Let's Pretend It's Love

It had been nearly a week since Elise had seen Harry at the Halloween party. He’d worn a greaser’s outfit, along with the other boys of the Omega house. Much to her dismay, his costume had matched hers perfectly. They hadn’t talked at all at the party, and when she saw him leave arm in arm with the short blonde girl dressed as Little Bo Peep, she knew she was right about him.

With her arms wrapped around one of her textbooks, Elise began the long walk from the library back to her sorority house. The cool November air whipping against her face sent a shiver down her spine. Her hand moved to her pea coat, snapping the buttons down the front. The wool scarf did little to help the chill from reaching her neck, and she suddenly wished she’d worn her hair down.

“Cold, isn’t it?”

Elise’s head turned to find the curly haired boy smiling back at her. His toothy grin brought a smile to her face, despite the fact that she didn’t want it to. He was handsome; she had to give him that.

“It is.” Elise spoke softly, her words quick and short.

Harry kept the smile on his face. “You headed back to the house?”

“Yes, you’re not, are you?” Elise’s eyes tightened, her mind racing to figure out why he would be going to her sorority house. It couldn’t be one of her sisters.

“To mine, not yours,” Harry said, giving a soft laugh. “I was just going to see if you wanted a ride.”

Elise let out a relieved sigh, before moving her head to face him. “You drove? Why would you drive?”

Harry shrugged. “I just got a new car over summer so I wanna get some use out of it. What’d ya say?”

The wind slapped her in the face, reminding her yet again how cold it could be in November. It was at least a twenty minute walk back to the house, and it was less than a five minute drive. She supposed she could stand being next to the promiscuous boy for the short amount of time.

“That sounds great,” Elise said, her hesitance completely masked by her smile. “Thank you.”

Elise followed Harry to his car, which was in the parking lot just a few feet away. It was a pretty little black car, the make and model unknown to Elise. He pulled his door open, while Elise slid into the passenger seat.

The heater was warm the moment he turned the car on, making Elise wonder how long it had been parked car. On a cold day, a heater could go cool in a matter of minutes.

Harry’s hand moved to the stereo, turning down the volume as he pulled out of the parking space. He was a good driver, taking smooth turns and slow stops. Elise had imagined that he’d be revving up the engine and going as fast as he could.

“So, did you have fun at the Halloween party?” Harry asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

“I did.” Elise nodded. “I loved seeing everyone’s costumes.”

“We even matched.” Harry raised his eyebrows, turning his head away from the road to smirk at her. It was no wonder he had a reputation for breaking girls’ hearts. With a smile like that, there was no way he couldn’t.

Elise gave a small laugh, just barely a chuckle. “I blame Rhianne."

Nodding his head, Harry let out a full laugh, his dimple filling his cheek as he did so. “Yeah, I think she set Liam up to it and he roped the rest of into it. Zayn did look pretty handsome with his hair slicked back.”

“He does,” Elise said, giving him a quick nod.

The boy turned to her, another large smirk on his face. If he didn’t stop doing that, Elise worried that he’d have her bedded within a matter of days. Her pride was too big to let that happen. Elise Monroe was not a notch on anyone’s bed post, and she wasn’t about to start with Harry. She once heard he’d had to buy a new bed post when there wasn’t any room for more notches in his old one.

As the car pulled into the long driveway of the Zeta house, Elise immediately placed her hand on the door handle, preparing to open it.

“Thank you for driving me,” she said, “I really appreciate it.”

Shaking his head, Harry smiled. “It’s not a problem, really. You’re right across the road.”

Elise nodded, before pulling the handle out to open the door. It clicked open, but before she could step out, Harry placed his hand on her elbow, causing her to freeze.

“Elise,” he said, before taking a quick breath. He paused for a moment, just long enough for her to start to worry. “Liam and Rhianne are getting pretty serious, y’know? I imagine we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other here and there.” He tapped his fingers against his steering wheel. “I like you, Elise. I think you’re a cute girl and I like being round you. You’re going to start to like me, too. Everyone does at some point.”

Her eyes tightened, as she gave the boy a quick glare. Rolling her eyes, she pushed the door open and stepped back out into the cold. In only a few seconds, what was almost a precious moment between the two of them turned into a mush of cold feelings from Elise.

His cockiness, what was usually a major turn on for other girls, simply pissed her off. The entire time he spoke, she wondered how many other girls he’d said those exact words to. It could have been thirty or more. She wouldn’t be surprised.

Harry was bad news and she had to stay away. Even if two of their best friends were dating, Elise was going to keep as far away from him as possible.