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Chapter 6

Once I opened the door of the cute little cafe, I immediately spotted a head full of curls. Here and there I spotted some people of college too, but none I really talk to. I took a deep breath and walked over to the table where Harry sat, and stood right in front of it. 'Err, excuse me?' I say, trying to get Harry's attention, who was looking down on his phone. His head immediately shot up, and when he recognized me he smiled. 'Sit down,' he said.

'So the texts were actually from you?' I say. 'They were actually from me, yes,' he laughs and I can't help but smile. 'Why wouldn't they be?' he suddenly says, all serious. 'I don't know,' I shrug. 'Maybe because I still don't know how you got my number?' 'That was the easiest shit ever,' Harry laughs. I fold my hands underneath my chin and lean down onto them. 'I'd very much like to hear the story,' I say, raising my eyebrows. 'I simply asked it,' Harry shrugs. 'What do you mean, you asked it? You didn't ask me,' I say, confused. 'Ask your friends,' he says. 'But-' 'Anyways, Alexis, what would you like to drink?' Harry asks, motioning that the waitress is standing next to our table.

'I'd like a caramel macchiato,' I say, defeated. I make a mental note to ask Tessa later what Harry is all talking about. 'Black coffee, please,' Harry says without making eye contact with the waitress. I was getting quite annoyed with him, he was being rude and refused to answer things I ask him. 'So, any reason why you texted me?' I huff. He raises his eyebrows. 'What's got the mood all changed?' 'Nothing,' I say, while looking away. 'The reason I texted you was because I just wanted to get to know you,' Harry says. I sceptically look at him, but choose to believe him. 'Alright,' I say. 'Then do so'.

It stays quiet for a few minutes, and in those minutes Harry never breaks the eye contact. He just simply sits there, looking or even staring at me. He doesn't say anything, which makes me kind of nervous, and right when I'm about to say something about him staring the waitress comes with our drinks. 'Thank god,' I breathe out, when Harry breaks the eye contact to thank our waitress for our drinks. I quickly grab my cup, warming my hands onto the hot surface. 'So, where are you from, Alexis?' Harry asks. 'Chicago, but you already knew that, didn't you?' I say, eyebrows raised. He frowns for a moment, and then looks back at me again. 'Must've forgotten it,' He smiles. Forgotten, just like he forgot he already met me at the hospital? 

'Tell me something about you,' I decide to turn the conversation around. Harry's eyebrows shoot up. 'About me? What do you even want to know?' he says, surprised that I actually showed interest in him. 'Just, tell me the basics,' I smile. 'I'm Harry, I'm 21 and originally from London,' he says casually. 'You want to do that shit?' 'Well, Harry, why and when did you came to America?' I ask. Harry directly looks away as I ask that question, making me frown. 'Five years ago, and no specific reason,' he looks back, smiling. I can't help but wonder how fake the smile looks. 'How about you? Why did you leave Chicago?' he asks. 'I just, wanted some space. I finished high school and wanted to leave everything I've ever known, so I went to New York,' I say. 'That's an interesting thought,' Harry says while taking a sip of his coffee.

'So now I take Psychology and Medicines classes at uni,' I say. 'Yeah, I saw you before walking around at college,' Harry says. Harry is 21, so he must be in his third year, maybe even fourth while I'm in the second year. 'You have pretty interesting friends,' Harry laughs while I blush. 'They're all pretty weird at times, but very lovable when you get to know them,' I defend them. 'Of course,' Harry calms me. 'How about you, your friends? I only saw one at the party,' I frown at the memory. 'Nah, he wasn't really a friend,' Harry replies. 'Oh, okay,' I say.

After a while of chatting and ordering more coffee, Harry stands up and pays for our drinks. 'I'm sorry, but I need to go now,' he smiles. I check my watch and see that it is already 1 PM, meaning that I sat here with Harry for about three hours. 'Sure, it was nice talking,' I say. 'See you,' Harry says, and with that, he walks out of the cafe. I can't help but to be a little disappointed. No 'I'll text you', no 'see you on a second date', none whatsoever. Even though it wasn't really a date, I still enjoyed it. But when I look at Harry walking away, I realise one thing. He dodged all my questions. I don't know shit about him.

