1 L0V3 H1M

Chapter 11

I borrow some of Harlie's PJs that have owls printed everywhere on the pants and a purple top. Harlie is preoccupied with putting her hair up and cleaning off all her makeup. I sit on her bed while she stands in front of her full length mirror and inspects her face. I stare up at her beautifully painted ceiling. When she was about five, Harlie had begged her dad to buy her the moon so she could place it in her room and see its beauty up close. Since her father wasn't that rich, he hired an astounding painter to paint the night sky on her ceiling and the moon sits right above her bed.

Ever since I've known Harlie she's always been in love with the moon. I have no idea why, in her words she just "Loves how in the darkest of nights, the moon is always there." But I had to go and pop that balloon by bringing up the fact that eclipses do exist. Still, to this day, she wears a crescent moon necklace and has a poster of the phases of the moon on her wall.

"Harlie?"

"Yes?" She turns around from the mirror, applying her chap stick.

"Do you still watch the moon at night?" I ask, staring at her ceiling.

"Of course. I have trouble falling asleep if I don't." She comes over and sits on the end of the bed, looking to her left, out her large window.

"What if it's cloudy and you can't see it?"

"Well, then I look up at my ceiling and imagine seeing it."

I look over to see her back facing me. The soft wind coming in through the window blows the small wisps of hair that had escaped her bun. She fingers a charm on a silver bracelet she wears. The bracelet is unfamiliar to me. "Where did you get that?" I ask, sitting up and motioning towards her wrist.

"It was a gift." She states, breaking her eyes away from the window and looking at me.

"From who?" Sitting on my legs, I lean over her shoulder to look at it.

"Just this guy I know." She lifts up her arm for me to see it better.

I reach out to hold her wrist still, so I could see it better, "Who's this 'guy' you're referring to?"

"He's family friend," She answers, vaguely.

"Secret lover?" I wiggle my eyebrows at her.

"Lady Audrey, how dare you accuse me of that!" She puts on a fake British accent and whips her head away dramatically.

We both fall into a pit of laughter and Harlie even struts across her room, pretending to hold the skirt of a gown in her left hand and a fan in her right. Her head is tilted up to the right and her lips are in a pout. I laugh and I approach her, bowing before I speak, "My lady, may I have this dance?" I ask, lowering my voice.

"Why, of course!" She responds, placing her hand in mine.

I attempt to dance the waltz but while I am epically failing, Harlie is transitioning through each of the steps with grace. I stumble over my feet and once we trip over each other's feet, we stop. Harlie is laughing so hard, tears fall from her eyes.

"When did you learn to waltz?" I ask.

"I've known for like, my whole life!" She calms herself down, wiping her eyes.

"Well, I guess you learn something new every day." I state, falling into her navy butterfly chair, by her desk.

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth, I'll be right back." Harlie skips out of the room.

I sit, staring around her room, remembering when she and I would hang out as kids in here. It wouldn't be just us, either, Blake would be with us too. The three of us would play so many stupid little games, pretending to be superheroes and saving the world. I would always want to have the power of invisibility, just to disappear whenever I wanted and no one could find me.