Carmen's POV

"I feel like you might be stalking me," Harry says, leaning against the counter on his palms.

"Is that so?" This guy really can't take a hint. I thought I made it pretty clear between yesterday and the party last night that I'm not interested in any more than I already got from him. If anyone is doing the stalking, it's him. He shows up at my work two days in a row and at my house.

"Yeah, it's a little creepy to be honest, Carmen."

"Did you come here for coffee or just to bother me?" I ask, crossing my arms. He smiles, a cute little crooked smile that reveals one dimple on his left cheek and I have to try really hard not to show that I think he looks so cute right now.

"Is she why you dragged me here?" the other boy asks. I recognize him from last night and I think he was at the house Friday night as well. By his British accent I'm assuming he's the other one Liam was talking about. Harry glares at him and punches his arm. Wow, so I guess all hopes that he didn't come here for me are now gone. Louis laughs and looks at me.

"Shut up, Lou," Harry mumbles. He looks up at the menu and I have to bit the inside of my cheek so I don't smile.

"I guess you are a little scary," he says to me. I shrug.

"That's not really my problem, is it?"

"She's feisty," he says, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I know," Harry agrees. His eyes move from the menu board above my head to me and he smiles again.

"Are you guys going to order?" I ask again. It's not like it's busy, but I don't feel like dealing with flirty boy right now.

"You dragged me here so you're buying," Louis says. He turns to me. "I'll have a coffee and two muffins. Oh, and one of those bread cake things."

"Okay." I punch it into the register and wait for Harry to order. When I look up at them he's making a weird face at Louis.

"I think he wants me to leave you two alone for a moment," Louis says. Harry covers his face with his hands and I just glare. "So I'll be right over there."

I watch as he walks to a table by the window and sits down in one of the chairs. Harry shakes his head at him and Louis just waves. To my great happiness someone walks in behind Harry so I have a reason to hurry him along while Ivy brings Louis what he ordered.

"I have other customers," I tell him. "Are you going to order?"

"I'll have a coffee and a breakfast sandwich," he says. I nod and put the order in. "Are you this rude to all of your customers?"

"I'm not rude," I snap. "You're doing this on purpose."

"Doing what?"

"You know-" I stop and take a deep breath. The satisfied smirk on his face is his tell; he's doing this on purpose, he wants to get a rise out of me. "It's $13.77 please."

He hands me fifteen dollars and after I've given him the change he walks over to where Louis is already sitting. I really hope they don't stay here.

"Who are they?" Ivy whispers to me.

"They were at a party at my house last night."

"The one with the curly hair is so into you," she says, nudging me with her elbow.

"He's not," I assure her. She rolls her eyes and goes to the register while I finish their order. Whatever Harry wants from me, I know it's nothing good. He either wants to sleep with me again or I'm just some kind of game since I'm clearly not as easy as other girls on campus. He seems like the kind of guy that's really used to having girls throw themselves at him, so I'm probably just a challenge.

Even though I already slept with him. I don't really get what's in it for him anymore.

After about an hour the two guys still haven't left. We've had a pretty steady flow of customers so they haven't had a chance to bother us, but it's still annoying me that they're just sitting there. Don't they have somewhere else to be?

"Ive," I whisper. She comes over and we both look at them. "Should we ask them to leave?"

"Why?"

"They're just sitting there."

"So?" she asks, clearly confused. "Who cares? They're paying customers, they can stay as long as they want since we're not busy."

"I just....I don't know, they irritate me."

"Yeah, I can tell. Why don't you like them again?"

"I might have had sex with one of them," I whisper even quieter. She covers her mouth and starts laughing loudly, drawing their attention. I whack her arm and try to get her to shut up.

"Please tell me its the curly one, cuz I think the other one is so cute."

"Yeah it was Harry. The other one is Louis, I'm pretty sure. Anyway, now he keeps trying to flirt and talk to me and-"

"Oh," she says, cutting me off and nodding her head. "Gotcha."

Ivy knows me better than most, so she gets it instantly. I don't have to explain why I don't want him around and why it bothers me that he's trying so hard.

"What do I do?"

She shrugs. "I'm sure they'll leave eventually. Just act like it doesn't bother you. If you don't give him the attention he wants then he'll leave."

