Innocent

Bliss

With the school term coming to an end, everyone was making plans to catch up on the two week holiday. I don't have very many friends, but the few I have are... Special, and let's leave it at that.

"So I'm walking to class, and he had his hand on my back, right?" Roxanne asked, her brown ponytail flicking with every movement.

"Yeah, then he moved it down and basically grabbed your-" she cut me off by sticking her fingers in her ear and singing - very loudly and off key.

"If you didn't want to deal with that stuff, then you shouldn't date such a creep," Evelyn said, walking in-step with Roxy and I. We were cruising the bookshelves of the library, searching for another paper escape.

"Change of topic," Roxy announced, "are you going to see Benjamin on the holidays, Harley?"

"Probably. Not like I have anything else to do," I answered, shrugging my shoulders.

"Duh, you could hang out with us," said Evelyn.

"Roxy is going on holiday in Sydney, and you'll be too busy with work." We sat at a nearby table, opening to the first page of the books we had picked.

"You could always message Avery," Roxy said, her voice low and her eyes focused on her book. Avery was my best friend before I met Roxy or Evelyn even came here. We were polar opposites, and we fought a fair bit, but we always made up. I doubted we could recover this time, however.

"And you could always break up with your creep of a boyfriend," I said with a smile, hoping they didn't notice what the mere mention of Avery did to me. Just then, my phone vibrated, making me jump. Roxy and Eve looked at me, then at each other, before they started laughing at my reaction. I rolled my eyes and pulled the crappy iPhone from my threadbare pocket. A text from Benjamin read:

Hey, do you have plans for tomorrow?

I sighed. I didn't have any plans, but half of my thoughts were telling me to lie. I loved Benjamin, but recently, he had been acting weird. Evelyn and Roxanne both put a hand on my shoulders, trying to comfort me. They didn't need to know who had messaged me; they could almost sense when I was upset.

"Do I have plans tomorrow? Benjamin wants to know."

"I think you do," said Evelyn. Though they had never met, she hated Benjamin, simply from what I had told her about him.

"No, you don't, Harley," said Roxanne, her green eyes meeting mine. She might have disliked him - less than Evelyn did - but she hated dishonesty a lot more. I replied to Benjamin's message.

Nothing of importance. I have a meeting with the queen, but I can reschedule for you :)

He replied about five minutes later.

Good. Queeny needs to learn some patience. Mum can drop you home at 5. See ya tomorrow

I smiled and put my phone away, knowing he was probably asleep from the moment he hit send. About midday on a Friday? I was surprised he was up that early. In Benjamin's defence, he wasn't always a lay-about; that was decently new. When we got together, he had a steady job, he had ambition and he was romantic. Needless to say, things had changed.

The ringing of the bell interrupted my thoughts. Roxanne, Evelyn and I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. My next class was Science - in which I sat alone - so I made my way through the crowds of juniors to Q Block. Call me a dork, but I actually liked learning. I was a B student, putting me in that awkward spot between normal and brainiac.

"Nerd alert!" A voice called from the back of the room, "hide your books!"

"Yes, because I am the Cookie Monster of science textbooks," I said to Olive Dunman, who wasn't intelligent at the best of times.

"You say something, bitch?" she retorted, her pack of skimpily-dressed whores laughing behind her. I wondered how they managed to make the uniform look trashy, but somehow, their shorts were shorter and their polo shirts didn't make them look like a brick. I started to picture Olive in twenty years, but the bright orange jumpsuits started to give me a migraine. Avery would probably be one of the whores, if not Alpha-whore, if she still came here. I had no real reply for Olive, both because I didn't want to and I couldn't think of one. Luckily, the teacher walked in, dispersing the whores and beginning the lesson.

***

Sometimes, I think the universe just hands out 'get-out-of-jail-free' cards. Olive had been on her phone in class - which was incredibly stupid to do during an experiment. The teacher caught her, and she was stuck in that room in Q Block for the rest of the recess. I smirked as I started to walk back to the library, the hot summer wind tousling my short brown hair. I know the rest of the world thinks that Australia is all desert, and that it's always hot, but that's not true - although that day doesn't really help my case. I saw Roxanne and Evelyn walking into the library just as I got there, almost relieved I could eat my lunch outside today. Just as I pulled out my sandwich - which looked really delicious - I hear somebody call my name.

"Harley," he said, his feeble attempt to scare me.

"Endavi," I said, smiling at him. He laughed, his white teeth contrasting against his black beard. Endavi Turner was a close friend of mine, despite him being in the grade above me. He had the weirdest name, the most pretentious friends, and a vocabulary the size of Jupiter, which he uses to show off sometimes, but he was also very sweet.

I tried not to admit to myself how cute he was.

He had some of the darkest eyes I've ever seen, more black than brown. His hair was slightly scruffy, but jet black. He was a good foot taller than me, verging on scrawny, and had a gorgeous smile.

"Good afternoon," he said, as polite as ever. I laughed, and curtseyed at him.

"M'lord," I said in my best British accent, which earned me a laugh.

"Now that's how you greet someone. How has your day been?"

"Could be worse, but it could be better."

"Yet you still smile," Endavi said, the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly. I jump at the knocking sound coming from the nearby window.

"Impatience is as attractive as mullets, Roxy. I'll be inside in a minute," I yelled at my friend, who was making kissy faces at Endavi and I. I smiled awkwardly at him.

"Sorry about her," I silently hoped he didn't judge me based on Roxy's immaturity.

"Hey, I'm just glad I got to see you before the holidays. Maybe I could email you sometime?" the school had a student email program, so all you needed to know was someone's name and you could fill their inbox with spam.

"I'd like that. In case I don't see you, happy holidays," I said with a wave before walking into the library, sitting next to Roxy and Evelyn on our favourite couch, my eyes ever so quickly darting to Endavi.

***

I did not see Endavi before the end of the day, so the promise of an email was all I had to go on. Roxanne, Evelyn and I made promises to keep in touch despite our busyness for the next two weeks. I walked home that afternoon looking forward to the half a month I had to sleep in at home, read books, and hang out with Benjamin.

I should have known by then that nothing ever went according to plan