Artifice

Chris A.

"Feet off." I warned Harry who had his feet on the dash.

"You're car is tiny, and this ride is long." He complained.

"Maybe you should've stayed after all." I played around.

Waking up this morning, Harry was still sleeping so I left him a note before I left to get to school. He texted me a half hour later that he had decided to join me for the weekend.

Hours, two empty bags of chips and a lot of pee stops later we were close to our destination. I was starting to recognize the buildings around us as we drove down the streets.

I was glad Harry wasn't taking notice to my uneasiness as we approached the neighborhood I grew up in.

"We're here." I announced to Harry and he sat up straight, looking around.

"Home sweet home." I murmured as we pulled into the driveway. Two other cars were parked, ones that I recognized as my mom's and aunt's.

Harry blankly looked out the window.

He retrieved our bags after fighting me over wanting to help him.

"Evangeline!" My mom cooed from the entrance.

She had her arms opened and I accepted the embrace. Her eyes wandered to Harry behind me.

"You're Harry Styles?" Her voice had a hint of judgement and I awkwardly stood beside her, fazed by her attitude.

"Yes ma'am." He reached his arm out that had a bag hanging around it to give her a handshake.

My mom showed Harry to the guest room and I made my way over to my old room. It was exactly as I left it, the walls were still painted a lilac purple and the furniture were all still in the same place.

It felt weird knowing that Harry would be sleeping in a guest room instead of here. My mom insisted that it was inappropriate if we were in the same room and I didn't see a reason to argue with her so early in my visit. Neither did Harry, he's barely spoke a sentence since we've arrived here.

A knock at my door withdrew my attention from setting down my things somewhere neatly.

I turned around to find Harry walking inside the room, looking around.

"Hey there," I smiled and continued to set my things on my old drawer. I wasn't planning on unpacking, there wasn't any point since I was staying only three nights but I didn't want everything on the floor either.

"You're mom seems.." He started.

"Like a handful, yeah." I finished his sentence.

"Funny cause I was going to point out the very odd similarity between you and her." He teased.

"Shut it." I threw a shirt I had in hand at his face.

I unintentionally sparked a playful wrestling match with Harry. He purposively acted like he was made of glass, whining whenever I'd just touch him. At some point my legs ended up wrapped around his torso and he dropped me on the bed. Everything playful and giddy about his behavior was gone.

"Evangeline!" My mother yelled causing Harry to freeze and stop what was about to happen.

"I wonder what she wants." I sat up straight, fixing my hair to look presentable. "Stay here, I'll be back."

I found my mother in the kitchen cleaning up the wine glasses her and my aunt were using moments ago.

"Where'd she go?" I point to the seat she was in when we arrived.