I nodded, head still bowed.
"I knew it. Something she said made me realize why you suddenly cut contact. She refused to admit it when I confronted her today. I told her not to show her face tonight, or I'd kick her out."
I couldn't even bring myself to feel bad.
"The day after you insinuated that you would ask me to prom–"
"I wasn't insinuating, Gracie." He took a step closer until he was right in front of me. Close enough to touch. "I was planning on asking you. I should've fucking grown some balls and asked you outright. But I was so worried that you didn't feel the same way that I thought I'd put the feelers out first in case you weren't interested."
I shook my head. "It wouldn't have mattered anyway. The next day, Jessica cornered me in the bathroom and told me it was all a prank."
"And you believed her?"
I gave him a chastising look. "Not at first. Given our history, I had surprisingly a lot of faith in you. But then she mentioned that you were going to ask me to prom; she told me that you had tested the waters with me the night before to see if I would say yes. I'm paraphrasing; it was so long ago, but she knew what we had discussed the evening prior. She said the plan was that you would ask me and then show up with her on the day and film me or something. Basically, she said that I was going to be the senior year prank."
Harrison's eyes widened in horror. "What?"
He sounded mortified. He turned away and ran his fingers through his hair in anger. "I told the crew to lay off you, that you were cool, and if I heard a whisper of negativity towards you, I would cut them off. That's the only time I ever talked about you to them. After we became friends," he added, a flush of shame rising on his cheeks.
I believed him. I didn't know why, but I just felt he was being truthful. I was so relieved that he hadn't been planning that cruel prank. It was the one thing I was frightened of acknowledging because I knew it might have been the deal breaker between us. If I had to sit here and listen to him confirm the horrible details of his plan, I would not be showing my face tonight.
"I believe you. The only thing that stumped me was how Jessica knew what we talked about."
"She must've heard us that night," he surmised. "When we have football practice, the cheerleaders have theirs, too. They were out on the field with us that night." He shook his head in disbelief. "She came up to me afterward, wanting to go out for a bite to eat. But I wasn't interested. My mind was focused on you, and I brushed her off. She must've followed me and overheard us chatting."
The more I thought about it, the more plausible it sounded. Jessica did seem to have a habit of lurking and eavesdropping, given her behavior today. I one hundred percent did not think I was the prank. A colossal weight dropped off my shoulders.
"So…" I started. "That means youdidhave genuine feelings for me?"
Harrison's face softened as he reached out to brush a strand of hair away from my face.
"Did and do," he confirmed.
My mouth parted, and I blushed as his thumb swiped the soft flesh.
"But you went to prom with Jessica?" I couldn't help but ask.
He sighed, his gaze still fixed on my mouth. "I was devastated when you cut contact with me. But I understood it. It was a pipe dream to think that you would suddenly forgive me for all the shit that I put you through. I didn't ask Jessica to prom, but we were all going as a group, so I let her think we were going together, given that she didn't have a date."
"She was holding out for you to ask."
"Yeah, probably. I didn't give a shit, to be honest. I left early, didn't even wait around for the king and queen announcement. After losing your friendship, the possibilities that could have been…I just lost interest."
He took a deep breath before continuing. "The closer we got to graduation, the more anxious I felt. I was losing you, and I couldn't take it. Pretty soon, you would be packing up your car and driving out of Ashburton. Out of my life."
"Harrison," I whispered. I reached out and grabbed his hand, which he immediately squeezed.
"I was driving past your house and saw you loading up your car. This was two days after graduation. I parked up like a creeper and watched you hug Teddy goodbye before you, your parents, and Amelia drove off."
"Amelia and I had a road trip planned," I murmured. "Then I was going to fly out to California, start my part-time job, and save some money while I lived with a cousin out there before moving into the dorms once classes started. I couldn't get out of Ashburton fast enough."
He let out a humorless laugh. "I figured. I'm ashamed to admit that I spiraled after that. I wasn't prepared for you leaving that soon. I thought I would convince you to be friends with me again; we'd keep in touch while you were away, maybe do a long-distance thing if you were still into me. That's how far I got with my plan. But seeing you drive out of my life was like a shot in the heart. I gave up. Focused on farmwork, got back together casually with Jessica. I drank a lot, got into fights. Remember when I told you that I had a wake-up call?"
"Yeah..."
"It was seeing you at the grocers when you returned for that wedding."
My mouth dropped open. "What are you talking about?"
