BABY! HARVEY MILLS.

SEVENTEEN !

INCOMING CALL FROM HARV😙

accept                   decline

the same sentence continued to run through stella's mind as her finger lay hovering above the answer button; 'it's only a phone call.'
it's not that she didn't want to speak to him. harvey had been the only person consuming her thoughts for the past weeks, talking to him would be a dream. but she also knew talking to him could make him dislike her all the more.

she wasn't as confident in real life as she was over text. she didn't have her emojis to rely on, and she couldn't say the things she normally would without feeling awkward and uncomfortable. her nicknames were the kinds of things she could only say over text as she knew herself how cringey they really were.

she made her decision. her shaky hand supported her finger as it pressed down gently onto the answer button. stella brought her phone to her ear, listening to his breathing from the other end.

"...h-hello?"
she mumbled, her voice shaky as her breathing hitched.

"hello? stella?"
his voice sounded normal, nerve free. this was expected. harvey was a popular boy, why would talking to a random girl make him scared.

"that's me!"

"you picked up!"

"regretfully, but yeah."

she could hear his slight chuckle, which strangely caused a small smile to spread across her face.

"your voice is so....calming. it's so cute. not at all like what i imagined, but cute nonetheless"

"why thank you, yours is...nice?"

harvey found himself chucking at her awkwardness.
"you know, you're nothing like how you are over text."

"well yeah! i don't have my emojis. nothing to fall back on and hold me up for support!"

"i didn't realise emojis were that important to you, i personally don't understand the hype"

"well that's just because you're uncultured."

"hmm, definitely."

the conversation seemed to flow perfectly. stella had never warmed up to a person as quick as she had harvey. she felt comfort in hearing his voice.

"so, are you happy now? did my voice live
up to your expectations and fantasies?"

harvey chuckled.
"no."

"oh, thank you."

"it exceeded them."

"so you admit it?"

"what?"

"you fantasise about me?"

"shut up!"
he found himself laughing once again, stella joining in.
"you have a cute laugh."

there it was again. stella's nervous half smile being plastered across her face by the butterflies that had formed in the pit at the bottom of her stomach.

"why thank you, harvey."

"you're very welcome, stella."

the pair talked for hours that night. exchanging jokes, giggles, and enjoying talking to each other properly for the first time.

"well, i'm going to go to sleep. it was nice talking to you, harvey."

"you too, stella."

"goodnight, honey pie."

harvey chuckled.
"goodnight, stella."