Dedication: emabeee

I was awkwardly wedged in between Joshua and Emma (thank god for her) as we all took a seat on the grass in Harper's garden.

We had coordinated ourselves to sit in a circle, music playing loudly in the background, and I had not planned on sitting next to Joshua.

Let's just say we were still not in good terms.

Albeit, Harper had tried to sit next to me, but Bethany dragged him away, and somehow he ended up on the other side of the circle. I was happy to see Harper was a little disgruntled at that, and I shot him a small smile.

"So... " Max began, holding Emma's hand gently in his. Gag. Too cute it's disgusting. "Truth or dare?"

A chorus of agreements followed. 

Damn it.

Truth or dare never ends well. Plus, it's terribly cliché.

Emma put the bottle in the middle and spun it. Slowly, it came to a stop in front of me.

Wow. Well this is perfect.

Emma gave me a wicked grin as I glared at her, shaking my head ever-so-slightly. "Noelle!" She called out, fake sweetness evident in her voice. I felt all eyes turn towards me. I shifted uncomfortably. 

"Truth or dare?"

"Um," I took a glance at everyone eagerly watching. Not wanting to seem weak, I spoke. "Dare."

What the hell, Noelle! Next time you are picking truth.

"I dare you," she began. "To spend seven minutes in heaven with Harper."

My eyes widened so drastically, I was sure that I looked like some sort of red headed bug. "What?" I demanded. "No. No way."

Shut up, Noelle. You do want to kiss him.

But not like this!

"Can I change to truth?" I asked weakly. Emma shook her head quickly. "Nope."

"Come on, baby doll, is it really that bad to make out with me?" Harper asked, getting to his feet and smirking. I glared.

"I'd rather make out with Squidward." I huffed. A cacophony of hoots of laughter followed me.

"Rejected!" Marco yelled. "Wow, you're really losing your touch with the girls."

It was Harper's turn to glare. Marco raised his hands in defeat.

"Well, are you going to do it?" Emma asked. "If not, we have to come up with a forfeit... " Her evil glare sent me shooting up to my feet.

"Fine, I'll do it," I groaned. "I hate you, though. With all my heart." I retorted to Emma. She just smiled.

Harper smirked cockily at me, grabbing my hand and leading me into the small shed in the garden. I felt my heart flutter slightly, and I felt my knees tremble a little at the contact.

"Are we really going to make out?" Harper asked huskily in my ear. I felt my cheeks heat up.

"No."

Harper pouted adorably, pulling me into the shed with him. It was small, so small that amongst the gardening tools and flower pots, to make space to stand, we had to press together, so that there was no space at all between us. It was dark as well, a could just make out the sharp curves of Harper's face. I could here the faint giggling of everyone else outside the shed.

"I hate this." I lied to Harper, trying to lean away from him.

"Are you sure?" I could make out Harper raising an eyebrow. "You hate being so close to this sexy beast?"

"Sexy beast?" I asked. "I'd hardly call you that, Voldemort."

Harper grinned. "You remember that time when you were drunk?" I blushed.

"Unfourtunately, yes. Now I do."

And let's just say, from the levels of embarrassment I was feeling right at that moment, I mentally vowed never to get drunk again.

"I like it when you're drunk," Harper winked. "It's kind of cute."

I blushed again, and I silently thanked the darkness from hiding it. "Shut up, Voldemort."

"Well, in that case," Harper replied, teasingly. "Will you be the Bellatrix Lestrange to my Voldemort?"

A moment of silence, before I burst out laughing. "Bellatrix? Seriously?"

He ships Voldemort and Bellatrix?

Harper shrugged. "What? Tell me that you didn't ship them at least for a chapter."

 I laughed. "I didn't."

"Well, in that case... " He continued. "Will you be the Minnie to my Mickey?"

I laughed again.

"The Dory to my Nemo? The leaf to my tree? The Winnie to my Pooh?"

At this point, I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe. "Oh my gods, you're ridiculous."

"You love it." He winked.

I shook my head, giggling. "How long has it been?"

Harper took a quick glance at his phone. "About five minutes."

I sighed. "Damn it. I just want to freaking get out of here."

Lie. I wouldn't mind being stuck in that moment forever, with Harper so close to me I could barely breathe, with his lips so dangerously near the top of my head when he looked down at me.

"You know, baby doll," Harper said, smirking. "If you just replace 'freaking' with 'fucking', you're basically swearing."

"Language." I scowled. "But I'm not replacing 'freaking', am I?"

