Meet Me in the Hallway (HS AU)

forty eight.

The story-telling projection went on for an hour and a half. It went into deep detail about different planets and galaxies, the colours were just absolutely beautiful. I caught my jaw falling open at numerous points in the show, everything was just amazing.

There was a brief moment at the hour mark where my curiosity got the better of me and I had to have a peek at Harry. I needed to know if he was experiencing the same amazement that I was. Once I was finally able to pull my eyes off the projection, I flicked them over towards him. His eyes were bright, the colours of the planets were bouncing around the whites of his eyes.

But they weren't looking at the ceiling, they were looking at me.

I was quick to turn my eyes back to the roof, hoping the coloured lights were enough to cover my burning cheeks. By the end of the show, our hands were interlocked on the arm rest between our seats. The theatre lights faded on, signalling the end of the show, which made me a little sad that it was ending but excited to be able to talk to Harry again.

"That was amazing! What did you think?" I squeezed his hand and turned my body towards his.

"I think you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

We made our way hand in hand out the front door of Scienceworks and into the cold night air. The breeze made me glad I had bought my jacket. The high rises blocked out the force of the wind but the chill was still there. The building lights were bright and fed a little warmth into my chest.

I began making my way towards the car park, only to be pulled in the other direction.

"You didn't think the date was over, did you?" His words were surrounded by a chuckle as he pulled me down the street.

Without question or hesitation, I let him pull me along behind him. Occasionally he would glance at his watch and look back at me to say 'we're gonna miss it' before picking up his pace. We continued down the block until I saw a sign that said Spotsworth Jetty. His hand's grip on mine did not falter as he pulled me down the Jetty and onto the water taxi that was preparing to leave the dock.

We made our way to the front row of seats on the boat and sat down. The glass windows had a layer of condensation as a result of the cold air outside, blocking the view of the river. Unwillingly, I let out a visible shiver, the cold wood of the ferry bench pressed against the thin material of my tights.

Within seconds, hands gripped my elbow and tugged my body so it slid across the wooden bench and pressed firmly against Harry's side. His arm wrapped around my shoulder and rubbed his hand up and down my clothed bicep.

Our ride up the Yarra River was quiet, neither of us worked to break the comfortable silence that filled the boat. There were other people scattered around the water taxi, their conversations were too hushed, almost as if we were all enjoying the serenity.

We travelled up the Yarra until Harry stood from the bench and prepared to get off at the boats next docking. He grasped my hand again and pulled me from my spot on the bench before moving us towards the door of the water taxi.

The sign on the dock said Southbank Promenade and I knew where we were. The city centre was beautiful at night, the way the lights reflected off the river and the colourful lights that lined the bridges all added to the peaceful aura.

We continued down the promenade until Harry suddenly stopped. He spun on his heel and pointed up.

"Wanna see the second prettiest view in the city?"

I looked up and spotted the gold plated windows towards the top of the building. The Eureka Skydeck was widely known for being the tallest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere, and I had never had the privilege of going to the top.

"I would love to."

The signage throughout the ground floor boasted that it took only 38 seconds to travel from the first to the 88th floor by elevator and that fact alone had me itching with excitement.

Whilst we waited in the short line, being it was already 8:45 there wasn't a huge amount of people around so the wait wasn't huge, Harry couldn't stand still.

"Now is probably the best and worst time to tell you this, but- uh fuck um..." Harry spluttered as he hopped from one foot to the other, "I'm actually scared of heights, so er- yeah shit. There's that information, do with it as you wish."

My jaw fell slack at the new information. That did explain why he was so blunt back when we were painting my classroom about not wanting to climb the ladders, but so many other questions popped into my mind.

"Then why the fuck are we about to go up the tallest building in the city, genius?"

"It sounded like a good idea at the time but now I'm shitting it. So, game plan, I'm going to need you to force me into the elevator ok. If I have to walk by myself, I simply will not go. Drag me, threaten me, I don't care. Just promise me you'll get me in that elevator."

I felt awful, I truly did. Not only was he being vulnerable with me in public about his fear, but I couldn't stop myself from bursting out laughing in the middle of the queue. I clutched my stomach as I doubled over in fits of laughter. Only this beautiful idiot would offer to take me up to the highest viewing deck we had access to while internally dying every three seconds.

After I was able to finally get a grip on my emotions, it was our turn to go into the elevator and up to the top floor. The fear in his eyes became prominent and I knew what I had to do. I leant in close so only he would be able to hear what I was about to say.

"Harry, if you don't get in this elevator. I will personally recite every piece of detailed information Clem has told me about hers and Adrian's sex life."

And suddenly the man was Usain Bolt, because he was in the elevator before the doors even finished opening.

*****
My state just went into its 6th lockdown so, yeehaw, looks like I'll be spending the weekend writing