I was currently five hours into my shift, I wasn't sure where all the hours seemed to go, my body being called left and right to either clear tables, take orders or 'stop having chit chats because this wasn't a social gathering'. Having Avery around helped for the most part, without her here I most definitely would have carked it long ago.
Tom seemed to understand my excuse, I assumed my teary eyed gesture helped my case out further and I promised myself to never let this kind of thing happen again. The elastic of my hair tie pulled my pony tail into its sleek positioning, though now it began to ache and I knew this would never normally have happened when my scheduled morning would go to plan. It wasn't a particularly busy day, the usual lunch rush felt to be the most draining though now we were easing out of it and I was just glad I'd be out of here right on dinner time.
"Mabel, head to the till there's a customer for you and once you've done that please start off mopping the far section, preferably before it gets dark." Tom huffed as he knocked and opened the door between us, wiping his grimy hands on the black apron surrounding his body, "Uh sure, I've just got to finish these bathroom mirrors and I'll be right out." I mumbled. For some unknown reason I always seemed to be the one who had to clean the bathrooms, after a while I came to terms with it and used it as a recharging method for having to put up with him all day.
"It wasn't a choice, Avery can finish that up, the customer asked for you so please go now."
Scrunching up my face, I placed the spray bottle upon the counter and slipped my gloves off after hearing him leave, throwing them into the tiny bin in the corner. "Asked for me?" I whispered as I let the cold water clean my hands, confused because in my long past history of working at this diner, nobody had ever specifically called for me.
As I made my way out towards the till, walking past the numerous tables and rounding the counter, I could have sworn the brown mop of hair belonging to a tall framed person with their back to me looked awfully familiar. Far too familiar that only one name ran circles through my mind and I wasn't sure why on earth I was looking at his baggy denim jeans sitting on his slim waist.
I knew it was Harry, seeing the tattooed arms poke out from the extremely loose white t-shirt he wore. His arms were crossed, smoke gliding out of the cigarette he held between his two fingers, the tapping of his foot caught my attention. "Good afternoon, welcome to Diner on Fifth, what can I get for you?" I cheerily spoke, knowing Tom was lingering in the kitchen behind me. Instantly, Harry span around, a cold expression on his face as he blew out the smoke brewing in his mouth, "Are you warped? Somethin' not functioning properly in that brain of yours?"
"I'm sorry?!" I hissed, frowning my eyebrows in question. Harry took a few steps closer towards the counter, one hand sprawled on its surface as the other held his burning cigarette. "You. Did you really have to go fuckin' tattle to your sister that I hogged the bathroom this mornin'? Typical little sister move you know, always gettin' your way." Rage seared through my gaze, wondering how he had the audacity to storm all the way here and say such thing, did he not have anything better to do?
"I did not tattle, she came into my room while I was trying to get ready and it came up in conversation." I clarified, folding my arms across my chest in defence. "Well she made me walk all the way here just to apologise, like a damn sucker, which I am not. You tell your sister that I came here, nicely apologised and that was that." He toyed as he inhaled another breath of smoke. I wondered how he mastered such thing, the way he didn't even flinch as the smoke fled into his lungs.
Tilting my head to the side, I eyed him up and down suspiciously, "But I haven't heard you apologise yet."
"And you won't."
I knew an apology wouldn't dare leave his lips, he was far too egotistical for that. Rolling my eyes, I pushed my hands out onto the refreshing cold surface of the counter, "Listen, I don't care if you believe me or not, I didn't tattle, I'm not a toddler. I'm happy to tell Evie that, if you promise to not cross me in the mornings when I'm clearly in need of the bathroom." Harry annoyingly groaned, shifting his weight onto his other foot. "I don't apologise, I don't promise, so I'm re-" he began to retort in that smart attitude he loved to give so freely.
"So you're asking me to not lie for you?"
