When Boy Meets Girl

Chapter 16

I awoke the next morning and my head was throbbing. Harry brought some Tylenol and burnt eggs on a tray for breakfast. Even though the eggs were not tasty, I ate them anyways, for Harry.

"You look terrible," Harry said. I knew that I did. My hair was matted from the rain and my face was stained with eye makeup.

"Yeah, I think I'll just go take a quick shower."

I stepped out from behind the steamy sliding glass, and wrapped the towel around my head like a turban. There was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Hey I have to pee," Harry said, with urgency in his voice.

"Just use to other bathroom then!" I shouted but he was already opening the door. I tried to jump back in the shower or at least cover myself up but I wasn't fast enough. For a moment Harry and I stared at each other, his eyes lingering on my naked body.

"Ew, go away!" I yelled, pushing him out.

"Uh, sorry!" he said.

When we saw each other again, I wasn't sure what to say. What was I supposed to say after our earlier encounter?

"You're very pretty," Harry said. I'm glad he didn't say hot or sexy, I appreciated his modesty, though I knew he was in no way innocent. I felt my cheeks redden and I looked away.

"So what do you want to do today?" I asked.

"I don't know. You decide on something." We bandied this argument for a few minutes and after getting nowhere, I got up and walked out. I knew Harry would follow me out and I was right. As soon as I left the couch, he was behind me.

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know."

We got into my car and I started driving. Pretty soon, we were on the outskirts of London and I had no idea where I was headed.

"Chris, where are we going?"

Instead of answering him, I turned up the volume on the radio. What Makes You Beautiful was on.

"Hey it's you!" I gasped when it was Harry's solo.

"And when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell," Harry sang beside me. He sounded even better in person.

We were now on an empty highway, driving north.

"So do you have family in northern England that were visiting?" Harry was trying to be hopeful. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel and pretended not to hear him. When we were far away from the city, I took an exit into a rural town and finally stopped the car.

"Where are we?" he asked, looking around. Pastures stretched out in every direction for miles and miles.

"Does it matter?" I retorted. Harry seemed to understand. He reached for my hand and our fingers entwined. It felt right.

It turns out, we had been driving for hours. It didn't seem that long but it was already started to get dark. The open sky filled with pink and orange hues, the sun disappearing behind a few soft hills in the distance. It looked like a painting.

There was nobody around, no signs of civilization. Just a few cows and a house that looked like a speck on yhe horizon because it was so far away.

"Okay," Harry said, after we had wandered around enough, discussing our deepest feelings and goals in life, "I think we should leave. I'll drive." I was glad he offered as my eyes were already starting to flutter.

"Mkay," I yawned, tilting the passenger seat so that it laid flat.

"Oh god," Harry muttered, his voice tinted with annoyance. No matter how many times he turned the keys, the car refused to start.

"Well I called the auto service and they don't open again until tomorrow morning." He suddenly became very moody. "You know, if you didn't drive us out to this stupid place this never would have happened.

"How is this my fault?" I snapped. He grumbled and bit his tongue.

"We should just make the best of this," I said cheerfully. Apparently this wasn't the right thing to say, since Harry got out of the car and slammed the door.

"Why does she always have to be so damn optimistic?" I heard him say. He was getting farther and farther down the road, the headlights outlining his body. His hands were angrily shoved into his pockets and he was kicking rocks. A little hurt, I hopped out of the car too and joined him.

"Look Haz, it's not so bad," I told him, grabbing onto his hand. He relaxed at my touch. I leaned back and fell into the thick grass, pulling Harry down with me. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Harry was silent, but that was all the answer I needed. I had never seen the night sky like this before. There had to be at least a trillion stars and the moon was full. It wasn't as dark as in the city, the sky almost seemed a purple and deep blue shade.

Harry let me nestle up against him and as tacky as it sounds, we fell asleep beneath the stars.