The Babysitter » styles

XVIII

Eventually, Harry and I left the forest, standing closer than before. The sun was hidden behind dark storm clouds, and we had either been in there longer than we had realized, or the storm was approaching very quickly.

“We should probably head back now," I said, about to lead the way, but Harry held my wrist, preventing me from walking back to his house.

“No, not yet," he said, dropping my wrist and tangling his fingers in his hair.

“Why not?" I asked, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow. “You want us to get soaked by the rain?"

He grinned. “Maybe."

I rolled my eyes. “What is it with you and water? Do you have some sort of fetish?"

Harry's eyes widened and it looked like he nearly choked on his own saliva. “What? No!"

I started laughing hysterically, doubling over. “I know!" I got out, wiping my eyes. “But you should've seen your face!" I imitated his expression, and he couldn't help but let out a little laugh.

“So, since you're determined to stay out in the storm and give us both pneumonia, what would you like to do?" I asked, rubbing my arms to get warm. I wished I'd brought a jacket.

“I'd like to see your neighbourhood," he said, shrugging. “If it's alright with you."

I swallowed thickly, staring at my feet. I didn't really want to show him my neighbourhood. It was full of tiny shacks and poor people, compared to Harry's neighbourhood. I mean, okay, my neighbourhood was one of the nicer ones in my neighbourhood, but Harry's was even nicer, and…

I internally sighed. Harry seemed to like me, and I liked him, honestly, so it wouldn't matter that I lived in a poorer neighbourhood, right?

“Alright," I agreed reluctantly. “We can visit my area."

Harry's face lit up and his smile was big. Then he cleared his throat and straightened himself. “Alright, let's go."

“If it rains, I expect you to give me your imaginary jacket," I warned him before we set off in the direction of my neighbourhood. Harry laughed.

My house wasn't too far away from Harry's, so it wasn't that far of a walk. We talked a little on the way there, about things like our favourite colour and snack and such.

“I actually hate the colour blue," I admitted, twirling a lock of my dyed hair around my finger.

“Really?" Harry asked incredulously. “You seemed to love it in the moment."

“You see," I explained, “there's this thing called 'acting.'"

“Shut up." Harry laughed, playfully smacking me. “You look good with blue hair, actually." Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. “ I can get you hair dye removal if you want it, though."

I shrugged. “Nah. It's grown on me."

Sooner than I would've preferred, we reached the entrance to my neighbourhood. “Waterfall Community" the sign at the entrance read. There was a picture of a waterfall next to the big words.

“This is nice," Harry said as I led the way to my house. He actually sounded genuine, and I looked at him skeptically. “What?" he asked. “It does."

“Alright" was all I replied with as we continued.

My house came into sight, and I pointed it out to Harry. Soon, we were stopped in front of it.

My house was a one story house. There were two bedrooms, an office, some spare rooms down in the basement, plus everything else most houses have. The exterior was white brick and we have a massive window in our living room, which currently had the cream coloured curtains over the glass. It was always closed whenever my parents weren't home.