A 'tsk' escaped his lips as he uttered lowly, "Jesus, you're headache." I smiled, as sarcastically as I could, which only made him more agitated, "I-I feel so honoured, truly." I beamed while pretending to wipe a tear from my cheek. I wasn't sure what energy I'd exuded off for him to think I was a spoiled younger child, in reality I was far from that, sometimes I longed for such title. "Fucks sake, you tell Evie I apologised, and I'll keep out of your hair in the mornin' since you want to be a brat about it."
With a shrug to my shoulders and a tight lipped grin, I stuck my hand out towards him, watching his eyes as they slowly peered down at my gesture, "You've got yourself a deal." Harry continued to stare almost astonishingly at my waiting hand, until he switched the cigarette to his other as he clasped his free hand onto mine. I tried to wipe the realisation of his extremely soft skin meeting my own, how his chipped black nail polish looked in contrast to my light blue.
"Fine. Deal."
It was all he said before he shoved his hand back into his pocket and turned around, as if he had never been here to begin with. Though not even a couple of seconds had passed before he craned his neck to eye me, something sinister within his glance now. "I remember you at Spandex, and don't you forget it." And just like that, he was gone, pushing his way through the glass door and strutting his way to wherever he was headed next.
"What a fucking little prick." I snickered to myself, annoyed at what had just happened.
"Mhm, you can say that again."
I twisted my head to the right, seeing Avery shove a fry into her gaping mouth. "Except that man was far too fine, and I'm going to need the details on this piece of hunk." I snorted at Averys words, wishing she knew how god awful this piece of hunk was. Shaking my head, I sighed, in awe of the little she knew and how ready I was to divulge to her.
-
Pounding vibrations, flashing strobes and high pitch cheers were all I could hear on my trek home from work. I felt sorry for the poor sucker that had to endure such antics on a nimble monday night until I stepped into my street and realised it was me, I was the poor sucker.
Littered red cups were thrown onto the outside front lawn, open curtains home to raging bodies dancing through the windows. Confusion plastered through me as I thought about my parents allowing such thing to happen, I knew them very well, almost too well and if they had seen the sight of their house as it was now, it gave me chills to think of how they'd react. To add to the horrid scene unfolding before my eyes, as I neared the entrance of my own home, the front door sat completely open wide.
It was then that I knew, my idea of collapsing onto the comforting plushness of my bed would come with a few consequences and definitely not as peaceful as I'd once hoped.
"Mabel's home! Oh my god finally, M-Mabel you have missed out on the start of a rockin' night, but you're here now so go chuck s-some sexy clothes on." Jet staggered out as she came sprinting through the open walkway, I trudged down the path leading into the house, letting my eyes wander around to see a wave of random faces. Jett flew her hands out to steady her stance, her hair was sweetly pinned up halfway and the light blush to her cheeks made it extremely hard to stay stern. "Jett, what the hell is going on? When did this all happen?" I quizzed her, hoping she would unleash the dirty details I needed to know.
"Shh, hush, it's so fine love bug. You have absolutely nothin' to worry about." She slurred while crazily grinning at me, the clunk of bottles sounded from towards the kitchen and I wearily peered behind Jett as she stood in front of me, hoping I wouldn't see anything I didn't have to. "Where are my parents? Do they know this is happening?" The immediate giggle that spun from her red lips didn't give me much hope at all for her next words. "We've got it all covered, don't you worry! Apparently your family friend Mary was having an evening dinner, they were invited and so they went!" My brows furrowed further, trying to understand the slow dialogue Jett was giving to me as well as feeling a rush of relief that I hadn't been dragged to Mary's annual dinner.
I was surprised my parents hadn't pestered me to go along with them like they always seemed to do in the past years, the horrid awkward dinner was enough to make me not want to go, as well as the way they'd try to set me up with their son. The night always felt like it would go so extremely slow and I had sworn to myself after the last one that if I had to listen to their 'too cool for school' son one more time, I wouldn't be afraid to give him a piece of my mind.