I bite my lip and she goes back to work. Why does he have to know where I work? He knows where I live, where I work and now where I go to school thanks to my so called friend Liam. And he knows I'm on the volleyball team. That's basically my whole lie right there and he'll be able to find me if he really wants to. I don't like that. I have the girls on the team and Ivy and Liam and my Dad and honestly, that's all I need. It's all I want, too. I don't need Harry coming in with his curly hair and cute dimple and charming smile and all of that and trying to fit into my life. I don't need him and I don't want him. End of story.

The boys stay long enough that they order lunch too, and I make Ivy help them instead this time. Whenever I look at him Harry seems to be watching me. I'm not going to lie, he's absolutely adorable, but it doesn't matter.

"I'm going to go," I tell Ivy, hanging up my apron before clocking out. I throw my bag on my shoulder. "My shift is over, but if it gets busy or something just call me and I can come back."

She laughs since we both know it's never busy enough that you need two people. "Okay, Carm. See you later."

I practically run out of the store and past the boys. I can't afford a car unfortunately, and right now I really wish I had one to hide in or speed away from them with. When I hear the bell on the door I silently pray that it's not who I think it is.

"Carmen!"

Shit. I keep walking and pretend I didn't hear him, but he runs up beside me and stands directly in front of me so I have to stop walking.

"Hey," he says, slightly out of breath. His green eyes are brighter than any eyes I've ever seen and I almost get distracted.

"Hi," I say shortly.

"Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out or something?" He scratches the back of his neck and I just stare at him. "What?"

"Are you serious?" I scoff lightly and his smile fades slightly.

"Well...yeah?"

"Look, you seem like a really nice guy, Harry," I begin. "But you're wasting your time, trust me."

"I really don't think that I am," he argues.

"I'm..." not interested. That's what I should say. But the excited and eager look in his eyes makes me feel guilty. Normally I'm really hard on guys, probably on the mean side. I just want them to understand that it never goes further than one or two nights with me. That's just the way it is. But Harry...I don't know why, but I don't want to be mean to him. He's sweet.

"I'm not asking you to help me hide a body," he jokes. I smile slightly and roll my eyes at him. "Not even a date, just two people hanging out."

I sigh, mulling it over in my mind. Harry is probably one of the hottest guys on campus so I'm really not sure why he's trying so hard here. Most guys get it after I've had to tell them once or twice or when I ignore them completely, but he's not giving up and for some reason he's making me question myself. But I don't do this stuff, that's the thing. I don't go on dates and Liam is the first and only male friend I've ever had. He didn't try all this with me, though, that's why I let him in. We were partners for a project in my first year and he was just genuinely friendly with me.

Harry can say this isn't a date all he wants, but with that hopeful light in his eyes I know he's just saying that because he thinks it'll change my mind.

"Sorry." I shake my head and his face falls. "I'm not interested."

I quickly step around him and keep walking towards the bus stop. The small part of me that wanted to say yes wants me to turn around to see what his reaction was, but the large part of me that knows it's a bad idea to even look at him wins and I keep looking forward.

After ten minutes I'm still waiting and a car with dark windows drives up in front of me. When the window rolls down I see Harry and Louis inside. Great.

"Do you want a ride?" Harry asks, leaning forward so he can see me out the passenger window from the drivers side.

"Really?" I ask, surprised that he's still being nice to me. He laughs a little.

"Get in, you're right down the road from us," he says. I almost refuse just to prove my point from before, but it's starting to rain and the bus is never fun.

"Thanks," I say as I get in the back seat. He nods and pull back onto the road. Louis turns in his seat and holds out his hand.

"I'm Louis," he says. I shake his hand.

"Carmen."

"I know." Harry whacks his arm and Louis just laughs. My eyes flicker to Harry's in the rear window, but we both look away. "Anyway, you're on the volleyball team, right?"

"Yeah, I am."

"You guys are supposed to be really good this year, aren't you?"

"Yeah, we had a lot of freshman and sophomores last year, so now that we're a little more experienced they're expecting us to do pretty well."

"Do you play?"

"Yeah, I start on left side." I can play any hitting position, but because I'm a good defensive player as well I play outside hitter.

"I don't know anything about volleyball, so that doesn't really mean anything to me," Louis says. I just laugh and he turns back around to face the front. I like Louis; he seems like the kind of guy that says whatever he wants and he really doesn't care what everyone else thinks. I like that. I've always wanted to be like that, but I don't know if I am.

"You passed my house," I tell Harry, pointing to it as we drive by.

"Yeah, Liam asked if I'd bring you to ours," he says, brushing one hand through his messy curls. Harry hair is very unique; I haven't seen a lot of guys with curls like his. The way he brushes it back from his forehead only amplifies how attractive he is.

