?" Miss Lauren looked hesitate to ask. The last thing she wanted was for the boy to become uncomfortable "Are they still alive?"
Glenn nodded
"Yes. They just traveled on a .. um.. business trip" he replied
Signing with relief, Miss Lauren sat more comfortably on her chair
"Why didn't they take Mac and you along?"
Again Glenn shrugged but replied
"The place they went, it isn't really safe for someone like Mac and since we couldn't just leave him alone here, I decided to stay back too." he said "The house we stayed in is ours and my parents have a few properties around"
"The rents and payments from those properties comes directly to me so Mac and I have never really had an issue with money."
Miss Lauren nodded in understanding. She wanted to ask where his parents went but didn't want to push the topic any further. Glenn surely could have mentioned it of he was comfortable talking about it.
Miss Lauren took a slip of water. What she was about to say or request next was quite difficult. She however needed to at least ask.
"Glenn, do you mind living here? With everything that's happening, I don't want any of my students staying alone without an adult guardian." Miss Lauren said "You two can stay here at least until I settle everything. Of course this is your choices"
Glenn wasn't shocked at all by the female's request. He at already suspected she won't want him going back to his home.
However he also didn't have a problem with her request. For one, he didn't have the strength to protect himself and Mac if the enemy came to look for them again, two, Mac really like it here and won't have a hard time fitting in and finally, Miss Lauren was actually the only person he knew he could trust right now. When it came down to it, Glenn didn't have anyone to fall back on when trouble comes. Why would he give up a chance like this?
"If you're willing to have us, then I'm willing to stay" Glenn said humbly.
The worried expression on Miss Lauren's face turned into one of extreme joy and she smiled widely
"Of course!" she said happily. "I promise you guys will be fine here.
The lady stood up. She was excited. She had never had anyone stay with here here talk less of a child but she loved children and Mac was perfectly adorable.
"I'll give you a tour of the house now then tomorrow, we can go shopping for clothes and other things to decorate the rooms" Miss Lauren clapped her hands together.
At that moment, Glenn felt she was like a teen preparing for a sleepover. He followed her as she took him round every part of her mini mansion.