"Mabel!" Evie's loud voice boomed from further within the house, it all seemed like a game, I wasn't sure where I was supposed to go, who I was supposed to see, though I most certainly knew I wouldn't win anything good. Fixating my gaze on the doorway past the kitchen, I could see Evie's tall frame swaying around. Marching my way through the house, I stepped down into the room, peering around in awe of the increased influx of people.
"Ev, what the fuck?"
Her liner rimmed eyes swam over to my own, I could see her mind ticking over from wanting to explain everything to me while also reaching for the small shot glass somebody else had handed out to give her. "I've got it all under control, don't worry about a single thing. Please?" Her quivered voice shouted over the thumping music. For once I hoped she really had it all under control, because I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep my eyes open. "Okay whatever, but make sure everyone is out by the time mom and dad get back, I'm not saving your ass for this one." Turning around, I speedily walked all the way up the stairs, wanting nothing more than to imagine my house wasn't filled with strangers.
Opening my bedroom door, the messily thrown outfits lying everywhere were a clear sign that Evie hadn't known what to wear, which annoyed me now because I had to be the one to clean it up. Though shamefully, I scooped them all and sectioned them into the very corner of the room, needing to deal with it another time, or preferably, she could.
Walking in front of the vanity mirror, I began to unbutton my way down the centre of the dress I wore, wanting to get the uniform off as soon as possible. It was hot outside, so extremely unbearable that not even the blow of the aircon could make it better, so I opted for a matching set of the more risqué pyjamas I owned, for the pure reason of not wanting anything on my body. I wasn't one to usually prance around the house with them on but the fact that my parents weren't home and everybody currently partying downstairs would most likely forget anything they saw by tomorrow, I wasn't so hesitant to slip off the bra I originally had on and replace it with the baby blue floral singlet that sat an inch below my belly button.
It were one of my favourites because of the lace trimmings that decorated the top of it, resting on my chest, it matched the same tiny bottoms, which I still weren't sure if they were classified as panties or very small shorts. Either way, I slipped the two piece on, finally feeling comfy and ready to scope the coast outside of my room so that I could make my routine way into the kitchen and then finish up in the bathroom right before sleep whisked me away.
Popping my head slightly out of my room, I looked left and right, immediately noticing the swarm of noise now sounding completely distant. I took that as my sign to flee to the kitchen. My movements were a mix of tip toeing and rushing all at the same time, down each step carefully and passing the open section in which I could see all the way to outside. In a smug flick of my eyes, noticing it rather odd that now nobody had been in the living room anymore, my eyes followed the noise until I could see straight through the window leading to the backyard.
Never had I ever seen a group of rocking individuals either diving or easing their way into the pool all at once, our already average backyard now barricaded by bodies. It made sense as to why the house now seemed emptied out, I wasn't complaining, but I also wasn't sure how Evie would explain this one. Sliding my socks along the shiny tiled floor, I yanked open the fridge, feeling particularly peckish and in need of something small to shove down before my slumber.
Cherries.
There they were, sitting pretty in a bowl directly in my eye line as I scoured for something. Pulling it out, I turned back around, propping them onto the bench and taking one to shove into my mouth, popping the stem off as I crunched around the pip.
A small bumble of chatter sounded and I immediately stilled in hopes nobody would be looking for the kitchen. Shutting my eyes slightly as I clasped my hand tighter onto the white bowl, almost as if that would somehow give me the powers of invisibility.
"Oh hey Mabel, my favourite little..." Jett squeaked out as she rounded the corner, now coming into view. A finger coming up towards her chin to display her thinking mind, "Cherry. Oh my go- now that's good even if I do say so myself. Get it? Cherry, because your eatin' them and your hair is kinda red."
"My hair isn't red." I clarified, in specifics to the second cherry I swung into my mouth.
"Well sorry, it kind of is. It's not as red but, still hot." She shrugged, sounding much more down to earth now in comparison to before when she was most likely ten shots deep. "Talkin' bout hot, what's this little number you're rockin'? Hm? Someone feelin' fruity?" I instantly laughed at her calm demeanour, switching my weight onto my other foot as I turned to her while she stood near the sink, filling up her glass with water.
