He had showered, quietly taken care of himself and made sure he was as clean as possible.
“You showered?”
Harper nodded “I showered in the bathroom down the hall”
“Did my brother harass you?”
She laughed, “he tried to.”
“Do you care if I lounge like this?”
“Without a shirt? No, I don’t care”
“Good.”
He sat down next to her on the floor “what are you playing?”
“Lord of The Rings”
“Lauren hates that game. Tried to get her to play it when I was down there and she got all mad and told me she didn’t have a ball sack”
Harper laughed “grab the second remote, I’m going to need your help”
As they played he would sneak a look at her. She was concentrated on the game so hard and whenever they won a battle or she discovered something new she would get all excited and do possibly the cutest little dance he had ever seen
“Harper, think we should stop now? We’ve been playing for hours”
“You suck the life out of all things fun!”
From downstairs they could hear the front door opening and closing
“Harper! Your dad’s here”
Harper jumped up, “I didn’t know he was coming to pick me up”
Derrick tried his best to smile, although he was feeling down about the fact that she was leaving so soon “your dad and I, we aren’t on the best terms”
“Why?”
“Yesterday when I knew you had made plans to sleep with Max I purposely told the lady at Starbucks to hold off the caffeine in your frappe. Which made you tired…you fell asleep on the couch and Max was calling your cell all upset. I thought your dad would be proud of what I had done but he just got all mad and told me it wasn’t right to tamper with you like that…the whole thing is stupid if you ask me”
“It isn’t!”
“Yeah whatever. Sorry for caring so much”
“It’s sweet of you…I guess”
“Love you Harper”
“Love you too you little rat!”
He pecked her on the cheek “go face the monster”
She rolled her eyes, “I’ll be fine”
Harper’s dad stood in the doorway “what’s taking so long?”
“I was saying goodbye to Derrick”
She left, but Derrick’s dad still stood there, and then his features softened “thank you”
Derrick smiled “no problem…you know don’t you?”
“Know what?”
Derrick awkwardly scratched the back of his neck “how I feel about her, it isn’t obvious is it? We’re supposed to just be friends”
Harper’s dad smiled lightly “it’s obvious…just not to Harper, and let’s hope it stays that way” and then her dad was gone
The front door closed and Derrick just stood there wishing her dad would have elaborated a bit more
His phone lay on the bed next to hi. He picked it up, his fingers slowly tapping away at the screen
To: HarperBabez
From: Derrick
Is it bad that I miss u already?
Sitting in her car, Harper played with her cell phone, not surprised that she had a text message. Her dad kept looking at her funny because she was smiling at her phone like an idiot
“Something you want to tell me about?”
“No, just Derrick texted me…he’s silly” Harper continued to smile at her phone, finally deciding to respond
From: HarperBabez
To: Derrick<3
No :3 I miss you too you little rat you <3
