I opened my eyes to find that my vision was blurred, my eyelids gummed shut from sleep. I lay in that position, frozen, until I noticed the absence of soft wind and dried grass tickling my exposed legs and arms. A new light came from the window, and the ground I lay on was no longer soft, compact dirt, but clean, white sheets. I was in an unfamiliar room, but my slow, sluggish thoughts didn' t allow me to panic. I rolled over, burying my face in the blankets. They smelled like a rugged boy, a scent I hadn't experienced since Scott.
Scott.
I sat up abruptly, triggering a stabbing pain in my head. I wasn't accustomed to drinking, and I guess that half-a-beer really hit me hard. I gasped and fell back on the bed, feeling cool sheets on my bare back. My head throbbing, I looked down to notice that I was in only a bra and underwear. Shocked, I scrambled to pull the duvet over my body, but my foot caught on the edge of the fabric, causing me to tumble off the bed and land on the carpet with a thud. As I struggled to get up I heard footsteps enter the doorway.
The name caught in my throat. "H-Harry?" I stuttered incredulously, almost forgetting I was very close to being naked.
"Hello," He said, grinning shyly and averting his eyes from my body.
It was around the middle of seventh grade that the other kids started to notice that Harry was different. For one, he was at least a head taller than everyone else. He was skinny, with no sign of gaining muscle like the other boys in our grade. Harry wore glasses that framed rarely-seen emerald eyes, with fanned-out lashes that were dark to match his tight curls. His seat was always in the very back of the class, where no one spoke to him or even knew his name. At lunch, he was no where to be found. After some incident with a few boys in our grade, Harry disappeared. Rumors told me that his parents had decided to home-school him, some even said he had moved to Europe. Harry was the last person I was expecting to see today.
Harry had returned with my clothes from last night, cleanly washed and folded. He handed them to me, and that same embarrassed smile appeared when I stood up to take them. He swiftly left the room, leaving a whiff of more boy-smell in his wake.
"Thank you," I spoke quietly after him, quickly slipping on the soft cotton t-shirt and shorts. After quickly brushing through my locks with my fingers, I reached around to the back of my head and plaited my long, dark hair into one braid down my back. I looked around to find my phone and keys, which were neatly laid out on the bed side table. I tucked both items into my pockets and pushed my braid over my shoulder.
I carefully stepped out of the bedroom and tried not to snoop as I looked for the stairs leading to the first story of the house. It was a medium-sized house, with lots of windows and pristine furniture. I found the stairs, and as I reached the front door, I heard a voice call out to me.
"Leaving?" the deep male voice said. I whirled around, startled.
"Oh - Oh, yeah, I said, looking down and picking at the frayed cuffs of my shorts. "Thank you again."
I peered up at Harry and finally got a good look at him. He was still tall, but prominent muscles were visible through his perfectly fitted white t-shirt. His eyes were still that shade of green, and his curls were looser and swept over his head in a wind-blown sort of way. What I noticed most were his lips. They were plump, and a sort of pinkish color that I didn't even know existed. They were that perfect chapped texture that a boy's lips should be. He had certainly developed nicely.
Suddenly I became very nervous. The same kind of nervous I had been when I had first met Scott at the coffee shop downtown. A feeling of despair spilled over me, and I unlocked the door numbly and stumbled out. I had no idea where I was, but I turn left and did what I did the only thing I could think to do; run. I still had no shoes on, and my bare feet slapped the concrete sidewalk, burning with every touch.