"It's disgustingly hot and you know it, wipe it from your eyes, it's like it never happened at all." I giggled, eyeing the tiny red bikini Jett wore and how she made it look so good. "I know, trust me, if there weren't all these horny boys around I'd be walkin' with absolutely nothin' but my birthday suit."
"Jesus, please fuckin' don't."
Harry slyly interrupted as he slipped his body into the kitchen, joining the two of us. I hated the fact that the two most sober individuals had to magnetise their way straight towards me, knowing their soberness wouldn't allow them to forget the sight of me now. "Oh please, you've seen it before H, and from what I rememb-" Jett began to toy back until the quick groan of Harry became far too loud, "Fuck off." It was all he said before he eased his way onto the stool, on the opposite side of the bench to where I stood, a déjà vu of the night before.
I was very aware of my awkward stance, the stiffness of my body noticeable as I slowly staggered another cherry into my mouth. Taking a few steps back, towards the bin on the other side of the refrigerator, I spat the pips of the cherries into the bin, Harry's glance slowly following to where I stood, shamefully watching the pips leave my mouth though I immediately clasped my lips together as he glanced away just as quickly.
"You sure you don't want to party with us love bug? We're real fun!" Jett queried as she wrapped her fingers around the glass and began walking away, ready to round the corner and head back into the swarm of people outside. Shaking my head, I sent her an appreciative grin, "I'm good, work was a lot so I'm just going to sleep it off. Thankyou though."
With a sweet hum, she pranced her way back outside, leaving me with the green eyed man who I'd seemed to be left with frequently in the past days. "I see everyone has relocated to the pool, why are you in here?" Breaking the silence that was bound to stay, my words were quiet but gained the attention of Harry who sat looking extremely pained.
"Why are you in here?" He mumbled, focusing his attention to my own, his eyes reigning onto mine almost as if they couldn't go elsewhere. "Well, I did in fact work for seven hours and all I can think about now is going to bed, not partying, you know?"
"I do know."
"So, are you going to tell me what you're doing in here? I feel like you should be outside, setting sights on your next conquest." I smirked, bringing the now empty bowl into the sink and letting water wash over it. Harry chuckled from over my shoulder, so deep and low that even though the temperature was disgustingly hot, I could have sworn I'd felt chills raise on my exposed skin. "Every conquest out there right now is past the point of intoxicated, so no hope for me tonight." He played, his hair a complete mess, as I turned around quickly, his eyes had strayed lower on my body, clearly not expecting me to catch his smooth action.
A blush crept onto my face as his eyes immediately flew from me, looking absolutely anywhere else. "What are your plans for the rest of the evening then?" Walking over towards the kitchen table, I pulled out a chair and sat, now looking over at Harry sitting on the bench stools only centimetres away. "I don't know actually, I'm feelin' particularly bored." He swivelled around to face me from his seated position, I crossed one leg over the other, my mind running wild with possibilities of what he could do.
Humming in thought as Harry leant his head in his hand resting upon the bench, my eyes wandered around the room until a thought struck me, "Seeing as you're living in my home and I barely know you, let's-" I began, only to then be interrupted.
"Don't you dare say twenty questions."
"Come on." I whined, "Why the hell not? I know nothing about you, you know nothing about me. Seeing as you're going to be here for the whole damn summer. Five questions? Three?" I bargained, trying to ease him into the little game I'd come up with. I figured it would benefit the both of us, it could work in my favour, getting him off my back if he ever caught me in places I wasn't meant to be in.
"Three. Three questions." He sighed.
