A Safe Bet

“What the hell does this even mean?”

Harlow tied her hair into a bun on the top of her head, staring intently at the numbers on the paper below her eyes. There were so many numbers in one sequence—and to top it off there were words too.

She could do English. She was good at English. She liked English.

But Math? Math could kiss her ass.

Harlow groaned and rolled onto her back, shutting her eyes tightly. She had been buried in homework all week. She couldn’t remember the last time she did something that wasn’t school related. Actually she could, it had been the party with John last weekend.

She knew she shouldn’t have been mad at him—what happened with Noel wasn’t his fault, but she was mad at him. If John hadn’t have had brought her to that party she never would have been put in the compromising position she was. Noel terrified her that night—and she didn’t want to feel that way again.

“Harlow, you have a visitor.”

She turned her eyes to her door where the sound of her father’s voice was coming, “Password?” She chuckled softly, expecting her best friend to come bouncing into the room.

“Alohomora,” the guest chuckled, opening the door.

She gasped softly, “What the hell are you doing here?”

John laughed, “Well nice to see you too, Har.”

“I’m sorry—I just wasn’t expecting you to be here…in my house, at seven thirty in the morning,” she replied gently, sitting back onto her bed.

“Well, I just figured since you had been ignoring me all week at school and my calls, I had no other choice but to ambush you,” he said simply. He looked down at the books laid out on her bed, “Calculus AP—at seven thirty in the morning? Why do you hate yourself so much?”

Harlow shrugged, “Harvard likes AP classes.”

John shut the book, throwing it onto her desk and sitting next to her on her bed, “No one else does though. So, what are you doing today?”

“I—I don’t know,” she said simply, standing up from her mattress and grabbing her chapstick from across the room. “It’s early still.”

“Too early,” John groaned, lying back on her bed.

“Why are you here, O’Callaghan?” She asked simply, getting to the point, leaning against the desk behind her.

He smiled devilishly, “I’m kidnapping you.”

Harlow cocked an eyebrow, “Oh you are?”

“Yes, so pack your stuff up,” he said simply, grabbing a purse from next to her bed and throwing it at her.

“Where exactly am I going? And who said I want to go?” She argued, looking taken aback.

John grinned and began walking around her room, throwing random stuff in a bag for her, “It’s a three day weekend, so you my friend, are coming with myself and some of my friends to Lake Havasu. My grandparents have a boat and trailer and stuff down there.”

Harlow shook her head at him with wide eyes, “John, I don’t want to go, okay? So thanks, but no thanks. Besides my parents won’t let me go.”

He smirked, his green eyes lighting up, “I already asked your dad. He said you need to get out of the house.”

Harlow raised her eyebrows in surprise, “How did you manage that?”

John chuckled, “I think you’re forgetting how much of a compelling young lad I am.”

She rolled her eyes, “Right.” She looked at him before laughing softly as she looked at what was in his hands, “John, why are you packing a snow globe?”

He looked down at the object in his hands before placing it back on the shelf, “Maybe I’ll just let you pack.”

“I still don’t want to go, John,” she said honestly, watching as his shoulders dropped.

“Har, I owe you. Come on, let me make it up to you. Just come out and I promise you’ll have fun, all right?” He pleaded, looking at her sincerely.

Harlow looked at his pout before deciding against her better judgments, “Give me five minutes.”

John smiled in triumph before telling her he’d be waiting downstairs with his new best friend—her dad. Harlow grabbed a small bag from her floor, throwing in some jean shorts and tank tops. She threw in a light jacket before grabbing her bathroom appliances.

“Why is O’Callaghan downstairs talking to dad?”

Harlow looked over at her twin sister, who was wearing merely an oversized t-shirt and boy shorts. “He invited me to go to the lake with him this weekend,” she shrugged simply.

Elena scoffed, “What are you doing, Harlow?”

