Lethal (Harry Styles)

chapter 22

"Argh!" The little girl shouting next to me made me jump in my seat.

And it also broke the little spell I have just been enthralled in.

I shifted in my seat and leaned back slightly, turning my body towards the main attention of the show tonight again. Two dolphins swam around and jumped out every now and then. Kids all around us shouted the whole time and clapped excitedly, jaws hanging open in awe.

My parents never took me to any kind of show like this when I was younger and I remained sad at the fact that they would never be able to make up for lost time.

"What are your favorite animals?" I asked Harry, my eyes still on the dolphins. There were now three of them.

"Probably monkeys," he answered.

I turned around in curiosity. "Monkeys?"

Harry nodded. A small smile played on his lips, showing a dimple on his right cheek. "What about you?"

I consider my answer for a while. I liked all sorts of animals, most were simply adorable. But sometimes I just wanted to stay away from them as far as I possibly could. It depended on my mood. "Elephants."

"Look at the two of us, choosing the weirdest animals," Harry commented with a laugh.

"I don't think they're that weird. Just extraordinary. Others would choose dogs. I like dogs but what's the point with them? They're ordinary. You could always have a dog. You can't keep an elephant as a pet though. And what about monkeys? Well, you could do it like Justin Bieber: buy one, travel to Germany and let it be taken away from you."

Harry laughed again. "Maybe you're not allowed to keep monkeys in Germany but we're not in Germany here. I'm going to look it up tomorrow and if it's possible, I'll get a monkey."

I shook my head in disbelief. His eyes gazed off and I knew for a fact that he really thought about getting a monkey.

That was the outcome of a seemingly harmless question.

The crowd wooed in unison and I spun around back to the show. Somehow, I always ended up watching Harry instead.

One of the dolphins jumped out of the water and flew effortlessly through a ring the trainer was holding up high in the air. It ducked under water and came back up again after swimming through half the pool. It repeated its little show but this time, instead of swimming again, it ducked under the water for a millisecond before jumping through the ring again. I watched with wide eyes, completely fascinated. There was something dapper about the dolphin. With a grin, I decided to name it Lisa.

The other two dolphins kept swimming in the water tank and copied the first dolphin's moves later on. They were doing more and more tricks but after some time I noticed the pattern and grew bored. Those shows were clearly made for the younger crowd who could easily be captivated by a monkey eating a banana.

Speaking of monkeys... "Is the rest of the zoo closed?"

"Yes. Why?" Harry seemed confused by my question.

"I would have loved to see the monkeys... and elephants," I pouted.

"Hmm... Rules are meant to be broken," Harry replied, his eyes holding a dangerous glint.

"What do you-" I wasn't able to finish my question given that Harry took my right hand in his huge one and pulled me up. Without another word, he guided me through the benches of excited kids and happy parents.

Within seconds we were out of the amphitheater. The main path was lit and from the distance I could even see the entrance.

We stood in front of the amphitheater and looked around, not quite sure where to go. To our left we saw a middle-aged man talking on his phone, gesturing widely. The path to the right was lit as well and it seemed to go right through the zoo.