sitting pretty ∞ h.s

chapter seven

seven

I woke up oblivious to Harry's body lying next to mine. I held my breath, forgetting for a few seconds that Harry had fallen asleep in my bed the night before. I gulped, climbed out of the bed and rushed into the bathroom to get away from him. I couldn't believe I had actually fallen asleep with him in the same bed, but there was no one I could have pushed him away or wake him up; he definitely wasn't going to move. I had assumed he'd drank too much the night before, stumbled upon my room, and either fell asleep or passed out unintentionally.

I took out the toothbrush that I had only used once, spreading toothpaste onto it. I held it under water for a few seconds, looked up at the mirror and started to brush my teeth. I couldn't continue looking at myself, I hated the way my eyes didn't look the same, dark circles around them; my cheeks had no color, I could hardly see myself in my reflection. So I looked down at the water running out of the faucet as I spat my toothpaste into the stream of water.

I took a small white towel from the bar that held it, running it under the water. I drained the towel before placing it on my face. Making sure I had gotten the areas of my face that needed to be cleaned more than others. I turned off the water and placed the towel back in the spot it was in before. I inhaled deeply before walking out of the bathroom.

The spot Harry lied in before was empty, seeming to be no trace of him left until I turned to where the desk sat. There sat Harry on the chair besides the desk, his fingers holding a pen in between them as he obnoxiously tapped it against the hard wood. I stood in my spot, staring at him as he slowly turned in the chair to face me. Our eyes met, I had to fight back the urge to just yell at him when they did.

He smiled, "There was a journal here, am I right?" He turned his head slightly, his hand displaying the empty desktop.

"Huh?" I choked, leaning forward as if I didn't hear him- but him and I both know I certainly did. His face still held the same humor as he let his hand fall. He stood up, walked towards me and towered intimidatingly over me. I held my breath- I wouldn't have been surprised if he had slapped me, but he didn't. He stroke my cheek with his thumb and index finger ever-so-lightly. Instead of leaning towards his touch, I stepped away. Though he had touched me so many times, I still was cautious about how dirty his hands had gotten and I didn't want them anywhere near me.

In a quick moment, his hand jolted out and snatched mine and placed it over his chest, over his beating heart. For a moment, I wanted to laugh; wondering how could someone so cruel have the rhythm of a healthy, beating heart? He didn't deserve it and I wanted so badly to sink my nails into his chest.

"You feel that, Charlotte?" He asked, his tone was unemotional. I wanted to shake my head, to tell him that he couldn't possibly have a heart if this is what he does; taking vulnerable and harmless girls away from their families so he could watch their life get ripped away from them.

"I do, I do feel it." I nodded, his hand still wrapped around my wrist to hold my hand to his heart. His face was soft when I looked up at it, his eyes focused on me. I gulped, looking down at the floor as I waited for this moment to end.

"I'm so weak," I thought I heard him whisper, but when my caring eyes looked into his- they were cold. He let go of my wrist roughly, walking past me and out of the door. I spun around, threw my hands up in the air, and followed after him. I knew for sure that I couldn't spend another day in this house, I was going to go outside- I had to go outside.

One by one, I made my way down the stairs, as Harry skipped too many stairs at once. I tried to catch up with him, to walk next to him- but he looked angry and I didn't want him taking his anger out on me. Everything he did wanted to make me cry, scream, or slap him- it made no sense that he was suddenly angry. I followed him until he stopped in front of the glass back doors, his back faced me.