Apricity (Skinny Rewrite)

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HARRY COULD BARELY believe his own eyes. Surly it must have been a trick of the darkness or his mind playing games. The girl he had spent hours thinking about couldn't be standing there on the sidewalk just a block from his house.

"Marley?"

She spun to face him at the sound of her name. Crystal blue eyes wide in surprise. He was sure all the questions that were running through his head, were spinning in her head too—but neither of them could articulate any into the air.

Marley took a step toward him. Almost subconsciously. As if she didn't even notice that she did. And her eyes dropped towards the ground at his feet. Brown eyes stared back up at her and a fluffy white tail wagged in excitement.

"You have a dog." The words tumbled out, lamely, before she could catch them and swallow them down.

He glanced down, too. To the dog at the end of the leash in his hand. Like he had forgotten she was even there. "It's—she's my sister's dog, really."

"You have a dog... and a sister." Marley said. Still feeling like the boy in front of her was a figment of her imagination. Where did he come from? Did he live around here?

If he did, he was most definitely out of her league in more ways than one.

"Yeah." Harry said. Shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts. But the word felt like it only solidified her unspoken assumption. "What are you doing standing in the middle of the sidewalk?"

For some reason, she felt like being honest. Maybe it was the way he had captured her mind. Or the way she longed for the closeness that the Pearsons had with each other. And that simply manifested into brutal honesty with the first conversation she had after leaving them to get lost in each other.

"I was babysitting." She said. Ticking her head in the direction of the house. "For the Pearsons and then I was... stargazing."

At the mention of them, Harry glanced up at the specks across the sky. Then looked back at her. As if fully seeing her for the first time. She was still in the same clothes she had worn to school, with the addition of a light grey jacket. Her backpack was slung over one shoulder. And something in her eyes made him think she looked defeated. By whom or what... he wasn't sure.

"Do you live around here?" He asked. And the dog at his feet suddenly grew impatient as they stood a dozen feet apart. And tugged on the leash in his hand as she tried to reach Marley.

He stepped forward, allowing the little white dog to sniff at her feet. And Marley crouched down to scratch behind her pointed pink ears. "Not that far." She said vaguely. It was true but it felt like she was lying. "You?"

"About six or so houses that way." He pointed over his shoulder, and the winding road that curved up the hill and out of sight. Lined with cream sidewalks and oak trees of near-perfect symmetrical height. In just a few weeks those trees would turn varying shades of orange and red before blanketing their bases with beds of leaves. Ready to be raked into piles.

It was the kind of neighborhood Marley had always dreamed of living in but never would. Not in a million versions of this life. She cleared her throat and stood.

"I should go." Marley finally met his gaze. But it was fleeting. "I have homework to finish."

"Wait..." He didn't know what to say. Just didn't want her to go yet. And words spilled from his lips before he could think very carefully about them. "I got the sense that... well, I went to your classroom after the bell and you weren't there—I was worried because... you ran off so quickly... and..."

She was a bit taken back by his stammering. And oddly endeared. Suddenly realizing her reaction had absolutely been an exaggerated one.

He was going to walk with her to Gym?

"I had a stomach ache." She lied. Stuck her hands in the pockets of her coat. Ignoring a forgotten napkin tucked inside the right one from who knows how long ago. After a beat of silence she added the half formed thought, "I didn't realize..."

And the pair stood there for a moment. Feeling something begin but couldn't really explain what it was, exactly.

"Ginger." Harry said, suddenly. Reaching up with his free hand to scratch his eyebrow. And in the low light, she thought she may have caught his blush. "The dog's name is Ginger."

Marley smiled. Looking down at the little thing that was still carefully sniffing at her shoes and ankles. "She's adorable."

"Do you have any pets?" He asked. And Marley got the sense that he was trying his best to make conversation. He seemed so charming at school, it was odd to see him stammering and asking mildly random small-talk questions.

"You mean besides my brother?" She joked. Thinking this is what normal people joked about, right? Their annoying siblings? "No, none."

He laughed. And she took that as a yes.

"So... you don't have any pets... but do have a brother." Harry said. Almost like he was filing it away in his brain. Similar to the way Marley had spoken moments before about him.

"Yep that's me." She held his gaze for a moment before blinking away. Desperate to make that uneasy yet giddy feeling subside. The one that started as soon as he spoke her name into the cool night air. She pointed over her shoulder, "I should..."

"Right." Harry said. Like he was apologizing. "Do you need a ride?"

And suddenly Marley felt overwhelmingly exhausted. As if the mere idea of walking home made her even more tired than she was before.

So can you blame her? When she found herself saying, "sure."

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Ok... random... but for anyone who loves to read more than just fanfics GO READ "Love and Other Words" by Christina Lauren RIGHT NOW. It was so good and I literally used to not be able to make it through real published books because low key I wanted them to be fanfics (💀) but this book literally stole my heart and soul!! I finished it in 3 days.

The author has more works and I'm about to read them all because it was a masterpiece. I literally cried at the end. Like actual tears from my eyes. Ok rant over. Y'all bought the book? Ok good.

See you next time ☺️

-Lena xxx

Ps. Any thoughts on the chapters of Apricity so far??