The Boy in Love With a Witch

Chapter 11

Elise

It was 7:45 PM. We were almost closing when Harry entered the cafe.

"Sorry, we are closing." I smiled sheepishly.

"Good, because I'm not here for coffee, I'm here for you." He smiled back at me.

"Oh, so you are going to escort me home today?" I asked taking my apron off.

"Yes, but before that I want to show you something." He said. "Now, hurry up." 

I quickly cleaned everything up, collected my stuff and came out from behind the counter.

"Let's go." I said.

"Wait." He said and took off his hoodie.

He handed it to me and I took it.

"It's way too much cold outside. That will keep you warm." He said and the butterflies in my stomach went wild at his caring action.

"And what about you?" I asked blushing. 

"I'll be fine. Besides, I'm wearing way too many layers of fabric." He smiled cheekily.

I pulled the hoodie over my head. The hoodie which looked perfect on him looked way too big on me. It looked like if I was not wearing the hoodie but instead the hoodie had taken me into it. I stretched my hands forward to see the over-sized sleeves and he laughed.

"Let's go." He said and pulled me out of the cafe.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked curiously.

"It's a surprise." He smirked.

"Are you trying to kidnap me?" I joked.

"How did you know? You are really smart." He joked too.

"Heeeeyyyy." I nudge his elbow.

It was late September and it was already getting cold. Cool breeze blew past us making my hair fly backwards. I wrapped my arms around myself. Thanks to Harry's hoodie that I was not going to die of cold tonight. I wonder if he actually was not feeling cold or was he just acting tough in front of me.

"You cold?" He asked when he noticed me.

"No. Your hoodie is keeping me warm." I replied.

"Good. We are almost there." He said.

I realised where we were going- the park. Just a few streets away from my house was a public park where people used to come and walk in the morning. In the evening, the ladies would saunter while their kids played around. But at this time, there would hardly be anyone out there. 

"Why are you taking me to the park at this time?" I asked.

"Just wait." He said and I quietly followed him.

Fortunately, it was still open when we got there but there was hardly any soul in sight. We walked towards the spot where there were bushes and a tree. Then we stopped.

"Harry, what are we doing here?" I asked as the curiosity was killing me.

"Look up." He said pointing towards the sky.

"What?" I asked.

"Look up." He repeated again and this time I obeyed.

I turned my head to look up at the night sky which was full of thousands of tiny little spots of light. I gasped. The sky looked extremely beautiful.

"Oh my..." I could not complete the sentence as I was being captivated by the sky's beauty.

"Beautiful. Isn't it?" He asked.

I just nodded my head in a yes.

"Let's lie down here." He pointed towards a spot on the grass and laid there first. I did the same and laid down beside him at some distance. Together, we stargazed. 

"I've always wanted to go out in the night, lay down in the open and look up at the night sky." I said dreamily. I remembered when I could not sleep I would just go, sit by my window and look up at the sky. How I always wanted to be out there and not trapped inside.

"I know." He said and I turned my face to look at him.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Uh... " His face turned pink. "Well, I have seen you doodling stars in your notebook and also I heard you talking to Summer about how badly you wanted to go out for stargazing at night." He said.

"Yeah, I did." I said and looked back up at the sky.

Harry

She looked beautiful lying there next to me. Oh, how I wished she would get closer to me so I could witness her beautiful face closely. She pointed up at the sky with one hand and started making out patterns. Maybe, she saw a constellation. 

Then she stopped and looked at something else. She was not looking at the sky anymore, she was looking at her hand- her watch.

Immediately, she got up.

"What's the matter?" I asked getting up.

"I'm so sorry Harry but I have to go." She said and I felt a pinch in my heart. 

"But why?" I asked sadly.

"Because at 8:05 PM I get home. If I don't get home on time my parents would be worried about me and if they go out to the cafe looking for me and find out I'm not there then..." She stopped and looked at me sadly.

"Oh." I could understand what she was trying to say. 

Maybe, she could stay a little longer. I did not know what has gotten into me but I felt like I really needed her right now. I craved her presence, I lived by seeing her face, that beautiful smile of hers.

"Maybe, we could come here, some other day? Maybe, tomorrow if I take off early from work we could spend some time here?" She said noticing that I was really sad. 

Sometimes, it felt like she could read my mind. I wish she could not because then she will know how badly I wanted her and maybe then, she would run away from me.

"That's great. Tomorrow. I'll come by at 7:00?" I said.

"7:00? How about 7:30?" She bit her lower lip.

"Okay." I smiled even though I would only get 30 minutes with her.

"I have to go now." She said.

"I can walk you home. I can't let a beautiful girl like you walk alone in the streets at this hour. It's really dark now." I said and even under the dull light coming from the street lamp, I could see the colour in her soft cheeks turned pink. She bit at her lower lip and it got hard for me to resist. 

"Okay." She said and we both started walking.

I walked really close beside her and sometimes, the back of our hands would brush each other. I really wanted to hold her soft and small hand in mine but was too afraid. I was afraid to share my feelings with her because I thought she would runaway from me if I told her.

We stopped two houses away from hers. 

"I can walk from here by myself." She said and I nodded my head.

"I'll be standing here watching you." I said.

"That's creepy." She laughed.

She took off my hoodie in which she looked extremely adorable and handed it to me. 

"Thanks." She said and I took it. Then she started walking away.

"Elise?" I thought I called out to her in my head to stop her but it accidentally came out loud and she heard it. She looked back at me.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Nothing." I smiled and she blushed deeply before walking away.

She went up to her house and disappeared inside.