Fallen

21. Invite

The week went by as normal, but on Thursday, Rosie had something to tell Ivy. She dragged the girl by the arm, pulling her over to a table in the cafeteria.

"I'm having a party this Saturday, for my birthday. It'll be at this huge place my daddy rented. I'm inviting pretty much the whole school, it'll be so fun." Rosie smiled, putting on her expensive lip gloss, and then smacking her lips together, making a 'pop' sound.

Ivy nodded. "I'll come then.."

"Great. You can invite a few people if you want. I want a lot of people there, it'll look great for pictures on my Instagram." Rosie smiled, and Ivy rolled her eyes.

The next day in form, Ivy sat with Harper as she did every day, and today she couldn't help but notice the way Harper's blush perfectly dusted her cheeks and nose, and the way her eyelashes almost reached her eyebrows.

"Harper." Ivy spoke, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" Harper responded, turning to face Ivy.

Ivy sighed to herself. She really couldn't believe how..obsessed she was with Harper.

"I was wondering if you would like to go to a party.." She mumbled.

"Oh, yeah, maybe." Harper smiled. "Whose party is it? And when is it?" She asked, putting some papers in her backpack.

"Oh, well, it's actually tomorrow.. It's Rosie's party.." Ivy said.

"Oh." Harper's face fell. "I.. I don't think she would want me there, considering I, y'know, punched her.." Harper gulped, chuckling awkwardly.

"Right, well.. She sort of deserved it." Ivy shrugged as her face soured.

"But.. I'll go. I mean, I'll have to ask my dads, but they'll probably say yes! I'll text you." Harper smiled. She loved texting Ivy for no particular reason. She just liked the extra chance to talk to her.

Ivy only moved her head up and down once like she always did when she decided she didn't want to speak anymore, so Harper did instead.

"I'm really glad we're friends.. Sorry if that sounds cheesy it's just, I noticed that you were always-" Harper started to say something meaningful, at least to her, but she got cut off by the bell. Ivy didn't even hesitate before bolting out of the classroom, not daring to wait a minute to hear the rest of what Harper had to say. This saddened Harper; she had just thought she became friends with Ivy.. But maybe she was wrong. Maybe it was all some sick joke Ivy was trying to play on her. Though these thoughts ran through Harper's mind, she tried to push past them and accept that that wasn't the case, and Ivy was just trying to get to her class.. Maybe.

The rest of the day was a blur as usual. Harper wasn't quite sure of the reason, but the days seemed to be going by faster, each getting less happy, and more stressful. Yet, at the same time, Harper was feeling immense happiness, along with a load of confusion.

"Why am I like this?" Harper thought out loud as she escaped the school, waiting for her brother to walk home.

Not much more than a minute later, Oscar appeared from the gates of Truham. He seemed jovial, his mates hanging off his shoulder and shoving him around playfully. Harper watched the boys, shaking her head in confusion at how boys could be so rough to each other.

When Ossy was finally released from the lads, he walked over to Harper and slung his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. Harper groaned as her head bonked against her brother's side.

"Why are you trying to annoy me?" Harper muttered, pushing away from the boy.

"Me? Annoy my precious baby sister?" Oscar smirked, then continued after a pause. "I would never."

"I'm not in the mood, you twat." Harper shoved him lightly, speeding up her pace to get ahead of him.

"You're never in the mood anymore. Where's that happy sunshine Harper, huh?" Oscar smirked to himself.

Harper ignored him, crossing her arms as she kept walking home. After a bit, Harper approached her house and opened the door, closing it right before Ossy could step through.

"Dad, I'm home!" Harper shouted, slightly surprised Charlie wasn't sitting on the couch with a book like he normally was.

"I-ill be down in one second!" Called a faint, softly trembling voice from the upstairs bathroom. Harper nodded to herself, going upstairs to her room. Harper entered her room and set her backpack on the floor, yanking her shoes off and groaning as she practically dashed to her closet to change. She grabbed an old hoodie that had once been Nick's, and a pair of pink sweatpants. Harper stood in front of her mirror, taking off her uniform. She inspected herself in the mirror, giving herself a nod of approval before tossing on the comfy clothes.

Harper skipped down the stairs, and saw Charlie downstairs, making Ossy food. Charlie looked sad, but he clearly tried to cover it up. He was dresses in his normal black skinny jeans, and a long sleeve jumper.

"Hey, dad.." Harper said softly.

"Hey, Harps." Charlie smiled. Quite honestly, Harper (Oscar too) always cheered Charlie up; he was so grateful he was able to adopt children as wonderful as his kids.

"I feel like I've been asking so much of you lately, but.."

"No no, it's fine.. Go on." Charlie urged softly.

"I got invited to this party tomorrow, it's just-" Harper started mumbling some details, though Charlie wasn't properly listening. His sleeve rolled up slightly, and he got distracted as he quickly rolled his back down and set the food on a plate.

"Yeah, yeah okay you can go." Charlie said.

"I can?!" Harper smiled, clearly ecstatic.

"Thank you! You can pick me up at like.. 10:00, 10:30.." Harper hummed, knowing 11:00 was probably too much of a stretch.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah.." He sighed. Harper took the hint and left.

Harper grabbed her phone and immediately went to DM Ivy.

Chatting with @IvyHoe1

Hii! I can come to the party tomorrow! What time does it start?

6pm.

Okay great! See you tomorrow.

Ivy didn't respond to Harper after that, and Harper couldn't put her finger on why she was sad. Ivy was literally just some girl, right? So why was Harper so drawn towards her?