When I walked into the building that day something in the air told me that it would've been harder than usual, the fact that Aiden was standing outside of the classroom chatting amicably with Ella being a dead giveaway.
I took a deep breath and walked towards them, getting ready for some snarky remarks from Ella and for Aiden's uncalled for ones. "Hey" I said as soon as I was next to them, no joy in my voice at all.
Ella didn't seem to notice, flashing me a bright smile that let me know she was in an unusual good mood. Ever since Harry had walked into our life, she'd become harder and harder to deal with, so it was an uncommon occurrence for her to be that happy. "Hi Sierra, was just talking to Aiden here" she said, twirling a strand of golden hair between her fingers. "He's lovely, and it is my duty as your best friend to make sure you get treated well."
I shot her a suspicious look. "What is that supposed to mean? I asked her, frowning.
She shook her head and gave me a little shrug. "Nothing!"
Aiden took the small silence that followed as his opportunity to speak. "Hey Sierra, you look lovely today" he said looking at me.
I pursed my lips at his comment. "Thank you, Aiden."
He smiled. "Well, I'll see you girls later" he added, making his way inside the classroom.
Ella stared after him to make sure he was far away enough not to hear us before turning to look at me again. "He told me he wants to ask you out on an actual date. You should say yes."
I closed my eyes for a second to refrain from rolling them. "Why should I?"
"Because he's wonderful and he likes you?" She said, acting like she was stating the obvious.
"But I don't like him" I stated, starting to get annoyed by Ella's insistence.
"And who do you like?" She asked. "Harry?" There was sarcasm in her voice as she said his name.
I frowned, confused by her behaviour.
"Oh my god, don't tell me you actually like Harry!" She said lowering her voice. "He'll never like you like that Sierra, time to get over it."
"I never said I like him" I replied, starting to feel like going inside without her.
"Just date Aiden! How the hell could you not adore him? Stop being an idiot!" She said, and I sighed.
"I'm going inside" I said, turning around swiftly to enter the class.
I stopped in my tracks when I realised that Harry was standing not more than twenty feet away from us, leaning against the wall as he often did and looking around as Niall chatted mindlessly. I wondered if he'd heard the conversation, given that Ella had been talking kind of loudly. I truly hoped he hadn't, it would've been just embarrassing.
He turned his head, involuntarily making eye contact, his green eyes burning into mine. I looked down as soon as he did, rushing inside.
I sat at my desk putting my face into my hands, hoping that Aiden would've got the hint and left me alone. But as I heard the sound of books being put on the desk next to mine a bit more forcefully than Ella would have, I realised that it wasn't likely to happen.
I looked up, widening my eyes as soon as I saw who it was.
He draped his coat over the back of the chair before swiftly sitting down on it, not even sparing me a glance.
"Did you get lost?" I muttered before I could stop myself and he looked at me, a humorous look in his eyes.
"It looked like you and your friend weren't on good terms" he simply replied.
I smiled a little, pushing the nervous wondering of what he'd heard to the back of my mind. "Thanks."
I looked at the other side of the class, frowning as I noticed that Niall had been left to sit alone. It was in that moment that I truly realised what had just happened, feeling my heart beat a little bit faster into my chest. Harry has decided to sit next to me, instead of sitting with Niall. I couldn't understand why he'd picked me on that day, especially given he'd never sat next to anybody else if Niall was there too. It made no sense. But he still had.
I gave him a side glance, a feeling of warmth slowly making its way into my chest. I looked towards the entrance trying to get myself together, just to see Ella come in and notice the new sitting positions with a shocked look on her face. She recovered fast though, making her way towards Niall and sitting down next to him even though it wasn't the last seat available.
I pretended to pay attention during the entire class, while in reality all I could think about was Harry. Every single thing he did managed to grasp my attention, from the faint scratching of his pencil as he wrote down some notes to the occasional shift in position that sometimes caused his arm to lightly touch mine or a new wave of his cologne to hit my nostrils.
By the time the class ended my mind had been drained by his simple presence next to me. It didn't matter that I'd drawn him so many times before, he kept having the same effect on me he'd always had.
I stood up fast and gathered my books, getting a hold of my coat and exiting as fast as possible. As I made my way towards the entrance of the building I entertained my mind with the thought that, if I'd been fast enough, neither Ella nor Aiden would've got to me before I could hide away alone.
Apparently Harry got the message as well, because he didn't show up.
I pushed down an unwarranted wave of disappointment and took my notebook out of my coat. I sighed as I stared at its black, ruined cover. I always tried to treat my notebooks well, but they still looked lived after a while I'd had them. I opened it and started sketching, letting my mind fly away.
When the free period was up I stood up, a hint of dread in my chest as I walked inside the building again.