Harlow looked down and bit her lip. Elena was right: this wasn’t her. She wouldn’t normally be doing this—she would be with Aimee or studying, or running at the gym. She didn’t hang out with these kids. This wasn’t her scene.

She listened as her sister sighed before walking over to her. She opened her top drawer and threw her an embellished grey bikini. She smiled softly, touching her shoulder, “It makes your boobs look awesome.”

Harlow laughed softly, thanking her sister and watching her walk back the hallway to her room. It felt nice to have a moment with her sister where they weren’t in an awkward silence or fighting. They hadn’t had that in months now.

Harlow finished packing her bag and walked down into the living room where her dad and John were laughing with each other. She watched as John smirked at her clothing—a bikini underneath a sheer tank top and small denim shorts and she rolled her eyes. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”

Her father gave her a kiss on the forehead and wished her a farewell before she jumped into John’s car. It must’ve been his parents’ because it wasn’t his normal pickup truck; this one actually had a decent air conditioning. They made their way into another neighborhood, listening to the soft hums of John Mayer’s voice.

As they pulled up to a house (that wasn’t John’s) Harlow looked at him nervously, “Where are we?”

“Oh, Halvo and his girlfriend of the week are riding up with us,” John laughed.

Harlow felt nerves gather in her stomach. It took her weeks to warm up to John—and he was always easier to talk to than Eric from what she had always thought although she had never personally talked with him.

She watched as Eric bounded down the steps with a bag over his shoulder and a small brunette following from behind him carrying her own assortment of luggage. She looked at John who held a small smile on his lips, “It’s going to be okay. He’s not all that bad,” John laughed.

Harlow nodded her head, feeling her stomach tighten as Eric opened the door. “What up, bitches?” He laughed.

She rolled her eyes; he was just like the John. The John she used to not like.

John laughed softly, looking at Harlow slyly, “Hey Halvo, you remember Harlow right?”

Eric smiled and stuck his hand out to her with a big grin, “Eric Halvorsen at your service, ma’am.”

Harlow laughed softly, shaking his hand, “Nice to meet you.”

She looked at the girl in the back seat. She had shining green eyes and dark brown hair with a white smile, “I’m Lisa,” the girl smiled sweetly.

“Harlow,” she responded, shaking her hand as well.

“Good, now, let’s get this show on the road!” John grinned, putting the car in drive and peeling down the highway.

*

“Eric, I need more sunscreen please.”

Harlow peered over the top of her magazine and watched as Eric rubbed his hands over Lisa’s body coating her in tanning oil. She rolled her eyes as the girl shamelessly flirted with him. Sure, the girl had been nothing but nice, Eric as well, but as soon as they had reached the beach they had been all over one another.

“Need any tanning lotion, Har?” John laughed, nodding his head to the couple.

She scoffed, “Nice try, O’Callaghan.”

John chuckled before lying down a towel and laying his half naked body next to her. She peered at his thin, but toned frame noticing that he wasn’t as repulsing as she made up in her mind. “Are you having fun?”

Harlow smiled sincerely, raising her thin body up onto her elbows. She watched as his friends all pushed each other around in the water. She knew them all from school, Garrett and Pat were juniors, but Jared was in her class. The girls were all from other schools but she honestly didn’t care about them much—she had never really gotten along well with other girls simply because she wasn’t really like them. “I am actually, thank you John.”

And it was true. John was right on the fact that she needed to get out of the house, away from her books and relax. She didn’t relax much, especially not with finals coming in a few short weeks as well as having to tutor John, but today was just a day she could chill—and it felt good.

“You’re welcome,” John smiled, cockily.

She rolled her eyes with a small smile on her lips. She laid back in the sand letting the sun soak into her tanning skin. She listened as her phone started vibrating next to her, but as she reached for it someone grabbed it first.

“Hello?” John answered with a smile on his lips.

“John,” Harlow groaned, watching a his big grin grow.

