Matilda

eight

* listen to 'The Hills' by the Weeknd;)

"How's your mum doing?" I ask Val over the phone. I lay on the bed in my hotel room in Philadelphia. We arrived today morning from St. Louis, now it's already getting dark outside.

"She's fine. She and dad went fishing the other day, she absolutely hated it." Val laughs.

"Why did she go then?" I ask back with the same amused tone in my voice.

"Well, dad loves fishing. Mum promised him on his birthday that they'd go together." Val explains.

"Her fault then." I joke.

"Exactly what I told her." Val chuckles, playing along.

Suddenly there's a knock on the door. I get up from my bed and make my way in socks, track pants and a loose shirt over to the door.

"Val, hang on a second, there's someone at the door." I tell her via the phone.

I hold my phone pressed to my chest and open the door.

"Hi." Harry smiles down at me. His hair is held back by a small claw clip but surprisingly he's not in his usual loose shirt and pants. Instead, he wears black skinny jeans and a black satin-button-up shirt, the first few buttons being undone.

He looks so different.

"Hey." I smile back.

"We're all going out, some club here near the hotel opened and we thought it'd be fun. Wanna come?" Harry explains, leaning himself against the doorway.

"Hellooooo, is that Harry?" I hear Val calling from the phone.

I take the phone to my ear. "Shut up for a second." I whisper through my smile. She does listen so I take to phone down to my side again.

"Uh, you want me to come?" I ask harry, just to be sure.

"Well, I wouldn't have asked if we didn't want you to, would I?" He says with a teasing smile.

"Um okay then. Just give me five minutes." I say, making his smile grow.

"Sure, we'll be in the lobby." Harry says and I close the door and immediately put the phone against my ear once again.

"Val, I have to go, but I'll call you tomorrow." I speak into the device.

"You're already neglecting me for him. I can't believe it." She states with an exaggerated gasp.

"Yeah, yeah I love you too, my favourite human being in the whole world." I reassure her, even though I know she was only joking.

"Hm okay, now you got me. Love you too, have some fun, will ya?" She asks.

"I will. Bye, baby." I say and hang up.

I throw the phone on my bed and rush over to my suitcase to find something to wear.

Relief washes over me when the first thing I see is my black skims dress in between all the other stuff.

I get out of my track pants and shirt and throw on the dress and some black heels Val packed for me. She insisted because she wanted me to go out and have fun while we're touring so I guess now is the right occasion.

I rush into the bathroom to check myself in the mirror. Everything sits fine, so I only add some mascara and a bit of dark-pink-shaded lipgloss.

Before I leave I grab a purse I've brought with me and my phone and keycard.

I leave my room and make my way down the hallway towards the elevators. Once I got in, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. After Harry asked me, I never thought about what I agreed to.