Illuminate

The next morning, Parker sulked in his room while the girls ate cereal and leaned against the counter to do so, too tired to bother with making anything more gourmet than that. It was nearly noon on that Saturday, and the trio only had the remainder of the weekend until the semester picked up and they’d all be caught in a whirlwind of stress and energy drinks. Simone and Kelly compared their schedules, only having one class in common. Simone was majoring in English with a minor in Women’s Studies, while Kelly was majoring in History with a minor in Music. Since all of the general education classes were taken care of, it was time to focus on their own specific classes needed for their major. They were both enrolled in a Women’s History class, but other than that, they were doomed to pretty much only seeing each other late nights and weekends.

After breakfast, Simone set her bowl in the sink and made her way to her brother’s room. She knocked twice, earning somewhere between a groan and a growl from the other side of the door. She ignored it, stepping into the room and seeing Parker face down on his bed, his face smothered into his pillow.

“You’re gonna suffocate if you keep that up,” she commented lightly, shutting the door behind her. She walked over to the edge of her bed and placed a hand on his shoulder. “What’s going on, buddy?”

“Did you see Kelly’s neck?” he asked, the pain evident in his voice, even though it was muffled. Simone pushed him over so he was lying on his back, making him sigh deeply.

“You know how she is, man,” she said. “You can’t keep acting like this. It’s not like you’ve ever told her how you feel so how-”

“Exactly, Simone!” he exclaimed desperately. “Exactly. I haven’t fucking told her because she couldn’t care less. She doesn’t see my blatant love for her, how I have my bleeding heart in my fucking hands ready for her to take whenever she wants it. If she felt the same, she’d see it. She’d want to see it. And she doesn’t.”

Her brother’s heart shattering words made Simone tear up quickly, causing her to lean down to give him the tightest hug she could muster.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I know I promised I wouldn’t get involved, but I could talk to her, try to get some insight or drop some hints or something.”

Parker shook his head and stared at the ceiling, willing the tears in his eyes to not fall.

“She’s turned me into such a pussy,” he whined pathetically. “I hate it.”

“Having feelings doesn’t make you a pussy, dumb ass,” Simone snorted, “it makes you human. Don’t you like being human?”

“No.”

“It’s okay, neither do I. It’s overrated.”

“Totally.”

They laid there in silence for a few minutes before Simone sat up.

“You’ll be fine, I promise. We’re in fuckin’ New York of all places. There are so many opportunities pretty much lying on the ground waiting for us to pick up. You never know what’ll happen. Remember that.”

“Thanks, lil fortune cookie.”

“You’re welcome. Maybe you should call your dad and see what he has to say. He’s the smartest man I’ve ever met; I’m sure he’ll have more to say than I ever would.”

“He’s your dad too, you know,” Parker commented as Simone stood from the bed. “Maybe not by blood, but figuratively, I mean. You’re my sister. You’re a part of me, a part of all of us, and you belong with us. Don’t start doubting that again.”

Simone gave her brother a sad smile before walking toward the door.

“I know.”

*

Simone and Kelly walked down the street to the neighborhood coffee shop, and were chatting about the quickly approaching semester.

“I just hope there’s a cute boy in my classes to help give me initiative to keep going back,” Kelly sighed before taking a sip of her latte.

“Same,” Simone sang back. “That’d be nice.”

“So where’d you end up going last night, anyway? British Adonis whisk you away into the sunset?” Kelly smirked, remembering the all-too-vague text her friend sent the night prior. “I want all the juicy details. Now.”

“We just got coffee, it was no big deal,” Simone shrugged, but the small smile and the glimmer in her eyes revealed so much more. She tried to hide it by taking a sip of her hot cocoa but Kelly noticed all the signs. However, Kelly graced her with not making a comment about it.

“I didn’t hear you come home last night and you definitely weren’t home by the time I got back,” she retorted casually. “Just coffee, eh? No late night dessert?”

“Kelly!” the blonde squealed. “Stop. Oh my God.”

“You’re blushing! I’m so right!” Kelly pointed enthusiastically across the small table.

“He didn’t even kiss me, calm down,” Simone said, slight disappoint etched across her tone and face.

“What a weirdo. Maybe he’s gay.”

“I’d certain hope not. He’s beautiful.”

“Tell me about him.”

Simone launched into a rant about him that was entirely too long for someone she hadn’t even known for 24 hours, but that didn’t stop her. She’d had one of the best nights of her life with that stranger, and was sure to jot all of it down in her leather journal when she reached her apartment last night so that she wouldn’t forget it.

