smother. [h.s.]

13. home free

Elephant - Tame Impala

//play when you see *

Sweet strawberry ice cream coats my tongue. A light flurry of snow starts to fall; it lands on my eyelashes and hair daintily. I'm shivering, but the small smile on the corner of my lips remains between bites of the waffle cone. 

Our weekend of warmth has ended as quickly as it began. 

"I'm gonna kill him," Ivan mutters as he hits the side of a tree trunk with an old beaten-up baseball bat. 

A few acorns shake out from the branches and thud onto the asphalt. Nearby squirrels scurry away from the aggressive outburst. 

For the past half hour, we've been sitting in this empty lot. Leo leans against a parking sign and nods along to Ivan's ramblings, while Sasha and I recline against each other's backs as we sit on top of a cement bumper. 

When we got off the bus from Waterford, Ivan practically dragged us over here. The rest of the group went to prepare for classes tomorrow, while we, on the other hand, have been waiting for Harry's return. 

The moment I stepped off the bus, I saw an ice cream truck drive by. I left the group and sprinted through the side of the road to catch up with it. The rest of them waited for me; tired, disgruntled, and cold.

"I don't understand how he could have left earlier than us, yet still not be here." Ivan shakes his head and spits into the grass. 

"We've been over this." Sasha tries to be rational. "He's probably taking care of something. All we can do is wait."

"Let me call him again."

"No, Ivan." She shakes her head. Her hair shifts against the back of my ponytail. 

I keep my eyes down as I lick the sides of my ice cream. I can feel Leo's gaze on me occasionally, and it makes my stomach involuntarily clench with anxiety. 

"Has anyone else tried calling him?" I mumble as I chew a chunk of the cone. 

"What, think pretty boy's gonna answer just cause it's you?" Ivan scoffs, then turns around to whack the side of the tree again. 

"No, I'm just saying, maybe he doesn't want to answer you." 

"It's worth a shot." Leo glances at Ivan.

Ivan groans and lets the bat slip out of his fingers in defeat. It falls onto the ground with a loud clang. He gives in, pulling his phone out and handing it to me to type the number into mine. 

I hit call and press my phone to my ear. It rings for a few seconds, then for a couple more.

Just as I think it's about to go to voicemail, I hear him.

"Hello?" Harry's voice echoes through the tiny speaker.

Ivan stops pacing and stands in front of me, his brows knitting together in surprise.

"Hi." 

"Who is this?" 

"Sorry, it's Shalom. I forgot you don't have my number."

"I don't."

"How are you?"I mumble nonchalantly. Some ice cream drips down onto my leg. I'm not quick enough to clean it up. 

"I've been better— listen, I can't really talk." I can hear the sound of chatter and cups clinking noisily in the background. 

"That's okay." I wipe some of the strawberry liquid off of my thigh and bring it to my lips to lick off quickly.