Contagious Chemistry

“Absolutely not.” Harper rolled her eyes at her dad’s answer and turned to her mom, praying that she would disagree. Josh pressed his lips together, nodding as a sign of understanding. “I--we--think it would be a good time, and it’d give Harper a chance to meet the rest of the family.” Harper pursed her lips. She didn’t really know what to say. She was only friends with Josh and went on one date with him, and he already wanted to bring her to England?

“Well, we could definitely give it some consideration. Why don’t we all sit in the living room?” Harper’s mother suggested, motioning for the Franceschis to follow. Instead of following them she darted upstairs to her brother, who she assumed heard all of what just happened since he was standing and looking ready to leave. “I’ll come back this weekend. Go take care of your British boyfriend" he teased, giving her a hug before they both went downstairs.

The atmosphere in the living room was tense, which Harper blamed on her father. He was glaring Josh down and clearly making him uncomfortable while Chloe and Harper's mom spoke about motherly things. She took a seat next to Josh, giving him a small smile.. He casually wrapped an arm around her for reassurance and the intensity of her father's stare grew. When the women's conversation didn't falter, Josh cleared his throat and picked up on where they were. "I know it's really sudden that I asked, but I'd really like it if Harper joined us." His mother nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Josh told me all about how wonderful your daughter is. I don't mind if she came with us, we've had friends and girlfriends travel with us in the past." Harper's heart sank. Girlfriends? As in plural? She felt selfish for wanting her to be his only one, but she couldn't help it. Not only was this the first time a guy had this much interest in her, but she actually felt the same way back. The few guys she was with in the past were judgmental and short-lived, which made it hard for Harper to believe there actually were decent guys in the world.

"Would my daughter being going as a friend or a girlfriend?" her father asked, his tone an indication for Josh to say the right thing.. "As a girlfriend--well, if you could give me permission to date her." Harper couldn’t hide the surprised expression on her face and looked down into her lap. She felt like she was in an interrogation room; her father was the cop and both her and Josh were the criminals.

“Girlfriend?” He repeated, completely stunned. “Did you know about this relationship Ms. Franceschi?” Chloe nodded, a worried look forming on her face. “Yes, I wasn’t aware that you two didn’t know.” Now it was Harper’s turn to get the death stare. She looked up sheepishly and flipped her bangs away from her eyes. “S-sorry…” Is this what Hell feels like?

“Well, seeing as you both already established your relationship and have gone on a date I suppose so.” All of Harper’s muscles relaxed when he said that and she gave him an appreciative smile.n“That being said, I don’t exactly feel comfortable with the idea of my daughter travelling cross country with a boy she just met.” There was always a catch with her father; he’d agree to one thing but you had to bargain for the other.

“We’re not strangers dad, he’s been over almost everyday for the past month or so.”

“I’ll have you know Mr. Maisel that my son is very well-mannered and he would never intentionally hurt Harper. You don’t need to make the decision now, we could wait a few more days.”

“There won’t be any waiting needed. Our final answer is--”

“Woah, you didn’t even give Mom a chance to voice her opinion.” Harper objected. “What do you think Mom?” Her mother adjusted the glasses that rested on her nose and cleared her throat. “While I do agree with your father on some of this, I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to go. Between now and the time you leave we can get to know Josh a little better, plus you can start earning money to pay for your ticket.”

“No need to worry about the ticket, we’ll cover the expenses.” Harper turned to Chloe, her mouth hanging open. “I-I can’t let you guys do that...tickets aren’t cheap, especially if we’re going across the Atlantic.” Chloe shook her head and smiled. “It’s our treat Harper, don’t worry about it.” She returned her attention to Mr. and Mrs. Maisel. “So is that your final answer, yes?” As both parents came up with opposing answers Harper threw her head back against the couch. “This is ridiculous…” she muttered to herself. Her parents were constantly disagreeing, and it was infuriating. She was just waiting for the day they got a divorce--as terrible as that sounded.

