The Curious Romance of Holland B. Potter.

The party had been heating up quite fast and Holland wasn’t sure if she should stay. She was never the partying type; in fact this was her first venture out into the party world. She had decided that she would no longer let her senior memories be filled with dull moments studying. She needed to let lose for once, at least, that was what Courtney had convinced her.

“You’re too young to be stuck in a room all day,” she said with her usual eye roll, “you have to live a little before you’re too old to party.”

There had been more to this speech of hers, but that had been the gist of it. Holland had to agree, Courtney did have a point. Plus next year, they were off to college, and if Holland couldn’t handle High School parties, she most definitely couldn’t handle college parties.

In the next moment, Holland felt someone grab her arm tightly and pull. Her immediate reaction was too pullback and run but the voice stopped her before she could do a thing.

“Holland Beatrice Potter, please tell me you aren’t just standing around doing nothing?” she heard Courtney scream over the pounding music with a scowl on her face.

“I wasn’t standing around doing nothing,” Holland replied monotonously, taking a quick sip from her red cup. As the strong liquid touched her tongue, she grimaced and shoved the red cup into Courtney’s free hand. “What the hell did you give me Courtney?”

“Vodka,” she answered nonchalantly, looking around the room, obviously searching for someone. Her perfectly straight hair wasn’t the least bit ruined by the sweat-filled air, something Holland was a bit jealous of. Especially now that it was now just a ball of frizz. “You looked like you needed some.”

“Sometimes, I just can’t –” Holland answered with a strained voice, the little bit of alcohol still in the back of her throat. Courtney scoffed, dragging her friend through the crowd of hormone-filled teenagers. She had finally found who, or what, she was looking for.

“You seriously need to chillax, its vodka, not poison,” Holland held her tongue, even though she really wanted to tell her friend that actually, it was. Courtney wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but nobody really cared. She was usually sweet and bubbly, like Doopey from Snow White, except hot. And a girl.

Holland wondered where the brunette was taking her. She was just hoping to God she wasn’t trying to set her up with one of her infamous disastrous dates. She pretty much had enough with them, thank you very much. Her last straw was the guy with a horse fetish.

He wanted Holland to neigh. Neigh.

To this day, she can never look at a horse the same again.

“Holland, I want you to meet someone…” she smiled and tugged her friend to the back of a very tall man with what she could tell as curly hair. Holland thought that would probably be the only redeeming quality he had, since he probably liked…

When he turned around to face her, she instantly lost her train of thought. All thoughts once held in her mind fled from her brain and disappeared, and the thoughts that reappeared were all about his eyes, his gorgeous sea green eyes.

Holland giggled, something she never did, only when Joseph Gordon-Levitt was on screen. She couldn’t stop herself.

Courtney eyed her with a large grin. Her plan was working. Setting her friend up was her ultimate goal this year. She had to find someone to go on double dates with.

“I’m Harry,” the tall, handsome, English stranger said, reaching out his hand to shake. Holland took it and shook, tingles running up her arm from the touch. It sent a blush to her cheeks and she could only giggle some more.

“I’m Holland.”

Courtney had snuck off with a smirk on her face, applauding herself for the amazing work. She knew she had been shooting blanks lately, with all the lousy dates, but she was glad to have her thunder back.

Courtney, certified Cupid.

She liked the sound of that. She poured herself something to drink, Coke and Rum, and turned to watch the magic happen, only the two were no-where to be found.

“Holland B. Potter, what have you gotten into now?”



Harry and Holland had snuck out of the party within the first five minutes of meeting and headed to the park down the road. It was completely deserted, meaning the swings were free and Holland ran straight to them. She absolutely loved the swings. Harry followed closely behind, taking a seat next to her and chuckling when she started to swing.

“What?” she asked innocently, with a sly smile on her face.

“You are so childish,” he said, another flawless laugh leaving his lips.

“Is that a bad thing?” Holland asked, stopping mid-swing and leaning towards him. He leaned close, so close their noses almost touched. Holland held her breath, eyes wandering between his eyes and his lips until they finally made eye contact. She gulped, a deer in headlights look coming across her face.

He finally smirk, leaned closer so their mouths were about to touch and whispered, “No.” He quickly leaned back and away from her lips and looked up at the starry night. Holland made a small gasp, returned to her original sitting position and blushed at their almost kiss.

The rest of the night they talked about their families and where they grew up. Apparently, Harry was from a small town in England known as Holmes Chapel. He told her how much he was grateful for his mother and his sister when he was growing up. She told him how she had grown up without her mother; instead her father raised her by himself and had, as of late, gotten married to a terrible person.

As they spoke, the other listened without interruption. They didn’t judge or make a face; they just listened and understood. It seemed that Harry and Holland had large amounts of things in common. They both adored Blink-182, couldn’t stand poser bands of the indie rock persuasion, enjoyed 90s movies, idolized 90s musicians, and more. The list went on and on. Twenty minutes later, they happened to be lying side by side on the grass, just watching the stars.

Harry pointed up. “That’s the big dipper, and then there’s the little one.”

“So I have an astronomer laying next to me, huh?” she turned to face him, a flirty smile crossing her lips. He took one last look at the stars and then shot Holland one of his famous smiles.

“Well, not just any ol’ astronomer,” he said, scooting closer to her skillfully. He leaned of over and played with her hair softly.

“Oh really? And what kind of astronomer are you?” she played along, following his movements and running her finger through his surprisingly soft curls.

“Well, I’m one of the best astronomers out there.” He joked, causing Holland to laugh lightly, blushing slightly at their proximity.

There was a small buzz coming from the house and Harry check his watch to know the time. His digital clock showed 11:59 in bright red lights. New Years was almost here.

“Well it seems, Ms. Holland, New Years eve is coming close.” He moved even closer to her, partially to get warmer and also because he liked being near her.

“And?”

“Well, I was wondering if you’d be my New Year’s kiss, Holland,” he asked sweetly, cuddling closer to her.

“I don’t know. I was hoping that guy—” he tickled her a bit and she giggled as she fought to get his hands off her. “Fine, fine. Yes. I would love to be your New Year’s kiss, Harry.”

“Good, cause we have less than ten seconds till new Year’s,” he smiled cheekily, leaning closer like they had done earlier on the swings.

5

“and I was a bit scared you’d say no,”

4

“You’d think I’d still be here if I didn’t want to kiss you,”

3

“So you want to kiss me now, huh?”

2

“No…stop…tickling…me, I meant yes!”

1

“Happy New Year’s, Holland,” Harry whispered as he leaned closer to her.

“Happy New Year’s Harry,” she murmured as his lips finally reached hers and they kissed.

Fireworks went off in the background, literal and figural fireworks.

They both knew that they’d never forget this night.

Not in a thousand years.