dropping roses|| harry styles

Chapter 15: (Two Can Play at that Game)

A/N: Well, I have some explaining to do.

I literally do not know where to start. First of all, thank you guys so much for reading this book. I cannot believe that it really has over 44k views. ????? Like what???

I understand that a lot of you are really upset with me because I literally have not updated in two years omg. It's such a long story, but to sum it up. I started writing this story when I was pretty young and as I began to develop as a writer, I began to hate the story. I didn't like the way I executed a lot of the scenes, I didn't like a lot of the dialogue, and I didn't like the way I developed Jasmine. There is so much more, but ya'll get the point.

I began to lose passion for this book. I just wanted to leave it here and never update again. I deleted Wattpad and turned off the email notifications. Recently, my friend told me that she was just lurking on Wattpad and saw that someone added this book to their "Favorite Lists". Words couldn't describe how that made me feel. I felt/ feel so sad. I feel like I've let you guys down and I'm SO sorry.

I then turned my notifications back on for my email and I saw that so many people have been voting, commenting, and messaging me. I downloaded Wattpad again and saw that I had over 600 notifications. Words cannot describe how I feel right now. Reading the messages and the comments of people asking me to update made me SOB omg. I had no idea people actually read my work and liked it.

I'm back and I'm not leaving again.

I am a high school student so I'm really busy and my grades will come first, but I promise I won't disappoint ya'll again. I'm sorry if this chapter sucks, I was in a rush to update ya'll. The next chapter will be juicy I SWEAR.

With that being said, let's get this show back on the road:

****

Jasmine's Point of View

"Do these sweatpants make my butt look big?"

"Your butt always looks big, Alyssa." I stated without looking up from my textbook. "But, right now we're supposed to be focusing on the characteristics of connective tissues, not the size of your butt." I added.

Alyssa let out a sigh, "Yes, ma'am" She flopped on to the bed with a groan. I looked over at her, "Are you good?" I asked, a smile creeping its way onto my face.

"Girl, I'm tired." she mumbled, her face buried into the soft sheets. I let out a slight laugh. "Okay, look just study with me for like an hour. I know it seems like a lo—"

"I wanna drop out."

I paused for a second, "Sis, don't we all. To be honest, we should just become full time strippers."

"I'm gonna drop out, Jasmine." she said. I looked up from my textbook because of the seriousness in her voice. She was sitting up straight now and I started to realize the slight bags under her eyes and how her hair was unusually messy today. "Damn, you sound serious right now." I stated with slight humor in my voice.

"Jasmine, I'm not happy here. I feel like I'm living the life my parents want me to live rather than the life that I want to live.

I didn't know what to say. I knew she was being completely serious but I still prayed that this was just some joke. I started, "Alyssa, college isn't easy; I understand that, but it's so early in the year. Don't you want to at least stay one more term and see how it goes?"

She hid her face in her hands and groaned. I sighed, scooting closer to her. After a couple seconds of silence, I spoke up, "And what about Devon? He goes here and he's prob—"

"He cheated on me."

I felt my heart sink. Tears began to well up in her eyes. "Aw no, baby don't cry." I consoled as I wrapped my arms around her. We stayed like that for a while.

"Girl, I've come to a conclusion" I mumbled. She looked up at me, "What?"

"Men are trash."

She nodded, "Sis, you ain't never lied."

***

The rest of the day consisted of us talking trash about Harry and Devon, laughing (some crying), and eating. I decided that the studying could wait. We were laying up on the couch when the sound of a text notification caught our attention. I looked at my phone in annoyance.

"Speak of the devil." I sighed as Harry's name popped up on my screen. She looked at my phone and squinted in efforts to read the text, "What did he say?"

Harry: hey, there's a lot that i want to tell you that i can't explain through text. i know that i have no right to be asking you for a favor after everything that happened within the last couple of hours, but if you'd just give me a chance, i'd really appreciate it.

I read the text aloud to Alyssa. She sucked her teeth, "Leave him on read. Keep him in anticipation" she said. I laughed, "Okay, okay."

After a coupled of minutes, he texted again.

Harry: maybe i can come over? we can watch a movie or something? (don't feel pressured to say yes or even reply. i understand if you need some space, jas) xx

I read his second text aloud. Alyssa looked at me, "You're a big girl, I have faith that you'll make the right decision."

She was right. I was a big girl. However, for the past couple of weeks, I haven't been acting like one. A huge part of being a woman is realizing when you're mind is not in the right place. My mind was definitely not in the right place. After Harry listened to me vent to him about my insecurities and consoled me, I was so quick to think that I loved him. Looking back, I realize that I didn't. How could I love someone who is so wishy-washy? How could I love someone who can go from cuddling and kissing on me one day to pretending like he barely knows me the next?

Infatuation is what I felt— feel for Harry, not love. The truth is, I need to love myself before I can let anybody else love me.

Harry doesn't know what he wants. I'm still not sure what his intentions are, but I'm not going to be the one looking like a fool anymore.

"I'm gonna let him come over and say what he needs to say but if it's not worth my time, he's getting cut out of my life completely. I'm tired of looking stupid", I told her.

She smiled and poked my cheek, "Good. I'm proud of you, Jas." She picked up her phone and glanced at the time, "It's almost 7, I should start getting to work. My shift starts at 7:30 and traffic is crazy right now."

I looked at her in disbelief, "You're still going to work? You need to get some rest. Call in sick or something." She laughed, "Girl, these bills ain't gon' pay themselves. I gotta get that green", she laughed. She began packing up her stuff. After a long hug and a pep talk from Alyssa, she was gone.

I realized it's been almost 20 minutes and I still hadn't texted Harry. I quickly typed a quick "k. you can start heading over" and went to the bathroom to wash my face.

At around 7:40, there was a knock at the door, I rose up from the couch. There were nerves racing throughout my body, yet I still felt a sense of calmness. Although I was nervous, I still felt in control. I felt ready for anything.

I opened the door, and there he was. Harry stood there in sweats with a hesitant smile. "Jasmine", he spoke while looking from my eyes to my lips. "You look lovely" he finished.

I smiled, "Well thanks, friend."