They had stayed at the 24-hour café until sunrise, when neither one could form coherent sentences anymore but they stayed to watch the sun light up the sky with as much appreciation as anyone could have. She learned that his favorite poet was Bukowski, the same as hers, and he despised the same foods she did. As much as the two were cynical by day, they were both inherent romantics, romanticizing everything they came into touch with. Every thought, every word, every ounce of pain was an opportunity for either the development of beautiful writing, or the opportunity to appreciate and relate to the beautiful writing that was already placed out into the world. They loved having long hair, and Simone expressed to both Harry and Kelly how envious she was of his curls. She couldn’t stand having such naturally pin straight hair.

Kelly watched her friend’s eyes light up with every word she was saying, which caused two conflicting reactions from her. One, she was excited. She’d seen Simone be used by douchebags so many times throughout the duration of their friendship, settling for guys without even half a brain. On the other hand, though, she was scared that it was another scam. She was well aware that men were actors, able to be whoever they wanted to be until they got what they wanted. And that scared her. However, she didn’t want to crush her friend by overwhelming her with a reality check, so she politely waited, smiling and gasping and laughing whenever it was appropriate.

“So you mean to tell me all of that happened, and you guys clicked that well, and he didn’t kiss you? Definitely gay.”

“Shut up,” Simone rolled her eyes playfully. “Maybe he’s actually the first decent guy I’ve come into contact with.”

Kelly shrugged and thought for a minute.

“Well, you did say he was British. Maybe they are a different breed over there after all.”

*

Nighttime quickly approached and after an afternoon of novels being sent through text message, Simone and Harry decided to meet up again. They were going to the movies to see some new horror movie that had just come out. As it turned out, the two also shared an insane love for horror films. Kelly decided to stay in with Parker, since the two wanted to get shitfaced in the security of their own apartment. Simone wasn’t big on drinking, which was just more fuel for her to get out.

She arrived exactly 5 minutes early from the time he told her to meet him at the theater, an arrival time she decided was perfect- not too early, but definitely not late. Just how she liked it. She hated being late more than anything. She shoved her maroon beanie lower on her head and hugged her thick cardigan around her body, chilly but not wanting to enter the warmth of the theater without him.

Harry showed up looking dashing as ever. He wore a black pea coat that somehow made him look even taller, blue skinny jeans and the same tan boots he always seemed to wear. His dark hair was tied up into a man bun and as they made eye contact, his dimples were prominent and his smile was the biggest she’d ever seen.

“Hey,” he greeted, holding out his arms to hug her.

She stepped forward to accept his hug gratefully, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face into his chest to momentarily shield herself from the cold wind. His chest rumbled and he let out a throaty laugh.

“Cold, huh?”

She nodded in response. He rubbed her back and kept one of his hands there after pulling out of the hug, gently pushing her to walk towards the ticket stand. Harry, like a true English gentleman, paid for the tickets and opened the door for her to step inside the theater, which was miraculously running the heater on high. After a few moments, her shivering went down and she was able to relax. They walked into their selected theater and both decided on sitting in the back. There were a few groups dispersed throughout the theater but the pair decided they easily got the best two seats in the house.

As the movie played, the two laughed. The movie turned out to be even lamer than they anticipated, providing more entertainment than they thought. Every time someone in the theater screamed or a character on the screen did something stereotypically idiotic, Harry would mock them, and his accent helped to make everything he said way more hilarious than what Simone could’ve come up with. She eventually began to laugh so hard she snorted, making the couple a few rows in front of them turn around and glare. Harry childishly stuck out his tongue at them, making them turn back around.

“You’re such a child,” she whispered to him playfully, making him smile.

The movie was over before they knew it, much to Simone’s disappointment. Harry was the kind of person no one could dislike. She was well aware of the infatuation that she was bound to have with him for a long time to come but she didn’t mind in the slightest. Everything from his smile, to his sarcasm, to his perverted sense of humor was all so endearing and the fact that he was so intelligent and well rounded was just icing on the mother fucking cake.

Harry insisted on walking her to the safety of her apartment, wanting to make sure that she got to her destination safely. Harry enveloped her in a goodbye hug just as lovely as the one he greeted her with earlier in the evening, and once again he let go all too quickly.

“Have a good rest of your night, love.”

“You too,” she replied softly while unlocking her front door. “Text me when you get home so I know you made it back safe.”

Harry nodded and smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear before walking down the hallway.

Still smiling to herself, Simone entered the apartment and locked the door behind her. The first thing to greet her was the overwhelming smell of alcohol just as she expected. She walked into the kitchen and cleaned up some of the glasses and bottles sprawled out across the entirety of the countertop and began to wonder what must’ve happened while she was gone. The apartment was eerily quiet, something that literally never happened between the three of them. However, when she stepped out of the kitchen and towards her room, her curiosity was answered.

The top she’d borrowed from Kelly a dozen times was now on the floor in the hallway, along with the shorts she recognized to be her brother's, and just as she was starting to connect the dots, a loud groan from the bedroom confirmed what was literally laying right in front of her.