Thirty-Eight: One Fish No Fish

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Greta, I'm sorry... I told Blair no so many times. She was so insistent though. It was stupid of me, so stupid. I feel like a complete ass for even letting it happen in the first place. And wow, what a small fucking world for that to be Harry. It was a good thing he was there though, really.

Laurel's response to my simple text of you lied has consisted of phone call after phone call, with me ignoring all of them and her finally resorting to this text apology that I've reread about five times now. I wasn't originally going to tackle this layer of the mess I've gotten myself into quite yet, but I couldn't ignore the little voice in my head to call her out. I always knew that she wasn't telling me everything when she said she didn't know Blair would be there. I knew that there was more to it than that. And now that Harry's revealed this, I now have a reason to act on my assumptions.

I just needed to get it off my chest but I have no desire to fully hash it out with her right now. I love Laurel and this doesn't change that, but I am frustrated by her and it's not a feeling I want to dwell on at this moment. I've already dealt with enough frustration to last me the rest of the week and Harry's smiling right now... so I'm going to focus on that.

His face glows with the neon lights flashing to the side of us. He's bundled up in a sweatshirt and beanie, rocking back and forth on his feet as he waits for me to pay attention to him. The sun set long ago and it's a bit cold with the sea breeze but we've decided not to let this alter our plans of enjoying the rides and games on the boardwalk.

When I look up from my phone, probably with a face showing my deep thoughts of Laurel and her lapse of being a good friend, he blinks a few times before smiling a little wider. It's like he hopes that it will be enough to scare away my frown... and I wouldn't say he's too crazy for thinking this, because I'm already starting to feel a little better with that smile.

I feel my phone buzz again in my hand so my attention is quickly averted from him. It's Laurel as I was expecting, only this time her text comes without an apology.

Probably not the best time to say this, because you're clearly mad at me (which is entirely warranted). If my memory is serving me correctly though, Harry was fiiiiiiineee. You did good, Greta. Very good.

A snort of laughter comes out of my mouth before I even have a second to think about how I should only be mad at her. Laurel's observant of attractive boys so it doesn't surprise me to hear that Harry didn't fly under her radar, even when they were in a sketchy situation.

"What?" I hear Harry ask, curious to what managed to get a laugh out of me.

"Just something Laurel said," I shake my head, looking up at him. "Not thrilled with the girl but she somehow always makes me smile. It's unfair really."

"Think so?" Harry smirks, wrapping his arm around my shoulder as we start to walk again after our brief pause to the side.

"You have that power too," I nod, trying to tell him exactly how it feels. "Even when you're on my bad side.... you're not really."

"Wish I wasn't on your bad side at all," he breathes out quietly, pulling me in a little closer to him.

He's still hesitant of his movements with me, clearly sensing my tenser stature around him. But he's also eased up on his carefulness a little, quickly falling back into how we usually are. I don't mind it at this moment either, because the cracked feeling in my heart is barely noticeable and he's warm. So I'll take as much as I can get right now.

"You just have to be very nice to me is all," I respond, moving an arm behind his back as we walk forward. "And not lie anymore... that too."

"I'm a very nice boy, Greta," he smiles innocently. "I can do that."

Nowhere In Particular // H.S.Where stories live. Discover now