“Ah yes, you must be Aimee. I’m John,” he said into the receiver. She watched as he listened to girl on the other side of the line, an amused look on his lips. She could only imagine what Aimee was saying to him. “Uh huh…oh really? No, Harlow never told me that before. Well, that’s nice to know. Thank you, Aimee. Oh and I will be sure to tell her that for you…uh huh, it was nice talking to you too. All right, bye.”

John closed her phone and handed it back to her with a smirk.

“What did she say?” Harlow groaned, laying back onto the towel below her.

“être sûr?” He laughed in a question, trying his best to use a French accent.

She rolled her eyes as she listened to the words that made sense to her, and thankfully not John. ‘être sûr’ was French for ‘be safe.’

“What does it mean?” John asked, intrigued.

Harlow looked at him from the corner of her eye with a smirk before sliding her sunglasses over her eyes, “Don’t worry about it, O’Callaghan.”

She listened as he chuckled, “Peterson, don’t be like that.”

Harlow rolled her eyes and stretched her body out, suddenly feeling a pair of eyes on her frame. She had seen John check her out multiple times throughout the day and she wouldn’t be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. She wanted to impress him—especially in front of his friends. She didn’t know why either. It wasn’t like she had ever cared about impressing these kids before.

“And what are you going to do about it, John?” Harlow chuckled, watching him smirk.

Suddenly her thin body was being lifted into the air, squeals falling from in-between her lips. John threw her over his shoulder, her face being splashed from the water by his feet as he trampled into Lake Havasu. She shrieked as John fell to his knees, dunking them both under water. Her entire body was met with the cool water of the lake, which felt refreshing from the hot air outside. As she resurfaced she realized she was still laughing, which brought a smile to the boy’s next her lips.

“Ah Harlow he got you!” Jared yelled from across the water, laughing at the couple.

Harlow blushed softly, happy with the way that she seemed to get along surprisingly well with John’s friends. “Don’t you worry, I’ll get him back,” she laughed whole heartedly, smiling at the boys replies on how ‘John O better watch his back.’

The group continued to play under the sun who was burning their skin a bright shade of red. They played horseshoes, volleyball, and even tackle football until the sun went down. The boys decided to display that they were ‘men’ and barbeque for the girls, letting them set up the tents on the beach for the night, taking advantage of the warm weather.

By the time the sun was down Garrett and Pat had successfully started a fire and as the group all sat down to eat, Harlow suddenly became nervous. All day long she had had the buffer of being able to do something else, play in the water or simply pretend she was asleep when conversation was over. But around a fire people were expected to make conversation and she really didn’t want to be the one sitting there silently.

“Do you mind if I sit down next to you?”

Harlow looked up at the voice that was now standing in her presence, shaking her head as he sat down on the sand next to her. Everyone else was dishing up their food but she was waiting, sitting by the fire, waiting for everyone to finish getting their meals ready.

“My boy has got it bad for you, you know that?”

Harlow looked over to Eric who was looking at her with a small smirk on his lips. “Who? John? No—we, we’re just friends,” she replied simply, feeling her cheeks blush involuntarily. A boy like John O’Callaghan could never like her.

Halvo shook his head, chuckling, “Harlow, he wouldn’t have brought you here if he didn’t. We all brought dates with us—he chose you, dear.”

Harlow looked down, sure that her cheeks were a crimson red by this point. Who would know better than John’s other half? Eric could read his best friend just like she could read Aimee. But she was scared; did she have feelings for John? Sure, their friendship had been rocky to this point, but he had also given her some of the most fun times she had experienced in a while. “I—I don’t really know what to say,” she laughed awkwardly.

Eric smiled at her innocently, wrapping his arm around her shoulder friendly, “If he hurts you, I’ll kick his ass.”

Harlow laughed softly, looking up at the boy, “Thanks Eric.”

“Call me Halvo, dear. I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot more of you for a while.”

She watched nervously as Eric sauntered away into the sand, her eyes falling onto John who was looking at them wearily. And as she felt newfound butterflies in her stomach as he gave her a small innocent smile, she couldn’t help but to feel that something was off.

