The Skin I'm In

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Black Girl Tingz

Spring's P.O.V

Me and Harry's mom sat at the table for an hour or so talking about school and the soon to be senior quarter back sitting next to me. I came to find out that his mother's name was Anne and she was the sweetest lady I had ever met with a beaming smile on her face as she spoke with me about my condition. Surprisingly, I found myself not offended by her questions which were the same as everyone else's.

"Were you burned?"

"Does it hurt?"

"What happened to your foot?"

It's okay, really. I know she means well.

After the conversation, she said she had a chance to go run errands now that the rainy weather came to a halt. Wishing me a good rest of my day, she left the room. Hearing the front door close, I figured I should start to head home. The time now read 3:45 and my family wouldn't be home for another hour or so.

"Well, I'm gonna start heading home." I said to Harry, who sat next to me as I started to get up before he got ahold of my hand.

"Don't you wanna stay and- I don't know- hang out?"
He said letting go of my hand and itching the nape if his neck.

"I would but I don't want my parents to find out that I'm not home and murder me." I laugh, knowing I'm not supposed to be out of the house.

He nodded, walking closer to my now standing figure, pressing his lips to my temple.

"How bout we go to that diner downtown and I'll take you home after?"

"The one with the chicken sandwich and the strawberry milkshakes?" I practically drool at the mention of our favorite restaurant.

"Mmhm." He grins widely with his dimples on full display.

"That sounds great, but I have to go home and wash my hair because my mom is doing my hair when she gets home." I explained, motioning to my two week old hair that I did everyday by spritzing it with water.

He sighs and gives into my valid excuse.

"Alright. Well I'll miss you." He says while looking at me with big green puppy dog eyes, his tone filled with despair.

I laugh at his child-like behavior and bring my hand to caress his face.

"I'll miss you more."

We stare into one another's eyes for a moment and I feel the brick that I had left of my defensive wall crumble into nothingness and before I can say something Harry's lips are on mine in a passionate kiss, but a short one at that.

I groan loudly at the butterflies in my stomach.

"What?" Harry chuckles with his hand on my cheek.

"You've got me all lovey and stuff." I say to describe the unfamiliarity of the feelings.

"Is that a bad thing?" He smirks.

I shake my head and bring my nose to his. The proximity between us is plenty and the emptiness of the house makes the feeling of being so close to him that much surreal. I had never dreamed of this happening and now that it was I felt like the luckiest girl in the world

"I love you." I say softly.

"I love you too, babe. Let me take you home before you're six feet underground at the hands of your parents."

I laugh hysterically at the accuracy in
words, knowing I had to be home soon.

-
I exhaled in relief as my mother put the tea kettle full of water on the stove to boil. I had been sitting in the chair for about five hours as my mother worked on the ombré blonde box braids that were now beautifully done.

After getting home from Harry's I had washed and deep-conditioned before blow drying my hair to stretch out the curls in preparation for the braids. My mom was really tired so she only made a small dent in the back of my head the night before and we decided to continue the next morning. This would work because my mother was off and would have time to do so.

The kettle let out a loud whistle before my mom turned off the stove and put the water in a pitcher-like container. With a towel nearby she dipped the ends of the braids into the steaming water, leaving them in for a few seconds and wringing them out with the absorbent cloth soon after.

School started in two days and while I was excited, I already wanted sophomore year to be over with.