little white lies | grayson dolan

𝑒𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓃

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My eyes blink a few times to make sure the sight in front of me is real. Hanna Thompson - sitting directly across from me with a notebook placed in front of her. She has a pen firmly gripped around her fingers, and a determined look takes up her beautiful features.

When she called me up to hang out, I thought I was dreaming. She didn't know that I was already in the library, so I was prepared for our meeting. I hate to say this, but maybe Ethan was right. Maybe she's slowly forgetting about him. I haven't messaged her on the dating app in a few days, and she hasn't jumped at the chance either.

"So, how do you want to do this?" She lifts her head up to look at me. "Poster board? Powerpoint?"

"Poster board." I say with a shrug. "It's old-school and I like that. Everybody goes straight to technology now."

"I agree." She perks her shoulders up. "I miss being in middle school, when every assignment was on paper instead of a screen."

"Yeah, the simple times." I nod with a slight laugh. My heart casually skips a beat from the smile that is appearing on her lips. She's so beautiful, I will never get sick of looking at her.

"Since we need to compare and contrast, I say it's easier to get the differences out of the way. There's less of them, so we can construct a list."

I nod my head in agreement before looking down at my binder. "Well, for starters, they take place in different decades."

"Right, Gatsby is all about the roaring twenties. Catcher in the Rye takes place in the forties." She jots down the fact onto her paper.

"Gatsby and Holden do have some differences." I clear my throat while staring at her. "Age is a major factor between the two. Holden is sixteen, Gatsby is in his thirties."

"That's a major difference. God, imagine Holden being an adult?"

"The story would be totally different." I shake my head, hating the thought of it. "It's authentic because Holden is experiencing growing up. He's a teenager and goes through all of the emotions of being one."

"Sometimes I think about what the story would be if Gatsby was a boy instead of a man. His decisions would still be poor, and he would probably still be searching for Daisy in his own way." There's that twinkle in her eye, the one I always imagined during our messages.

"Is Gatsby your favorite character? Because he isn't mine." I keep my eyes directly on her.

"Although I do love the rich man throwing the parties, I would have to say that Nick Carraway is my favorite."

"No way, he's my favorite." My cheeks instantly turn red as my eyes light up with happiness.

"Without him, there would be no story." Her smile is wide as she leans in closer to the table.

"Exactly! Thank you, finally somebody understands." I happily reply while she chuckles.

"He was the only one who really cared about Gatsby. The story is told through his eyes, which many people discredit." She lets out a low sigh.

"Do you think Gatsby was crazy for loving Daisy that hard?" I slowly ask her. "He threw all of his parties in hopes to get her attention, changed his name and reinvented himself. He did everything to impress her, even if it didn't pay off in the end."

"I think Gatsby was a hopeless romantic. Sure, he was very flawed, but he loved Daisy with everything he had in him. At the end of the day, he felt the powerful emotion of being in love. I don't think that makes him crazy, I think it makes him human." She nods her head while looking directly at me.