rent » styles au

one

a pack of twizzlers in his hand, a bottle of coke tucked under his arm, two dollars and a dilemma. that was what harry styles had that night. wind whipped through the automatic doors at the wall-mart and he hissed while jiggling his weight from foot to foot to try and warm himself up. 

it was useless. the cold had already seeped down into his bones, making it next to impossible to not be cold. his teeth began to chatter and he scanned the movie rental options on the red box screen, trying to make a choice and quickly. he had to get out of there and get home as soon as possible.

"you know, the fault in our stars would be a good one," says a voice from behind him. harry turns around to see a girl with a full shopping cart full of groceries - milk, eggs, bread, everything - smiling at him. her tan pea coat was buttoned all the way up but her legs were bare and black pumps suggested that perhaps she was wearing a dress or skirt which was shorter than the coat.

interesting fashion choice for such a cold november evening. 

"what?" harry asked, turning slightly to face her fully. she smiled, nodding toward the red box machine. 

"you seemed as if you didn't know what to rent," she shrugged. "i was simply offering up a suggestion."

the two stared at each other, taking in the person before them. where harry was all ripped jeans, plaid shirts and worn out boots, she was a crisp jacket, neat hair, and makeup that looked as if it had been done professionally. 

harry was puzzled. why would someone like her want to talk to him? it made absolutely no sense. no sense at all.

"that's a girl movie, though," harry shook his head, frowning. "i'm not about to watch a chick flick by myself."

the girl smiled at that, nodding to him. 

"i understand," she said. "would you watch it if you weren't alone?"

"perhaps," harry mused. this girl was like something straight out of the devil wears prada (the movie staring anne hathaway and meryl streep, not the band, of course) and he didn't know how to handle her. was she being serious? "why? what did you have in mind?"

reaching into her purse, the girl pulled out her wallet. 

"i have a red box gift card and a free evening," she said, smirking at harry as if to test him. she was outgoing and adventurous. it both excited and scared him. was she for real?

"but i don't know you," harry said, raising an eyebrow. "and you don't know me. i could be a serial killer, and you could be a convicted felon who's on the run after murdering her ex husband and stealing all of his cash."

"i'm chastity," the girl replied, leaving her cart and walking over to where harry stood in front of the red box machine. "and i'm an intern at big city publishing company in manhattan. you?"

"harry," he answered, watching in mild fascination as she easily searched through the movies for the fault in our stars and purchased it, using her gift card. "and i'm a writer. well, hoping to be, anyway. right now i work full time at the pet shop on fifth ave."

"there, now we know each other," chastity turned to him as the dvd slid into the pick up slot and a receipt was printed. "now you have no reason not to come over and watch this movie with me."