Odds || H.S.

III

~~2 months later~~

I closed my textbook and rubbed my eyes; I finally finished my homework for the week. 

I sat on my bed contemplating if I could go another day or so without washing my hair. I sit up and stare at my reflection in the mirror and accept that I can't go another day of pushing my hair into a high puff in hopes that it looked presentable. Dragging myself out of bed, I made my way to the kitchen to grab a snack before becoming a slave to my hair care routine for the next couple of hours.

"Hello?" I call out expecting to receive a response from at least one of my roommates. I smile as I remember Jon is out on a date with this guy he has been seeing from Hinge and Addy decided to pick up a double shift at the bookstore. 

"The apartment being empty means it's my time to shine," I say to myself as I grab my speaker and take it into the bathroom with me. I sing along to Beyoncé's Homecoming album as I work to detangle my matted curls under the running water. After washing my hair, I apply a deep conditioner and put a plastic bag on my head to let it sit for half an hour or so. 

I continue to sing along to my playlist and make my way back to the kitchen because this girl loves her snacks. As I bop along to the music with my head stuffed in the freezer in search of Ben & Jerry's ice cream I bought earlier in the week, I hear a knock on the door. 

Addy had text our landlord, Jerry, about our broken radiator last night so he was probably here to fix it. Jerry is such a wise old New Yorker, we all love talking to him about our problems, he always offered funny anecdotes and good advice. I sauntered over to the door and readjusted the plastic bag my head- surely Jerry will make a joke or two about it.  

"Hey Jerry," I say as I swing the door open. I let out a loud gasp and freeze as I am instead greeted by two green orbs peering down at me. 

"Hello Lila, how are you love?"Harry f**king Styles drawled out as he leaned against the door jamb. 

"Hi, Wh-what I mean," I stammered. 

"Nice bag," Harry joked and pointed to my head, as he walked around me, letting himself in. Shocked into silence, I stood at the door and watched Harry locate my ice cream and a spoon and plopped down on our couch. 

"Aren't you going to close the door?"He said. Snapping out of my daze, I quickly shut the door and took a seat beside him. 

"I'm sorry, but what are you doing here?" I said, staring at him in awe. 

"Well that's not the greeting I expected from an old friend," he chuckles. 

My mouth fell agape as he referred to himself as our old friend. "I-I mean, I guess, we never thought that we would see you again! We figured it was a one and done deal and of course, we appreciate the time we spent together, but we definitely did not expect you to ever come back. I mean you literally showed up on our doorstep. How did you even find us?" I babbled. 

Harry smiled at me. "The night we went out you guys pointed out your apartment building and from there I had my ways of figuring it out."

"Wow okay well I'm glad you're here... so um what's up."

"I just came to check in on my friends. I arrived in the city last night and the first thing I wanted to do is come and say hi to you lot."

"That's so nice of you," I gushed "but Addy is at work and Jon is out on a date right now, I don't think they will be back at least for another hour or so."

"So Addy is busy and Jon is busy, and Lila is..."

"Doing her hair and eating HER ice cream," I concluded as I grabbed my ice cream out of his hands. Harry threw his arms up defensively and got up from the couch and began looking around the apartment. I took a moment to survey the view in front of me and shook my head in disbelief as I dipped my spoon back into the ice cream. 

"Ohh well this is nice," Harry teased as he pointed at our wall that honors of the greatest band of all time, One Direction. "So tell me who was your favorite?" 

"A true fan doesn't have favorites, but if you must know I was a Zayn girl," I admitted breaking eye contact and feeling a little awkward given I don't even know if they talk anymore. "but you were a close second." 

 Harry grabbed his chest as if he was wounded. "Ah, that hurts."

"You've said it yourself, he has 'great cheekbones, great eyes, and great eyebrows'!" I recite.

"Hmm that sounds familiar," Harry said as he peered into each of our bedrooms admiring the decor. "Let me guess, this is your room."

"What makes you say that."

"It seems like you... simple, clean, yet homey"

"Well that is not how I ever wanted to be described, but yeah it's my room," I laughed, although I was slightly hurt that he described my room as simple, I prefer minimalist or classy. Remembering I still had conditioner in my hair I run into the bathroom and quickly wash it out. I stood in front of the bathroom mirror as I skillfully wrapped my hair in a t-shirt to let it dry and I noticed Harry watching me in the reflection. God, his eyes get me every time. 

"So what do you want to do?" I asked, "Jon will probably be here relatively soon, he promised he would tell me all about his date. I was planning to watch Love is Blind on Netflix until he came home."

"Oh perfect, I've been wanting to watch that show but I haven't gotten around to it," Harry said as he took a seat on the couch. 

"Great I'll pop some popcorn." After placing the popcorn in the largest bowl I could find. I took sat beside Harry who had already qued up the first episode. 

"How could people possibly fall in love in what, not even 5 days," I laughed. Harry shoved his large hand into the bowl and shoveled more popcorn into his mouth. 

"Have you ever been in love Lila?" 

"Nope, not even close. I've never even had a boyfriend," I sighed. I'm a 20-year old living in New York City and I don't even go on dates.  In my opinion, dating apps are overrated and not the best place for women of color. Some days I log into the app and every single message has something to do with race. I'm sick of it. I've been waiting for something to happen naturally, but honestly, I'm running out of patience. 

"Me neither," Harry admitted. 

I snapped my head towards him in shock."What about, I don't know, like almost EVERY song you have ever sung?" 

"I have definitely felt feelings of love and I thought I was in love, but every time a relationship ends I realize that I didn't truly love that person. I appreciate and respect every relationship in my past, but I often confuse infatuation, lust,  and even friendship as love," he said. 

Wow, I have so many questions, but obviously, I will keep them to myself. My thoughts immediately went to Cherry, but there is no reason for him to lie about having not been in love so it must be the truth. 

All I managed to say is "oh okay," it seemed to be the safest bet to not offend him. 

"Although even I wouldn't think I was in love after five days," he laughed.

After a few episodes, I began to feel tired. I wondered what was taking Jon and Addy so long to come home. I should've texted them that Harry was here hours ago, but in all honesty, I wanted to spend time with him alone. After getting used to him, his presence is calming and comforting, can I be blamed for not wanting to share?

My eyes slowly drifted closed and the last thing I heard was Harry chuckling at the show before sleep completely took over. 

~~