Always

Chapter 77

My eyes burned into the back of her stupid blonde head as I glared at her, neither of them noticing my arrival yet.  I stood about ten feet away, attempting to melt her with my vision but to no avail.  She stood firmly, her stupid hand resting on Harry’s arm as she leaned into him, body language making it very clear what she was trying to accomplish. 

Harry’s expression remained stony, his lips turned down in disapproval as he took a step back from her, only for her to take one forward.  I was frozen in place as I watched them, irritation and anger coursing through me and planting me to the ground. 

She tilted her head toward a door that led to the backyard, tugging lightly on Harry’s arm.  He didn’t budge and said something I couldn’t decipher.  He stared down at her as she assumedly spoke again, his features set into a hard frown, eyebrows knitted together. 

A heavy exhale left his lips as he rolled his eyes lightly when she tugged on his arm again.  Much to my surprise, however, he obliged this time and followed her.  My jaw fell open as I watched his back disappear into the crowd, but not before I saw the smug expression on her face. 

I took a deep breath and told myself to stay calm.  I trusted Harry, and knew he wouldn’t do anything.  It was blatantly obvious he was less than thrilled to be following her, so I knew I didn’t have to worry, but that didn’t stop the nervous ache that had crept into my body. 

It was irrational to not trust Harry, but that wasn’t the issue.  It was Katie that I didn’t trust, not at all, and her actions so far gave me plenty of reasons to be nervous about her disappearing with my boyfriend.

Would she try something?  It was pretty obvious that she was interested in Harry; her body language, frequent appearances, and blatant dislike of me made that perfectly clear.  Perhaps even his obvious resistance and dislike for her made it more of a challenge she wanted to conquer, determined to get her way no matter what.  It also probably didn’t hurt that he’d grown up into an absolutely beautiful person, in both appearance and personality. 

It took everything in me not to run after them and throw her to the ground; if he had gone with her, there must be a perfectly good explanation.  I don’t know what she had said to him to make him agree, but whatever it was must have been good.  He hadn’t looked pleased, making me wonder what it possibly could have been. 

They had long since disappeared from my line of vision, but I had yet to move or to tear my gaze away from the direction they had disappeared.  In the back of my mind, I heard someone calling my name.  It wasn’t until the third or fourth repetition that I was able to focus and pull my head away from where Harry had gone off with Katie. 

“Sorry, what?” I asked, shaking my head and trying not to sound so angry.

“I said, you dropped your drinks, Joey,” Lydia said, pointing at my feet.  I looked down to see the brown liquid flowing across the floor, splattered on my shoes and onto the furniture in the vicinity, empty cups rolling around as the got kicked unknowingly by passing feet.  I hadn’t even been aware that I had dropped the drinks, but I must have at some point in my observation of Harry and Katie.  Perfect. 

“Oh,” was all I said, blinking my eyes furiously at the ground as I tried to collect my thoughts.  An idea struck me.  “Do you guys know that girl?”

“Who?” echoed around me, all of them looking at me in confusion.

“That girl who was talking to Harry…”

“Oh, no I didn’t recognize her,” Haley said, her face screwed up in concentration as she tried to recall her face.  The rest of the group nodded in agreement, seeming unconcerned about the fact that my boyfriend had just wandered off with her.  I distractedly rejoined them around the table, trying to focus on what they were saying but failing miserably, my mind only able to focus on where Harry had gone.