Isabelle’s P.O.V

The next day, I parked my car in the parking lot of the banquet hall and stalked inside. There was a clerk waiting for me at the front desk. I leaned my arms on the desk.

“Hi. I’m Isabelle Foster. I requested a meeting with the head of security? Tom Runwick?”

“Ah yes,” the clerk flashed me a smile, and then she grabbed a walkie talkie from under the desk. “Tom Runwick? You’re one o’ clock appointment is here.”

After a few minutes, a burly man with cocoa skin appeared from around a corner. He stared at me. “You Isabelle Foster?”

I know that I should have been at least a little bit intimidated, but I was far too determined to feel anything.

“Yes,” I stared up at him confidently.

He nodded, “Follow me this way.” He turned and began walking around the corner he came, and I took long strides to keep up with him. He led me into his office, a small space. There was a desk, cluttered with papers and three computers, USBs, and wires. There were two chairs, and I quickly sat in one of them.

Tom Runwick stared at me. “You wanted to see footage from December 14th?”

“Yes,” I nodded. He looked at me suspiciously, “All footage?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” he quickly plugged a USB into one of his three computers and turned it around so that I was staring into the pixelated screen. I browsed through all the rooms in the building, but my main goal was to find the banquet hall.

Finally, I zeroed in on Harry and me dancing on the dance floor. My eyes followed us to a table where we sat with some other people. The next few minutes were dull, just people laughing and eating, so I sped up the footage a little bit. Suddenly I stopped when I saw my figure stand up and walk hurriedly out of the hall.

Where was I going? I’d checked through all the rooms.

Except….the washroom. Quickly I pulled up the footage from the girl’s bathroom and watched. Bingo. In the video, I walked in and ducked into a stall. For a few moments, I was the only one in there.

Suddenly, another girl entered, and I recognized Eleanor. She said something and I opened the stall door. We had a tiny conversation before she left. Moments later, someone else stepped in.

Harry.

I stared at the video in awe. Harry hadn’t wanted me to know about this, so there must have been something juicy that had happened.

It seemed that now we were in a heated fight, a screaming match. I threw my hands in the air, yelling something, when suddenly, I saw Harry dive forward and kiss me. My gasp was audible.

“’Scuse me?” Tom Runwick interjected, “Is everything alright?”

“Yes,” I breathed, “Yes, it’s fine.”

I turned back to the video, when suddenly; my form broke away from the kiss and stepped back. I saw my hand come up, and I saw it smack Harry across the face. We stood there for seconds, staring at each other, when I finally exited the washroom. I saw Harry stand there for a moment, and then he chased after me.

I watched the video for a few more minutes, and was starting to think that that was it, when suddenly, I saw myself enter the bathroom again with a full bottle of vodka. I uncorked it and began chugging the liquid down like there was no tomorrow. For a few minutes, I just watched myself drink uncontrollably, when suddenly my figure’s head shot up.

Pixelated Isabelle stumbled over to the door, opened it, and found Harry waiting behind it.


She said something that I couldn’t make out, but it looked like
“Harry”, and then the bottle crashed to the floor and she fainted. Harry caught her before she hit the floor. I quickly shut the computer and turned it back towards Tom Runwick.

“Um,” I said, “Thanks.”

“Is everything okay, Miss?” he asked, “You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine,” I breathed, and I stood and walked hurriedly out of the office. Back inside the lobby, the clerk flashed me a smile as I hurried past. “Have a nice day! I hope you found what you were—”

I was out the door and revving my car before she could finish. On the highway, I pondered. That’s why Harry kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want me to know that he’d kissed me. He didn’t want me to know! Why?

Then it hit me. He thought I didn’t like him. He thought that if I’d found out, I’d hate him. Tears filled my eyes as I realised that I could’ve blown it yesterday when I told him that I’d never wanted to see him again. I’d told him that I hated him.

“Oh God,” I whispered to myself. I floored the pedal.

I reached my house and ran up the steps, unlocking the door and running to the computer. I quickly turned it on and logged into my email account.

I began to type.

Harry’s P.O.V
The next day was Christmas Eve. Feeling sullen, I padded over to my laptop and logged into my email. I’d read all of the emails that Isabelle had written to me before, but now that I’d never see her again, I figured that they were all I’d had left.

I surfed through my messages sluggishly, when suddenly I saw one new message in my inbox. I quickly clicked on it and found that it had been sent by Isabelle, yesterday. My heart somersaulted as I began to read:

Dear Harry,

I now know what happened the night of the banquet. I went to the hall today and browsed through the footage. I found that we fought, you kissed me, and then I slapped you. O

ne thing: I’m sorry for slapping you. I think the truth is I was scared. I was scared of what I wanted, and I was indecisive. Because what I wanted was you. I still do want you.

That brings me to the next thing. I know why you didn’t want to tell me you kissed me. You were afraid that I wouldn’t return your feelings. I’m afraid of that too. In truth, I found you extremely annoying for the first few days. But then I began to warm up to you, and now I like you…a lot.

I like you Harry. Not as just a friend. But I understand if you don’t like me back. After what I said to you, it would seem kind of obvious. I just had to tell you. But I’m asking: if you do like me, let me know. I don’t care how. Just let me know.

Love,
Isabelle


I read over the letter three more times. My brain just couldn’t seem to process it. I stared at the clock; it was eleven forty five p.m. Did I have enough time? I didn’t care.

I couldn’t find my car keys quick enough.

Notes

I hope you liked it. I'm sorry if you think it's short, but I know that some readers don't like reading chapters that are the size of the fifth Harry Potter book (Although I am a huge Harry Potter fan, ha-ha. I've read the series, like, seven times).

Anyways, I've been totally overwhelmed with new term starting, and I have a slight writer's block, so this is what I managed to cook up. And don't be afraid to just start up a conversation with me in the comments section. I'm honestly getting pretty lonely, so I wouldn't mind. ;)