Masterpiece {h.s}

3. Haircut & Annoyance

I woke up the next day with a slight headache and alone. After my little breakdown the day before, Meg and I had fallen asleep together in my bed, but when I woke up, she was gone. I looked around me, taking in the surroundings. Although it had been a while, it hadn’t changed one bit since the last time I was here. I smiled slightly remembering my summers here with Daisy.

Daisy. The name acted like a trigger to me and created a lump in my throat. I took several deep breaths, trying to clear my head, before getting out of bed. Today was going to be a good day, I needed it to be a good day.

I slowly made my way to the bathroom where I quickly got ready. As I entered the kitchen I saw a note from Meg on the counter.

 “Left for my exposition, you don’t have to come if you don’t feel like it.
Love you,
Meg.”

I didn’t want to go to her art exposition again, but the thought of staying alone in this house that held so many memories wasn’t welcome either. I sighed loudly before grabbing a banana and heading out of the house. I typed in the address on my phone and walked to the building. As it was a thirty-minute walk, I had plenty of time to think, but the whole idea of my trip to New York was to get away from my dark thoughts, so I simply looked around.

I had always loved New York, something about the variety of its citizens and the fact that whatever the time there was always something going on used to excite me. But today as I walked on the sidewalk, the things that I used to be so fascinated by, now seemed uninteresting. I was surrounded by a ridiculous amount of people, but the coldness of everyone made me feel isolated.

I was now used to loneliness. For the past weeks that’s all I had been, alone. Strangely, although I have never felt so alone in my life, I liked it. I revelled in it and welcomed it with open arms. I found a certain comfort in being isolated, because loneliness was more bearable than pain.

As I entered the building, I didn’t bother finding my aunt. My walk to here had made me morose and just like yesterday, I simply wanted to sit and wait. Many people say that when you’re feeling down, being left alone with your thoughts is the worst idea possible. But to me, when I was able to block the world around me, it gave me a small shred of peace. I could just imagine that the last few months never existed, that my family was whole and that I was happy.

I sat across a colourful painting, hoping that the vivid colors would lift my mood just a little bit. I sat cross-legged on the bench, my elbows on my knees and my chin sitting on my hands.
As I tried to focus on the painting in front of me, I felt someone sit next to me. I didn’t bother looking who it was, hoping that he or she wouldn’t bother me.

"I'm not sure I like this painting" A male voice said close to me. He had an accent, British maybe?

I closed my eyes, exasperated that my prayers hadn’t been answered.

I slightly turned my head to get a look at the boy that was sitting next to me. He was wearing a simple grey button-shirt, and dark jeans that were ripped on the knees. He was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. I couldn’t really see what he looked like from my peripheral vision, other than the fact that he had brown, messy and somewhat curly hair. Man, this boy needed a haircut.

"I quite like it" I answered and turned my head to look at him, one of my eyebrow raised in annoyance.
"Oh," He bit his bottom lips as he looked back at me. "I just said that to break the ice. You looked annoyed and I thought it was because of the painting, so I... I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time" He nervously laughed.
"You shouldn't lie to get a girl's attention." I snapped.
"You're right"

He looked down at his hands, nervously fumbling with them. I looked the other way, hoping that if I ignored him long enough, he would understand and leave. Sadly, he didn't, and he stayed next to me. At least he didn't try to talk for a little while, he simply stared at the painting in front of us.

"You’re right, it's actually a great painting." He stated after a while. I simply nodded in response. "It's very colourful, most of her paintings are actually. Represents quite well the artist I'd say"
I looked up at him. "You know her?"
"Yes, my father bought quite a lot of her paintings. I can introduce you if you want" he said smiling.
"It's fine." I laugh lightly.
"Oh... ok" his smile disappearing.
"She's my aunt." I quickly stated, somehow feeling bad for offending him.
"Meghan is your aunt?" I nodded. "Do you paint too?"
"Sort of"
"What do you mean 'sort of'?"
"Haven't painted in a while"
"Why?"

I huffed in annoyance. What was it with everyone and my painting?

"Does it matter?" I asked rather harshly.
"I... hum... I just-" he looked at me with wide eyes, clearly unsure of what to say next. "Damn, I have no idea how to approach you." He lightly chuckled, shaking his head.
"Clearly" I answer a light smile tugging at my lips. Somehow, him laughing made me laugh a little.
"At least I made you laugh, whether it's because I'm funny or because I'm making a fool of myself I'll take it" he said then winked. I rolled my eyes, which only made him laugh more. "I'm Harry, by the way." He reached his hand for me to shake it.
"Hi Harry", I said, ignoring his hand. He coughed and ran his hand through his hair, trying to be smooth I guess.
"You're not going to tell me your name?" He asked, his hand behind his neck.
"Annabelle" I blankly answered.
"Beautiful name"
"I didn't choose it"
"I can still compliment it" he said smiling broadly.
"I guess"

He laughed again. Is that all he does?

"You're a hard one, Annabelle. And I thought we were making progress by sharing our names."
"Maybe you should bother someone else then"
"Well, if you look around, you’ll only see middle-aged women and I'm not really interested in older women, thanks."
"Maybe I'm older than you"
"Maybe, but I don’t think you are." he smiled, his eyes full of humour. " How old are you?"
"I don’t know... How old are you?"

He laughed, "Oh no, I asked first."

I looked at him, trying to figure out how old he was. He had bright green eyes, and somewhat curly brown hair styled in some sort of quiff. His jaw wasn't too prominent, but he clearly had gone through puberty. He looked around my age, maybe a bit older.

"23" I said biting my lower lip
"You're a horrible liar, Annabelle" He smirked. "I say that you're…" he looked closely at me. His gaze made me uncomfortable and I tried to subtly increase the distance between us. He clearly saw it but acted like he didn't. "19?"
"Damn" I mumbled.
"Well, you're younger. I'm 20." He smiled widely. "What do I get for guessing it right?"
"The satisfaction of it."

He didn't answer right away and he seemed like he was analyzing something

"You're right, it is pretty satisfactory." he said, straightening his position.

I gave him a small smile, which he returned. He opened his mouth, as he was going to say something, but suddenly turned his head as if someone had called his name. He nodded and looked back at me.

"Well I have to go now." He said while standing up. "It was nice meeting you, Annabelle. I guess I'll see you soon."

He offered me his hand to shake and this time I shook it.

"Hopefully not." I answered with a side smile.

He laughed slightly before leaving. What a weird boy.

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This is it, chapter 3!
Can I get a hell yeah, for Harry finally appearing? Hahaha
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Love you loads,
Karry xx.

p.s.: I linked a gif of Harry on the side, this is sort of how I imagined him during this chapter. Enjoy! <3