A warning that she was for once thinking about ignoring.

*

John listened to the laughter of his friends, smiling as the girl next to him joined in comfortably. “Oh God, Harlow. Did John ever tell you about that time that he lost a bet to me in billiards?” Jared laughed, reminiscing.

“Okay Jared, let’s not tell this story please,” he groaned, covering his face.

Harlow smiled, looking at John, “No! I want to hear it.”

“Well, he bet me he could beat me at billiards and he lost, naturally,” Jared started, laughing in anticipation. “So, I dared him to walk but naked down his street with only tassels on his nipples to Erica Ramirez’s house, because God only knows how bad she wanted him at the time.” John started laughing softly, covering his face in remembrance of where this story was heading. Jared continued, “And so he taps on Erica’s window, talking dirty to her as she opened the bottom of the window. Then, all we hear is the sound of a shot gun being loaded and all we see is John running his bare naked ass off down the street.”

Harlow started laughing along with the group as John shook his head. “You douche bags could have told me that was her mom and dad’s room,” he mumbled.

Their laughter grew and the group continued to tell embarrassing stories of one another and all the stupid stuff they had done over their high school career. Within an hour most of the group had dwindled away into their tents, leaving Harlow, Lisa, he and Eric.

John pulled away from the group and went and sat on the back of his grandparent’s boat, his feet hanging off the edge as he stared out onto the smooth ripples of the water. He grabbed a guitar from inside the pontoon boat and began dwindling with a few chords.

He listened as footsteps approached from behind him, and soon someone was sitting next to him. “Sounds like you lose a lot of bets,” she laughed softly.

John felt an involuntary chill run up his spine. God, if she only knew. “Uh yeah,” he laughed nervously. “I guess I’m just unlucky.”

Harlow shrugged, giving him a small smile, “Sometimes you have to just make your own luck.”

“I suppose.”

The two sat quietly, just enjoying the quiet sound of the rustling water and the crackling fire from behind them. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t been stealing glances at the girl from the corner of his eye, just taking in her natural beauty. Her long blonde hair was falling in beach waves, and her tanned skin glowed under the moon light.

“Play me a song, John,” Harlow said softly.

He smiled gently at her words, “What would you like to hear?”

She looked at him with a pleasant grin, “Anything.”

John played the first chords that came into his mind, surprised when he watched an excited smile make its way onto Harlow’s lips. He began to sing softly, “This is the first day of my life, swear I was born right in the doorway. I went out in the rain, suddenly everything changed. They're spreading blankets on the beach.”

He smiled as Harlow began to sing softly alongside him, “Yours was the first face that I saw. I think I was blind before I met you. I don't know where I am, I don't know where I've been. But I know where I want to go.”

They sang with one another with smiles on their faces. Her voice wasn’t amazing, but she wasn’t horrible, and perhaps it was her imperfections that made her so beautiful in that moment. Harlow Peterson, the girl who always had to be flawless was letting her guard down. She was letting him see the side of her that no one else did.

“So if you want to be with me, with these things there's no telling, we'll just have to wait and see. But I'd rather be working for a paycheck than waiting to win the lottery. Besides, maybe this time is different. I mean, I really think you like me,” they finished quietly, staring out into the moonlight reflected on the water.

John smiled happily as they stared out into the darkness, a comfortable silence between them. Harlow giggled softly a few moments later when they heard moans coming from one of the tents and he just rolled his eyes at the hook ups he was used to hearing.

“I didn’t know you liked Bright Eyes,” John commented, placing his guitar next to him, looking at the girl next to him who was such a mystery.

Harlow smiled, “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, John.”

He looked at her nervously, letting his voice drop. “Let me,” he said softly, catching her attention.

She gazed down at her toes that were making soft ripples in the water below them. She looked up a few seconds later with an open smile on her lips, “What do you want to know?”

John grinned, feeling a blush on his cheeks, “Everything.”