Home > London Prep: Book Two (London Prep, #2)(4)

London Prep: Book Two (London Prep, #2)(4)
Author: Jillian Dodd

“I am too. Harry’s important to me.”

Helen nods, pulling her newspaper back up in front of her, our conversation apparently over.

I clear off my plate and then go upstairs and give Harry a call. But first, I text Mohammad, asking for Naomi’s number. A second later, he replies, so I add her as a contact and open up a new text.

 

 

Me: Hey, Naomi. It’s Mallory from school. Look, I really could use a day out of the house and some girl time. I’m down for anything. Any ideas?

 

 

I hit Send, hoping that she’ll take pity on me and reply.

While I wait for Naomi to hopefully respond, I decide I’ll call Harry.

I hope he isn’t home alone, dreading the conversation to come with his mom.

“Hello?” Harry answers.

“Hi.” I smile into the phone. “How are you?” I ask, relieved to hear his voice.

“I’m good. Just at the house.”

“Not with Mohammad?” I ask, wanting him to be the one to tell me.

“Nah. Apparently, Mum’s coming home from her trip today. Figured I should be home when she gets here.”

“Do you want me to come by?” I ask, wanting to support him.

I can hear Harry breathe into the phone, but then he responds, “No. I need to do this on my own.”

“All right,” I say, trying not to sound hurt.

“You wanted to be here for me,” he says, and I can hear the happiness in his voice.

“Of course I did. You can depend on me, Harry.”

After last night, I want things to be different with us. I want him to depend on me more, to really let me in.

“I know, babe,” Harry replies. “Your support, it means a lot.”

“Good.” I smile. “If you need anything, just let me know, all right? And I’ll be there.”

“How about I ring you tonight? Let you know how things go?”

I grin, feeling my heart practically burst with his words. “I would really love that.”

“You’re so chuffed,” he says, laughing into the phone.

“Of course I am happy. I’m talking to you. Harry, can I ask you something personal?”

“What?” Harry responds.

“Are you scared?”

I’m hoping he doesn’t take the question the wrong way.

He’s quiet for a moment, but he finally says, “I’m not scared. But I don’t know how things are going to go either.”

“At least Helen will be there with you,” I say, wanting to comfort him.

“Yeah, I’m hoping she does most of the talking. But even if not, I’m sure Mum will put two and two together when she sees my face,” he says, his voice straining.

“It’s going to be hard, Harry. But you can do this. I promise. I-I can’t even imagine what you’re going through right now.” I feel my stomach start to knot up.

“Yeah. Mohammad wasn’t too happy about me leaving his place this morning. Everyone just seems so concerned for me. It’s freaking me out a bit. I wish everyone would just act normal.”

“It’s because we all care, Harry. But how about a new topic? You know, I was thinking the other day, there’s this super-cute boy I’m dating. And you see, I’m starting to wonder if he’s ever going to ask me out for a hot date night or if I’m going to have to ask him out myself.”

I smile to myself, hoping he appreciates the change of conversation.

“Really …” Harry starts, almost sounding taken aback. But I can already tell he’s going along with it. “What a silly man, leaving a woman floundering like that. I can’t believe that he hasn’t taken you out on a proper date yet! What would you say, by chance, if he asked you out for Tuesday night?”

“I think I would probably ask him what he had in mind,” I reply, laughing. And I silently cheer for myself.

Because Helen would be proud that I’m making him work for it. Honestly, I would be happy, sitting and just talking with Harry, but maybe this will give him something else to think about. Something to look forward to.

“Maybe he wants to surprise you,” Harry coos.

“Or maybe he needs time to come up with a date idea,” I counter.

“No. It couldn’t be.” He tries to sound convincing but just ends up laughing.

“I thought not,” I reply, laughing along with him. “Harry, I appreciate you talking to me. Being open. I’m really looking forward to our date.”

“I am too,” he admits. “What do you have going on today?”

“Homework, homework, and some more homework. I need to study for Latin and finish a statistics project.”

“You’ll ace it, babe.”

“I think you have unfounded faith in me,” I reply, knowing I will definitely not ace it.

“Just ask Noah to do it for you. He’s too smart in maths to keep that shit to himself. I’m sure he’ll help,” Harry tells me.

“Yeah,” I say, feeling awkward at the mention of Noah. I quickly change the subject. “You know, I messaged Naomi—”

“No shit,” Harry interrupts.

“Yeah, well, Helen suggested it. She said if I wanted a girlfriend, I needed to put in some effort. And apparently, her advice worked because I just got a message back from Naomi. She wants us to get our nails done?” I say, reading the text.

“That’s … nice?” Harry says.

He’s probably not sure if I’m excited or not, and truthfully, I don’t know how I feel about it either. I was thinking we might see the city, go to the park, hang out at her house. But I guess if it takes a nail salon to bond us, it will have to do.

“Well, hopefully, it is.” I laugh. “And I’m secretly hoping that if we become friends before you tell Olivia that we are dating, Naomi might still talk to me after Olivia reinstates her hatred of me.”

“Speaking of that,” Harry says, “I should probably ring her and take care of that conversation now before Mum gets home.”

“You’ll have a lot to catch me up on tonight,” I say, thinking about all of the important conversations Harry has pending.

“Can’t think of a better way to spend my Sunday,” he says sarcastically.

“Bye,” I say.

“Bye, babe.”

After Harry hangs up, I look back over the text that Naomi sent me. She said to meet her at Avon Nails around one. It’s only eleven, so I decide to start studying for Latin. I hide in my room, making flash cards of the words I’m supposed to memorize and the grammar rules I’m supposed to know. When it comes to studying, I’m the queen of prep. I love making flash cards and study sheets.

But when it comes to the actual studying … I get so bored.

The task of preparing can be fun and distracting, but actually studying … not as much.

Helen brings me up a sandwich, checking in on me. After studying for a good hour, I feel like my brain is already fried, and I decide to get ready instead. I take my time with putting on my makeup, and then I choose a black mini, a long-sleeved top, and thigh-high boots.

And since I have the time, I give my hair a little wave.

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