THE GOLD | b. hargrove

finals week

𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞
𝟭𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟱

Harriet never imagined she'd be grateful for having to crack down on school work and abandon any semblance of a social life in favour of various textbooks, but constantly busying herself with revision had actually served as a great excuse to keep a low profile over the last few weeks. She'd been avoiding Billy since the party, whether it was out of anger or upset or shame she wasn't too sure, all she knew was she hadn't wanted to talk to him. And by the looks of things, he hadn't wanted to talk to her either. The few times they'd crossed paths in the hallway or shared a classroom, he'd hardly so much as glanced at her. She knew she should be happy he was leaving her alone, but there was some part of her that wanted him to come grovelling to her all apologies and try to clear the air.

Keeping her mind occupied with any and all information from her classes would mean there was no room for Billy. Or it should do, but sometimes her thoughts would wander and she'd have to mentally shake herself to bring her focus back to the task at hand - which was currently a mountain of History revision.

Her bedroom floor had become a mess of scattered papers and various coloured flash cards, so much so that the carpet underneath may as well not exist anymore. She sat surrounded by the mass of information, testing herself over and over before scribbling down notes and repeating the same routine. She'd put her walkman on in order to drown out the noise of the house, the sound of Tears For Fears just about covering any ruckus without being so loud she couldn't focus.

As she read over the same page she'd been focused on for the last ten minutes, she could faintly hear her uncle calling her name from somewhere in the house. She paused her music without actually moving from the floor, hoping whatever it was would pass if she didn't respond, but her uncle called again and with a huff she pushed up off the messy floor and made her way from her room.

"What is it? I'm trying to revise." She tried to not sound too annoyed as she walked down the hall, putting her headphones around her neck as she tried to find where her aunt had beckoned her from.

"Door for you." He'd already made his way back into the living room and settled back in his seat, so Harriet walked to the open door and stopped in her tracks at the sight in front of her.

"What do you want?" She crossed her arms across her chest as she stared at the boy stood in her doorway, looking as close to sheepish as she imagined he could get.

"Can I come in?" Billy briefly made eye contact with her before staring back to the ground.

"I'm busy." She kept her voice flat, and realistically there was nothing stopping her closing the door right now and ending the conversation there, but there was something keeping her stuck in her spot. It seemed like there always was when it came to Billy.

"That's fine, I'll be quiet." He shrugged, now looking at her and holding her gaze. "Please, Harry."

It was weird to see him like this, no smart comment or flirty look, and as much as she was still mad at him there was still a tugging in her chest that was overpowering her stubbornness. "Fine." She sighed, stepping aside so he could enter the house. "But you do have to be quiet."

"That's cool." Without another word, Harriet walked back to her bedroom and closed the door behind the pair. She resumed her position on her floor, though put her walkman to one side so she wasn't entirely checked out.