leather journal / h.s

44

M A R Y

i was really mortified to get home.

harry dropped me off, and it looked kind of bad considering i was wearing one of his oversized hoodies and his basketball shorts. my mother greeted me at the door, a permanent scowl on her face. a red car occupied the space in the driveway that harrys range rover usually took.

harry walked me up to the door, our hands intertwined. i wonder what was running through mom's head.

"so you two are in a relationship now?" mom questioned, her eyebrows raised. harry fidgeted nervously and squeezed my hand.

he swallowed hard, and i could feel the pulse in his hand thumping into mine. "yes, ma'am." he stated. "and i assure you that me and your daughter won't do anything. well, unless she wants me to."

my cheeks reddened at his kind words. most of the guys i had dated before were the exact opposite.

mom smiled approvingly at that. the average mom wouldn't even have harrys graces then, considering i was only a junior and not even the age for consent.

"harry, how about you join us?" mom asked with a kind smile, making my blood run cold. when my mom was being nice and you knew she wanted to be mean, that meant that bad things were ahead. but harry didn't know that.

he smiled unsuspectingly. "thanks for the offer." his smile was as wide as could be, and i hated him almost for making me forget how much trouble we were going to be in. "let me just.. turn off my car, and ill join you all."

mom nodded and grabbed my hand. harry must've seen, because he released his grip on my other hand almost a second later. a twinge of pain flashed across his features before that same goofy smile revisited.

i felt so bad.

mom pulled me inside the house while harry walked back to the car. i frowned and sat on the couch, waiting for lilac to pop out of nowhere and stare at me like she always used to. like i was gum on the bottom of her shoe.

"you're already dating?" she asked quickly, that same scolding frown that i had grown accustomed to. nonetheless, i scowled and turned my back to her. she always had to be this way to me: judgmental.

"turn around and look at me when im talking to you." she said without raising her voice, but her change of tone was what compelled me to spin back around just as i saw harry twirling his fingers in the car keys as he walked up the driveway. i couldn't hear him but i could tell that he was whistling, the way his plump lips formed an "o" shape. he needed to hurry up.

i huffed and faced defeat. "i told him everything. about how i stole his journal, about how--"

excitement showed on mom's features, and if it weren't for harry tapping on the transparent screen of the living room door she would've been asking for even more information.

she motioned for him to come in, and he hobbled in with an awkward smile. now, he was wearing a baggy hoodie and his converse had been traded out for gold boots. did he really change in our driveway?

"harry," mom said in a pleased but sarcastic tone. "you look very well. tell me, do you exercise?"

that mustve made harry happy, because he sat down giddily next to me and smiled from ear to ear. "yes ma'am, i go to the gym about three to five times a week."

she nudged my elbow. "you got a fit one." she joked, and harry and i laughed awkwardly. how strange but expected that she wasn't letting us go back to my room like i did with almost all my guests, including harry in the past. it was like a tradition for me. but now she was suspicious and that would have to end.

"you know about lilac and penny, right?" she asked harry, and the words made him squirm in his seat. i could tell that harry remembered lilac from the story of the truth i had told him, and there was no forgetting penny.

but his smile returned quickly anyway. "yes, penny and i are friends and mary has told me some about lilac."

mom's eyes darted to me. i could feel beads of sweat collecting on my forehead. "you did, mary?" she pried. "how kind of you to keep harry in the loop. does she know about her visit?"

harrys eyebrows furrowed. "no, miss miller, i had no idea." he looked uncomfortable and it made me regret not telling harry the reason I needed to be home as soon as possible.

she just shrugged and as if right on cue, my sister and penny came walking down the stairs. harry swallowed, hard. and so did i. we were speechless.

"i-i, i have to go record some songs with the lads." harry stumbled out a blatant lie. i didn't blame him, but mom wasn't going to buy that.

"aren't you on break?"

he whimpered.

i tried to make up for it by holding his hand, but that didn't seem to soothe him at all. he just watched helplessly as lilac strutted down the stairs like she already owned the house.

"mary." she said, her beauty already making me envious. her dark brown hair cascaded all the way down to her belly button, locked in waves. her green eyes glimmered in the house's dull light. for a second i feared that she would take harry away from me.

"i can see that you're finally out of whatever spell our parents had put us in growing up." she smirked. "welcome to the good side."

and that was the start of hell week.