When we get to the boys' house I follow them inside. Harry tosses the keys on the counter, the kitchen immediately to the left when you walk in. The stairs are along the back wall and the living room is to the right. All five bedrooms are upstairs, I'm pretty sure.

"He's not actually back yet," Harry tells me. He grabs a water bottle from the fridge. "Do you want one?"

"Sure." He tosses one to me and I unscrew the cap, thankful that he's not being awkward after I turned him down. "You know, you really should just get a filter or something."

"Why?" he asks, smirking and leaning against the countertop.

"It's a waste of plastic to buy them like this."

"Whether I buy them or not, they're still getting made."

That's a good point, I guess. "Still," I continue, "You wouldn't be contributing to pollution."

"Are you always this political?" he asks, walking past me and into the living room. "Liam should be back soon. He was at the library."

Of course he was. "Alright."

I stand awkwardly in the kitchen while I sip at my water. I've only been here a few times, not purposely. Liam always came to my place or we'd hang out on campus. I'm not even sure which room is his so I really don't feel at home here. Harry is clearly amused by this, though. He just watches me from his spot on a chair that looks far too comfortable.

"It's actually painful to watch you be so awkward," he teases. "You are allowed to sit down, Carmen."

I nod and walk over to the couch. I don't want to think about the last time this was cleaned.

"So volleyball?" Harry asks. I nod. "How long have you been playing?"

"I started when I was twelve. I was horrible."

"Really?"

I nod and laugh a little. "I wasn't used to my height and I was so incredibly awkward. It didn't work well. I almost quit after my first year, actually."

"Why didn't you?" he asks. He seems genuine, this one.

"My mom told me to stick with it another year so I did. After the second year I had improved a lot and I actually enjoyed it. I played all the time."

"Like at school?"

"Yeah, I played on the school team, on club teams during the year and beach teams during the summer. It has literally been my life since I was twelve."

"How old are you?" he asks. He looks alarmed immediately. "If you don't mind me asking."

I can't help but laugh at how nervous he seems. "I don't mind. I'm nineteen. Well, almost."

"Almost?"

"Yeah, my birthday is in November. I'm a sophomore."

"Oh, so that's coming up," he says. It's almost October now and starting to get cooler, much to my disappointment.

"How old are you?" I ask, uncomfortable with how much I'm talking about myself.

"Twenty, I'm a junior."

"Cool."

He nods and I sip at my water, looking around the room. I don't mind talking to Harry and I just told him a lot more in the last few minutes than I normally do in the first month of knowing someone. I'm not even sure how it happened and I really don't know how I feel about it. I don't open up to people ever, so this is strange for me. Liam has to try really hard to get me to talk to him about stuff and I've known him for two years.

When the front door opens Liam walks in, backpack over this shoulders. When he walks in I smile and wave, his eyes going back and forth between Harry and I. He looks confused.

"Hey Carmen." He says it as more of a question. "What are you-"

"She was just waiting for you," Harry interrupts. "I brought her here from the coffee place."

They exchange a weird look and Liam finally smiles and looks at me. I feel like I'm missing something.

"Right, I wanted to see if we could go to a movie tonight," Liam says.

"Why?" We never go to the movies.

"Because we're young and fun, Carmen, that's why."

"Young and fun equals going to a bar, not sitting in a movie theatre, Liam."

He rolls his eyes. "Do you want to go or not?"

"Alright, I'll go," I agree. "I need to go back to my place to change, though." He nods. "Wait, why didn't you just call me? Why'd you ask me to come over?"

"Umm..." his eyes shift and he shrugs. "I knew you'd say no if I had texted you or something."

"Oh." Seems legit, I guess. I probably would have said no, so that kind of makes sense.

"I can drive you back to your house if you want," Harry says, standing from his seat as I do.

"Umm...no, that's alright." He smiles and I head to the door, but when I pull it open I realize that it's pouring rain. When I turn around he's already taking his keys off the counter and I smile small, a little embarrassed to have him keep doing things for me when I already said I wasn't interested in him. The ride is completely silent but it doesn't feel uncomfortable like I thought it would.

"Thanks, Harry." I open up my door and hop down, waving back at him when he does to me. He waits until I'm inside to drive away, a small but really sweet gesture.

Notes

just turnin down the styles. who in their right mind would-
no. dont get angry.

ANYWAY. i hope you guys are liking the story :D

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