Freaks

6(Continued)

He stands up from the couch, wearing the most casual outfit, forcing a smile, "Hey Harp."

"Hey..." She bubbles up her voice, setting her bag down by the door, "What are you doing here?"

Katie's eyes are fixated on her cheek, "Harper, what happened to your face?"

"Oh." She feels for it, "I hit it on a door."

Katie compresses her lips into a worried smirk and nods slowly, "Well, Jackson came over to talk to you. But I was guessing you were just out with your other friends."

"I was...kind of." She looks at Jackson, "Let's go talk."

He bobs his head as he stands and leads them into the hallway. Katie continues smiling at them, "Don't have too much fun please!"

Harper gives her a sickening glance back. It makes her stomach churn. She would never let him touch her, him kissing her—for more than two seconds—was already too much to be okay with.

She shuts her door behind them and he studies her room without a smile, "Looks dirtier in here since I've last seen it."

"I don't clean it like I used to." She breathes, "I should."

He spins around slowly to face her, an interested expression with a bit of pain behind it, "So..what's with the rumor?"

She stands by the corner of her dresser and weighs her arm on it with a sigh, "I was..acting out that day. I want to be back with you guys, I swear."

"I know you do. But we need to trust you, Harp."

She widens her eyes, "You can."

His head turns, looking gloomy, "How?"

She ponders for a moment. Her head, swimming with ideas all over the place. Then something sticks. "I went to see the others after school to tell them I can't be with them anymore. That's what I was doing before I got here."

His chest rises and falls, "Okay." He starts to look like a sappy baby, big lapis eyes glowing in her dimly bronzed room.

Delusional.

He moves closer to her, his uncomfortably soft hands touching her cheek to inspect the bruise, "I'm sorry about that. Alice, she's...quick to react."

Harper nods, secretly begging for his thumb to stop swaying on her skin, "It's okay." She smiles shortly.

His eyes start watching hers, "I did talk with her though. You can still come over tomorrow, after school."

"Will you drive me?" She gulps, trying not to sound worried about Alice, feeling considerably scared to face her again.

He nods and his straight-spined nose hits hers as he goes to kiss her again. His hands start to take hold of her head, unusually, and straighten her up. But Harper doesn't even feel them. As if they aren't even on her. Her eyes are squinted together in a way to make sure she doesn't throw up in his mouth.

She can hear his breath get ever so heavy as he tries kissing her harder and harder, wanting to take her with him, strangely. Harper only stands, completely still and stiff. Throwing up is only getting harder to hold in.

He finally backs his head away once he takes note of it, "You okay?"

Harper stares straight across at his chin, "Yeah." She sniffs, "I just don't...know. After what you said to me..."

"Harper." He stops her quickly, "I didn't mean any of that, I was just acting out, like you. I was just mad, that's all."

She continues watching his chin, "I know. I just need...time."