Perfect

HARRY
We both stand there in silence with nothing to say for the longest five minutes in the history of mankind. “I have to be honest,” I say at last. “I don’t know the protocol here.”
“Protocol?”
“Well,” I say. “Normally, at this point in a date I would be thinking about kissing the girl. And then about whether or not she likes me enough to take me upstairs for coffee.”
“Well,” Jamie says. “How about we go slow? See where the night takes us?”
“Of course,” I say. “I think I’m capable of slow.”
She grins. “You’ve never done this slow, have you?”
“Not even once.”
“And you basically just jump right into bed after you drive her home?”
“Basically.”
“Interesting.”
“Is it?” I say. “I find it truly annoying.”
“No, it’s annoying alright. But it’s also flattering.”
“How is this flattering?”
“Because,” she says. “Maybe after tonight, I’ll have ended up teaching you something.”
“You totally want to gloat right now, don’t you?”
She laughs. “I do.”
“Well, gloat away!” I say. “But know one thing, Miss Crawford. That I still have a few tricks up my sleeve and the only reason I’m not using them on you, is because I happen to be a gentleman.”
“Your tricks aren’t working on me, are they?”
“No, they are not!”
We both laugh.
Jamie goes quiet.
She shivers from the cold, so I take off my jacket and put it around her shoulders.
“Thank you,” she says, looking up at me.
“Would you like me to drop you home?” I say. “Or do you want to keep walking some more?”
“Keep walking.”
“But you’re cold.”
“Not anymore.”
I smile and we take slow steps along the sidewalk. “You know what,” she says. “This is turning out to be a wonderful date.”
“So,” I say. “We’re officially calling it a date now?”
“Well,” she says. “You did buy me this dress and we did just have dinner and danced for several hours. And now you’ve given me your jacket to shield me from the cold. What else would we call this?”
“I completely agree.”
“I’m sorry I reacted a little harshly before,” she says. “It’s not the first time Kate and Zander have tried to hook me up with someone. It usually doesn’t go this well.”
“There’s nothing you need to apologize for,” I say. “It was wrong of me to ask Kate, I could have directly asked you. But it didn’t quite happen that way. I called your phone and Kate picked it up so I wanted to leave a message. Kate said you wanted to see me but that you didn’t have the courage to tell me that, so I told her I’d love to go out with her…I mean...you. And then she sort of commandeered the whole thing and I don’t know why I went along with it.”
“I know Kate tends to do that.”
“Anyway,” I say. “I assure you I will not fall for this again. Next time, I talk directly to you. After all, this isn’t the sixteenth century.”
“I’m glad you agree.”
She says this and stops walking.
I look into her eyes.
“I had a great time, Harry.”
I know that this is the time to kiss her, I just know it. I don’t know why I’m having trouble gathering the strength to do it. I’ve never freaked out over such things before, so why am I freaking out now? Focus, Harry. Just kiss her she’s not going to bite! I lean in and our lips are almost touching when I hear the phone going off and it’s not just mine. She stops and takes out her phone, so I do too.
“We promised you the ultimate scoop on one Mr. Styles and here it is: it looks like the former bad boy might be in love again. But this time it’s not some skanky socialite but a girl from the other side of town, not the Springvale’s heartthrob’s usual fare for sure. We only have one question Harry: When are you going to stop slumming? And when you’re done with it, could you please let her down easy for our sakes? But you know what, on second thought, if a girl is clueless enough to fall for a guy like Harry, maybe she has it coming. #HeartbrokenHeartthrobHarry #SlummingIsBad”
I look up at Jamie and she’s still reading the thing, probably over and over again. And then, she gingerly places the phone back in her pocket and we start walking again. This time, there’s no casual banter, no giggling, just awkward, heart-rending silence.
“Jamie…”
She stops walking. “Harry,” she says. “I’m sorry.”
“What about?”
“Um…Harry…I’m not sure we should…I mean…I think we should take it slow, you know?”
“We are taking it slow,” I say. “We’ve been dancing and having fun for hours and I haven’t even touched you in the wrong way. I think that’s pretty slow.”
“I know,” she says. “And I appreciate it, but I think I need to go slower. If that’s not your thing, then I’m sorry, we can’t be together.”
“Right,” I say. “But the thing is, Jamie you were fine just now. Before this text, you were about to kiss me. You can’t tell me I was imagining things, because I wasn’t.”
“You weren’t…Harry. It’s true. I was about to kiss you and it would have been a terrible mistake.”
“Jamie,” I say. “You’re breaking up with me over something a website said! A website that thrives on people’s misery!”
“Yes,” she says with tears in her eyes. “Because I don’t want it to thrive on mine.”
She storms off.
“So, what you’re just going to leave?” I call after her.
But she doesn’t reply.

Notes