Harry cancelled on me.
Apparently, something direly important came up. I'd been waiting for him the whole morning. He told me he'd take me out to have a few milkshakes to ease my 'trauma' he believed was caused by Daniel. I was still numb to what happened the night before. The guy I once cared for transitioned into a monster right infront of my eyes. All familiarity vanished... and Daniel was suddenly a complete stranger to me.
"Hello," My mother waved a hand infront of me. "Helena Lilan, are you there?"
"Huh?" My eyelashes batted rapidly for a moment. "Yes?"
"You didn't hear a thing, did you?" She sighed, cupping a green apple in her hand.
I straightened myself up as I sat at the kitchen counter. I actually didn't hear anything she was saying. My train of thoughts went back and forth from last night's occurrence... to Harry.
I felt like a massive loser for missing him so badly already when I'd just met him last night. But I couldn't help it. New, stronger feelings for him arose - I was constantly being pestered by thoughts of wanting to hold hands with him... and just simply feeling his warmth. The effect Harry had on me began to frighten me.
"Your father was right all along, wasn't he? He warned you about David." My mother avowed.
"Daniel." I corrected. "I don't want to talk about it anymore, mum. I already feel like crap."
"Alright." She watched me roll an orange around on the counter and heaved a sigh. "Don't be too hard on yourself though, Hel." She flashed a half-smile at me before skipping over playfully and wrapping her arms around me, attempting to lighten up my mood.
"Lindsey is present!" The bubbly blonde yelled from outside. Lindsey and I were going for a jog around our neighbourhood since Harry ditched me to be somewhere else.
"Ah!" Aunt Vivian let out a piercing shriek and dropped Jelly Bean from her hands.
"It's alright, Aunt Vivi, she's my friend!" I said as I rushed to the entrance door. My aunt had severe anxiety after her rough break up and the littlest things would make her jolt into mania.
"O-kay..." Lindsey's eyes widened as she arched an eyebrow. "Your door's unlocked, but I'm not coming in. Took me forever to get my brother's dirty running shoes on and I'm not taking them off! Let's get going, Helena!"
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Lindsey and I had matching sweatshirts on, except mine was a darker shade of grey. My running shoes were almost worn out not because I jogged in them all the time, but because I had been completely inactive for such a long time. There were a few small holes in the sole created by mice and the red colour had faded.
"Atleast you have running shoes. Mine belong to my brother." Lindsey chuckled as she bustled by my side.
"We're so pathetic." I laughed, using my fingers to move away the stray strands of hair that had escaped from my swaying ponytail.
"Hey," Lindsey called. "We've passed the houses of Linda, Niall, Beet, Charmaine and... Vince."
"Funny how everyone at school lives so close to each other. Gripleville's so small."
"It's also funny how Josh used to live so close to Polly." She added as we took a slight turn and began to jog along Bington Street - Polly's vicinity. "He's the baby daddy, isn't he?"
"Used to...?"
"Josh moved, remember?"
"What?"
Lindsey exhaled deeply and rolled her eyes. "Helena, you should really pay more attention. I was telling you about it weeks ago on the phone."
"But why would Josh leave Polly here?" I inquired, my pace slowing down.
"That's what I was wondering." She shrugged.
Our legs weren't used to this exercise and we were beginning to grow tired as we approached Polly's residence. "I don't know how she's coping with the pregnancy..." Lindsey wondered as we looked over at Polly's house where there were several cars parked outside, including a large, white truck. The front door was open wide but the bright light outside dimmed the inside of the house, making it impossible for us to see anything in it.
"Hey," I muttered when I realised that one of the cars parked there was Harry's. I abruptly ceased my legs' movements and a shoelace slipped underneath one of my shoes, causing me to fall. I let out a loud whimper as my knees hit the rough, gravelly road below before my body followed. My forehead was rubbed roughly against the hard surface.
"Helena, you clumsy lady!" Lindsey rushed to helped me up but I sat on the road and bent my knees upwards, checking to see if there was a cut. Blood rose on the injured skin of my right knee and Lindsey flinched, as if she was the one in pain. "Your forehead's scratched." She told me.
"I knew I shouldn't have worn shorts." I bit my lower lip and framed the bleeding area with my fingers. There were small debris of the gravel road stuck on my knees. The injury didn't bother me that much, but Harry being at Polly's house did.
"Should I pour some water on it?" Lindsey suggested.
"No! It'll hurt, just give me some tissue if you have any."
While Lindsey frantically dug into her bright coloured fanny pack to search for tissue, I noticed people coming out of Polly's house. They'd probably seen my little accident.
