Contagious Chemistry

The next morning could have gone smoother if it wasn’t for Harper’s father. She couldn’t believe how upset he was over her date with Josh. She was even more shocked at what he’d doomed her to.

“Until New Year’s Eve you’re not allowed to leave the house for anything but school related activities, doctor’s appointments, and visitation of your grandparents..” Harper gaped. “What the hell Dad?! I go out to do something fun for a change and you ground me?! Really?” Harper looked to her mother for help, who just smiled apologetically at her before returning her attention to her phone. “This is a joke right?”

“No it is not a joke. Not only did you lie to me but you were out way past curfew.”

“I didn’t even know I had a curfew! And I didn’t lie to you about anything!” Uh-oh. Was it possible that he’d somehow found out that instead of going out to eat they went back to his house to do other things? Impossible. “How do you even have proof?” Her father let out a laugh, one that made Harper even more irritated than she was. “It’s on your neck.” Her eyes widened and her hand flew to the area that Josh had kissed. No way. No fucking way. Her father sighed and grabbed his coffee before brushing past her. “Should have just been honest. You would have been grounded either way though” was all he said as he walked down into their basement. When he disappeared Harper ran into the hallway bathroom and flipped the light switch to see a large bruise just below her ear. “Wonderful” she muttered, heading back into the kitchen to get a bowl of cereal. Her mother spoke a few words but Harper ignored them making her way up the stairs and into her room. Might as well call this jail she thought, setting the bowl down on her desk and looking out the window.

Her phone pinged and she picked up, finding a text from Josh. He of course asked her to hang out, which made Harper more frustrated. Her father was being so stupid about this, and the worst part of it all was that her mom didn’t even try to help her. She debated sneaking out but figured that’d only get her into more “trouble” than she already was.

[Harper]: i can’t. dad is being an ass and grounded me. :(
[Josh]: wtf? rnt u too old for that?
[Harper]: guess not. .he saw the hickey on my neck so technically this is ur fault. -_-
[Josh]: no, ur fault cuz you didn’t hide it well enough. what’d u use to cover it up?
[Harper]: i didn’t.
[Josh]: r u serious. Hopper that’s common knowledge for every girl.
[Harper]: not common enough. i don’t go around making out with boys everyday.
[Josh]: but u hve before. hvent u?
[Harper]: i guess

She set her phone off to the side and took a bite of her cereal, making a disgusted noise when she felt the soggy texture in her mouth. She didn’t feel like talking about her past experience with boys--plus there wasn’t much to talk about. Bummed and angry, Harper made the best of that weekend. She did her homework that was due for the week, cleaned her room and her bathroom, and even learned a new Blink-182 song. When she arrived at school on Monday Josh was absent, and when she asked why he said it was a family emergency.

On the way to her locker Trisha and her groupies walked up to her, circling her like they did last time around. Shit, not this again she thought. Trying to keep it cool she smiled at them and opened up her locker, switching out her books for the afternoon. “Nice hickey, skank. We saw you with Josh on Saturday night. What happened? Did you force him to take you on a date?”

“Um...no actually, he asked me to go.”

“Ha, you’re so funny!” Trisha commented sarcastically. “Josh would never go out with a girl like you.”

“How would you know that...he’s only been here for a month.”

“Exactly. He’ll realize soon enough how much of an ugly bitch you are and he’ll kick you to the curb.” Harper already wasn't in a good mood and Trisha was really pushing it. “Or he’ll realize how much of an ugly bitch you are--wait, I take that back. He already has” Harper snapped, slamming her locker door. Seemed to be a habit whenever Trisha was around.

“Excuse me? Wanna say that again you whore?”

“Sure: YOU’RE AN UGLY BITCH. Your personality is ugly, which pretty much ruins whatever else you had that you consider ‘hot’. You've slept with every guy on the football team and the only friends you have are these idiots because they’re just as desperate as you are! I've had enough of you stalking my every move with Josh and I don’t give a shit about your opinion anymore, so please get the FUCK out of my face!” Harper’s voice had risen quite a few decibels and was enough to silence Trisha and her friends. Without giving it a second thought she pushed passed the girls towards the cafeteria.

Harper’s afternoon was full of mind-numbing worksheets and lectures, along with a pop quiz in her 7th period. When she got home she walked straight to her room, not even bothering to say hello to her brother. When someone knocked on the door she let out a groan and shouted “WHAT?!” Travis, her brother, opened the door with a frown on his face. “Jesus, what crawled up your ass?”

“Everyone and everything!” The two exchanged looks before Travis laughed. “Might want to get that checked out.”

“That wasn’t funny I’m being serious. Yesterday was shit and I’m grounded until fucking New Year’s just because dad saw this” Harper pointed to her neck before turning back to her backpack. “I heard.” He took a seat at the edge of her bed and glanced around the room at the posters on her wall.. “I don’t think there’s a single inch of wall visible anymore.”

“Probably not. Wait why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be on campus in class or something?”

“Campus is 20 minutes away, I can spare a few hours to visit you guys.”

“I never understood why you decided to get a dorm if we live so close…”

“Because of dad.” Harper made an ‘O’ with her mouth before taking a seat next to him. They talked for a while and caught up with each other’s lives; Travis’s girlfriend cheated on him so he hooked up with her best friend. He also went to a party and got completely hammered, even though he was the designated driver. “I’m not saying that you need to not party, but please be careful. Do you know how many people your age--”

“die every year from drunk driving I know, I know. It was a mistake and I won’t do it again.”

“You promise?” Travis looked at her with a blank expression and nodded. She frowned, knowing that he probably didn’t care or want to listen to her. Aside from Josh and her parents Travis was the only other person Harper was close to. He was there through all her weird middle school problems and her toxic friendship with Trisha, and she couldn’t imagine losing him.

The doorbell rang and the siblings listened as her mother opened the door. When called Harper groaned and stood, leaning over the rail to see Josh. “Hi there.”

“Hey...what are you doing here?” She asked hesitantly. She saw her father appear and cringed, expecting him to yell at Josh or to tell him to get lost--or both. As Harper walked downstairs she saw an older woman walk in next to him, who extended her hand to Harper. “Hi, you must be Harper! I’m Josh’s Mom, Chloe.” Harper shook her hand, giving Josh a questionable glance. “Nice to meet you.” His mom shook her mom and dad’s hands before tucking them into her jacket pocket. “So, what’s the occasion?” Harper’s mother asked, glancing between the two teens. Chloe grinned and looked to her son. “Well, Josh and I had an idea but we didn’t know what your views would be.” Harper’s parents exchanged looks and her father crossed his arms. “What is it?”

“I want Harper to come with us to England over Thanksgiving break.”