Lifted (a Harry Styles Fanfic)

Chapter 3

Jess' POV

My mouth was still ajar after Harry left the pub and I had no idea why. I didn't feel the least bit attracted to the guy. Well, maybe I did. How would I know? Love was always a touchy and confusing subject for me. I've never had anyone like me in junior high and high school, so I always considered myself as the average girl on the sidelines.

Niall had interrupted my thoughts with his waving hands in my face.

"Earth to Jessica! Hello?" Niall's voice echoed through the vacant place.

"Sorry, got a little caught up in my thoughts," I chuckled.

"Nah, it's cool," Niall brushed it away,"What cha' thinking about?"

His curious blue eyes scanned my features.

"Nothing special."

"You sure? Your mate Harry sure got you love struck."

I hit his arm playfully with the back of my hand and scowled.

"Ow," Niall said with a fake frown, following with a sly grin. Niall has always been a prankster. He was the one in your third grade class who would try putting thumb tacks on the teacher's chair, or switching around all the white board marker caps.

And he did this all without being caught.

"You know I don't like him," I said, emphasizing the "know".

"Sure." Niall's smirk still remained stretched across his pale face.

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I got home after lunch with Niall and my bare feet padded across the small living room and down the hall. We painted my room a little over a month ago so instead of a plain tan, my walls are now a light baby blue. Their tint matched my old floral bedding draped over my twin-sized bed currently positioned next to the window. If this room was any smaller than it already is, I wouldn't fit. But hey, it's better than no room.

My phone vibrated on my wooden nightstand, scaring the daylights out of me. Who would be texting me at this hour?

I picked it up and a notification flashed, telling me that I have a message from an unknown number. I opened it with caution and read:

You awake?

-H

What the hell? I replied with hesitance,

Who is this?

A new message came in an instant.

Come outside.

-H

So, it's either I go outside and see for myself who this "H" person is, or stay put. I pondered over it for a moment. My curiousity slowly crept up and waited for agreement on the risky option.

Without thinking, I wrote a quick note for Mom so she doesn't worry, and walked out the door of the apartment. We are on the very bottom (thankfully) so I didn't have to go down the steep stairs to search for this mystery messenger.

I squinted my eyes as I walked around, the bottoms of my pajama pants gliding along the sidewalk. I heard shuffling behind me so I turned around and nearly fell backwards at the sight in front of me.

"I didn't know you would actually follow through on my directions."

"Harry?" My body wouldn't budge. Why is he here?

His wild green eyes looked at me with an unreadable expression. My eyes traveled down to his outfit that consisted of a plain white t-shirt and grey sweatpants. A beanie sat on top of his curly, damp hair.

"Yeah."

"Why are you here?" I asked, wanting an answer for my mental question. I bit the inside of my lip as I heard his angry voice from earlier in my head.

"I live down the street, on Brookridge Avenue. And if you're wondering how I knew where you live, I saw your work forms on Kenny's desk."

He was looking down and mumbling his explanation. And I was speechless.

"All I wanted to say was sorry, you know, for being a jerk earlier. I just had a tough time a work today." He paused and looked up at me. "Want to start over?"

His hands were behind his back, and his faced showed that he was waiting for an answer.

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Okay. Well it was nice to meet you Jess. I'll see you at the shop tomorrow."

He held out his hand. I reached and shook it, feeling hard callaces on his knuckles.

I stepped back and stuffed my hands in the back pockets of my PJ's. I felt uncomfortable under his gaze but still managed to peep the words:

"Okay. Bye Harry."

"Bye Jess," he said, and we both retreated to our homes.

I guess he looked for my name on the papers also.

He knows my name.

Author's Note

Sorry it took so long to update! I really hope you enjoyed, and if you did, please comment and vote for more updates :-)

-Sara