Smart. (A Marcel / Harry Styles FanFiction)

Surprises and Self Defense

<Charlotte’s POV>

As I hurried off to my first class I snuggled more into the dark green jumper I was wearing.  It was soft and smelled comfortable, if that was even possible.  I knew I would have to give it back to Harry eventually, but for now I’d hold on to it.  Knowing Harry, he wouldn’t even notice it was missing, unless he saw me wearing it today. 

“Char!” I heard a familiar bubbly voice and looked up to see Jess. 

“Hey!”

“So are you excited? Only a few more weeks until summer break! And even less time than that to Prom!” Jess gushed waving her hands excitedly.

“You’re forgetting about our finals for our classes…” I responded, but as much as I tried to remain serious, I couldn’t help but smile at her antics.

“Oh right, those.” Jess looked subdued for a moment, and I almost felt guilty for ruining her happy mood until she continued talking on about dates and dresses, chatting my ear off about all the mundane things to do with Prom.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t somewhat excited, but a school dance that required a date seemed like more of a pain than something enjoyable.  

“Jess, I’m not quite sure I’ll actually go to the dance” I cut Jess off in mid rant. 

“What? Char! You absolutely must go!  Besides, don’t you already pretty much have a date?”

“Date? What do you mean?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“Um possibly the boy whose jumper you’re wearing?” Jess suggested cheekily.  I glanced down at the jumper I adored and groaned.  How could I be so stupid, of course someone was bound to notice.  Leave it to Jess, who was observant in everything but her studies to point it out.

“H—harry?” I questioned, “you must be mental.” Jess raised her eyebrow, clearly unconvinced by my poor attempt to brush off her comment.

“No YOU must be mental if you expect me to think you’re not attracted to him.  I’ve been noticing it for ages!” she paused to take a breath, and continued in a slightly quieter voice, “Besides, it’s not one sided either, I can see how he looks at you.  Look at you blushing!” If I hadn’t been blushing before, I definitely was now.  I could feel my face burning and tried to hide it with my books.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” I muttered, starting to get annoyed.  Of course I couldn’t be attracted to Harry! I’d been friends with him for too long for some kiss that meant nothing, or at least was supposed to mean nothing, to make me feel, well, different.  It didn’t make sense. 

“Char, I know you don’t want to face it, but I’m your best friend.  I should KNOW these things.  And maybe it’s too early for you to see it too, but Harry’s been there for you forever.  He’ll get tired of waiting for you, and then it won’t be too early anymore, it will be too late.  So keep that in mind before you ignore my comments and try to take the smart path.  Besides who could be smarter than Harry?” she laughed as I rolled my eyes at her joke, but part of me knew she meant what she said. 

“I thought all boys like girls like Ann” I shot at her, but she just glared at me.

“Stop trying to deny the obvious Char.  Besides, since when has Harry been like all boys?”  Sometimes, Jess made a lot of sense.  I heard the bell for class ring and I began to walk away.

“Bye Jess, see you at lunch” I called to her.

“Keep in mind what I said!” she sing-songed back.  I realized I had little choice with literature as my next class, seeing as I had already finished the book we were assigned to read before our final exams.