All This Time // H.S. // A.U.

Chapter Seventy-Seven

Summer Before Junior Year of College

RILEY

I watched as the sun started to crawl down the sky, another night quickly approaching while I was still at the office. At the end of the last semester, I decided to stay in Palo Alto for the summer to interview for the design job that Ena had suggested for me. I did a ton of research and consulted my mom and Harry several times before making the decision, both pushing me to pursue it.

I wouldn't lie and say the decision wasn't hard. I missed my family. Mom was busy working and taking trips over the weekend with her friends. Micah was taking some business courses at the local community college while also working forty hours a week, meaning he had almost no time to hang out anyways. Going home would purely be to see some old friends, and, of course, Harry.

He had decided to come here for a week right after class ended, helping me move into my new apartment, a two bedroom that Imani was sharing with me after she got home from her summer abroad program. It was great to have him around, but also stressful. Moving was stressful in an of itself, and since I had little to no furniture, we spent a lot of time at Ikea, which meant we spent even more time trying to build the stuff.

Along with the stress was the guilt. Harry had urged me to take the opportunity, but that didn't mean I couldn't tell he wasn't disappointed that we wouldn't be spending the whole summer together like last time.

Last summer had been a much needed vacation for the both of us. It had been a time where we could reconnect and have fun. While it made the next school year hard, it also gave us the strength to survive it without each other.

And I also wouldn't lie and say everything had been peachy between us since the holiday break. Me taking the internship had kept us separated much longer than usual, his trip for my birthday too short to really make up any time.

He had gone back home after that week to see his brother and sister, now going into their junior year at Harden Prep. He was also going to be living with Jeff for the next few months, not wanting to bother my mom so much - even though I knew for a fact they had dinner twice a week and were always in contact with each other.

Some days I think my mom got to talk to Harry more than I did.

Starting this job had taken most of my free time away. I would spend hours away from my phone, running errands and picking up papers from offices, fielding phone calls and taking notes at meetings. I was the bottom of the totem pole and needed to prove my worth, so I worked as much as I could. I went above and beyond, outshining the other new hires, just so I could get a glimpse into the actual design work of my boss. He was good, really good, and I knew I could learn a lot from him if I could just impress him.

But it made it hard to find time every day to talk to Harry. In fact, we would sometimes go two or three days without speaking on the phone, because we kept missing each other's calls. We would text, of course, but even that was stilted, muted.

Frustrations were apparent when we did get the chance to talk, Harry trying to hide his surly attitude, but failing miserably. Sometimes we would snipe at one another, and other times we would be perfectly fine. There was no normal between us anymore, something that made me dread talking to him.

I would never admit that out loud. In fact, I didn't like even thinking it. I loved Harry so much. We were just gong through a rough patch.

I worked on the computer a little longer before I finally decided to turn in. Grabbing my stuff, I took the elevator down to the ground floor and stepped out onto the street. As promised, I had my taser in my hand, ready to use if needed. Harry had been very adamant about me always having it on my body, especially at night.