Still British

I could see it in his eyes. Harry was nervous. I understood completely. Well, the last time we tried to have a meal together, he accused me of being anorexic and left. Not our best memory. But this time would be better. I’d make sure of it. “Where would you like to eat?” I asked him, determined to let him feel like he was still in charge of this date. “Er… Well…” He seemed indecisive. I made a split-second decision. “How about I just make us food at my house? My family’s coming to the Fair for today, so we’ll be alone… If that’s okay with you?” I became unsure as I spoke, nervous. This would be the most time I’d spent with Harry in a while, and it included a meal, so… “That sounds brilliant!” At least Harry sounded excited. Well, it would probably be the best homemade food he’d had in a while. He really wasn’t the best cook, I have no idea how he ended up working in a bakery… Unless it was because of me? That bakery was the last place we’d been together… “Essa? What’re you thinking about?” “Ummm… Nothing?” I responded, but I could tell he wasn’t fooled. “Fine. I was just thinking about how your cooking is so amazing, which led me to think about why you worked in that bakery… Why did you?” “How did you know I worked in a bakery? I know you’re not a fan…” “This is a long story. You sure you want to hear it?” He just gave me a ‘seriously?’ look so I caved. “Well, you know I’ve always been a dancer, and you saw me at that parade the other day. I was in that parade because I’m in my school’s Marching Band, in the colour guard. It’s basically dance, with big metal poles, blocks of wood, or swords. I know. So, we were at practice, before the parade, stretching. Our section leader, Sophie, she asked us if we’d heard the good news, to which one of the other members, Teresa, responded ‘Harry Styles is in town?’ Tyler… Well…” I didn’t want to say it. What if it, like, offended him? I’d laughed along with everybody else… “Essa? What did Tyler say?” “I… I don’t want to…” “Essa. It won’t offend me. I’m sure I’ve gotten much worse.” He sounded so pained when he said it, and that made me really angry. I was going to fix this pain. But right now, I couldn’t disappoint Harry. “He said no, we were talking about something good.” I heard Harry laugh, and it made me feel a little better. “Right, that’s what we all did… Except for Teresa, who got kind of angry. When Sophie finally calmed down, she said something like, Well, he is, and then went on to explain that she’d been talking about the new referendum that’d passed to get a new school. We went back to talking, and eventually somebody spoke up, asking if she’d actually said ‘well, he is’. She said that you were in town, and everybody got kind of excited, it’s not often our town gets celebrity visits. I was confused, and when I voiced that, Sophie was incredulous, since it sounded like you were here for me. Which I suppose you were. Then I asked your name again, and Teresa became Wikipedia, rattling off information about you, which just so happened to contain the fact that you’d worked in a bakery.” I laughed at Harry’s expression, he looked like he’d just swallowed a goat without meaning to, while also looking amused. It was a great expression. “Well then.” He said, and I laughed again. “So do I get an answer?” “Fine. I worked in that bakery because of you. Happy yet?” He grinned, and I smiled. “Very. Hey, we’re here!” I said as I pulled up to my house.

Notes

Hope you enjoyed reading this, thanks for wasting your time doing so! xoxo ~Stormy