I felt so much better after talking to Hollis. She reassured me about Harry and she shared some boy horror stories of her own. One of them was absolutely horrible.
In middle school, she was best friends with this girl (I think her name was Sarah or something like that) and another girl named Tiffany. Hollis had a HUGE crush on Tiffany's older brother. One day, she was playing truth or dare with Sarah and Tiffany and Tiffany dared Sarah to kiss her older brother. She did it even though she knew Hollis liked him.
The whole thing, so she tells me, is quite embarrassing. She, Sarah, and Tiffany are no longer friends.
That's horrible.
I can't sound sympathetic over text but I add in a crying emoji for effect. I hate texting; there's no emotion behind it.
It's ok, I've moved on.
I turn around to see that it's already midnight. We've been ranting to each other for hours.
I didn't notice the time. I'll see you tomorrow.
With that, I turn off my phone and get ready for bed, wondering if I'll see that curly haired boy the next day.
. . .
I'm at my locker during the change between classes when Harry walks up to me, leaning against the lockers.
"Hey." He says, smirking.
"Hi." I say quietly.
He tilts my chin up with his fingers so I'm looking at him. "What's wrong?"
"Where were you yesterday?" I say, looking into his eyes, searching for an answer.
"What, did you miss me?" He lets go of my chin.
"No, it's just when someone says they'll see you tomorrow, they usually do." I snap.
"It's just an expression Ari. Don't get your panties in a twist." He chuckles.
I know he's right. I'm extremely worked up over nothing. I sound like an overly obsessed girlfriend. Even though I hate the way he told me to calm down, I brush it off.
"Yeah...yeah, you're right. I was overreacting." I sigh.
Then he does something completely unexpected.
"Turn around." I look at him, puzzled.
He makes a circular motion with his index finger, signaling me to turn. I do as he says and he starts massaging my shoulders.
Literally. Massaging my shoulders in the middle of the hallway. Who does that? I almost tell him to stop but his thumbs dig into my shoulders and it feels amazing to say the least.
"You seem...tense." He whispers in my ear. I shudder and I can tell he's smirking without even looking at him.
He stops massaging me, grabs my shoulders, and turns me back around to face him. I shiver from the loss of contact and he chuckles.
"All better?" He asks.
"Mhmm." I respond, my eyes closed. He grins.
"So Ari? You have a nickname for me now?" I giggle. I know I probably sound like a desperate school girl but I honestly don't care.
"Yeah, Aria is just too long." He crinkles his nose. I have to stop myself from leaning forward and kissing him.
"So you just took off a letter and suddenly the name is much shorter?"
"Precisely! You're much smarter and any freshmen I've ever met." He jokes.
Silence falls between us and we just look into each other's eyes for a moment. That moment feels like forever. I could stare into his green eyes forever. He finally breaks the silence.
"Have I ever told you that your eyes are extremely pretty?" I can feel my knees growing weak from his words.
"No, I don't think you have." I laugh and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear.
"Well your eyes are gorgeous." He smiles. My eyes move to his lips and I can't stop staring at them. Suddenly, his smile disappears.
"I have to go." He says, his voice deadpan.
"Oh, ok. I'll see you tomorrow I guess." I say as he starts to walk away. He turns around to say one final thing, his regular smile back in place.
"I hope you mean that, when people say they'll see you tomorrow, they usually do."
He leaves me confused. Why did his mood change so suddenly? And why could he forget what made that change long enough to flirt with me again? I'm completely bewildered by this man.
. . .
"He massaged your shoulders?" Hollis looks at me, as confused as I was.
"Yeah I know right? Right in the middle of the hallway! I can't lie, I enjoyed it; he just caught me off guard."
"Well, at least your boy troubles have been put to an end." Hollis sighs with relief.
"Not exactly. He was all smiley but then something happened and he was completely emotionless, like a rock or something. I said something to him and he became his usual self when he said something to me but then he basically ran away." I say, looking down at my hands.
"Maybe he saw the time and ran away because he had to get back to class?" Hollis suggests. I smile at her attempt but I highly doubt that's what happened.
"Ever since we've started talking, I've gotten so much attention and I don't even know why." I shake my head.
Hollis furrows her eyebrows in thought. She opens her mouth then closes it again as if she had something to say but decided not to.
"If that kind of stuff gets out of hand, you can always kick 'em in the nuts; I hear that hurts a lot." A loud laugh escapes my lips and my hands fly up to cover my mouth.
"You're evil." I giggle.
"Now Aria, I'm sure your mother taught you not to incorrectly give people labels." Hollis joked.
The mention of my mother makes my smile fade.
"Did I say something?" Hollis asks, her smile disappearing as well.
"Well my parents got divorced so I don't really see my mom a lot," I admit. "But you didn't know so I'm not mad at you or anything. You just caught me off guard." I add.
Hollis nods her head. "I understand."
A/N- Thank you for reading another (kind of longer) chapter! Trust me, Harry and Aria's relationship won't move as fast as it's been moving. ;) please be patient! I know that I've been saying that I'll be posting less frequently and I remain posting every day. This time, it's actually happening. I won't be posting for a couple days (hopefully that means that the next chapter should be a good one).
As always, please vote and comment on this chapter and follow me on twitter @bchoranxx
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the freshmen 500 || h.s
Fanfiction"when were you going to tell me?" "I didn't want to lose you."
