Shine On

“Harper! Answer your fucking phone!” was the first thing Harper heard that morning. She wasn’t sure which one of her friends said it since she was barely awake. She felt around the couch for her phone not wanting to open her eyes. She found it underneath her head. How it got there, she had no idea. She opened her eyes slightly to see where to hit the answer button on the touch screen, then closed them again.

“Hello?” She croaked.

“Harper, sweetie! Hello!” She heard her mother coo a little too cheerful for the morning.

“Uh...hi.” She rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. Melody, Jess, and Kaylee were all sprawled out on the living room floor sleeping soundly. The bright sun shining through the kitchen window hurt her eyes.

“Did you just wake up?” Her mother asked.

“Erm, yeah.” She replied while stretching and yawning at the same time.

“Harper.” Her mother said disapprovingly. “Don’t you have school?”

She rolled her eyes. “No, Mom. I’m on break.” She felt like telling her that she was 21 years old, not 10.

Her mother started going off about something Harper could care less about at that moment, so she took her phone away from her ear to look at the time; it read 10:15. She really should have been getting ready, but her sluggish self took over. She remained laying on the couch.

“...,so I told them you would be over for lunch. Is that alright with you?” Her mother said when Harper put the phone back up to her ear.

She yawned again. “Um...yeah. Wait no! I have plans tonight.”

“What plans are more important than your family?” Her mother asked condescendingly. She always had a way of guilting people into things.

Harper sighed heavily to contain her irritation. “The plans I have with...a friend.” Harper wasn’t ready to introduce Rupert to her family yet, let alone tell them about him. If she had it her way, they would never meet him.

“Well why don’t you bring your friend along then?”

Harper groaned. “Mom, no. We have plans.”

“If they’re a good friend to you, they wouldn’t mind coming over here with you instead of whatever other shenanigans you were going to do.” Her mom retorted in a snobbish tone. “Lunch is at noon. You better get a move on. See you later, sweetie. Bye!” And she hung up before Harper could argue back.

She threw her phone to the end of the couch and screamed into a pillow. What the hell was she going to do? She really didn’t want to go over to her parents’ house and she didn’t want to cancel her day with Rupert. She didn’t know how much time she would have with him. They thought of Rupert having lunch with her mom was horrifying. Her mother was so stuck-up and fake. Her father felt the same way about her mother and left when she was 15 without a word since. Her step-father was outgoing and easy to be around, but his job took over most of his life. She didn’t even want to think about what would happen if her extended family was be there. The more she thought about it, the angrier and more upset she got. She decided to take a shower to calm herself down and she was late after all.

The shower didn’t help her racing mind and aggravation. She didn’t even care to pick out what to wear. She threw on the first items of clothing she saw; an off the shoulder Beatles t-shirt with faded jeans. She started to put on some eyeliner when there was a knock at her bedroom door. “Come in!” She called out. She didn’t look up from her mirror when the door shut. Assuming it was one of the girls, she decided to lash out. “I’m so fucking pissed.”

Rupert appeared in the background of the mirror taking in her bedroom. He looked so good; he had on a t-shirt with Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter on the front with a red cardigan over it with jeans. Harper’s heartbeat quickened. She stopped applying make-up after she finished with the eyeliner and faced him. “Nice shirt.” She greeted.

Rupert looked down as if he forgot what he was wearing. He laughed. “Yeah! I heard Harry Potter was quite brilliant, so I needed a shirt with him on it.”

Harper grinned at his comical reply. If anyone else had given him that compliment, he probably would have politely thanked them. She felt special that he acted more comfortable with her than he did with most people.

He nodded towards Harper’s mirror. “What are you doing over there?”

Harper was confused. She thought it was pretty clear what she was doing when he walked into her room. “Uh...putting on make-up?” She asked unsure of what he meant by the question.

“Yeah. What for? You don’t need it.” He replied. His manner was sincere. He wasn’t trying to give her a compliment, it was a serious question.

Harper shrugged. “It makes me feel pretty.”

Rupert looked baffled. “But you are. You’re quite lovely.”

She smiled weakly. “I’m glad you think so.”

“I know so.” He said as he came over to her. He moved a strand of wet hair away from her face. He stared intently into her eyes. She still could not get over how captivating and blue his eyes were. She had to remind herself to breath. “You’re beautiful to me.”

This time she couldn’t breath at all. She didn’t reply. No words would form in her head. She just stared at him with her mouth opened. People would compliment her appearance every now and then, but she never trusted what they said. She assumed they were just being nice. She knew Rupert rarely expressed emotions. When he did, he genuinely meant it. For the first time, she believed a compliment that was given to her. He slowly leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth. She then kissed him back full on the lips. All Harper could think was how crazy she was about him. It was as if fireworks were being shot off in her stomach. Her heart was throbbing inside of her chest. She knew, that moment, that she was falling for Rupert and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“Um yeah, we should go.” He said when they pulled away from each other. He grasped her hand and started to lead her out the door. Harper didn’t move.

“There might be a slight problem.” She told him nervously. His facial expression remained blank as he watched her. “My mom called and she wants me to come over for lunch with you.” There was uncertainty in her voice. Why would he want to meet her family now? She didn’t even wish to know her family.

“Okay. Cool.” He replied unconcerned. He went to lead her out the door, once again, but she tugged on his hand making him trip over himself to her. “Thanks for that.”

“Sorry! But I want to make sure you thought your answer through.”

He was unmoved. His eyebrows furrowed at her. “Uh yeah?”

“You’re not bothered by meeting my family at all?” She asked perplexed by his calmness.

He gave a tiny laugh. “No, not at all. Come on then.” He pulled her by her hand and this time she went with him.

“You’re going to regret saying that, just warning you.”