Deep Water H.S

two.

Ava sighed to herself, imagining what her mom would do in this situation. She decided to say something her mom once said to her. "Sino, people only come here for two reasons. One, it's a mistake on their navigation system. Two, they're hiding from something. And I don't think he's lost."

They both remained quiet for a while, meeting eyes every few seconds.

Eventually Sino gave in. "Fine, we keep it to ourselves. Lord knows none of these doped up surfers will recognise him. But I can still ask for a picture, right?"

"Well... wait a day," Ava decided, earning a soft chuckle from Sino. Usually Sino was the one giving orders.

Once Sino had sorted out the early bird breakfasts, Ava carried them out into the dining room. She handed warm plates of food to the four large men who were part of a motor biking group passing through.

Her eyes half registered Harry in the corner of her vision. He was at the table next to the window, the sea behind him. He was quietly staring out at the waves now.

With his breakfast in hand, she made her way through tables to the back of the room. Many things were swimming through her head.

He did look like a celebrity, yesterday at least. The way he dressed, the way he wore his hair and carried himself. He looked like something out of a magazine. Today his hair was in a loose bun and he was adorned by a white shirt and some rugged jeans that folded above his knees. He looked a bit more regular.

"Thank you," he said, looking up at Ava. "The view from this place is amazing, you know."

"It is a pretty view," she agreed, laying down a cream napkin. "Did you sleep well, Harry?"

He smiled at the small talk, something he hadn't been able to exchange in a while. "I slept wonderfully. Your beds are very comfortable."

Ava laughed softly, causing his smile to broaden in appreciation. She was so oddly normal to him.

Ava desperately wanted to ask if it were really him, the celebrity. She made sure she kept it down. Something didn't seem to add up. He didn't act like any celebrity she could imagine. He didn't seem to like attention; he found it hard to meet her eye at times. He was quiet and mannered. He wasn't aloof, neither was he loud.

What was a celebrity like? She begun to question him internally... They were like people – like ordinary people in the eyes of everyone but ordinary people.

So perhaps he was some big name to some powerful people, but here he was an ordinary person. She was going to make a point of treating him so.

In the time Ava took to churn these thoughts and pour him some orange juice, Harry was staring down at her hands. He had developed this little theory that you could tell everything needed to know about a person just by studying their hands. Granted, hers were a bit of a mystery. She had small hands with faint veins, but they weren't dainty-looking. Her nails were short and clean. They had no layer of polish over them, but there were two white markings over the pink of her ring finger and pinkie.

"Okay, if there's anything else you—"

"Wait," he said, surprising mostly himself, "do you want to sit down and join me?"

She remained quiet for a while, leaving him to deeply regret his words. He had only requested she stay so he could continue assessing her hands, not that he could tell her that.

"So I can hear all the tourist destinations," he added softly.

Relief watched over him when she began to laugh to herself. Her nose crinkled whenever she found something amusing. He hadn't often seen that, but he quite liked it.

She sighed out, a pleasant smile on her face as she placed herself opposite him. "You sure don't know anything about this place, do you?"

"Not a clue," he replied, staring across at her.

It was now that he could truly appreciate her understated prettiness. Her hair kind of glimmered the way the light hit it down her chest. The sun seemed to be following her around the place.

"There's a gas station, one or two restaurants and there's a market place open on Fridays," she listed on her fingers. "That's about it as far as concrete goes."

Harry stayed silent for a moment, thinking to himself that it was probably be better he didn't go out anywhere public. He didn't really want to leave his room too much anyway.

"Ava, please can I talk to you for a second?"

Harry looked up with Ava to see her mom standing at the glass doors, a full grocery bag in hand.

"It's nice talking to you, Harry," she said warmly, "Just call if you want to know anything else."

And in the next second she was gone, leaving Harry to eat his warm breakfast and wonder what life would be like for the next two or three weeks.

He had planned to get away from people for a while, just hide, but it's funny how interesting a dark hiding spot can be when you switch on a flashlight.

A/N

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