Awkward Beat [H.S]

Chapter 4

In which Harry flirts with hypocrisy and Fitz speaks out of turn.

Chapter 4

On Thursday afternoon, I was enjoying a hearty snack of apples and peanut butter and catching up on some sociology reading at the kitchen counter while Harry raced around the flat like a squirrel gathering acorns for winter. He had an important presentation to make in his evening business class, and even though these presentations were fairly common for him, he was especially disorganized this time. First he couldn't find his tie. Then he fretted over whether his blazer matched his pants. Next, he misplaced his slide notes. Finally, he couldn't get his Powerpoint document to transfer properly to a USB.

He was in full scale panic mode while I scooped up generous globs of peanut butter with apple slices, not saying a word. Things hadn't been terribly awkward between us since the weekend, but I knew better than to speak to him at a time like this. Business school placed far too much pressure on a clearly unhappy Harry, but the worst thing I could do was tell him he should change his vocation.

So I didn't say anything at all, and instead crossed my legs on the stool and burrowed even deeper into my woolen scarf.

Eventually, Harry emerged from his bedroom looking trim and dapper in a suit and tie, his slide notes in one hand and a USB in the other. His jaw was set but he

wasn't nearly as manic as before. He stood across from me at the counter, regulating his breathing. I offered him an apple slice, which he accepted with a serving of peanut butter.

"I hate these presentations," he said with a shake of his head.

"I know," I sympathized. "I'm stressed for you."

"Thanks." He checked his watch. "All right. I have ten minutes. If I practice it again, I'm gonna kill myself."

"Then don't," I said with a careless shrug.

"Okay," he agreed. "Tell me something then."

I looked up at him from under lashes immersed in important social sciences subject matter.

"I'm busy too, you know."

"Fitz," he whined. "Please. It'll calm me down."

"What do you want me to say?" I asked as I closed my textbook.

"Anything. Something new that happened to you this week."

With a sigh, I thought back over the last few days: I'd gone to class, worked at the Hub Cub, and slept. How novel.

"Seriously? No stories at all?"

"Well, there is one," I said. I was reluctant to tell it, but Harry looked so desperate to take his mind off of school and I couldn't think of anything else. "I don't know if you've talked to Zayn or not, but he's definitely pursuing that girl he went home with on Saturday night.

The next morning, they came into my work together for lunch. On Monday, I saw them walking out of Starbucks together, and yesterday, they were studying at the same table at the library."

Harry leaned closer to me across the counter, feigning interest. With a smirk, he asked,

"Now, should I tell my friend you're actively stalking him, or...?"

"That's the thing!" I exclaimed. "I wasn't trying to stalk him at all! It was almost as if he was following me and trying to make me jealous."

"What a shallow ploy!" Harry gasped in mock horror.