Then it was hard to tell if she was crying or laughing, but Dad handed her a tissue, and she seemed to pull it together.
“Harry, I’m so sorry.” She dabbed at her face with the tissue. “I told the campus cops everything—that it was an accident and Steve overreacted. I don’t think they’re going to pursue it, but I made sure they have all my details if they need to contact me. Steve, he’s . . . a thug. I’ve been trying to work up the courage to dump him for months. But what he did today—I’m just so sorry. And I had to check on you.”
Oh dear, a fresh round of tears. Dad gave her the whole box of tissues this time. Then he looked at Harry as if to say, No fucking clue, you?
“And I tried to come in earlier,” Annie continued through her sniffs. “But they wouldn’t let me, and then I bumped into your friend Max in the cafeteria. He brought me back here. I’m so sorry, Harry.”
Someone appeared in the doorway. Dad stood up; Harry gasped.
He might not be in uniform, but the old dude with really bad hair and a beer gut leaning in the doorway looked horribly familiar. “I was worried about you, kid. I wanted to see how you were faring.” He puffed out his chest and spoke to Annie. “Thank you, miss, for setting the record straight. I’ve written up the incident as a jealous boyfriend overreacting. And apologies to you, son, for not believing your friend when he told us you had Tourette’s. I can assure you I won’t be making that mistake twice.”
“Thank you,” Harry said.
“And I brought someone with me.” The cop reached back into the corridor. “Figured I’m not the only one who owes you an apology.”
“Steve,” Annie said, and held the tissue box to her chest like it was a bunch of garlic and her boyfriend was Dracula.
“What are you doing here?” Steve looked angry as fuck.
“So.” Dad made a strange smacking noise with his lips. “You’re Steve.”
Steve didn’t look so big and scary anymore. Definitely not Dracula. In fact, barely a cartoon bat from Scooby-Doo. He seemed to cower next to Dad, and almost lost his balance completely when Max pushed past him, saying, “Did I miss something?”
“Ah, welcome back.” Dad’s voice had lightened considerably. “No, you’re just in time to hear this young man apologize to Harry. I believe he called him a rather insulting name.”
Oh God.
“I’ll wait outside,” the cop said. “So I can take Steve back to campus when he’s done.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be necessary.” Dad smiled. “I’m going to keep him for quite a while.”
The cop shrugged and left.
“And you, young lady,” Dad continued, “need a boyfriend who isn’t a bully.”
“I’m not—” Steve said.
Dad held up his hand. “I believe it’s rude to interrupt, Steve, and I haven’t finished. Oh no, I have a great deal more to say. You see, I have no tolerance for bullies. First off, let me tell you what’s about to happen here. You are going to explain that you misread an innocent situation and, acting out of jealousy, made false accusations against Harry. Then you will apologize to him, and I will record the entire episode on my phone.” Dad’s grin was strangely malevolent. “This will be my proof of your wrongdoing. I’ll keep it somewhere safe, and if Harry should hear one squeak out of you again, if you track him down on social media, if you make another ridiculous false claim against him, I will post this on YouTube, right before I create a hugely embarrassing scandal about how Harvard treats kids with Tourette’s, with you at the center of my publicity campaign. Do we understand each other?”
“You tell him, Mr. FW.” Max nodded in the background.
“And when you have finished your apology, you will sit outside in the corridor—with me—and read an online article of my choosing about Tourette’s. Hopefully, this will penetrate your thick skull so that next time you encounter someone with Tourette syndrome, you can offer understanding, not dickish behavior.”
Steve’s face burned scarlet, but at least he had the sense to keep his mouth shut.