“I love you”
“Kcool.”
“Harper.”
She stared at him “Derrick.”
He walked toward her, his body completely covered in mud “hug me”
Harper had originally been relaxing on a lawn chair reading when Derrick jumped the fence and started ‘harassing’ her
“Get away from me Derrick, you’re covered in mud”
He nodded “I know…just washed the dog…”
She scrunched up her nose “go take a shower”
He shrugged “okay.”
Derrick had never seen her so fast on her feet “no! Not at my house! You’ll track mud on the carpet” she looked around the backyard frantically “don’t even think about jumping in my pool you dirty little rat you!”
“If I get in the pool I’m pulling you in with me” he grinned
Harper took her phone out and laid it on the table. “That won’t be necessary.” Her eyes lit up when she spotted the green and white hose “I know just how to get you clean.”
Derrick stood in front of the wall, his body still as Harper rinsed him off with the hose, at one point he started stressing about how the mud had gotten on his actual skin and when he started to unbutton his shirt he couldn’t help but feel a manly satisfaction at the way she was looking at him
“Thanks for doing this Harper, my mom would have flipped…”
All she was able to do was swallow what would soon become drool and nod. This went on for a couple minutes, and when she leaned up to rinse out his hair he snagged her by the hips and held her against him “Harper?”
“What?”
“Are you still mad at me?”
She swatted at his hands “of course I am. Don’t come into my house and try to tell me anything Derrick. Wrong girl booboo”
He sighed, “Harper, you’re my best friend. It would have been weird if you liked me!”
“I don’t like you though! You had no right to come into my house trying to tell me anything!”
He sighed “I know I had been gone a year and left you alone but I honestly thought you were okay, I was obviously wrong…I didn’t think you would start cutting. Don’t push me away because I care Harper”
She rolled her eyes, “it’s not even about that.”
“Then what is it about Harper?”
“It’s about you assuming that I’m in lust with you!”
“In lust? Harper! You’re the one who was telling me that you wanted me to be your first time!”
“I used to! That’s not the case anymore.”
“And why? Because I left to Canada and fell in love? That doesn’t mean that I don’t want your first time to be special Harper”
She held onto the hose with a grip of death, it made a weird noise and although Derrick looked all Harper did was squint her eyes at him, her glossy lips pressed together in a tight line “and what does that mean Derrick?”
“It means that I’d be willing to sleep with you to ensure that you’re first time is special.”
“Willing? You act like having sex with me is a chore. I wouldn’t want to put you out Derrick!”
He ignored her sarcasm “it wouldn’t be a chore Harper, I love you, you’re my best friend.”
“So then what do we call it? Casual friends having sex…although one them is in love with someone else…”
He reached a hand up, his thumb softly stroking her jaw “it wouldn’t be casual Harper, I’ve known you all my life, I know what and what not to do…I probably know you better than yourself”
She said nothing.
“Then let me make lo-….let me make un-casual sex with you Harper”
“I don’t want your sex Derrick.”
“Why not? At one point you did and now you’re turning me down?”
“Yes Derrick! Because back then you didn’t have a girlfriend in Canada, you didn’t have someone expecting you to stay faithful!”
“I am faithful! I effin’ love her with everything…all that I have…I love her! I love her so much it hurts. But even love with you means nothing Harper, I’ve known you my entire life, my love with her doesn’t come between us. When I say I want to be with you I mean it, give me one night Harper”
Derrick stumbled back, his back hitting the wall from the initial shock of Harper spraying him full blast in the face with water
“Doesn’t matter how long you’ve known me” she cocked her head to the side thoughtfully, “you know Derrick, Id always thought I’d end up making the first move. I just could never do it because I had that gut feeling that something was off, and it is! If you and I actually had something it’d be ruined because you don’t know what it means to keep your word. That’s why our friendship is so bad Derrick, it was never me! It’s always been you that messes everything u-“
Words were spilling out of her so fast she was having a hard time stopping to really think about what she was saying and she could see from his face that she was hitting soft spots. As if reading her mind he had cut off her rant in his own special way
When he pulled back Harper glared at him “who do you think you are Derrick? You don’t just kiss someone while they’re in the middle of talking!” once again she blasted him with the hose “bad dog!”
He spit out a mouthful of water “fine Harper, if you don’t want me my girlfriend does…and that’s why I’m with her!”
Harper laughed “good for you Derrick! I have fun with that because while you’re talking long distance with her I’ll be at the skate park with Max and his friends”
Derrick froze “have fun, I hope you have a nice little session in the bathroom with one of them. That’s what you do right? Maybe you should wear some kneepads, wouldn’t want your knees to hurt on that tile”
It was the first time that he had seen her crack.
She turned off the water, calmly set the hose down and picked up her phone. She tapped away at the screen, her eyes locked on Derrick as the phone dialed
He waited, and when Derrick heard Max’s muffled voice he felt his blood boiling. His fists clenching, the veins in his neck straining, even the teeth in his mouth grinding together painfully
Harper smiled at whatever he was saying, and then she started to play with her hair “...-actually, I was hoping I could come over…your parents aren’t home until tomorrow…”
Derrick felt his jaw detach from his mouth, he held his hands out as if expecting to catch the bottom half of his mouth in his hand. When Harper hung up he snatched her phone from her, his hand twitching with the urge to chuck it in the pool “what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What am I doing? I’m going to the drug store so I can pick up a box of baby preventer. And you, well I think you should be on the phone with your girlfriend, am I right?”
“Harper” he warned
She flicked her hair, and he inwardly swore as the black curls fanned out around her “bye Derrick.”
