20: FALLING IN LOVE

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The whole Hart house is silent as I creep toward the stairs to the basement

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The whole Hart house is silent as I creep toward the stairs to the basement. Henry is behind me, making sure that his mom or Piper doesn't come out and see me here since they aren't really happy with me. At least, that what I think about his family, but I could be wrong. I don't really know why Henry is making me sneak into his house and down to his basement, but here I am. I step down onto the first step and cringe when I hear it squeak loudly underneath my foot. 

"Laurel!" Henry hisses, jabbing my shoulder with his finger, nearly knocking me down the stairs. Turning my head to look at him from over my shoulder, I glare at him. He's also glaring at me, like he can't believe that I would make a noise. "You need to be quieter."

"Oh, I'm sorry for stepping on a squeaky stair that I've never been down. Let me use my x-ray vision to see which stair is noisy or not."

"You don't have to be rude about it."

"Stop telling me what to do, then."

Henry makes a rude gesture to me, and I quickly do it back to him. There is a faint smile on his face, replacing the mean look he had on earlier. I can't help but smile, too. I'm afraid that I'm going to start laughing, so I have to cover my mouth with my hand. I watch as he glances at the area behind him, and then he rushes forward, stopping right behind me. 

"The coast is clear," he says, nudging me slightly. I continue down the stairs, a sense of nervousness entering my body in waves. My heartrate picks up when he says, "I bet you're probably wondering why I snuck you into my house and am taking you to my basement."

"Duh," I whisper into the quiet air, lifting my hand off of my mouth. The light from upstairs slowly dissipates as I continue to head downstairs, leaving us in the darkness. He didn't turn the light on, did he? Great. I'm going to kill myself by tripping and falling down the stairs. And then his family will hear me tumble down the stairs and know that I'm here, too. "Is there a reason why you're bringing me down to your basement?" I gasp, stopping on a stair. Henry bumps into me, nearly knocking me down the stairs again. "You're bringing me down here to kill me, aren't you?" I say jokingly.

"Yes," he says seriously. My head whips around to see a dark look on his face. It sends a shiver down my spine. He looks like he actually hates me, and that hurts my heart more than I had thought was possible. "You're my next victim. I wanted it to be someone close to me, someone that thinks I'm the sweetest and handsomest boyfriend ever."

"Well, it's not you, then."

His face cracks into a grin, and I sigh. For a second there, I thought he was actually being for real. That's weird, though, because he isn't really mean. Sure, he has good comebacks, but he isn't intentionally mean to me. He says, "Thanks for that. What goes on in your brain, Laurel?"

"It's plausible. Do you know how many women are killed by people they know? Especially by men."

"Why would I ever want to kill you?" The smile I had on my face slips off when I hear him say that. The tone of his voice is soft and gentle, just like the touch of his hand on my shoulder. I melt a little bit on the inside. "You're my girlfriend. I never want to hurt you, let alone kill you."

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