Unexpected

3. Harry

I was sleeping, until my phone started ringing and the moment I saw that name flashing on the screen, I don't know why, but something strange happened inside me.

Why is Helen Scott calling me at five in the morning?

I answer, on the other side there is silence. With my voice thick with sleep and my eyes closed I say, "Helen?"

I hear her take a deep breath and a few seconds later she releases it. "Henry?"

How annoying when they call me that. "Yeah... but call me Harry please." I'm confused. She remains silent, I can hear her breathing. "D'you need something?"

Silence. Then it is broken by a whisper. "You're a piece of shit," she says, and immediately ends the call.

What the...? This is all strange. Did she call me at five in the morning to tell me this?

A message arrives soon after. It's her. And the message says— wait, a video?

What the hell is this? And that's me. I don't even remember saying those things. I was dead drunk. What a fool to even come up with the name. God, how is it possible?

See, Davis? What a moron you are, is the message she sends me after a few minutes.

I snort and rub my eyes. Of course this girl really has the guts to insult me ​​at this hour. It's a pity that she is as beautiful as she is unbearable.

I feel the need to call her back. It rings, but she doesn't answer. Fuck. I call her again. Nothing. One more time and another. I swear if this time she doesn't answer—

"Yeah, Henry, tell me. Although you wouldn't have anything convincing to say," she says in a slightly sleepy voice. "Anyway, go ahead, shoot your bullshit."

I roll my eyes and sigh. "Look, Helen, I was drunk," is the only thing that comes to mind, but at least it's not bullshit. Shit, I shouldn't have called her back.

She fakes a laugh. "Oh, I didn't notice, you know? Thanks for the information," she says sarcastically.

We remain silent for a few seconds. Then she suddenly says, "Harry, why did you call me back if you have nothing to say? I would have accepted an excuse, too, really. But not silence."

What's that supposed to mean?

"Helen—" I start to say, but she cuts me off.

"Do you realize how you defined my friend? An object to fuck!" she says whispering but highlights the last words.

"I didn't want to!" I try to defend myself, even if it doesn't work because she has more shit to throw at me.

She pretends to laugh again. "You didn't want to? Harry, why do you think I left after that night, in freshman year, huh?" Oh no, let's not get this story out.

"I've never been able to figure it out and you want to explain it to me now?" I say, already tired of this discussion.

She doesn't listen to me and keeps talking. "Because somehow I managed to frame you right away. You don't give a fuck about anyone. I wouldn't want to be in the place of those poor girls who get fucked by you! What do you have that a good boy doesn't have?"

"I don't know, Helen! They just kneel at my feet, what should I tell you?" True, I am honest.

"And you don't care to stop them, on the contrary, you induce them to do so. Yuck, Harry, really..." is the last thing he says.

I am shocked that she said these words, but I'm not upset by her insults. I know I'm like that, as she described me, so can't argue.

"Speechless?" she says after a short time.

"Um, no?"

She bursts out laughing. "Well, then I just wasted my breath because apparently you already knew you were a piece of shit."

I sigh. Helen Scott is blonde, but she's not stupid. I don't want to admit it, but this sometimes drives me crazy. She is too smart and stubborn, she doesn't fall at anyone's feet, she knows what she wants and this is really—

"The next time you see me, don't look at me, don't talk to me and don't greet me even from a distance; I won't return with my usual smile. Is that clear?"

She'll hate me forever, I know.

"Helen, we take the music class together—" I try to find an excuse.

"No. You'll do your best to pretend I don't exist— same thing with Jade."

I remain silent, I'm tired of arguing. But suddenly one thing comes to mind. "Helen."

"Yeah, let's hear."

I massage my temple with my index finger. "Who recorded the video?"

She laughs under her breath, but I can still hear her. "I think you could figure it out on your own."

I put her on speakerphone and watch the video again. The very blond hair next to the recorder makes me understand immediately. "Michael," I say out loud without meaning to.

I leave the phone on the bed without worrying about ending the call with Helen. I cross the corridor in a few long steps and in an instant I'm knocking hard on that bastard's bedroom door.

"Michael! Open this fucking door!" I shout, I don't care what time it is.

After a few more knocks, I finally hear the sound of the key turning and opening the door.

"What... it's half past five, what do you want?" he says confused, with his eyes half closed.

"Why d'you send that video to Helen?" I ask him looking into his eyes, I bet I'm red with anger.

Evan opens the door of his room and says, "Guys? What is happening? You woke me up."

"A video to Helen? Helen Scott?" he says, as if he doesn't know what I'm talking about.

"Don't pretend nothing has happened. The video shows Grace next to someone, and I'm sure that someone is you."

He frowns his brows. "What the fuck...? Harry, I swear to you, I don't know what you're talking about."

He surely was too drunk to remember. Or maybe not.

"I remember taking a video, but with Grace's phone. Later I can call her and ask her if you want..." he says in a low tone of voice, as if he's scared of me.

I release a breath I didn't think I was holding and run a hand through my black hair, trying to calm down. "Okay..."

"Did something happen with Jade and Helen?" Evan asks, still half asleep.

"Doesn't that seem obvious to you?" I burst out, leaning my back against the wall and looking down.

He shrugs. "And which of the two is more pissed off? I don't understand."

"Helen, she's the one who has the guts to bang things in your face," I explain. "She says that when I see her I won't have to talk to her, say hello, or look at her..."

"Hey, dude, why that face? It wouldn't change anything, you just say hello to her, you don't talk to her a lot or look at her."

I look at Evan, who's convinced of what he just said, and I get even more annoyed. "Goodnight, guys," and I walk back to my room at a fast pace.

I close the door behind me and sit on the bed, resting my elbows on my knees.

Evan is right.

What would it change?

If it weren't for the fact that when she's near me I can't ignore her presence.