Always

Chapter 8

*Formatting got all messed up so I had to re-load the content, which means the comments all got erased. Boooo :(

By the time I got to work, I had calmed down slightly, but was still pretty upset. Too much had happened today for me to forget, nearly all of it involving Harry. I started to wonder if I would be this upset if I hadn't spent nearly all of yesterday with him. I was ashamed to admit that no, I probably wouldn't care. I maybe would have even laughed with everyone, a thought that sickened me. The sad thing was, I couldn't remember for sure if I had laughed at him in the past, not differentiating him from any of Colt's other victims or Lydia's snide comments, Haley's judgmental glares. Odds were, I probably had gone right along with it, even if I hadn't said anything myself. The thought made my stomach churn. How could I ever had let them say and do those things to anyone, let alone Harry, who was so sweet? Work passed quickly while I was distracted by my self-loathing.

Before I knew it, it was time for me to go home. Upon arrival, I went straight upstairs to take a shower and climb into bed. My sleep was fitful and unsteady, guilt eating me up inside. When I woke up in the morning, I felt as though I had hardly slept. The only motivation I had for getting ready was the fact that I would see Harry first period, and the fact that I would see him after school. But when I got to class and sat next to Harry again, he barely said a word to me. He muttered a quiet, "Hi" before returning to his textbook he had been flipping through. When I asked him questions, he simply nodded yes or no, occasionally mumbling an answer. When the bell rang, I was feeling extremely dejected that we hadn't had more interaction. He was out the door before I could say two words to him, much less confirm that our plans were still on. At lunch, I once again didn't say anything to my friends. Any thoughts I had of joining Harry today were rejected because of how he had acted this morning in class. I did, however, need to make sure we were still on for after school, so I pulled my phone out of my bag and brought up his number. Holding my phone close to my face so no one would read it, I texted him.

J: Hey Harry, just wanted to know if we're still on for after school? We still have a lot of the project to do

I'd added the last bit to make it sound like I was focused on the project, which was something I thought would make him less likely to blow me off. Not so patiently, I stared at my phone waiting for him to reply. However, by the time lunch ended, I had received no word from him. It wasn't until halfway through the last period of the day that I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Slipping it out, I saw that Harry had finally texted me back.

H: Yes.

Yes. Yes was all he had said, but it was enough to make me smile. At least I would still get to see him today, even if he was being odd. I decided right then that I would ask him what was up, even if he tried to avoid it. Bouncing in my seat, I couldn't wait for class to be over. As soon as it was, I practically leapt from my seat, not even stopping at my locker so I could make it to my car before the traffic got too bad.

Today when I pulled up to my house, my front step was empty of any lanky, dark haired boys. Once inside, I paced around my kitchen, impatient for Harry to arrive. I was about to move to the living room to continue my pacing when I heard a soft knock on the front door. All but sprinting to answer it, I flung the door open to see him standing there, neutral expression changing to slightly shocked at the aggressive way I opened the door. Despite his behavior earlier, I couldn't help but grin when I saw him. "Harry!"

"Joey!" he said, imitating my excited tone before making his way through the door inside my house. He kicked off his shoes, only slightly more graceful this time than the first, causing me to giggle again. "You're hyper," he noted.