When I came home, I did the little homework that I had so I wouldn’t have to deal with it later. I was actually excited to hang out with Harry. I had no idea where he was going to take me and I wanted to get to know him. I knew for a fact people disliked him because he was new and obviously different. It is such a waste when people think like that without even trying to get to know the person, so that’s what I was going to do. I watched TV and read a little and before I knew it, it was 11:55. I made sure I was ready and went outside to sit on the steps. It was quiet outside, and pretty peaceful. Spring had just begun so it wasn’t cold outside, it was perfect. In a few minutes, a 1967 Chevy Impala pulled up in front of my house. It was one of the nicest cars I’ve ever seen and suited Harry perfectly. As I walked up to the car, I admired it.

“This is really nice,” I commented as I slid into the passenger’s seat. “Where’d you get it?”

“It was my dad’s,” he told me.

“It’s beautiful, I’d kill for a car like this,” I said. “Where are we going?”

“No idea,” he told me. “Let’s do something fun.”

“Okay,” I smiled. “I have an idea, let’s go swimming in the lake.”

“You want to do that?” he grinned. I nodded.

“I’ve always wanted to.”

“Alright, let’s go, then.”

Harry drove towards the lake but when the turn came up on our left, he passed it.

“Harry, back there,” I said.

“No, let’s go to the lake in my old town,” he said.

The drive was about a half an hour and we spent it in silence. It was comfortable, though. When we got there, he pulled up just before the dock.

“Come on,” he said, getting out of the car.

I got out after him and left my shoes by the door. Harry was already out at the end of the dock with his shirt off. I admired his tattoos and his toned body. He was so much different than any guy I’d ever seen before. He turned around and was just in his black jeans. I was wearing a black t shirt and blue jeans. I walked over to him and looked down into the water.

“How cold do you think it is?” I asked warily. It looked dark.

“Freezing,” he smiled. With that, he backed up and quickly jumped down into the water. I laughed and waited for him to come up. A few seconds too many passed, and I immediately became concerned.

“Harry?” I yelled, but still no sign of him.

I was frozen on the dock, not knowing whether to jump in and save him, which would probably be difficult because the water was dark as hell, or run back to the car for my phone. Just as I was beginning to have a panic attack, he came to the surface gasping for air and cracking up.

“Harry!” I screamed. “Don’t do that!”

“I- Emma,” he tried to get out but was laughing so hard he couldn’t. “I’m sorry but- the look on your face-“

He was laughing so hard he couldn’t even get out a full sentence. I stood on the dock glaring at him as he almost drowned from laughing. I crossed my arms and waited for him to finish.

“Are you done?” I asked, annoyed, as he calmed down.

“Yes, I’m sorry,” he chuckled. “Get in.”

“How deep is it? And how cold?” I asked. “And I only have one pair of jeans… I didn’t think this through.”

“I have no idea how deep it is, it was freezing but now I’m used to it, and take them off, then,” he answered all three questions at once.

“Absolutely not!” I laughed when I saw him grinning.

“I’ll turn around,” he said, chuckling.

I wanted desperately to jump in because it looked like fun, but I knew that afterwards everything would be cold and miserable with wet jeans.

“Turn around,” I commanded and he did so. I unzipped my jeans and pulled them down and off my legs and hung them over the side of the dock. “Okay, I’m coming in.”

I backed up and began running towards the dock. Just as I was about to jump in, I realized two things. First, I had my shirt on still which would probably be even more uncomfortable than wet jeans. If I had noticed that before, I wouldn’t have even gone in because that would have meant basically skinny dipping with this random guy I met two days ago. Secondly, as my feet left the dock, Harry turned around to watch me.

“Harry!” I screamed and tried to cover my legs as they hit the numbingly cold water. I came up almost immediately, gasping for air. “I told you to turn around.”

“I love that black underwear,” he said quietly. “Is your bra matching?”

“Oh my god, I’m getting out,” I said but realized that would mean climbing out and him watching me from behind, slowly drying myself off to put on my jeans, and him watching the entire time, so I just stayed put.

“Thought so,” he said after a minute. “Wanna see how deep it goes?”

“No, the thought actually scares me,” I said. I was shivering because I was still getting used to the water.

“Fine, I will,” he said and went to dive down.

“No!” I yelled and grabbed his arm which felt rock solid. I let out a tiny gasp as he looked at me, smiling.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Stay right here,” I told him.

Then, there was a moment of silence. We were in the lake at nearly one in the morning. I looked at him and noticed how his wet hair now fell across his head in a tangled mess. His eyebrow and lip piercings glimmered in the moonlight. He was breathtaking.

“What?” he asked softly. I shook my head. “Are you still cold?”

Harry took my hand and guided me closer to him. I didn’t push him away or anything. I put my hands around his neck so I could hold myself up. I tried to pull my face away from him as much as possible so I wouldn’t be too close to him. Being closer to his body instantly made me warmer. I knew what was happening. His eyes shot down to my mouth and back to my eyes. I kept my eyes on him as he moved closer to me. He put his forehead on mine and was looking down at my mouth. All of a sudden, he pulled away.

“I knew it,” he said, smirking. “You want me.”

