for the most part - h.s.

Flirtation

   "Oh, you bitch!"

"Harry said a bad word, Anne!" I teased, laughing as I made my way to where Anne and Gemma were currently conversing with some people I recognized from school. There were three boys total, the first two looking exactly how they had in high school, but the third one I couldn't quite remember. Maybe he hadn't gone to highschool with us? "Hi, I'm Charlotte, but you can call me Charlie," I introduced myself with a smile, holding my hand out to the first guy.

"Hey, Charlotte. I'm Tydon, and this is my brother Adam and our friend Lucas. Adam and I went to school with you and Harry for about a year before we moved. We knew Harry, but that was only from some of the after-school clubs we used to do together. It's nice to finally meet you!" The boy I now knew as Tydon said kindly, shaking my hand firmly. I sent a small wave to Adam and Lucas as I saw Harry enter my peripheral vision and put his arm around my shoulders nonchalantly. He did a weird and complicated handshake with his free hand with Tydon, and all four of them laughed when they were done.

My eyes rolled and I got out from under Harry's arm, walking over to the drinks to get myself a water bottle. "Anyone want anything?" I asked before I left. Every boy raised their hands and started shouting different beverages, and Lucas walked over with me to help as he realized I was getting overwhelmed.

"They're animals!" I joked, scooping ice into a cup for Harry's shirley temple he requested. Lucas laughed and nodded in agreement as he handed me the sprite and grabbed the soda cans and water bottles that had been asked for. "So how did you know Harry? You didn't go to school with us, right?"

"Nah, I met him through Adam and Tydon one day. I was already at their house and the three of them came back to work on a project or something. He's a pretty cool dude." I smiled, remembering how into his work Harry used to get. It makes sense that his band is so successful, because knowing Harry he always puts his one-hundred and ten percent into anything he does. "Are you and him together?"

I dropped the Maraschino cherry I was holding and it fell onto the floor, a sudden cough racking through my body. A forced smile covered my face and I tried to pull myself together as quickly as possible.

"Uh, no, no we aren't... together, that is. What, uh, what gave you that idea?" My words probably came out a little too quickly and more jumbled than I was going for, but I couldn't help it. I knew that the picture of us had surfaced at the airport, but suddenly I was getting paranoid that maybe more than just that instant of us together had been documented.

Oh my god, we did kiss in my driveway.

"Oh, sorry if that question freaked you out!" Lucas laughed and leaned down to pick up the cherry i had dropped and throw it in the rubbish bin next to us. "And I just kinda thought, just because, ya'know. He talks about you a lot and just how he acts around you is very... boyfriend-esque."

"Yeah, we've just been friends a really long time, so I guess we're just pretty... close." I stirred Harry's drink together and smiled at Lucas, taking one of the water bottles for myself to drink. "But, no, we aren't together. Sorry for freaking out."

"Not a problem, Charlie. So since you aren't with him," I looked up at Lucas and saw him giving me a coy smile and it made my heart skip a beat. If I was being serious, this guy was pretty cute, and it wasn't like Harry and I were gonna be anything, so there wasn't a problem with flirting with a cute guy who obviously had some interest, right?

I asked myself these rhetorical questions a little bit too often.

"Yes?" I asked sweetly, trying my best to bat my eyelashes softly. Hopefully I was acheiving the effortless-girl-next-door-look I had never been very good at getting. Knowing me, however, I was probably giving more of a there's-something-in-my-eye-look. Whatever I did caused Lucas to blush a little bit though, so I must have done something right.