My art class went by unusually fast, with the teacher reviewing some drawings and some explanations on some drawing techniques. I was still immensely glad when the bell rang, signalling the end of it.
I put on my coat and took my stuff, exiting the classroom. I wasn't surprised when I discovered that Ella had decided not to wait for me. I exited the building without as much as a second thought, walking towards my house as fast as possible. Harry would've come at mine at four, and I had yet to tidy up the house, have a shower and think of how I would've drawn him. My art teacher had said that she wanted something of genuine, but the issue was that I'd already blown that vibe with the bed drawing. In other words, I was kind of lost.
I left the keys and the coat near the entrance as soon as I arrived at home, taking off my shoes and proceeding to walk into the living room. I sat on the couch thinking of how I could've drawn him that time. I started discarding every idea that came to my mind, feeling like none of them was good enough. I sighed and stood up, deciding to start to tidy up around the house so that it would've at least looked presentable for when Harry would've come.
All of sudden I stopped in my tracks, an idea being slowly forged into my mind. Maybe there was a way to do it.
I left everything there and went up to my room. I'd never really drawn Harry in the garden, despite having tried once. The only issue was that it was starting to get quite cold, and I couldn't have certainly drawn him with a coat on. That wouldn't have been very artistic, and it would've been the opposite of genuine.
I opened my wardrobe and started searching around. I was sure I had a blanket I could've used somewhere. I found one of a deep burgundy shade, that I always used to put on my couch during winter. It was thin enough not to overtake the picture, but it was warm enough not to risk him freezing. I put it on my bed, giving it one glance. I wasn't sure if the colour would've been right for him, but at the worst I could've changed it in the drawing.
I had a fast shower and dried up my auburn hair before putting it up in a bun. I went back into my bedroom and gathered all the things I needed to draw him, taking them with me to the living room to avoid having to go up to get them again. I sat down on my couch and took my book, cuddling up in a corner and immersing myself in the story.
After a while I heard the doorbell ring and stood up, knowing that it had to be Harry. I put the book on the floor and walked to the front door, taking a deep breath before opening it. I stepped to the side, my gaze down, to allow him to step in, the fabric of his coat grazing my arm as he walked by.
"You can leave your coat here" I told him, taking mine off the hook and hanging it over my jacket to free up some space.
He took it off without a word and hung it where I'd told him to before taking a few steps forward into the hallway.
"Wait here" I told him, walking into the living room to get all my things before going back to him. "We're going outside" I said as I walked into the kitchen, opening the back door and stepping out in the cold air. Thankfully I'd put on a warm hoodie, so I wouldn't have had too many problems staying outside for a while. I couldn't say the same about Harry, that was wearing a thin white shirt, the sleeves rolled up on his forearms.
I looked around the bare garden. The light pink and white blossoms had slowly disappeared as the cold season had come closer and by then, in mid-October, the only colour dominating the place was green. I didn't let myself get discouraged by that minor setback. I could've still drawn him sitting on the grass. I side-glanced at him. I wondered if he would've been fine with lying down.
"Sit down" I told him when we were standing in the middle of the garden.
He did, leaning back on his hands for support, and I knelt next to his waist, carefully draping the blanket over his shoulders. I bit my lower lip as I realised that the colour wasn't that bad at all on him. The only problem was to make the blanket look somehow artistic. I started fixing its folds so that they would've looked nice enough, hoping that they wouldn't have been messed up when he would've lain down.
I moved a bit closer to him to fix the other side so that it was resting nicely over his shoulder, and almost jolted when my fingers accidentally grazed his neck. "Sorry" I muttered looking up at him, meeting his green eyes and feeling my heart skip a beat when I realised how close we were. I'd either leant it more than I expected, or he'd come closer because, from where I was, I could almost feel his hot breath against my skin.
The stare held in his mint green irises was almost magnetic, freezing me in my spot like a prey. His gaze dropped down to my lips and, before I could realise what was going on, he closed the distance between us and his lips met mine.
I felt my heart skip a beat at the soft, but unexpected touch and I automatically pulled away, falling back on my ass with a shocked look on my face.
Harry stared at me for a couple of seconds, equally as surprised as I was by his actions, before standing up fast, the blanket falling on the grass.
I watched his movements with wide eyes from where I was sitting. "I think it's better if you just leave" I told him, not being able to shake the feeling of his lips on mine out of my head.
He walked inside with fast steps, disappearing from my view in a couple of seconds.
As soon as I heard the sound of my front door being shut I fell down on the grass, staring at the darkening sky above me. "What the fuck" I muttered to myself.
A cold drop hit my face, signalling that it was about to rain. I took the blanket and everything I'd brought outside and walked back in with a sigh. I walked upstairs and left them all on my desk, sitting on the chair and staring at the white wall.
What the fuck had just happened?
I can't believe Artwork is already at 21k! Thank you so much! x
Miki