nights; h.s.

42

forty-two

harry

The feeling of regret slowly began to sink inside my stomach as my heels smushed against the white tiles of the hospital hallway. I walked fast, with my heart beginning to pound in ears as I approached the front doors and soon enough my glorious car. I jerked my car keys in the keyhole until the door unlocked and I threw myself in the drivers seat. My car smelt so strongly of her perfume, I couldn't even remember the last time she wasn't sat in the passengers seat.

I inserted the key into the ignition, making my engine roar and the car light.. light up. In the corner of my eye, I saw her black backpack. I immediately reached down and clutched the handle. I scoffed, rolling my eyes because I knew the right thing to do. So I stood up, locked my car and jogged back in the hospital with the dumb bag in my hand. My eyes scanned around the hallway as I walked back up to Junior's room where she most likely was, but someone stopped me. A hand grabbed my shoulder from behind, making my head snap to see him. It was the neighbour kid.. Derek.

"Hey man," he greeted innocently. His skin was a light shade of brown, he had sparkly big dark eyes, huge hair, and a wide white smile complimented with deep dimples. He was fit, guessing by his WEXFORD sweatshirt he was an athlete. No part of this boy looked 15.

"That's Brooklyn's bag right? I can take that to her," he offered. I stared him up and down. "Alright man," I said slowly, handing him over the bag.

"Have a good night, mate." He said slapping my shoulder. I wanted to spit on him. We passed eachother, going in opposite directions. The knot in my stomach from anger began to dissolve, but then he said something again.

"Do you love her?" He shouted randomly, I turned around.

"What?" I asked rudely.

"Do you love Brooklyn?" He repeated himself, slower. I chuckled, approaching him. "Yeah," I shrugged, "kind of hard to say right now.. but I do."

"Well.. if you love her.. then why are you such a dick?" He said suddenly, I furrowed my eyebrows. "Derek—" I laughed, my eyes rolling, "Focus on learning how to read before you get into other peoples business." I said and he glared at me.

"You think you're everything," I scoffed, "you're not. Brooklyn is a beautiful, intelligent, amazing woman who doesn't deserve any of the shit you've been doing to her. What she deserves is a man."

"And you're a man?" I laughed. He didn't budge.

"I'm more of a man than you'll ever be."

I laughed again, clutching my stomach. "Mind your own fucking business next time, okay?" I cursed at him, turning on my heel and walking in the opposite direction. I just wanted to go home. I wanted to see my mum and Gemma, I'm so tired of this.

—

from: brooklyn 🌸💕
hey

from: brooklyn 🌸💕
sorry if i made you upset the other day. i didn't mean to hurt you.

from: brooklyn 🌸💕
can i see you again before you leave?

I stared at my phone, the light shining straight through my blinds and into my eyes. I knew the right thing to say was 'i'm sorry for snapping, i love you, Derek's an angel, please come over so we can make out before i leave again.'

I only sighed, standing up and walking into my bathroom. I turned the tap on cold splashing the frigid water on my skin before going over to my closet once more. I pulled my black skinny jeans over my bare legs and a grey sweatshirt over my head. Finally Reaching over my bed, I grabbed my phone and began to type.

to: brooklyn 🌸💕
hey

to: brooklyn 🌸💕
it's alright. i gotta pack so if you can get a ride come over

from: brooklyn 🌸💕
yeah my mom can drive me. see you in an hour

I clicked my phone right off and dragged a suitcase out from under my bed and proceeded to throw random shit inside of it, that I convinced myself I needed.

Soon enough, I heard the doorbell sound through the quiet house. I swung open my bedroom door and jogged down the stairs as fast as I could. A gust of freezing cold air entered the home as I opened the door to a chilled Brooklyn on the other side.

"Hey," she smiled sweetly, pulling a box of pizza from behind her back. "Brought you some lunch," she said. I opened my arms allowing her to come in, she kicked off her snow covered boots and unzipped her jacket.

"Thanks for the pizza," I spoke finally taking three slices of the veggie covered goodness and popping it into the microwave.

"No problem," she shrugged, sliding both her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "Did you give my bag to Derek the other night?" She asked and I nodded, swinging the microwave open and taking out the sizzling slices.

"Listen, I.. I heard what he said to you and I'm so sorry, I don't know why-"

"He's right." I said under my breath.

"What?"

"He's right. He's 100% right, you're too good for me. If you really were cheating with him I wouldn't blame you," I shrugged casually, taking another bite of my pizza. She just stood there, pouting at me.

"How's Junior?"

"Better. He has to get screws drilled into his foot and femur, which is gonna cost a fortune." She told me, "How are you? Are you excited for Carolina?"

"Yeah, I guess. I really only wanna see my mom and my sister." I said, picking up my second slice.

"I really hope you know how much I care about you." She said randomly, stepping closer to where I stood. I smiled down at her.

"I know."

"You're a good guy, Harry." She said quietly, leaning in and pressing a sweet kiss to my lips, quickly pulling away. I rested the hand, that wasn't holding a pizza slice, on her waist, under her sweater. I tried to contain my smile looking down at the brown girl.

Her skin was bright and glow-ey from the golden hour light peeking through the kitchen window. The brown in her eyes was so visible, her dimples were dented deep in her plump skin, and her smile was wide.

I could stare at her for hours. Just memorizing small details of her face like sporadic beauty marks that disappeared from time to time, kinks and curls in her hair, the lines in her hands, and the curves of her body.

she was my girlfriend. I couldn't understand why.

"I feel.. I feel like I'm dreaming. And one day, I'm gonna wake up and be in my shitty bedroom, with my shitty step-brother, going to the same shitty school. And you won't be there."

"You're not dreaming, Harry."

"By June it'll all be over."

"Maybe your parents will let you stay." She said hopefully, I just laughed.

"They can't afford the tuition." I let my green eyes trail to the floor, Brooklyn sighed.

"Then I guess you'll just have to ogle me through Skype for the next year."

"I love you." I laughed. She chuckled. "I love you too."