Waiting for him to answer feels like it takes forever, and I would be lying if I say I don't check over my shoulder to make sure no one from school – or Dean Vance – is standing there, ready and waiting to rat me out.
My head whips back around to the door when Harlan opens it, and I duck inside faster than I care to admit.
The two of us look at each other silently for a few moments.
"Hi," I breathe when I'm tired of the quiet.
"Hi," he mumbles.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," he says, rubbing the back of his head. He looks stressed. "Sorry about earlier. I thought it would be best if you just... got as far away from me as possible. In case he decided to come back for a follow-up visit." He turns toward the staircase, gesturing for me to follow and giving me a "come here" motion with two fingers