"Helena?" I heard Harry call.
Lindsey's eyes widened when Harry hurried over to me. She probably realised then why I'd clumsily fallen. At the doorstep stood Daniel, his mother, Polly and her parents.
"It's fine, I'm fine!" I informed them. How they were watching on like it was a big deal made me feel a tad uncomfortable. People fall all the time.
"Would you like to come in for some medicine?" Polly's mother offered.
"No, thanks. It's very minor. It's all fine." I smiled and the adults all went back into the house, leaving Daniel and Polly at the door step.
Daniel slowly advanced towards us but kept a distance, knowing I'd tell him off if he came any closer. "Everything alright?" He fiddled with his fingers as he looked on.
I was startled when Harry bent down to carry me bridal style, his strong arms carefully holding me close. He sat me down on of the garden chairs in the compound of the house while both Polly and Daniel watched. I'd never been in a situation this awkward.
"Harry, I'm fine." I mumbled, wanting him to let it go.
"You're bleeding. You're not fine." Harry knelt down infront of me and pushed back the curls that were in his face before pulling out some tissue from the pocket of his jeans.
"Sorry I haven't got any tissue, Hel." Lindsey panted as she jogged over to us. She smiled at Daniel and Polly but they were too busy eyeing Harry and I to notice.
He gently dabbed the clean tissue onto my blood ridden knee with one hand while the other was placed on the ankle of my injured leg, slowly tugging it straight.
"Ow." I complained.
"Oh, Helena." Harry let out a small chuckle, his dimples coming into view. He slowly shook his head as he soaked the blood into the tissue. "Clumsy even when you're jogging."
"Shut up." I playfully poked the tip of his nose with my index finger before becoming aware that Daniel and Polly were still there behind us, examining our every move. It was odd.
Mary, his mother, quickly stepped out of the house and ambled towards us with an adhesive plaster in hand. "I knew I had these somewhere in my bag." She cheerfully smiled and handed it over to Harry. "I'll be inside." She mouthed at me before walking back to the door. "Thank you!" I grinned.
"Come on in, you two. We have matters to discuss." She said to Daniel and Polly before disappearing into the house.
Polly followed Mary back to the living room but Daniel didn't move an inch from his stance. It was weird how intently he was observing us.
"It is at times like this that I appreciate my mum for being a doctor." Harry said before ripping the white paper packaging open. He dropped the tissue from my injury and stuck the plaster along the big cut on my knee.
"It's really not that big of a deal." I told him. "But thanks."
"Your forehead's kind of bruised too. But there isn't any blood." He pushed stray strands of my hair behind my ear to reveal the wound. My fingers trembled when Harry placed his hand on the nape of my neck and leant in to plant a soft kiss on the bruise on my forehead.
"Harry..." I protested quietly. I couldn't see Daniel with Harry blocking but he was still there.
Harry pulled back with a smirk and tapped me underneath the chin before standing up. He gripped onto my hands and helped me get up. I was pulled close to him when I successfully stood on my feet.
"Harry, I'm going now." I told him, glacing down and lightly pushing against his chest while he breathed into my hair.
Before anything more could be said, Harry tilted my head up by my chin and forcefully pressed his lips against mine. One hand was on my waist, tugging me close and another was on the nape of my neck, restraining me from pulling away as his lips searched for pleasure. Lindsey's quiet gasp could be heard from behind.
Harry's intention was simple and I quickly figured it out - he wanted to get back at Daniel for kissing me. Harry wanted to make out with me in his face and make him suffer knowing he couldn't do anything about it.
As I struggled to pull out of the embrace, I noticed Daniel stomping back into the house. Harry's goal was accomplished. He ceased the kiss and glanced over at the front door being slammed shut.
"What's with you, Harry?" I jerked away from him.
He licked his lips before looking back at me. "I just wanted to kiss my girlfriend."
"You wanted Daniel to see it." I speculated.
His eyebrows curved downwards and he didn't reply, so I took it as a confirmation.
"So I'm some sort of trophy?" I frowned.
"Not at all." He finally responded. "I just didn't like him kissing you the other day."
"He was drunk. And I didn't kiss him back. Can we please get past that already?" I crossed my arms. Harry nodded silently and looked down at the ground as he rubbed the nape of his neck.
"So why are you guys here anyway?" I finally questioned.
He laughed lowly before answering. "Turns out Daniel really is the baby daddy."
"Wha- Really?"
"It's a long story, and I'll get to it. But right now I'm just frustrated because we might be moving again."
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