𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉

[Chapter 27] I Can't Tell

Lake.

He's been in the back of mind since Saturday night.

But Harry...

He's been at the front.

We stood on that football field for a solid thirty minutes yesterday. It felt more like hours though. He didn't ask questions, he didn't pry. He just held me and let me be.

It honestly wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be.

Now that theres this amicable friendship between us, I feel like there's something I need to say.

"Hey."

Harry's eyebrows quirk in surprise as I sidle up to his locker.
"Whoa. This is a turn of events. Isn't showing up to your locker uninvited my job?"

I roll my eyes but smile. "I guess that means it's my turn to follow you around and bug you, right?"

"Ha, ha." He laughs sarcastically as he removes a book from his locker. "Nice cover up job, by the way."

I shift uncomfortably at his passive-aggressive reference to my neck and the layers of concealer I blended on to hide the hickeys from Lake. "Yeah...thanks...hey, I wanted to talk to you about Saturday."

He side eyes me dubiously and I clear my throat. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for...all the stuff that I said. You didn't deserve that."
"Oh, come on, Knockout--don't start being nice to me now, people are gonna talk."

I watch a small smirk play on his lips but I don't acknowledge it.

"Speaking of..." I drawl, deciding now is a good time as any to bring up Amber.

"Of?" Harry's eyebrows furrow in confusion and I exhale. "Amber."

"Oh. What about her?" He shrugs indifferently as if it doesn't matter and I scoff. "Uh, you, her? She couldn't stand me being around you when we didn't get along. How do you think she's gonna feel about it now?"

"In my defense, I always got along with you. That beef was always one-sided." Harry defends himself and I scowl. "Not the point."

Clearly unbothered, he drums his fingers against the door of his locker. "Um, well...just do what I do, don't care."

"You're just gonna ghost her?" I look up at him incredulously, knowing that's a bad idea.

I mean, personally ghosting is my favorite way of cutting ties simply because I hate confrontation but knowing Amber, getting ghosted by the man she's been spending all her time with will be the final nail in my coffin.

He exhales in response. "I'll just tell her I don't want to hang out anymore, it's not like I'm dating her."

Funny how I don't see Amber agreeing with that statement at all.

"Right...I don't know, I think we should just keep it between us."

"Why?" He looks at me skeptically. "She and I aren't dating, you and I aren't dating, what's there to keep a secret?"

I have no idea.
"I don't know...let's just...wait, okay? Please?" I plead with my eyes and he finally concedes. "Okay, have it your way, Knockout. Even though I really don't get what--"

"Thank you," I interrupt with a sigh of relief. "Now we just have to get through the party on Friday."

"Wait, what?" Harry shuts his locker door. "Hold up. You're still going to that?"

"We're still going. Separately. You're going with Amber." I nod emphatically and Harry licks his lips. "And let me guess... you're going with River?"