Abscond [h.s]

Chapter 9

I got back from a somewhat successful grocery shopping trip around thirty minutes later. I kept getting distracted by chocolate and cookies and all that good stuff, the rational part in my brain telling me to only buy a few sweets and focus on buying what we absolutely needed, I ended up buying 4 bags of cookies. Maybe this is why my dad never let me do the grocery shopping. Anyway, I grabbed the grocery bags from the back of the car, trying to hold all of them with my two hands and then I slowly made my way to our building, debating if I should put the bags down to open the door or trying to open it with my foot. Suddenly remembering that I didn't lock Angie's car, I struggled to get the key out of my pocket, turning around to lock it and then turning back around to walk into something very hard, my guess the front door. But it wasn't the door, it was Harry.

"Watch where you're going Braydon Alaska." I let out a huff in frustration.

"Stop calling me Braydon Alaska, my name is just Braydon." He raised an eyebrow at me, as if he was going to call me Braydon Alaska again and see what I'd do. Before he could say anything else, I somehow built up enough courage to fire something back at him.

"Stop staring at me." Okay that sounded a lot better in my head.

"I was not staring at you Braydon Alaska, I wouldn't waste my time on you."

"The feeling's mutual." I smiled sarcastically at him. I turned back around and tried opening the door when Harry stopped me.

"I wouldn't go back up there if I were you."

"And why not?" I asked between clenched teeth, already tired of talking to him. 

"Angie and Jack are probably fucking each other's brains out right now, I don't think you'd want to walk in on that." He smirked. I let out a breath and placed down my grocery bags on the floor, stretching my sore arms out from holding the heavy bags for so long.

"Great. Is that why you're out here?" I asked. He nodded.

"They started making out while I was in there, I didn't even notice until Jack told me to go wait outside or wait in his truck." He chuckled. I let out a faint laugh, cherishing this rare moment where he wasn't insulting me.

"I hope they don't take too long, I've got frozens." I said, gesturing to the grocery bag that was probably starting to melt in this late summer heat. Harry didn't respond, instead he just pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one up. I always thought it was rude when you were talking to someone and then they just light up a cigarette and smoke right in front of you. But Harry being Harry, I'm sure he couldn't care less, and we weren't really having a conversation anyway.

The sun was quickly setting and Harry and I were still awkwardly waiting outside. I was beginning to wonder why he wasn't waiting in his car since he wasn't talking to me. I prayed that Jack would walk through the door any minute because I don't know how much longer I'll be able to stand the smell of Harry's cigarette. It was getting more and more awkward by the moment so I decided to try and start a conversation. 

"Why do you pick on me?" His head snapped in my direction, he probably wasn't expecting me to say anything. He was leaning against the wall of the building and I was sitting down on the small step at the front of the doors. He pulled the cigarette from between his lips and blew out the white smoke.

"What?"

"Why do you hate me? I never did anything to you. I don't know I was just wondering..." I trailed off, suddenly realizing how dumb I probably sounded. Harry let out a chuckle while squishing his cigarette butt on the ground.

"Braydon Alaska I do not hate you, I act like an asshole to everybody." He stated simply. I didn't even acknowledge that he called me Braydon Alaska again because I was too busy trying to make sense of what he said 

"But you don't act like that towards everyone. Not Angie, or Jack or Dylan. What did I do to make you so angry with me all the time?" I asked, suddenly standing up from anger. I really wanted to know why he always teased me and acted so rude towards me.

"I'm just a dick." Harry shrugged.

"No Harry. I'm sure you're a nice guy because you have friends, and if you were a dick like you claim to be, you wouldn't have any friends. Angie even told me that you were a nice guy once someone gets to know you. And I've been trying to be nice to you but you make it so hard when you keep acting like an asshole to me." I didn't even realize how close I had gotten to him until the smell of cigarettes and expensive cologne filled my nose. My chest was raising and falling quickly and I have no idea where all of this anger was coming from.

"So why do you keep trying huh? If I'm such a dick then why do you keep trying to befriend me?" He seethed, his nostrils flaring as he took a step closer to me so are chests were almost touching.

"I-I don't know." I said quietly. Maybe because he's cute and you want to get to know him better, the annoying voice in my head chirped.

The front door of the building suddenly swung open, revealing a very happy, and messy Jack. His hair was all over the place and he had lipstick all over his mouth and neck. Harry and I quickly distanced ourselves and looked away from each other, like we hadn't just been fighting seconds ago. I looked over at Jack and he had a puzzled look on his face.

"Hey man, let's go." Jack said to Harry. Harry nodded and pushed a new cigarette between he lips and lit it up with his lighter. Jack waved goodbye to me and I returned it with a smile. I grabbed my grocery bags off of the ground and began to open the door when Harry stopped me for the second time tonight.

"Goodnight Braydon."

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-harryartwork