rain. |h.s|

29

New Message from Harry:

Hello. 12:37PM

I chew on my lip and pull my attention back to the dean. Right when I'm about to accept his offer, another buzz.

From Harry:

Where r u? 12:37PM

"Miss Benjamin? Did you hear me?" His voice makes me shove my phone into my pocket.

"Yes dean, I'm sorry, I heard you. I just—" I wet my bottom lip before another thought interjects my sentence.

"You're beautiful."

I clear my throat, "You know what? I'll take it. Where should I fill out my postal address?"

After giving it just an extra 15 seconds of thought, I realized that there's this empty lot of flats that no one uses. The landlord has been trying to get tenants ever since we moved here, and I doubt he'll get any anytime soon. I'll just have all my letters sent to one of those addresses. Plus, it's not too far from Columbia, so it's convenient.

"If you go to our head receptionist she'll be able to put your address in our system. She's out of town today, so pay her a visit any time after tomorrow." He spreads a toothy smile and hands me a sticky note with—I'm assuming— the receptionist's email.

"Good luck Miss Benjamin. Columbia is lucky to have you." He stands up as I make my way towards the door.

"Thank you for all your help dean." I give him a slight wave as I exit.

I shut the door and halt for a moment, feeling like this is all a dream. I knew I was keeping up with my classes, but I didn't think I was doing that exceptional. I place my hand over my mouth, smiling as I walk towards the exit. I push those double doors with a kind of content I haven't felt for a long time. I dig for my phone in my pocket and stare at Harry's texts again.

"You're beautiful."

I turn my phone off and begin to walk again before I feel a sudden tap on my shoulder. I feel alarmed for a moment before I recognize who it is.

"Hey." Harry moves from my side to in front of me.

"Oh my God, you scared me. What are you doing here?" I place my palm over my chest.

"More important question is, what are you doing here? What kind of loser goes to school on a day when they don't have classes?" He stares at me as we trail down the stairs.

"The dean called me in."

"What did you do?" He uses his left hand to cover the sun hitting his face.

I scoff. "I wasn't in trouble. He offered me a position at one of Columbia's nursing programs."

"Ah, I see." He creates an awkward pause. "So where are you going now?"

"I was going to head to the market, I have a few things I need to pick up." I clear my throat even though there's nothing to clear.

"I guess I'll join you then."

"Why? Do you not have anything better to do on a Tuesday evening?" I look at him briefly from the side of my eye.

"Unfortunately not." Is the last he says before we enter the grocery store.

For the next few minutes, wherever I go, he goes. I go into the produce aisle, he's there. I go into the dairy aisle, he's there. I go into the feminine toiletries aisle, he's in fact, still there. He doesn't touch anything or even speak to me as we wander through the store, he just watches me pick my items. He kind of feels like a little puppy following me around everywhere.