"Whatever, Bellatrix." He pouted. I rolled my eyes and turned around in the shed, trying to peek through the small gaps of the wood to see if anyone was outside the shed, trying to hear us 'make out'.

Ew.

Before I could complete my search, I felt something poking into my back. "Harper, can you move the end of the broom or something away from me or- " I stopped dead in my tracks, realisation dawning on me.

I flushed bright red as I spun around quickly.

"Shit," Harper mumbled. I looked up at him in anxiety and shock.

"Harper are you- " I took a hesitant glance down at his crotch.

"Fuck, I'm sorry Noelle- "

"UGH!" I yelled. Never had I ever been in a situation as sexual and scarring as this. I tried to leap up onto the clattered work table, ignoring the tools that seemed to stab at me, desperately avoiding having to look at Harper. "OH MY GODS, MAKE IT STOP!"

"I'm sorry!" Harper yelled back frantically, his cheeks reddening a little bit as I could see from the corner of my eye. "It's just that I was all pressed up against you and you look really hot, and- "

"I don't care, just make it stop!" I groaned. I stopped, my innocent mind finally processing things. "Actually, don't!"

I made a rapid dash for the door of the shed, not caring if the seven minutes were over yet, and tumbled outside onto the grass. Finally out of the shed, I took a deep breath in and rested my head on my hands, thankful that everyone else was back to the game and sitting in a different part of Harper's backyard.

Oh my gods. That was terrible. I will never recover my innocence.

Suddenly, I heard sexy, familiar laughter boom from behind me. Cautiously, I turned around, to see Harper (what a shock) standing behind me, clutching his stomach in one hand with laughter. In the other hand he held a broom.

Was it- was it the broom the whole time after all?

I gaped at him as he laughed even harder, his hand over his abs.

That little neanderthal!

"I hate you, Voldy!" I yelled, pouting and crossing my arms. "You are such a low-wit neanderthal!"

He grinned. "I can't believe you believed that. It was a motherfucking broom." He came and sat next to me on the grass. I scooted away.

"You- " I slapped his arm. "- are such- " another hard slap. "- a freaking perverted jerk!"

Harper grinned again and wrapped his arms around my waist. "You love it."

"No," I shoved him off me. "As a matter of fact, I don't. I hate you."

"Aw, baby doll, that hurt." Harper whined teasingly.

"Do you know how scarred I was? That was terrible!" I huffed, standing up from the ground and straightening the smooth fabric of my skirt. Grumpily, I stalked back to the circle of people, Harper calling out apologies from behind me, which I promptly ignored.

I was surprised greatly when I came back to the circle. Charlie had tomato juice splattered all over his shirt, Leila was crying with laughter, Max had french fries stuck up his nose, and Alfie was shirtless except for a pink, lacy bra.

Okay... ?

I awkwardly sat back down next to Emma and Joshua. Bethany glared at me as Harper took his seat.

Why is she glaring?

Oh, that's right, because Bethany obviously loves Harper, and she thinks that we actually made out.

I looked away, only to see Emma wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. I shook my head and she frowned and stuck her tongue out.

I watched as everyone else continued with the game- Laura caking her face in peanut butter and Rhea trying to put her foot behind her head- not really listening, until I felt my phone buzz in the pocket of my skirt. I pulled it out to see a text from Harper. I looked up at him, curious to see why he was texting, only to see his head bent over his phone.

H: Do you hear this song?

I listened and immediately cringed.

N: Problem by Ariana Granda, right? This is so overplayed.

H: Yeah... so much it's actually cringey. They should play some Fall Out Boy.

I rolled my eyes.

N: Definitely. I think my ears are bleeding. The song's not that bad, I just hear it everywhere... -.-

I looked up to see Harper grinning at the screen of his phone, and my heart leaped a little.

H: It was Bethany's choice.

N: That explains it.

H: She always like this type of music. In Dallas, it got sickening.

Ha! Ha! Bethany, take that! He thinks you're taste of music is sickening! I mentally cheered.

N: Wow. How did you survive?

H: It was a difficult battle, my dear lady. I barely came out alive.

I giggled a little.

N: Shut up, Voldemort. You can't even be charming if your life depended on it.

H: Baby doll, your blush says otherwise. I'm definitely charming your pants off you. xx

It was funny how two 'x's from Harper could make my day.

I looked up, and not to my surprise, Harper was looking at me, smiling a little, his face bare from any arrogance. He was just looking at me, and I was looking at him, and we were completely ourselves and I loved it.

