Roots - h.s

4.

    Kid don't get ahead of yourself
           You're not making sense.
      But I'd rather be too far gone
         Then behind their fences.

HARRY'S POV:

    "Okay... So... You like pancakes... I don't really get it." I speak out. It's dark now. I've spent all day on this side of the fence trying to talk to her. I'm not trying to get anything out of her, I truly just want to talk to her. To get to know her, to figure her out... I'd like to take her out but I've never truly been one to stick my neck out like that... First I'd like to be her friend, but she's got a hard shell to crack even when it comes to friendship.

    "I just like pancakes. Eggo pancakes every single morning. Sometimes for dinner if I'm feeling dangerous." She tells me, and I smile. "What about you... You and your coffee... I assume that's what's in that cup." She speaks. She's still in the treehouse. She's hardly made a dent in the work she had this morning but I don't mind it... She's good company.

    "It is coffee... Tell me. How do you drink your coffee Sterling? That tells a lot about a person." I ask, and she shakes her head.

    "I don't drink coffee. Not that it's bad... It's just not good either. How do you drink your coffee?" She asks me, questioning me again.

    "Black with a little bit of sugar.. That's it." I tell her, knowing she's going to scrunch her nose up, and shake her head like everyone else does... Black coffee, gross I know. I look up at her, and her face is completely normal.

    "Sounds gross, but it's your preference." She shrugs, and I laugh. "Maybe I'll like coffee one day." She shrugs.

    "How about I take you to try coffee? Get out of this backyard..." I tell her, shooting my shot.

    "Nope. Not a chance. I have a treehouse to finish." She pats the wood, and I nod my head, feeling the burn of rejection. She'll go sooner or later.

    "You mean start the treehouse." I speak up, and she sighs. "I can help you... I'd actually love to, you know it wouldn't be a problem at all, I-"

    "No. My treehouse, my mess, my problem. It's none of your concern." She shuts me down quickly. "I don't want it getting messed up... My plans for it, or the treehouse."  She clarifies and I nod.

    "Okay... No helping that's fine. No coffee... That's fine too... So I'm not getting you out of this backyard, am I?" I ask her, hoping for the best, but knowing I wont get the answer I want.

    "Not unless it's burning down... Maybe not even then." She confirms my thoughts, and I sigh.

    "I don't know much about you... But I know you're ridiculously stubborn Sterling." I laugh, and she shrugs. "Do you mind me asking why you're building the treehouse?" I ask her, and she looks at me from the dimly lit treehouse.

    "Short answer is... I like stars, and it's easier to see them from here.. To look out this way if I keep the trees cleared over there." She points back towards a patch of trees that's somewhat cut away, but overgrown a bit. "I need to cut the branches back once I finish." She tells me, and I nod.

    "The long answer?" I ask, and she shakes her head.

    "It's not important." She shrugs, and I nod. Don't push her or she'll just completely close herself off. "Shit... Shit shit shit." She curses in a chain, and sits herself up. I look in her line of sight and see the lights inside her house have turned on. "My dad is home, he's going to come out here, and he can't know that... Promise me you'll be quiet." She looks at me.