Red String [h.s] (Completed)

Chapter 4

"And all the roads we had to walk our winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I
would like to say to you, but I don't know how"

Amy and Harry walk side by side down the road. It's quiet here, only the sounds of their footsteps on the gravel. The air smells different than in the city. Harry can't help himself and he takes a big breath in through his noise. Amy notices and looks over at him smirking but doesn't say anything. He smiles back at her.

"When was the last time you were here?"

"High school."

"What's your last memory of this place?"

"Coming here on senior skip day."

Harry grins at this new piece of information. Skipping school. Definitely an edge to this sweet girl, he thinks.

"What? You never skipped school?" she asks him.

"No, I'm not saying that. I'm just surprised you have."

Amy looks at him confused and slightly annoyed. She doesn't understand how he can make this judgement about her after only knowing her for a couple hours. Amy doesn't like it when people make assumptions. She picks up her pace and walks slightly ahead of him.

Harry notices Amy's reaction and realizes he must have offended her again. He didn't mean to imply that she was boring or anything like that. Harry thought she just seemed like such a nice girl that she would feel guilty skipping. Wouldn't want to let anyone down. He wants to make this right again but before he can, they walk down some stairs, through the trees and come to a clearing. Harry can just make out that there is water in front of them. They are at a lake, standing on the sandy shore. The only light is from the moon.

"This is definitely better than all those touristy places," Harry says looking towards Amy who has her back to him.

He can see her nodding but she doesn't turn around. He thinks he must have really made her cross with him. He might know how to fix it.

"I have an idea," he says walking closer to her. "Let's have a race. First one to swim out to that floating dock wins."

Harry is standing right next to Amy now but she still doesn't turn to look at him. He can smell her perfume on her skin as he inches closer. He wants to take a deep breath in of Amy, just like he did with the fresh air.

"What does the winner get?" she asks, staring forward, not giving any sign that she's affected by how close he is standing to her.

"The winner gets to ask the other person a personal question and they have to answer. No matter what."

Harry feels like this is enough bait to get Amy to swim. People are always dying to know personal things about him. He imagines Amy is the same, although she doesn't seem to care who he is. It won't matter either way, he thinks, because he is a pretty decent swimmer. He is looking forward to asking Amy something and finding out more about her.

Amy doesn't say anything. She stares out at the water. She contemplates what she is going to do. She would have to take off her jeans and top and swim in her bra and underwear. She figures Harry could probably just swim in his shorts.

Harry anxiously waits for her answer. He wishes she would look at him so he could read her face. He doesn't want her to be cross with him.

Amy is secretly excited, but she doesn't let it on. This is exactly what she wanted to do the other day with Derek but he refused. Amy turns slowly and looks at Harry.