Jumping up from my chair, I clapped my hands in excitement, "Yes! Okay see that wasn't so hard, since I'm being so nice, you can go first, hit me." I sang, wiggling further into my seat, getting comfortable. I let my hands rest in the lap of my crossed legs, watching him with wide eyes as he rose his finger to flick just below his nose, then letting it come to toy with his lip. "How old are you?" His generic question made me scoff immediately, "You're starting off safe, I see. Plus, I don't know if I should be offended since you live with my sister more than I do."
Harry huffed, shifting in his chair, "Sorry to break it to you but we don't spend our days talkin' bout you." Clearly, I knew that wasn't the case, but since I had an inkling about his age, I thought it was only fair he had his own about mine. "Twenty, freshly." Pointing my index finger to the middle of my chest in exaggeration.
"Freshly?"
"Mhm, a march baby."
Harry nodded his head in thought, letting my answer sink in, I wasn't sure whether his face was exuding something good or bad. "It's your turn now, answer up." I pried, watching a visible gulp venture down the smoothness of his neck. "Twenty four, freshly."
I stared at him, letting it sink in. I was right, he had been the same age as my sister, a slight pang of worry fled through me at the thought of this man being so extremely angel like and how much my parents would disapprove of such thought. The standards my parents had set for me at a young age were unruly, unfair and I thought they quite literally needed to get with the times.
"And what kind of baby are you?" My voice sounded, almost eerily in the quiet space we were in, his eyes properly meeting my own now, almost as if he was seeing me for the first time, taking me in.
"A February one."
An aquarius, in other words. The one sign I wanted to steer away from because my past history, as little as it was, were filled the particular air signs which tended to bring me no good. Though I kept the smile on my cheeks, not giving away my trickling mind. Harry signalled his head forward, waiting for me to ask my question, I felt as if there were far too many to choose from but I knew Harry's patience would only hold out for so long. "What's the one thing you love most in this world?" It were a question I genuinely wanted the answer to, as sad as it sounded, I couldn't pin point what his answer would be because I wasn't sure that there would be one.
Harry brought his fingers to his lips once again, in a hesitant movement, the deep rustle of his voice spoke, "Music. There's just so much to it, there are so many meanings that one song alone could hold. I could interpret it one way, and you could interpret it in another, it's all about emotions and how you as an individual relate to each word." It were as if a twinkle had formed in his eyes as he divulged, a light wave of hopefulness covering his gaze as he spoke about what he loved most, and I appreciated him telling me something so personal.
His words were true, honest and the more I thought about them the more moved I felt. "I guess I've never really thought about it that way, I don't think I've heard you talk so much before." He chuckled as I beamed, folding his arms across one another, covering the 'kiss' symbol printed on his t-shirt.
"You're up baby face." Was all he said before I tore my eyes away from his own. Divulging my emotions never came naturally to me, the only person who knew me fully was myself, it wasn't like people hadn't tried, they had. I could never pin point the root of my childhood in which built me this way, it may have been the neglected love from my parents, the need to prove myself to them or the want to be chosen by somebody, the reality is it was all three. Though I felt selfish to think in such way when my parents had provided me with my life, the home I grew up in and the good times we have had. The warm comforting love one should feel when growing up seemed to bypass me and overload into the rest of my family.
Once I noticed the furrowed brows of Harry still waiting patiently for my answer, I realised my mind had sucked me down the rabbit hole it loved to travel through on any given day. "Well, the one thing I loved most in this world was dancing. I used to do high level ballet and contemporary jazz, which not many people know so don't go spreading the word around." I smirked while pointing my index finger towards him as he rolled his eyes, "It had probably been one of the only things to get me through high school to be honest, but then, I was at practise one day and doing these jumps like we were supposed to but before I knew it, I went down with a broken ankle. I don't even know how it happened. It took me so long to recover, for a while I couldn't even do the things I'd been practising for my whole life, and so I had to stop, slowly it healed but then senior year got so hectic I just didn't have time to get back into it." I released the breath I'd been holding, it felt strange to say the words I'd never spoken to a single soul.
