Contagious Chemistry

The next day Harper made sure to get to school slightly later than usual. She didn't want to take the chance of running into him before the day even started, let alone sit through twenty minutes of an awkward silence before class. On her drive to school she replayed their conversation in her mind, cringing at her new nickname. "Hopper? What an unusual name, especially for a girl!" She had received bullying in the past about her name, but Hopper was a new one to add to her list.

"He's from England Harp, cut the boy some slack!" Her mom said the night before. "He's in an unfamiliar place and just wants to make a friend."

"Well he's got a funny way of showing it..."

She pulled into the school lot around seven fifteen which, in her mind, was perfect timing considering the situation she was in. Her class was at the far end of the school and would probably take more than five minutes to get there. If she got there quicker than planned (which she was sure she wouldn't), Harper would make a quick stop in the bathroom. This plan was so thought out that Harper was certain she wouldn't bump into him. Taking a deep breath Harper slowly but nonchalantly emerged from her car and entered the building. Students in the hall were scurrying about trying to get to class on time, and then there was Harper; leisurely walking down the hall with her hair pulled in front of her shoulders to hide her face. Her iPod was at a low volume and was playing Apple Shampoo. The bell finally rang and Harper smiled to herself.

About halfway through her stroll to class a familiar voice lingered in the air that caused her to freeze on the spot. Almost on an impulse she ran and hid behind a row of lockers. When she peered around the side she could feel the anxiety rising in her as Josh began walking in her general direction. He had on yet another pair of baggy jeans, but instead of a graphic tee he wore a plaid shirt that exposed a small amount of the wife beater underneath. His eyes wandered around to various things in the hall until, ironically, landing on Harper.

"Hopper? Is that you?" She heard his pace quicken until he appeared at her side, a sly grin spread across his lips. "I knew it was you, what are you doing behind the lockers?" She didn't even try to hide her fear this time and cringed as he casually wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "What class are you headed to?" His gaze was impossible to break and Harper took a deep breath before she spoke. "English...you?" Her voice was soft and was drenched in fear. She hoped that he couldn't feel, let alone hear, how quickly her heart was beating. He whipped out a sheet of paper and skimmed the first few lines before chuckling. "Well I'll be damned, I'm headed to that class too." Harper sighed shakily. Her plan was unraveling before her eyes and all she could do about it was nothing.

"Joy," she said sarcastically. "Let me guess, you have Photo next class too?" The volume on her iPod slowly increased as he looked down at his schedule more. He shook his head and Harper breathed a sigh of relief. At least I have one class to myself she thought, feeling the panic dissipate a little more. His mood suddenly shifted and he dropped the arm he had wrapped around her shoulders. He proceeded to stop in front of her, making her nearly ram straight into his face. "What do you want? Can't you see I'm trying to get to class?" she asked coldly, trying to keep her panic at a low minimum.

"You're awfully rude for a girl" he began, "especially for someone with as cute of a face as yours." Harper could feel the heat rise to her cheeks but managed to keep a straight face. A weird feeling fell over her and she bit her bottom lip. "N-no I'm not." She looked at him skeptically. "You're quick to make assumptions aren't you?"

"Then what's your deal with me?" he asked, completely disregarding her question. The pain in his face was visible and Harper couldn't help but feel bad. She was pretty rude to him not only yesterday but this morning as well, but he was that way to her too so she wasn't totally at fault right?

"We literally just met yesterday, a--"

"So? Ever heard of meeting new people and making friends?"

"My mom told me not to talk to strangers."

"Yeah, I'm sure she did yet here you are still talking to me." His tone changed within a matter of seconds and Harper furrowed her brows at the transition. What was he trying to do?

"It's not like I could have avoided it. Hell, I tried to but you showed up anyway! " Anger and frustration replaced her fear. Josh laughed and ran a hand through his tousled hair. "Still talking..." Harper looked at him with an irritated expression and huffed. "You know, for someone I just met you're pretty rude too. How do you make friends by being such an asshole?"

"You learn to live with it" he replied flatly. She opened her mouth to spit out another insult but the shouting of an administrator kept her from doing so. "What are you two doing out of class? Get to second block now!" they scolded. Josh's gaze flickered from the security guard to Harper, who was now glaring at him with frustrated eyes. A devilish grin threatened to appear but before it did he turned on his heels and walked away. He waved a hand behind him and plainly said, "Later Hopper."

Second block was full of lecturing, notes, and a detention slip given to her by her foul English teacher. Josh was clearly avoiding her, and although Harper was still infuriated with him the cold shoulder hurt. It didn't matter who it was to her, being shut out was one of the many things that drive Harper into a pit of despair. Even so, she got it so much that she just learned to live with it.

Fourth blocked passed uneventfully. Sixth was where shit started to hit the fan. Trisha and her groupies somehow found out about her little spat with Josh and were giving her the evil eye for a good portion of class. When the teacher dismissed them for lunch Trisha and her group walked over to Harper's desk and stared degradingly down on her. Trying to keep her cool she looked up and smiled sarcastically. "You need something?"

Trisha snickered. "Please, like I would need something from you. We just want to have a little chat with you."

"About what?" Harper slowly rose out of her seat and Trisha motioned to the door. "Just about a certain someone and what went down with them this morning." As the five of them walked Harper stopped in between a row of lockers and sighed. "If this is about Josh I don't want to hear it. He's just a boy a--"

"Too bad, you're going to hear it anyway." The girls moved in on her as Trisha spoke to her scornfully. "He doesn't need to be involved with a fucked-up girl like you, so just do yourself a favor and stay away from him. If you think he likes you just because he talked to you then you should stop because there is no reason for him to like you. You're a dirty, good for nothing little emo bitch, which is exactly what Josh isn't into."