I was shocked back into reality by Joshua speaking from beside me. I noticed that his hand was dangerously close to mine. "Bethany, I dare you to give us a thirty second strip tease." He called out.

Perverted jerk.

All the girls groaned and immediately turned away. Emma grabbed Max's face to make him look away and I laughed a little.

Knowing Bethany, this is definitely something she would do to gain Harper's attention. I rolled my eyes and glanced at Harper.

To my shock, it looked like Harper hadn't even heard the dare. He was staring at me, not in that creepy stalker way, but like he fascinated, entranced by me, plain old Noelle.

Who are you kidding?

Not you. Definitely not you.

My mind recalled back to when Harper had spoken about that 'beautiful girl' that he was always thinking of, and I yearned for it to be me. I knew it must have been Bethany, but there was nothing to lose in hoping.

"Thirty seconds up!" Laura yelled. I turned around, relieved, to see Bethany plopping back down on the grass, Laura giving her best friend a disgusted look. I didn't miss the way Bethany rested her hand on Harper's knee.

"Joshua, truth or dare?" Leila asked. He smiled. "Dare."

"I dare you to kiss the girl that you think is the prettiest here on their cheek." Leila giggled. Joshua smiled, and his eyes landed on me.

No. Not me. I'm not pretty, I'm not even remotely good looking.

Joshua leant closer.

Oh gods, no. No. No.

Joshua planted his lips on my cheek. I didn't feel sparks, like Harper, it wasn't anything magical, it was just so- scientific. It felt like someone was just putting their lips on my cheek. 

Nothing more. 

Nothing less.

I blushed as Joshua pulled away, and he smiled slightly at me, so apologetically that I felt the need to forgive him right then.

I hesitantly smiled back. I snuck a glance at Harper, and he was shooting deathly glares at Joshua.

If looks could kill, Joshua would have been stabbed thirty times over with a machete.

By the time I tore my eyes away, Harper had already been asked.

"Truth." He replied. Max frowned.

"Pussy," he mumbled.

Harper glared at him.

"Who were you planning on asking to the Valentine's Day dance?" Emma asked. Harper raised an eyebrow.

"Are you kidding? That's like a month and a half away."

"Well I'm sorry if this school is really hyped up about dances." Emma retorted.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'm still going to ask her in a better way, but I wanted to ask- "

"Noelle, can I talk to you?" Joshua interrupted.

Damn it. I really wanted to hear what Harper would say.

"Um, sure," I said, standing up. Joshua lead me to the other side of the back yard, near the small pool, and I leaned on the side of the house.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked awkwardly, fiddling with the end of my hair.

He sighed. "I wanted to apologize."

I frowned. "For kissing me? That's fine, it was only on the cheek- "

"No, just for being an asshole in general." He groaned, leaning on the house next to me. "I'm really sorry, Noelle. I know you've been annoyed at me for a shit load of time, and I was just wondering if you could forgive me?"

Minus the swear words, his little speech was quite sweet. And to actually take me somewhere and say it in person? That was cute.

"It's fine, Joshua." I smiled at him. "I guess I overreacted a little when you said that you just wanted to be friends with me for Harper. But still."

"I'm sorry. At first it was that, but then I truly started to like you as a friend, and... " he grinned nicely. "I was wondering if we could be friends again." He stuck out his hand. "Friends?"

I smiled and shook his hand, letting his fingers enclose around mine. "Friends."

--------------------------------------------------------------

New year's was okay.

Apart from Bethany flirting with Harper every five seconds.

Florence left back to her university, promising to be back on holidays, and she even hugged Harper goodbye. Guess she didn't hate him as much as I expected.

School had started about a month ago, and nothing much had happened, except Harper had been beginning to spend a frustrating amount of time with Bethany when she joined this semester. Laura had joined too, and I often found myself wondering how someone as sweet and kind as Laura ended up being friends with the queen female dog herself, Bethany Rosewood.

Not surprisingly, she made quick friends with Amanda and her cronies, Katriona and Jasmine, and the four of them went everywhere together- Laura hanging out with Emma and I more often than not. Somewhere over the course of the four weeks, Bethany seemed to hate me even more, however refusing to project it in any way and Joshua and I had become strangely good friends.

I sat in the library on my laptop in my free period. It was still cold outside, as it was late January, so I avoided sitting in the football field. After all, that was where Bethany and Harper were hanging out at that current moment. Emma was still in Physics.

