I tried to crack the door open as slowly as possible, careful not to make any noise as I've been out for over an hour and Gemma was most definitely finished with her "long, relaxing" bath. The hinges lightly squeaked and I cringed, shuffling through the door, no longer worried about getting caught. Might as well suffer the consequences, not to mention they'll be worse as I'm without a sweater and it's less than 15 degrees Celsius outside. I was shivering like mad but the thought in the back of my mind that she was warm made it okay.
I closed the door behind me, peering around for Gemma while kicking off my boots. The living room was dark but the kitchen light was on. There was the box of tea packages on the counter and the kettle on the stove, but nothing was prepared.
"Where have you been, slag!" Gemma yells, jumping on my back, startling me. I yelped in surprise and it amazed me that I didn't automatically toss her into the dining table. She was standing now, but had some kind of attempted choke-hold on me, her fist rubbing into my hair.
"Jesus, woman. I was out!" I groaned, faking a struggle out of her grip. She was more than a foot smaller than me, her menacing attack similar to a toddler's. She let me go with a playful shove, her hands on her hips as I ran a hand through my hair.
"Where? Why did you go against my wishes? Do you know how dangerous it is? What the hell is wrong with you Harry? You could've given me a heart attack, you're so lucky I didn't call mum!" Gemma huffs and I roll my eyes, filling the kettle with water myself.
"Yeah, yeah. Did you eat yet?" I twisted the knob on the stove and went through the fridge, realizing I haven't eaten all day. Gemma pulled a chair at the table as I shut the fridge, deciding that there was still an apple or banana in the basket that I could eat instead of preparing a whole meal.
"Let's just order a pizza, I know you're not going to only eat a fruit for dinner. Not to mention it's well over 1am now." Gemma scoffs and I turn to look at her in surprise. When did it get so late?
Gemma sniffs the air and narrows her eyes at me, immediately shoving her chair back and pulling at my collar. "What in the hell do you smell like cigarette smoke for? Don't tell me you're smoking now!"
I swat her hand away and smell for myself, indeed smelling like smoke. It must've been when Arabella dropped her cigarette. "No you ninny, probably some dude I walked past bumped into me." I lied easily, pushing past her, intending to change my shirt.
"You better not be lying, Harold! If I ever catch you smoking, I'll rip ya tongue out, I swear!" Gemma calls, but I wave my hand at her. The scent of smoke wasn't delightful but something about it made me feel oddly satisfied. It wasn't just any cigarette smoke, it was her's. I didn't like that she smoked, someone so pure with a deadly poison between her lips.
Heaving the t-shirt over my head, I opted to throw it on my bed rather than the dirty clothes hamper. I just wanted something that reminded me of her for a little bit longer. I changed into an old band tee and by the time I got back to the kitchen, Gemma had already ordered the pizza and poured a cup of tea for me.
I was getting tired of tea but I wasn't gonna tell Gemma that. "What'd you order? Did you add pineapple on my side?" I yawned, settling in the chair across from her. She was scrolling through her phone, probably Instagram, her thumb periodically tapping twice.
"Yeah, why would I forget? What'd you do earlier when you went out?" She put down her phone and raised an eyebrow at me, making a point to lean forward and make eye contact.
"Why's it matter? I'm home, I wasn't gone too long. I'm back in one piece." I sighed dramatically, taking a sip of my tea. It was black tea, just like Arabella spilled on me the first day of school.
"Still curious, you don't often just up and wander like that. Sorry it's black tea, need to go the market soon and pick up some stuff." Gemma leans back in her chair, crossing her arms, still expectantly looking at me. I knew she wouldn't budge or let me leave until I told he
r.
"I just walked around is all. The town-square is really nice around this time of night, the air was nice. Just walked around and made it back home when I felt like it. Can't a man go for a walk?" I complained and Gemma groaned, obviously annoyed with me.
"Okay, fine. You sure nothing happened? You seemed in an odd mood when you came home besides your failed attempt to sneaking in. Plus, the cigarette smell makes everything more suspicious. Just, please tell me you didn't go outside without a jacket or something. Swear if you get sick, I'll burn holes into all of your socks." Gemma threatens, pointing a finger at me and I can't help but laugh nervously. Almost spot on, but it wasn't a long walk home without a sweater. She needn't to know, anyhow. As long as Arabella was warm.
The door bell rang and Gemma and I quickly played a game of paper-rock-scissors to see who would get the door. Gemma won easily with rock over paper, her grinning victoriously as my chair squeaked against the tiles as I pushed it away in bitter defeat. "You win this time.." I mutter, swiping the money off the counter and going to open the door.
It was kind of like whiplash, but not really. How does one describe whiplash? It felt like all the thoughts of tonight all suddenly slammed into one part of my head and I stumbled back, embarrassed as the pizza delivery girl giggled a bit.
No, that wasn't right. I studied her for a quick moment as she held out the large pizza box beneath two smaller boxes. I took hold of them carefully, swapping them and giving her the money. Medium-length ashy brown hair covering a name tag. When she moves to put the money away, the tag says Isabella.
Not Arabella.
"Thanks, keep the change. Drive safe." I said shortly before closing the door and quickly locking it. I growled and banged my forehead against the door before Gemma called out. "What's taking ya' so long, was the lad peng?"
I set the boxes down, Gemma immediately digging into the box with bread sticks and I shook my head. "She seemed nice." That certainly got a reaction out of Gemma, her eyes narrowing at me playfully.
"Ooh, Harry. Should've gotten her digits." We left it at that, eating in comfortable silence, my thoughts wandering off again.
Dammit Arabella.
She's driving me crazy, but I think I'm into it.