Harper swallowed hard and blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. One of Trisha's groupies making cooing noises and laughed mockingly at her. "Aw, what's the matter Harper? Can't take the truth? Why don't you just go cut yourself to make it better? Or better yet, go kill yourself!" All the girls laughed and Harper didn't even try to keep the tears back now. A lone tear fell down her cheek as she struggled to keep a straight face. "H-he's only b-been here for a day, w-what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Aw look girls, she's crying!" They started to shove her around and called her names, taunting her to kill herself. It amused Harper at how quickly people turned on her, and how shitty they could make someone feel. All of this was just over a boy too. She was bullied in years past, but never to this extent. In the back of her mind she knew the tears weren't worth it, but there was only so much a human being can take. Society was so warped nowadays that it didn't take much to drive kids over the edge.

"I think that's enough" Came an angry and very familiar voice. Josh was standing at the end of the locker bay with two other guys, all of them with shocked expressions on their faces. Harper looked at Josh and didn't even try to hide the pain and fear inside of her. He quickly walked between the group of girls and pulled Harper out of the circle, keeping his arm wrapped tightly around her. Trisha and her groupies were just as scared as Harper was and they all scrambled to come up with an excuse. "J-Josh! S-she was saying shit about you and we were just taking care of it!!"

"Bullshit! I heard your whole conversation and it made me sick. How do you gather up the nerve to say things like that to someone? You all disgust me, I hope you all rot in hell." The other two boys forced Trisha and her group out of the locker bay as Josh slid to the ground with Harper. She tried pushing him away and told him to go away but he stayed anyway.

"Harper, just let me help you" he said gently. She shook her head as she choked on her sobs. "N-No! T-They'll just come back and h-harass me more, g-get away! You're the r-reason for all of t-this, just g-get away from me!" He quietly shushed her and tried once more to wrap his arms around her. She finally gave in to him and fell into his embrace, sobbing freely and repeatedly whispering, "I'm sorry" He rested his chin on the top of her head and sighed sadly. "It's not your fault, it's okay. Don't listen to them, they're all bitches anyway." An administrator appeared seconds later and Josh helped Harper to her feet, then down the office where a counselor was waiting for her.

The boys that were with Josh before went to get an administrator as soon as Trisha and her group ran off, and they went ahead and told them about what happened to Harper. The counselor asked her a series of questions before telling her to go back to class. Josh started an argument with them as to why Trisha and her group weren't being punished for it but the administrators said, "We can't punish them unless we see it happen." Josh left the room with Harper in tow, outraged by the outcome.

"Do you want me to walk you back to class?" He asked, sitting them down on a bench and looking at her with a worried gaze. He wiped a few stray tears from her eyes and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She shook her head and tried to smile but failed miserably. "No, I'm fine..."

"Don't lie to me, I know you're not fine. I don't care if I'm late to class, fuck it I don't care if I have to skip the rest of the day just to make sure you're okay." She looked up at him with a tired expression and furrowed her brows. "Why are you even helping me, we were just fighting this morning--"

"That doesn't matter anymore," he said. "plus, were you really going to stay mad at me all day? I'm helping you because I know it's my fault this happened. What good of a friend would I be if I just left you?"

"You're not my friend."

Josh sighed and smiled sadly. "That's where you're wrong, love." He stood up and extended a hand to her. "Come on, let's go get your stuff and go home." Too upset and exhausted to fight him she took his hand and he hoisted her to her feet. They walked to her sixth block class and as she gathered her things he explained to the teacher what happened. After dealing with her they proceeded to his class to retrieve his things, then left out one of the back doors to the parking lot. "Do you have your keys?" he asked and she nodded, pointing to a pocket on her backpack. "In there." Josh had offered to drive her home and she argued for him not to, but he did anyway. The entire ride home she was trying to convince him she was fine, even though she clearly wasn't. She started saying things like, "I would have been able to make it through seventh block" and "I'm not a sissy, I'm perfectly fine" to try to convince him but he refused to believe her. Harper eventually stopped and stared blankly out the window at the passing trees and houses, wondering how the hell she ended up in a situation like this.

They turned onto her familiar street and she gave him directions to her house. After pulling into the drive he cut the ignition and turned to look at her with worried eyes. "I'm really sorry this happened, it's probably my fault. I'm also sorry for being a dick this morning and if I made you feel uncomfortable I swear I didn't mean to." She smiled softly and shook her head. "I guess it's fine--I mean you can't help being here right? Here as in McKinley..." A butterfly sensation filled her stomach and she looked down at her lap. "Thanks for being there though, I appreciate it." He let out a small chuckle and shrugged. "Your welcome. So much for not talking to strangers huh?" A giggle escaped Harper's lips and she nodded. "Yeah, I guess." She looked around and saw that he only had his bag with him. "How are you going to get home?"

"Easy, I'll just walk. My house is just a few ways down the road--it's not big deal. You take care of yourself tonight alright? Here," He pulled out a pen from his bag and wrote his number down on a sheet in his agenda. He tore it out and handed it to her. "If you need anything give me a call alright?" Handing the keys to her he grabbed his backpack and exited the vehicle, walking around to her side and opening the door for her. She got out and the two of them stood in the cool autumn air for a brief moment, his number clutched tightly in her hand. "Thank you again" she said. "I'll um...I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled and nodded before starting down the driveway. "Remember to call alright?" Harper nodded and waved goodbye as she walked towards the front door. As she entered her house she watched him walk down the street through the window. So much for being strangers...