Know Your Enemy

“Mom, this was the best idea you’ve had since I can’t remember when,” I said as I shoved a spoonful of chocolate ice cream in my mouth. My mother laughed her signature giggle and slowly slipped her spoon in the carton we were sharing. After all the stress we’ve both had, we decided it would be a good idea to curl up on the couch and watch I Love Lucy.

“I knew you’d like this. You are your father’s daughter, after all.” She giggled again, and I just stared at her. One, because my mother never giggles this many times while talking to me and two, because she never brings up my father.

She turned her attention to me, and her gaze faltered. She knew she slipped up. “Now, Harlow, it’s not polite to stare,” she mumbled, and I rolled my eyes.

“Just odd that you brought up dad, that’s all.”

She continued to stare at the television, so I knew the conversation was over. As we sat in silence, the phone started to ring, so my mother got up, leaving me to stretch out on the couch. I heard her giggle, again, then the kitchen chair being pulled out for her to sit, so I knew it was Louis’s dad; otherwise, she would have hung up in a matter of minutes. It was a new thing for her, talking on the phone for long periods of time. Before, she had never quite liked doing that.

I sighed as I glanced at the carton of chocolaty goodness in front of me and whimpered when I saw it was nearing the bottom.

Just as I was getting comfortable, the doorbell rang, which struck me as odd. It was 9:00 at night. Who would visit at this hour?

I got up hesitantly and made my way to the door and peeked through the window. I opened the door and was surprised.

“Clara?” She looked sheepishly at the ground and tapped her white sneakers together, looking like a five year old that was in trouble.

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you. I just really needed to talk to you.” She bit her bottom lip, and I couldn’t help but sigh. She looked so disheveled.

“You can come in, if ya want,” I stated bluntly, still ticked off at her for the other night.

She nodded and stepped in the house hesitantly.

“The house won’t bite,” I joked, and she laughed, some of the nerves starting to go away.

I sat back down in my spot, and she took my mother’s arm chair across from me. I turned the television off and sat in a basket seat, just staring at her. “So, what’s shaking?”

She sighed and ran a hand over her curls before placing it in her lap. “Well, first, I’d really like to apologize for the other night. Things got way out of control, and I was not acting like a lady at all. I’m just so sorry.” I nodded my head, and she looked at me wearily before going on. “And second, I talked to Liam, right? And I thought things were all fine and dandy between us, ya know, because we’re best friends, but now,” she faltered, and I gave her a questioning look.

“But now what?” I asked.

She sighed. “But now, he admitted that he likes me because he asked if I like Louis, and I panicked, and he knows I do, so he just laid that one on me, and I faltered because that’s really big news and,” I stopped her.

“Clara, breathe.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. “So then he hung up, and I mean, I should like Liam. Everyone thinks I do, but I don’t, and I don’t know why, and Louis’s so nice-.” That’s when she shut up.

I raised my eyebrow at her, and she blushed a deep red. “Ah, now I see where this is going.”

She looked at me sheepishly again. “What do I do, Harlow?” she asked, her voice pleading.

“Who do you like, Clara?” I asked her back, and her eyes widened.

“Well, I like Liam, but I really like Louis, but that would never work because we’re not from the same type of family.”

“Clara,” my voice softened. “Who do you like?”

She just kind of stared at me, then took a long sigh. “Louis,” she whispered, and I smiled.

“See, was that so hard?” She tried to smile, but I knew this was all hard for her.

“But, Harlow, I can’t be with him. I just can’t.”

“Says who, Clara? You’re the most popular girl in school. Everyone admires you, and just because you’d be dating Louis does not make you a bad person. Louis isn’t even that bad of a kid. Trust me, I would know.”

She sighed. “Harlow, it’s just not that easy around here. I like Louis, but I can’t be with him.”

I watched as she sat back in the chair, a relaxed pose I didn’t see very much with Clara. I listened to my mom as she chatted away with Louis’s dad, and I thought about my own failing love life.

“Harlow!” I heard Clara yell, and my head snapped up.

“What?” Clara rolled her eyes, and I saw the ghost of a smile appear on her face.

“Thanks for listening to me.” She smiled, and I smiled back.

“No problem.” With that, we both got up and headed towards the door. As she turned the handle, I stopped her.

“Clara, wait.” She turned to look at me.

“Even though I think you should go for what you want, please don’t hurt Louis. He really likes you, and I don’t want to see him upset. Like I said before, he’s not a bad kid, and he’s a really nice guy. Just give him a chance.” I watched as the emotions ran over her like a tidal wave, a sad smile appearing on her face. She nodded slowly and descended down the stairs, running slightly down the street and out of sight.