"What are you up to?" Laura asked, slipping into the seat next to me. I shot her a quick smile.

"Applying for universities. I've applied for so many." I replied, scanning through NYU's website.

She sighed. "So early? Maybe I should get a start on that." Laura leaned back in her seat, looking out the window. She groaned, causing me to glance outside as well.

Harper had his arm around Bethany as they walked the length of the football field, and she had her head thrown back, laughing.

I ignored the pain in my heart and looked back at my laptop. "I hate this."

"I know," she said quietly. "I'm sorry about her. She's changed a lot. Ever since she fell in love with Harper."

"It's really annoying." I groaned, laying my head on the table. "Having the guy you're in love with to be such a funny, charming, attractive, sweet, amazing person. Because then everyone ends up falling in love with him and you never get picked in the end."

"Hey," Laura whined. "You don't know that."

"Sure," I drawled sarcastically, my eyes brimming with tears. I fought so furiously to push them back my head hurt. "That's definitely why he spends all his time with Bethany, and why he always laughs at her jokes, and why he always stares at her. Yeah, he definitely likes me. I bet he's going to ask her to the dance as well."

"Woah," I heard a voice say. I looked up to see Max by our table, several books held in his hands. "You okay, Noelle?"

"Max," I replied. "I hate your best friend so much that if he was the last person on Earth, I would still hate him for causing me so much pain."

He chuckled. "I know, he's an asshole for hanging out with Bethany half the time." He sighed, taking the seat on the other side of me, shooting a quick smile at Laura. "You're really in love with him, aren't you?"

"No kidding," I laughed darkly. "This is so pathetic. I am so pathetic. The guy I love doesn't even like me in that way." I glanced up at Max and Laura. "Sorry for this stupid pity party. I'm in a murderously tragic mood today."

"We can definitely tell," Laura answered, slinging an arm around my shoulder. "God, you're negative."

"You get used to it," Max shot back, making me glare at him. "But seriously, Noelle, if there's anyone he likes, it's you."

"Who?" A familiar voice called from behind me.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

The sexy devil.

I spun around to see Harper leaning on a book shelf. I hurriedly wiped away any trace of tears in my eyes. As soon as he saw that, his face hardened with worry.

"Harper- what are you doing here? I thought you were outside with Bethany?" Laura asked. He nodded bluntly, still staring at me.

"Yeah, I was," he nodded again. "It's nearly the end of the day, so I figured I'd come up." He glanced at Max and Laura for the first time. "Can you guys give us a second?"

They paused, before nodding slightly, despite the terrified look in my eyes.

I'm going to get them back.

As soon as they left, Harper took Max's seat and turned mine to face his. "Why were you crying, baby doll?" he asked softly. I shook my head quickly, fiddling with the ends of my red hair, yanking softly on each lock.

"I wasn't," I replied, trying to keep my voice even. He smiled slightly.

"Liar."

"Excuse me?" I retorted.

"Whenever you're nervous or you're lying you fiddle with the ends of your hair." He explained. I found myself shocked and strangely flattered that he had payed that much attention. Which of course, resulted in me blushing furiously.

"I don't!" I exclaimed, earning a glare from the librarian. "Maybe I was just nervous."

"Ah," Harper smirked cockily. "I knew I made you nervous."

I blushed even harder. "You don't at all make me nervous, Mr Voldemort. You make me the least nervous. Wait, does that even make sense? Least nervous? I don't know, but how do I check? Maybe there's a website, maybe I could ask Mr Harley for some references- " I spoke quickly, my mouth refusing to listen to my brain.

Harper only smirked more. "Now I know I make you nervous. You ramble when you're nervous. And you gasp when I do this- " his hand gently brushed up my side, and to no one's surprise, I gasped.

"And you hold you're breath, when I do- " he brought his face closer to mine. "- this." He kissed my cheek, and sure enough I held my breath, only letting it out when were at least two feet apart.

"Wha- I don't- I mean- " I stuttered, my heart racing. He grinned, grabbing my hands and pulling me up from the chair, making my knees tremble.

"Come on, baby doll. I'm going to cheer you up somehow."

OMG I WROTE ALL OF THIS IN ONE WHOLE DAY BECAUSE THE RATING HAD GONE DOWN BY SO MUCH I DON'T EVEN WANT TO TYPE IT UGH

So... how are you doing?

I'm on holiday, so it's literally so hard to write one single chapter quickly. I'm sorry :(

I LOVE YOU GUYS IM SORRY

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