leather journal / h.s

04

M A R Y

luckily the encounter went by without me getting caught. after it all, penny seemed upset with me for not giving the journal back.

"you idiot, he's going to realize that it's missing!" she hissed at me. i just looked ahead and kept walking.

"then he can start his own search party, and he'll never find it. because im an experienced stealer and liar, and no one can fool me."

she rolled her eyes as we approached my car. "now you just sound cocky."

i scoffed. "it's true."

we opened the doors and stepped inside the car. "i swear it, mary, harry is going to catch you in the act and you're going to look ridiculous."

penny could be one of the worst friends in the world sometimes. she was usually the first one to support me in a steal, but now she was skeptical just because she sucked up to him? how fake could you be?

the whole ride there was spent in silence, and i dropped her off at her house without a word.

we were in another spat, and it seemed like lately i had been held at fault for them. she was losing faith in me, like she knew that i would be caught soon when i wouldn't.

as i drove myself home i gripped the steering wheel so tight that my knuckles became white.

i would never stop stealing. i could lose my best friend and my good reputation before i resorted to getting rid of my favorite hobby.

it was just that it had become problematic lately.

when i got home and threw myself on my overly comfortable bed that had been made for me by my parents, my phone chimed with a notification for a text message.

from: harry styles
[attachment]   see you soon! all the love.

warily, i opened the attachment and the picture that we had taken together illuminated my screen. oh, how bad did i want to show this off to every one at school and brag about how i had his very journal in my possession--

that's it, the journal!

i hastily pulled out his leather journal and just holding it felt foreign; like i was doing something wrong. but i wasn't-- i was just paying my debt to society.

slowly but surely i turned open the first page. those same words that i had first seen when we picked up the journal at first.

property of harry styles.

i felt like all the air was being knocked out of my lungs, just doing such as wrong as this. no wait-- this was right. i had to keep telling myself that, but it was easy to forget.

i turned another page, and it was his first entry ever. should i have read it? maybe i should have left it alone and returned it. but i didn't.

feb 1, 2012
dear journal,

i turned 18 tonight. anne gave me this journal and at first i thought it was girly. it's not, i guess. when i get pissed at someone i rant about it in here. no one will ever know, because im going to keep this with me at all times. it won't escape my grasp.

i laughed at that part.

anyway, it's my birthday. and it's been the best in a while. i met the most amazing girl at school today. she's a new student and she's really different. im hoping to get to know her soon.

truth is, i really hate writing in this dumb thing. i just want to write some things down that anne won't let me say out loud. so ill be writing in here an awful lot.

love,
harry.

i set the journal down on my bed in pure awe. had i really just read harry styles' literal thoughts, sprawled down on paper?

just then, my phone chimed again.

from: harry styles
do you know if i had my leather journal with me when i met you and your friend today? i can't seem to find it anywhere. this is completely dreadful. i need your help.