“What? No,” I said, pushing him off me. I was out of breath from our ‘moment’. But he was right. I did want to kiss him.

“Alright,” he said. “Then good thing I pulled away. God knows what could have happened.”

I rolled my eyes. He was teasing me. “You’re a jerk.”

“No," he laughed. "You like me.”

I shook my head. Just then, I heard cars in the distance. I turned around and saw headlights illuminating the dark trees surrounding the lake. People were driving down the path.

“Harry,” I said, swimming over to him without thinking. “What do we do?”

“Relax,” he smiled. “We’re allowed to be here.”

I stayed close to him as two dark cars came out of the woods.

“No fucking way,” Harry hissed.

“What?” I asked, frantically.

The cars pulled up alongside Harry’s and four people got out of them and walked towards the dock.

“Do you know them?” I asked, but he was dead silent and staring intently at them.

“Harry Styles,” one of them sneered. “Back so soon?”

“Hey, Johnny, what’s up, man?” Harry asked loudly.

“Nothing really, Harry, just wondering why the fuck you came back to town.”

“I love it so much here, I just can’t stay away,” Harry snarled.

“Who is this?” another one of them asked and gestured towards me.

“Fuck off,” Harry said. “She’s mine.”

I was his? I wanted to yell at him for that derogatory statement but I decided now was not the time.

“Oh, yeah? What number is she? Like, 30?” another laughed. My stomach turned as I thought about how stupid I looked in the lake with Harry.

“What do you want?” Harry asked.

“We want you to get out of the lake so we can beat your ass in to the ground,” Johnny said.

“As tempting as that sounds-“ Harry began.

“Shut the fuck up and get out of the water,” one of them interrupted him.

“Is this about the money?” Harry asked.

“That, and also beating Zayn, here, unconscious,” Johnny said. The dark haired guy now had a name.

“Just gonna return the favor,” Zayn said.

“I’ll get you the money,” Harry said. “Tomorrow, but don’t do this right now.”

“Get out of the water,” one of them sneered.

“Chill, Niall,” Zayn said. “Double it and we’ll save the ass beating.

“Okay, now go,” Harry said.

With that, they all turned and walked back to their cars. The engines started up and they drove back into the woods and down the path.

“What was that about-“ I started to ask as Harry swam towards the dock. “Where are you going?”

“I’m getting out,” he said harshly. He pulled himself up the metal ladder that was attached shakily to the dock. I swam over to it afterwards and got out after him. His jeans were soaking wet and he didn’t bother to dry himself off as he pulled the white tshirt over his head. I stood, shivering, on the dock.

“Wait,” Harry mumbled and went over to the back of his car and opened the trunk. He got out a towel and another white shirt before walking back to me and giving me both. “Wear this.”
I used the towel to dry off my legs and quickly put on my jeans. I peeled off my soaking wet shirt and put on his white one. He watched me the entire time and held out his hand to take the towel and the wet tshirt from me. He wrapped up the shirt and walked back to the trunk, throwing in the bundle and nearly slamming the trunk shut. I walked over, got my shoes, and slid into the passenger’s seat to wait for him to drive me home. The statement about the 30 girls was playing over and over again in my head. I was dumb enough to think that moment we had was special. I have no idea how many other girls he’s brought here.

Moments later, Harry got into the car and started it up.

“I’m yours?” I asked him.

“Emma, not right now,” he snapped. “I owe them 5 grand.”

“Why?” I asked, raising my voice. Who even was this guy I was driving around with?

“Reasons,” he said, pulling into the path that led through the woods and back to the main street.

“You’re going to have to tell me more than that,” I said.

“No, I’m not,” he said.

“How many other girls have you brought there?” I asked, growing more annoyed by the second. “I feel like such a fucking idiot.”

“You're the only person I've ever brought here,” he said quietly as he focused on the dark road ahead of him. Something about the tone of his voice told me he wasn’t lying.

“Are you in danger, Harry?” I asked. He looked over at me for a moment before focusing back on the road.

“Yep,” he said. “I have to get out of here, out of New York. I just need to graduate and I’ll be gone.”

His statement gave me shivers. “Oh.”

I liked Harry. And the thought of him wanting to get out of New York soon kind of bummed me out because he was fun to hang out with when he wasn’t fighting with people about money and beating people up. I wanted to get to know him.

“I really wanted to hang out with you tonight but I need to go do some stuff,” he told me as he headed back towards Middletown.

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

Thirty minutes later, he pulled up in front of my house. I went to open the door but he locked it. I turned to face him. When I did, he leaned over and kissed me before I could even react. When he pulled back, he still kept his face close to mine.

“Emma, you are different,” he whispered. “I like you.”

“You owe me an explanation,” I repeated and unlocked the car myself. I got out and closed the door behind me and he drove off immediately. I went around the back and went through the back door so I wouldn’t wake up my mom. I showered as quietly as possible and then climbed into bed. It was nearly three. As I lay in bed, I couldn’t stop thinking about the boy with green eyes and piercings, tattoos and curly hair that I had feelings for. I had no idea why, or anything about him, I just did. I replayed the kiss over and over again in my mind as I drifted off to sleep.