Trials {Editing}

Chapter 3

Harper's POV

When I got home, I relayed Connie's message to Lucy and helped her prep for dinner, chatting away about how our days went and hearing her stories of some of the crazy things she did as a kid. Five minutes before Connie came home, I hopped in the shower. I washed my hair and scrubbed my body in products that smell like cucumber, my favorite scent, and shaved my legs. Then I went to my room and covered my legs and arms in my cucumber lotion and wrapped my hair in my towel. I felt in a green mood today, so that's what I decided to wear to dinner: an emerald green lace mini dress. It wrapped tightly around my waist with a sash and then hang loosely with a little puff towards the middle of my knees. I blow dried, neatly straightened, and de-frizzed my dyed blonde hair, a beret keeping the sides upward so as to prevent my hair falling into my food as I eat.

I heard a very precise knock at my door, and I smiled. "It's open, Connie."

My blonde adoptive mother stepped in with a puzzled and amused expression. "How is it that you always know when it is me?"

I turned and walked towards her. "Two reasons," I explained. "First, out of you, Lucy, and dad, you're the only one who knocks. Second, when you do knock, you do so exactly two times," I demonstrated on the door, "Exactly in the middle, where it echoes the most."

Connie smiled and raised her head slightly, showing pride in my perceptive skills. "Very good," she commended. "Now, dinner is prepared and our guests have arrived. They're waiting in the dining room. How long until you are ready to come down?" I turned towards my vanity and glanced at my appearance, deciding I needed just a touch of makeup and accessories. "I'll be down in one minute," I assured Connie. She nodded and turned away, closing the door behind her. I quickly added mascara, eyeliner, and cherry pink lip gloss. I slipped a silver bracelet onto my right wrist, put in diamond stud earrings, and wrapped my silver heart locket necklace around my neck. Finally, I was ready.

I met Connie on the stairway and she glanced me over, making sure every little detail was perfect. As she always said, the biggest part of her job is presentation. Without it, it would be much harder to buy and sell shares of her wine industry. "You need to re-dye your hair soon; your roots are showing a little too much," she commented, bringing me out of my thoughts. Of course she was right-I'd start to look a little tacky soon- but of course you never want to hear it from your mother so I had to suppress an eye roll and a sarcastic comment or two.

"You look very nice," Connie commented with a smile, but then her face got hard and serious and she put her hand on my shoulder. "I need you to warn you, Harper. The clients cancelled at the last minute, which means I have to speak with John and make a new plan of action, so the Sisson's will be having dinner with us instead."

My eyes widened and my throat ran dry. I just saw Noah a few hours ago; will I be able to handle seeing him again?

"Stay calm," Connie said. "We've gone over this, and you know what to do. Smile, be kind and hospitable, but keep a respectable distance."

I took a deep breath and smiled. "Piece of cake," I assured, my voice a little higher than normal.

Connie squeezed my shoulder reassuringly before we walked to the dining room together. I wore my practiced smile on my lips as I entered, but it wasn't forced. I greeted Noah's mom, Willow, then her husband John, and finally, Noah. He was staring at me as if I were a sight to behold. I forced myself to look away before the familiar butterflies could start to form. We sat down just as the footman began to set our appetizers down before us. My adoptive parents always did love living in an old fashioned way.

"Thank you, Jeffrey," I thanked the footman as he set my plate down. He happened to be Lucy's silent son, who never spoke a word to anyone unless required to. He smiled and nodded his head slightly before continuing on. I could feel Noah's eyes boring into my skull.

I squirmed slightly, feeling uncomfortable with his eyes on me. I tried to look at him from the corner of my eye only to see those deep brown eyes staring at me with an emotion I couldn't place and a smile playing on his lips. I grew tired of it and stared him dead on with narrowed eyes. His smile grew wider as he put his hands up in surrender.

"So Harper," Willow caught my attention. "How was school today?"

I smiled sweetly. "Oh, it was quite swell, thank you for asking!" I lied emphatically. I wouldn't call embarrassing myself and then disappointing myself about my crush a pleasant day. "How was your day, Willow?"

"It was good!" She replied happily. "I was able to tend to my garden a little, and I noticed my tomato plant is taking well!"

Willow continued to talk about her garden with Connie, who wasn't interested in the slightest but knew how to hide it well. John ate silently and checked his phone to see how the football game was going, not bothering to pretend he was interested. I ate my Cesar salad drowned in ranch silently, preferring to observe rather than participate.

"You look beautiful," Noah said to me. I looked at him with wide eyes and my heart leaped as my stomach filled with butterflies. I didn't expect him to ever compliment me. I smiled and regained control of my expression. "Thank you," I said politely, although the butterflies hadn't vanished yet. "You don't look too bad yourself."

Noah smiled, making him look even more attractive than before. I couldn't help but wish that he would feel the same way I do about him, even if I knew it was impossible.

I ate the rest of my appetizer and my supper in silence, listening to Connie chat with the Sisson's about many different subjects, Noah contributing every so often to the conversation. Connie knew I did not want to speak, so she didn't try to involve me. She at least knows that much about me. When dinner was through, the adults went to Connie's office to talk about business and left us teenagers to our own devices. So we decided to take a walk outside.

My heart fluttered the entire time as we walked and I struggled to regain control of myself. I wish the hopeful thoughts would disappear, and I could cease to feel this way about him. I wanted to stop pining for him when I knew, when it was made so clear, that he would never return the feeling.

"Say," Noah caught my attention. "Are you over that last guy you were dating? Billy, I think his name was?"

"Oh," I laughed and waved my hand. "I got over him almost the day after we broke up."

Noah stopped walking and turned towards me. "You do know why you get over all your boyfriends so quickly, don't you?"

Because I can't seem to get over you. I shrugged and rolled my eyes, feigning indifference to hide my inner thoughts. Noah ran his hand through his hair. "You never really cared about him in the first place." He answered. "Well, you cared, but not in the way you thought you did. You do this to yourself over and over again. You fall for a guy that you know isn't good for you and only wants one thing or lose interest in the ones that would be. Why do you always do this to yourself?"

Because of you. I laughed sardonically and hid my inner feelings. "It's not like I ever let them get that far anyway. And how do you know I didn't care for them? How do you know I didn't just decide they weren't right for me?" I retorted, not completely lying. "And what about you, Mr. Perfect? Are you gonna sit here and tell me you've never wanted just that one thing from any of your girlfriends and actually got it?"

"No, I've never done that, and never would," Noah responded.

"Well whatever," I said, rolling my eyes even though I was thankful he hadn't. "I just haven't found the right person yet, and I'll keep looking until I find him."

Noah looked at me long and hard. I was daring him to say or do something with my eyes, daring him to say I had met the right person and he was just a dumb teenager back then, that he feels the same way about me that I do about him. Noah shook his head and looked up at the sky, his expression unreadable. He seemed to be at war with himself. All I could wonder was what two sides he was fighting against, and which one was winning?