“We’ll let you know within a few hours.” Harper’s mother scribbled their home number on a post-it and handed it to Chloe. everyone stood as she said goodbye, but Josh lingered at Harper’s side. “Mr. Maisel, I know this may be a lot to ask but is it alright if I stay for a while? I know Harper’s grounded, but you never said anything about--”

“Yes, yes you can stay. Door stays open” he breathed, clearly exhausted from the whole ordeal. Chloe waved goodbye to the two teens as they walked upstairs and into her room. Josh pushed the door a quarter of the way shut and gave Harper a big grin.. “You’re so lucky he’s tired.” He did a little victory dance around her before throwing himself onto the bed. “Or it was my dashing good looks.” That made Harper laugh. “Yeah, it was definitely that.” He chuckled along with her, observing the insane amount of posters in her room. While he did Harper sat quietly on the mattress with her back to him. Multiple thoughts were racing through her head and it was making her nervous; what if she was just another one of his trophy girls? Why hadn’t he asked her to be his girlfriend yet? And why the hell did he want to take her to freaking England? Somehow Trisha’s words always made their way back to Harper and she leaned over onto her hands, holding her face in her hands. She knew that she was bigger person and that what Trisha said was absolute bullshit, but it still made a mark. Pain was never an easy thing for Harper to deal with; her wounds would heal, but they still left their marks and some even reopened. It was never ending.

“You think they’ll let you come with us?” Josh pondered, clearly unaware of Harper’s mental state. “Hard to say, my mom is cool about it but my dad isn’t..”

“Why though? I don’t see what the big deal is--I mean yeah, you’re going to England but he shouldn’t be worried about us. It’s not like I’m going to rape you or let you get lost out on the street.”

“Yeah, well, that’s just how my dad is. I guess. I don’t know.” Harper’s voice was flat and Josh rolled over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She almost immediately pushed him away, making him frown. “What’s the matter? Look at me,” he said, getting off of the bed and moving to kneel in front of her. “Are you crying?”

“Please get out of my face,” she warned, refusing to look at him She wasn’t crying, but she was close to. “Harper, what is wrong? Is it me? Your parents? Trisha?” Just hearing her name made her hurt. “It’s me. My mind is my own worst enemy.” She wiped her eyes and looked up at him finally. “Am I just another one of your trophy girls?” Josh furrowed his brows. He was taken aback by her sudden mood change and began to stand. She thought he was going to leave and felt more tears coming. “I don’t know what you mean by trophy girl….”

“It’s not that hard to figure out. Am I just another girl that you’re going to hook up with, or do I actually mean something to you? Why are you so interested in me all of a sudden?”

“Because I like you, obviously,” he replied, his tone lingering a little.

“Why? You were different when we met. One day you talked to me, one day you didn’t. Then, all of a sudden as Trisha and her gang harass me you come to the rescue and start acting like you care. What kind of game are you trying to get me to play?” Josh was bewildered. “Harper...are you okay?”

“Why aren’t you answering any of my questions?”

“I don’t have any answers to them….” What a liar. “Yes you do, and don’t try to play dumb because what I said wasn’t rocket science.”

Josh thought about her words carefully and soon caught on to what she was hinting at. “Are you accusing me of being a player?” He asked, his tone becoming icy and full of anger. “How is it that when people judge you and say things you don’t wanna hear it’s wrong, but if you say something to someone or judge someone it’s completely okay? Don’t you think that’s a little messed up?”

“Well, if you haven’t noticed I’m pretty messed up to begin with.” Harper furiously wiped her eyes and bit her lip. Harper felt like he was staring right through her to her soul and couldn’t find the courage to look at him back. Both of them just stood there until Josh broke the silence. “I started acting different because I felt bad for you. I saw them close in on you and I listened to your conversation from a far. I almost walked away but I didn’t...” Harper felt her heart shatter and made a fist with her right hand. “So...you started acting like you liked me because you felt bad for me? I don’t need people to feel bad for me, I don’t deserve it and I’m not a sob story!” Her voice rose and Josh held his hands up in surrender. “Ssh, don’t yell, and it wasn’t an act!”

“It was in the beginning though, wasn't it?!” He fell silent and Harper scoffed. “Unbelievable. You can forget about me going to England with you because I definitely don’t want to go.” She pushed him towards the door and he resisted, making her more irritated. “Get out dammit! I don’t need your shitty pity party, I’m not helpless you know!”

“You’re not letting me explain myself!” He pleaded. “Please, I can explain because I actually do--”

“I don’t want to hear it, get out!” She shouted, not even caring that her door was wide open. Josh finally gave up and stumbled out towards the stairs. “Fine. I will. Have a good fucking life!” He shouted in return, causing Harper to slam the door. She heard her father shouting from downstairs and ran over to her bed, burying her face deep within her pillows. She screamed until her throat was raw and cried until she was sure there wasn’t anything left in her. Harper didn’t know what hurt more; the fact she let herself fall for him or knowing that he was with her because he felt bad. She turned over onto her back and rested her sleeve over her eyes. Her breathing returned to normal and her eyelids grew heavy. She crawled beneath her blankets and buried herself beneath them, hoping sleep would tear her away from her misery.