17 | H.S

Chapter 6 - Family Photos

6

 

Family Photos

 

 

 

Throughout the rest of the dinner I stayed silent. I regretted speaking after discovering everyone’s reactions toward my remark, especially Harry’s. My mom piped up after my foolish comment, explaining to Anne how it has always been a dream of mine to move far away; preferably Europe but, Canada had a lot of promises as well. While my parents and Anne discussed with Eli about his future plans, Isa stayed silent as she scrolled through her phone at the opposite end of the table near Harry and I. Harry looked from the dreadful conversation to Isa and then to me. He smirked at me from the other side of the table and I knew if I lifted my leg up I would be able to touch his shin; an irrelevant observation, but an observation nonetheless. When I looked up from my hands that rested on the table I caught him still staring. But he never looked away. I shifted in my chair, even cleared my throat a little bit but nothing. He still continued to stare. He knew I was growing anxious and I wondered if he was getting a rise out of seeing me in such an awkward state. After a couple agonizing minutes Harry let out a crooked smile before he turned to Isa, “Isa, do you think you could show me where the bathroom is?”

“Uh, sure.” She mumbled before finally scooting out of her chair and standing up. I try to seem occupied with my hands as Harry follows her out of the dining room but after a couple minutes of them being gone I realize Isa probably retired to her room for the night and I now hoped I could do the same. I stood up from my seat and to my luck, nobody noticed so I tried to get out of there as quickly and gracefully as I could.

“Who is that?” I stopped when I heard Harry’s voice boom from just around the corner. “That’s Eli’s friend Jimmy.”

“Then why is he in a picture with Nora?” Harry was asking Isa about the family photos on the wall in the hallway. And I know the exact one he is asking about: the Zoo Lights in Portland. Beth had a small crush on Eli for about five seconds last year around Christmas so she came up with this marvelous idea to go to Zoo Lights and she made sure I went with, which meant that I needed a “date.” So by default, I got stuck with Jimmy. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jimmy. He’s like a second brother to me, which means he is as brutally annoying as Eli. Eli and Beth thought it would be funny for Jimmy and I to get a picture together and just before that picture was taken Jimmy thought it would be hilarious to tickle me because I hadn’t laughed that whole night. It worked, I laughed, and my mom loved the picture.

Once Isa told Harry the story behind the picture he immediately moved onto another one. “And who is this?”

“That’s Nora’s best friend Beth.”

Every muscle in my body stiffened.

“I didn’t see her with anyone today.”

“Yeah, well Beth’s not around much anymore.”

“Did she move?”

“No, uh she um, passed away last year.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

I am too Harry, I am too.

“Is that um, them again?” He clears his throat trying to break through the awkward silence. “Yeah, that’s when they were about ten. They have been friends for a long time.”

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So, I don’t know what is happening with Wattpad right now and why the chapters are all fucked up so I’m sorry about that. I’m trying to fix them. On my computer it is listing the chapters as: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 3. But on my phone it is listing them in the correct order. So if you guys could maybe let me know how all yours look then maybe I could try to figure something out. Anyways thanks for reading! Love you all!