Temptation | HS AU

Chapter 3

    "First of all, you're one of the least awkward people I know," Maddy said. "And second, if Harry suddenly treated you like he didn't know you after hooking up with you that would be the most douchey move of all time. Plus, it doesn't really seem like him. He seems like the hook up you'd see a few more times, before it fizzled out and you just stopped, but you still said hi when you saw each other. He's not the fuck and ignore type. At least, I don't think he is."

    But what if he was? It had happened to Nora so many times before, and it's not like she's looking for a committed relationship, or even to hook up again, but if she's going to see the kid twice—maybe three—times a week, she'd like to be able to be comfortable around him.

    "How has he been this week?"

    "Barely talking to me," Nora replied and explained the radio silence in class. "I have no idea what to do or say. Is that it? Are we done? It's like he's pretending we've never spoken before, much less almost hooked up."

    "He might not know what to say," Maddy pointed out. "From his perspective—totally devil's advocate here—you left pretty suddenly. Maybe he thinks you weren't into it and doesn't want to make it awkward. Or he's just generally unsure and wanting to let you call the shots." She swirled the wine in her glass before looking back up at Nora. "You might need to be the one to break the ice, babes. That is, if you want to hook up with him. Or have something with him. But you don't want to date him, right?"

    "No, definitely not. I'm a single lady this semester—working on getting my own shit together before I pull someone into that." Nora didn't need someone else to have to deal with of her family and all the shit she was able to escape while she was abroad. "I'm just looking for someone to hook up with."

    "Then I think you should initiate," she said. "Otherwise, you'll just be waiting around for him and that doesn't usually go well."

    "But should it be Harry that I hook up with? It'll be so...awkward if something happens."

    She shrugged. "There's a bunch of other people in the class. It's easy enough to avoid people. Live your life, Nor. Stop letting your fears of being uncomfortable stop you from doing something you want to do."

    They've been having a version of this same exact conversation since Nora first met Maddy. Nora had this problem where she wanted something, she took the first step, and then once it was possible for her to get hurt, have regrets, or be in an uncomfortable situation, she freaked out and backed out of it. Her and her therapist talk about it, she and Maddy discuss it, even Nora and her mom talk about it. But it still rules practically any interaction she has. Having people as close to Nora as Maddy was was rare for her; she usually held people at arm's length, waiting for them to hurt her. And most of the time, it ended up happening, even if it was partly her fault, and it just reinforced her own fears. Nora knew she needed to put herself out there, let herself get hurt, take leaps of faith.

    But it's a different to actually put it into practice.

~

Harry had had a shit week. On top of his anxiety about Nora, he'd gotten into a fight with one of his friends—another guy who lives in the house, so he's had to walk on thin ice at home—and his car got broken into. Most of the stuff they took wasn't valuable—a jacket or two, a pair of old earbuds, his phone charger—but they also took one of his most prized possessions, his guitar. It had been a gift from his grandfather for his sixteenth birthday and the last thing his grandfather gave him before he passed. Harry usually never took it anywhere because of its significance, but he had to get the neck repaired and was going to drop it off at the shop after class. Instead, he came back to find his backseat window smashed and the guitar gone.