leather journal / h.s

06

H A R R Y

mary had been so nice to me, even though she just met me. i wondered why that was.

it was quite nice of her to help me find my journal. what strikes me is that i had kept it with me, so how did i possibly manage to lose it? this hasn't happened ever before. usually when i misplaced it, someone honest was there to pick it up for me and give it back. if they were a fan, i rewarded them with front row concert tickets. they loved me for being kind, which was strange because that was something that everyone should do.

so now, since i was desperate for the toilet, she was leading me to her private bathroom. how kind. i knew what it meant when she said the other one wasn't working, and it took a lot to suppress the laugh that i wanted to let out.

we want down a narrow hallway, filled with childhood photos. a little girl who looked very similar to mary was in a picture with a dog, wearing a bright red hat. right next to it was an old newspaper article about the same girl dancing at a music festival. leeds.

id been there before, me and my best friend louis. it was a lot of fun, and ever since ive been going back there alone-- every year.

maybe mary would want to go with me.

she turned around to face me and stopped in her tracks. oh no, i thought. i was caught in the act.

but instead she just grinned. "those pictures are so embarrassing, im sorry." she apologized. there was no need to, because they were actually really adorable.

we kept walking. her house was big.

"so you like going to leeds?" i asked her, to stir up conversation. even though her back was to me as she walked, i could tell she was smiling.

"i went there once as a kid." she reminisced. "im guessing you saw the picture on the wall... why, do you?"

it was my turn to smile at the memories i had made there. "absolutely love it. we should go together next year, i went two months ago and it was awesome. best in a while, actually."

she nodded slowly. "harry, i'd love to-- but..."

my heart sank. "but what?" no one had ever turned me down on an offer like that before. and also, i wanted to get to know her and her friend. they were different than anyone i'd ever met.

there was a brief silence and then...

"we're here."

she opened the door in front of us, revealing a huge room with purple walls. that had to help her sleep at night. i know that would've helped me, damn.

she had a motion censored trash can, not even something that i owned. her vanity table was covered in even more childhood pictures, most of them with that friend of hers. what was that girl's name-- pete?

she chuckled and stood by my side. i could feel her radiating heat. "the bathroom is over there."

she pointed to a door and i thanked her quickly before turning the knob and locking myself in side.

it was ridiculous, honestly-- basically the size of a full sized bathroom. a window even overlooked the rest of the neighborhood. an air vent at the floor blew in slightly warm air. the toilet seat was heated, for goodness sakes! where did they get all this money?

i pulled down my pants and started to do my business, praying that my gender wouldn't get in the way of how messy her bathroom would be. thankfully, there was no pee on the toilet seat, which was quite the achievement for me. i flushed the toilet.

"shit!" i heard mary cuss from inside her room, making me panic. did something bad happen?

i started running the water lowly. "you okay, mary?"

"yeah, it's just that my parents came home early. stay here, please-- i have to come up with an excuse as to why your range rover is in our driveway."

my heart was beating out of my chest. i was meeting her parents already?

her footsteps trailed out of the room, just as i finished washing my hands. me, being the curious son a gun that i am, opened the door so that no one could hear and walked into her room.

it was so pretty, and i wished that mine looked like this.

i looked at her bed, with her phone laid out perfectly. i walked over and saw that her screen was still unlocked, showing where she was about to text me back.

but my heart almost stopped when i saw what was right next to it.

my journal.

maybe she had planned to tell me she found it, and was going to give it back. that, i would have to find out for myself.

i heard her footsteps coming back, so i quickly hopped back into the bathroom and locked the door.

what had i gotten myself into?