Karma ||H.S||

Chapter 14

One thing I'm realizing I dislike about California, is the fact that the leaves don't change colors in the fall. I had always loved the season just for that reason. How the oranges and yellows and reds changed the way the whole world around me felt. It didn't matter what was going on in my life, the colors of fall always somehow made me smile. It seems like such a small thing to miss, but when it's something you're used to, it's a little disappointing when it doesn't happen.

It's well into October now, and while everyone seems to be getting into the Halloween spirit, I'm having a hard time with it, simply because the weather should be changing and it isn't. Halloween is apparently Nova's favorite holiday. The first week of October, she decorated our dorm room with cobwebs and spiders, our lamps now had green lights in them and every time you entered or left the room, a witch would pierce our living space with it's taunting laugh, which I wholeheartedly despised.

With the amount of work that's been put under our belts over the last few weeks, the pressure has been a hell of a lot heavier than I ever thought imaginable. Tests. Photo shoots. Labs. Workshops. More tests. Tired wasn't even the word to explain how I was feeling and I'm happy that things are finally slowing down again for a few weeks.

Among everything we had to do for school, Harry and I had gotten through almost the whole two seasons of The 100 on Netflix, making it an every night before bedtime routine during the week days, to watch an episode or two to wind down after studying or being out all day with photo shoots or stuck in front of a computer screen editing. He, of course, still went to the pub on weekends with Niall and Nova, while I used that time to get in my extra sleep that I so desperately needed. It was, strangely, the only time I wasn't around Harry, unless we had different photo shoot assignments. I was happy to have that break from him though every weekend. Sometimes a girl just needs some time to herself.

"I need to ask you a serious favor!" Astrid and I are having a much needed girls night in. Pajamas, snacks and of course her beloved Hopsie, who undeniably looks more like 'Hopster,' now that Harry has cut out some fabric from one of his many bandanas and made the poor rabbit one of his own. We've already gotten through The Other Woman and Pitch Perfect, and while I'm ready to go to bed, she's scrolling through more movies to find another one for us to watch.

"Anything for you!" I yawn.

She smiles at me from her side of the bed, putting her bag of chips aside. "I was hoping you would say that! Because I need you and Harry to go on a double date with me and Blake."

"What?" My eyebrows raise at her request. Of all the favors I would imagine her needing, this would definitely not be on the list. To edit her pictures for class, yes, but not a double date. I'm surprised she would ask this of me, especially to go with Harry, because she knows that, even though it's apparently "soooo obvious" in her head that Harry has feelings for me, we are nothing more than friends, which I think has been pretty clear to everyone around us, except for of course, her. Even Nova stopped bringing up her wishes for us to be together, which I can honestly say is quite odd, but I'm assuming she was just annoyed with me denying my feelings for him every other day. Astrid is the only person who knows the truth about how I feel about Harry and I'm sure that's why she's so set on her thoughts that Harry feels the same way about me.

Ever since he spoke that one simple meaningful sentence to me on the beach, he hasn't said anything of the sort again, minus expressing his thoughts on my appearance, but that wasn't out of the ordinary. He's been telling me I'm pretty since the day we met. There has been little to no flirting between us, no awkward almost kisses and despite the fact we're together eighty percent of the time, it's very clear to me that something has changed.

After the first night in his dorm room, the relationship between us seemed to have gotten stronger. I trusted him more and was more comfortable around him, but I couldn't help but think it was because we were just best friends, and maybe the way I pushed him away at a time we probably should have kissed, really told him that I wanted to just be friends, even though that's not why I did it.