Hearts Like Ours

Nineteen

Harry had never taken the time to consider how many rounds of laser tag played consecutively would be too many, but after the fourth round, it seemed everyone agreed it was approximately that number. Harry slumped down on a chair beside Jaclyn, who was biting into a piece of pizza. Cam was on her other side, telling some dramatic story about Tanner at a party, gesturing animatedly as he spoke. 

Charlie and Allison were engaged in a heated match of air hockey in the arcade. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, Charlie laughing as she moved her mallet back and forth in an attempt to block Allison’s shot to the goal. She failed miserably and Allison threw her arms up in triumph.

He had the feeling Charlie was avoiding him, though if it was conscious or not, he couldn’t tell. They’d had little to do with one another since their moment in the first round of laser tag, only interacting when one crossed the other’s path and an easy shot could be taken.

His gaze lingered on her back as she set the puck back in place on the table and hit it in Allison’s direction. Allison was quicker, blocking the shot easily. It seemed Charlie’s tactic was getting by on pure luck whereas Allison was obviously more skilled. Still, it seemed she was enjoying herself.

“Are you going to go talk to her or...?”

Cam’s voice shook him from his thoughts. He turned to look at the boy sitting opposite him. Jaclyn was still working on her piece of pizza, but her eyes flickered in his direction when Cam spoke. A moment later she was standing, excusing herself from the table in favor of joining a conversation between Olivia, who had engaged Brett in a conversation at the front desk. 

“Talk to her about what?” Harry asked, though he knew exactly what Cam was referring to. Cam sighed in response before taking a dramatic sip from his cup of water.

“Can’t very well make any progress by staring at her back, can you?”

“I’m not sure what kind of progress I’m trying to make,” he responded. Cam half-smiled at that.

“It’s painfully obvious you’re attracted to her, and I know Charlie well enough to tell she’s into you, too. She’s just usure how to go about it. You intimidate her.”

“She intimdates me,” Harry confessed with a sigh, letting his back fall against the plastic of the chair. He ran a hand through his hair, defeated. 

“I don’t think she knows what she’s doing, honestly,” Cam said with a chuckle. “The more reasonable side of her is arguing that she just met you a week ago, only really got to know you in the past twenty-four hours. The other half is arguing that she doesn’t care. I’ve never seen her so torn.”

Harry bit down on his lip as he listened to Cam. He still wasn’t so convinced that Charlie held any sort of romantic interest in him so early in their budding relationship, but then he remembered the look in her eyes just before they closed, their lips drawing nearer and nearer in the heat of a moment.

But maybe that’s just what it was for her. A moment. 

Despite Cam’s good intentions, he wasn’t doing much to help. Harry only felt himself growing more and more frustrated with the situation he found himself in.

“This has never happened to me before, honestly,” Harry sighed a moment later. Cam raised his brows as he leaned forward on his elbows, interested in what he had to say. Without meeting Cam’s eyes, he tried to figure out just what it was he was going to say.

“I don’t know what I’m doing or what I’m after with her. I feel like an idiot all the time when I’m around her because I can’t figure it out. She’s so guarded, but genuine. She’s reluctant to let me in, but tries anyway. I didn’t come here expecting that. I guess I figured we’d meet and we’d each know about the other, and that would be it. Maybe we’d keep in touch, I don’t know, but this feels different than what I expected. I didn’t think I’d become so invested,” he admitted quietly.