"I know it doesn't answer properly about what I love most in the world right now but, I guess that's because there isn't really anything." I was aware of the sad expression that graced my face as I spoke the words, though it was the wide eyes and sorrowful look of Harry that made my heart beat particularly slow.
There was a blink of his long lashes, another then another until he exhaled, "Jesus fuckin' christ."
"Alright next ques-"
"No, no no, rewind baby face. You can't unleash that and then hop to the next question like that." Slinging my arm over the side of the chair, I leant my head to the side, feeling the waves of sleep slowly crashing, more so wanting to crash since I hadn't been blessed with the peaceful action of slumber yet. I shook my head vigorously, "We're answering questions, not elaborating on them. You understand?" Harry rolled his plump lips into his mouth, eyes closing and smugly catching onto my drift though wanting to prove his point further.
"Oh I understand. But the one time offer stands right now, you can elaborate if you'd like to."
"No. I'm good."
Sharp eyes that belonged to only Harry roamed over my face, analysing the pain held within it and I wondered if he could tell that if he kept pressing me on the matter, the waterworks would most definitely start without an end date. I never understood why my emotions would reach their peak when somebody would show true kindness, Harry's prompt to allow me to be more open with what I still hadn't come to terms with didn't go unnoticed.
I wavered my eyes back up to Harry, who hadn't taken away his stare from me, looking as if he wanted to say much more than he was letting on. Part of me wanted him to push past his subconscious and outright ask me whatever he felt like, though the other part of me realised that if he did so, I would have to answer, and that alone scared me enough.
"Get your ass out here man, it's totally bitchin' and your missing out on all the fun." Both Harry and I swivelled our heads over to the sudden voice that broke whatever notion had begun to form in the little quiet space of ours. Harry evidently let out an annoyed groan, though trying to cover it up with a sniff. My searing look pierced through the stranger standing impatiently in the corridor waiting for Harry, a man with mid length blonde hair and incredibly displeasing facial stubble. Taking that as my cue to leave, I swung my legs off from the chair and onto the ground, heaving myself up and pushing the chair back into its place.
Smiling sweetly to mask my displeasure, I gathered my hands behind my back as I chimed, "Go, enjoy the totally bitchin' scene." Harry smirked at my mimic of the man waiting for him, who had clearly drank so much that he didn't even seem present in the room. Folding my arms across my chest, coming to realise once again the attire I had still been in, a blush crept across my face as Harry narrowed his gaze on me, pointing his hand out and letting his other one roam through his messy curls. "I still get my question." I couldn't help but watch him as my stomach stirred with a jittery feeling I tried all to hard to push down.
The blonde man pushed Harry to make him go faster, as if he couldn't see the way Harry towered over him and how his muscles doubled in size. I shrugged my shoulders playfully, rising my hands up in defence, as Harry eyed me one last time before being pushed around the corner. I could faintly hear the mumbles of the drunken man trying to direct Harry and fill him in on all that he'd missed.
Fumbling my way back into my room, the more I thought about the past fifteen minutes, the more I couldn't believe they had happened at all. It felt strange to think I had partly opened myself up to someone, Harry of all people, which was the most concerning part. It wasn't everyday that I allowed my mind to venture down the messy root of my emotions let alone tell anybody about them. Sliding my way into bed and pulling the covers all the way up to my nose, I thought about the way Harry looked the happiest I'd seen him when he spoke about what he loved most, not that we'd delved into a lot, though it was enough to stick in the forefront of my mind.
A flash of green was the last thing to take reign on my brain before I fizzled away into the stages of sleep. As beautiful and serene as the colour may be, I knew it had just been an extremely long day, filled with unknown twists and turns, making my brain feel caught up in it all. There was one thing I knew I needed to do, and that was get a grip, because sadly, if there was one thing on my mind that scared me enough to forget about the remnants of what took place in the kitchen only moments ago, it was the stone cold look of both my mother and father if they were to find out the cause of the butterflies roaming around within my stomach as they were so freely doing right now.
Get a grip.
Get a grip.
Get a grip.