After The End: Book 1

Prologue

A/N Welcome to the first chapter! I've been working this idea for a very long time now (a few years) so please enjoy! The prequel is on my page if you're interested in learning what happened leading up to this point! The song for this chapter is Skyscraper by Demi Lovato.

Naomi's POV

"Harry, you go with Naomi!" The girls overly squeaky voice echoed through my ears. I was shoved into a closet and the door was slammed. "7 minutes in heaven," she called ridiculously. She said it in a sing-song voice that made my ears ring.

To begin the long list of confusions that ran through my brain, I had no idea what the object of this game was. Literally, whats the point of shoving kids into an awkward situation where they kiss strangers? Or worse, someone they actually know?

I remembered that morning when my friend had convinced me to come to this stupid party in the first place. I hadn't had any interest in going and now, standing within the closet mere inches away from a boy who I barely knew if not for seeing him in passing within our school hall, I was silently vowing to never go again. I had never been a super social person either and all of this was just proving to me that I was not the party type.

I refused to look at the boy called Harry who stood before me in the darkness of the closet. Our heads were both half concealed by the coats and jackets anyways. I was 13... Much too young for my first kiss in my opinion. Especially not with a boy like Harry. He was younger than me by a few months but rumors told that he was experienced in this sort of thing and I refused to be embarrassed by the likes of him.

"I'm not going to kiss you," I said coldly scowling up at him. He was nearly a head taller than myself. He had a blue sleeve draped over his head.

"Don't be such a baby Naomi!" He taunted me with an almost playful smile that made my blood boil. I hated the close proximity our surroundings of coats and boxes gave us within the closet.

"I'm not a baby," I protested angrily. I could feel a flush of color rising in my cheeks and I leaned further back into the red parka behind my head to try and blend in.

"Then why won't you kiss me?"

He laughed with raised eyebrows, clearly amused by me as I exploded, "Because you're you're a self centered prat with no respect for me!"

He just laughed some more. "You're kind've funny NayNay," he paused checking the time on his phone. As he did, it's light illuminated his face in bright streams, glittering off of the green of his eyes. "We have 4 minutes to kiss by the way."

"I'm not kissing you!" I insisted. I'd become overrun with frustration at his carefree attitude. the closet was making me feel claustrophobic. His voice was way too casual.

"Please..." He mocked begged with a sarcastic smile. "I'm really not that bad at it... At least I hope not."

"You may have been willing to blow your first kiss on nothing, but I'm not!" I crossed my arms defiantly glaring at him. He seemed mostly unphased by me.

There was silence, then very nonchalantly he said "It wasn't very willing." He refused to meet my eyes, instead picking at his nails casually.

"Whats that supposed to mean? Your grandmother doesn't count Harry!" I laughed at him mainly because he had laughed at me.

"Does my third grade teacher?" His smile was definitely gone now but his raised eyes brows made it hard to read his expression.

I stiffened. "Mrs. Penderlee?"

"She was divorced.... Probably really lonely as well. She had no problem keeping little boys after school for some twisted form of detention." His voice had gone cold. There were no traces of the humor it had harbored before. I couldn't figure out what the intended emotions behind his words were.

"You're lying." I said shocked. Even as I said it, I knew it wasn't true. Something in his face told me he was being completely cold honest. I'd hurt his feelings and he was offended. He was giving honesty where before there was casual humor.

"That's what my parents told me. Good thing Brad Cooks parents believed him, right?" He looked at me mercilessly as if taking some joy in my shock. "She's the only person I've ever been kissed by if you were wondering. So you really don't know anything about me. Stop acting like you do."

There was a long deafening silence.

"We only have one minute left... I'll tell them I didn't kiss you because I didn't want to," he said quietly picking at his nails again.

I shook my head. Our small closet suddenly seemed to shrink as I got close to him, leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. He stiffened as I did it, clearly caught off guard. I didn't like Harry at all in that way, but I think that was just something that I needed to do almost as much as he needed me to do it. "I'm sorry.... But she can't be the only girl you've been kissed by."

He nodded without looking up or saying anything to me. I could see the rosy color building up in his cheeks.

Later, Harry would go on to be world famous. He'd join a band and they'd take off in 2010, topping the charts until their downfall in 2013 when Harry overdosed on Heroin. That had been a little under four years ago. It had been quite a big deal for the press. It was revealed after that he'd been a struggling drug addict for quite some time, although many people had suspected it for a while. His disappeared from public life after that, only making occasional appearances that included run ins with the law and some bar fights gone bad. Last I heard, he was living with his bandmate whose name and face I didn't remember.

Question of the chapter:
How do you feel about what happened to Harry? How do you think it will affect him later?