'And? How did it go?' Tessa chirps. 'It was fine, I had a nice time,' I answer, honestly. 'Did you got to know him?' Tessa asks. 'Yeah, well, not really,' I sigh. I'm sitting with Tessa, on a bench in the little park right beside my home. 'He wasn't very talkative?' she asks. 'No, he really was. We talked a lot,' I say. 'Then what's the problem?' Tessa says, confused. 'We almost only talked about me,' I frown. 'I didn't realise until afterwards that he successfully dodged all my questions'. 'Maybe on the next date?' Tessa suggests. I sigh and look at her. 'There won't be a next date,' I say. 'What do you mean, why not?' Tessa almost screams.

'Because he never mentioned anything about a next date, and even if he did, I wouldn't know if I'd say yes,' I reply, honestly. 'I'm pretty sure he will text you later,' Tessa shrugs. 'Wait, look, there he goes!' she suddenly says, pointing and waving to a guy at the end of the park. I squint my eyes, and indeed notice Harry's curls tucked in a beanie, a few strings of hair falling out. 'Yeah, that's him,' I say. 'Harry!' Tessa screams, causing Harry to look up from his phone. He stands still for a moment, and looks at us. His face is full with confusion while he looks at Tessa and I, and then he keeps walking, focus back to his phone.

'Well that was weird,' Tessa says, arm still awkward high in the air. 'It was almost as if he didn't recognize us,' I say, confused. 'Maybe it was just the distance? Maybe he has bad eyes?' Tessa suggests, but we both know that's not true. 'Yeah, maybe,' I say, distracted by the man walking away from us, now not bigger in our eyesight than a fingernail.

'Shall we go to your appartment?' Tessa says, awkwardly picking her fingernails. 'Sure,' I smile, trying to be as happy as possible. We walk in a nice silence over to my appartment complex, while I think about Harry. As we walk up the stairs to my building, I decide to not spend too much time thinking about him. I grab my key and unlock the door.

Tessa happily sighs as she walks over to my couch. 'I love this couch, you know that?' she says. 'It might be the thing I hear the most when you come over,' I laugh while putting my bag down and walking over to the kitchen. 'It's okay if I take a nap?' Tessa asks. 'Don't forget to take your shoes off, you know where the blankets are,' I shrug. I turn around and get focused on making myself and Tessa two cups of tea. 'Here's your tea,' I say while walking back to the small living room. 'Thank you,' she smiles while accepting the tea. 'Uhm, would you mind doing something?' Tessa says. I sit down on one of the chairs with my tea in my hand and raise my eyebrows. 'Would you please make some music?' she asks, with a cheeky grin on her face. 'Oh, sure,' I smile while drinking my tea.

When I finished my tea, I walked over to the piano and sat down. I looked behind me, only to find Tessa already all snuggled up with a blanket, and  I can't help but smile. I'm lucky to have her as a best friend, she's such an amazing person. I take a deep breath and let my fingers touch the piano, and all the feelings come up. Playing piano always has been easy for me, it feels like a rythm deep inside of me, and I effortlessly remember every piece I play. I love this, I love this feeling and I love the music I make. 

After about 30 minutes of playing, I look at Tessa again and see that she's asleep, so I walk over to the bathroom and decide to take a shower. Once I fully undressed myself and am ready to get into the shower, I forgot to bring a towel with me. Not wanting to soak the whole floor after my shower, I quickly tiptoe back into the living room and cross it to the bedroom. Once in my bedroom, I grab my clothes and a towel and run back to the bathroom. When I turn on the shower, my phone let's out a sound that I received a new text. 'Can I please just take a fucking shower,' I groan. Opening the text, all of the blood runs out of my face. 'Shit,' I mumble as I read the text.

From: Harry (?)

I didn't knew you played the piano, but that wasn't the most interesting part. You shouldn't leave the curtains open if you're going to run around naked.