Chapter 14
It might have only been the second night that Harper had spent in the dorm, but Archie couldn't help feeling surprised that he didn't find her in the training room the next morning. Or in the pool. Or the library. Or anywhere within the Gods' area of the school. And, after a stormy run-in with Persephone, he returned to the dorm where his teammates were still sleeping—only to find she wasn't there either.
Or at least, so far as he could tell she wasn't there. She might have been sleeping, but the door was locked and the keyhole barely showed the foot of her bed.
Which was irritating.
Eventually he ended up camping out in the living room, on the couch with a clear view of the stairs. By ten, though, everyone seemed to be running out for their activity of the day. Jay practically sprinted out the dorm, shouting something about Hera before the door flew shut behind him. Herry and Odie were going out to see if a new video game had come out yet. Neil was off to the spa for a relaxation treatment (what he needed one for, Archie couldn't imagine). Not long after him, Teresa and Atlanta came down the stairs in deep conversation about clothes.
Atlanta stopped in the doorway and gave a snort of disbelief. "You're really just gonna sit there all day?"
"No," Archie said defensively. "I was just waiting to see what everyone else was doing."
"We'll we're the last ones," Teresa informed him. "Though I don't think you want to join us in prom dress shopping."
"Uh. No," Archie agreed, making a face. "What about Harper—I haven't seen her come down yet."
The girls raised an eyebrow each at him. "She left over an hour ago," Teresa said. "She joined me for a sun-salutation and then left for an aerobics class at SunCrest gym."
"Oh," Archie said. It took him a minute, but he slowly remembered where SunCrest was—pretty much dead center of New Olympia. Maybe about two blocks from the mall. "You guys mind if I catch a ride? I wanted to look for a new book."
Atlanta looked to Teresa, who shrugged. "Sure. What book?"
"Uhh..."
"You don't know?" Atlanta asked with a teasing laugh to her voice.
Archie smirked as he followed them. "I'll know it when I see it."
...
Not long after they entered the mall, Archie managed to lose the girls in the crowd and headed off towards the center of town. It was a longshot that his idea would work, but he preferred trying anyway.
There was no sign of her, that he could see, at SunCrest Gym, but there was another gymnasium a few blocks down and he headed off that way. He'd barely gotten three streets over when it felt like Neil's luck had rubbed off on him.
"Hey Harper!" someone shouted ahead of him
Archie looked up to see the door of the corner stoop up ahead had opened and dozens of athletic looking people were pouring out, one of which was wearing a fuchsia tunic and had a long golden braid hanging over her shoulder. He quickly ducked into another doorway as Harper looked back towards the remaining three girls standing in front of what must have been a dance studio.
"You back for good this time?" said a brunette with slanted bangs.
Harper shrugged. "Anything's possible."
"Yeah, but is it likely?" asked a girl with the palest blond hair Archie had ever seen, in fact it was hard not to stare at her in general. Something about the girl's sharp features and strange beauty just screamed for attention.
Again Harper shrugged and Archie heard a little chuckle. "I don't know yet," she said. "But I promise I'll let you know."
"Or at least don't disappear without a word again," the third girl said, flipping her dark braids over her shoulder.
"I'll try not to," Harper promised, then turned to start down the block.
"Wait, Harper!" The platinum blonde called after her.
She turned to her friends again, though she continued to walk slowly.
"Are you gonna make it to Chase's party later?"
Harper hesitated.
"Oh come on!" the brunette whined. "None of us have seen you in three years! You have to come!"
"I'll see what I can do," Harper said with a laugh. "Where is it?"
"Bourbon street—at Jean-Luc's," the blonde responded.
"There's gonna be dancin," the third girl said, practically singing the last word.
The brunette muttered something in Spanish. "Of course there'll be dancing! What else happens when you put dancers together?"
All four girls laughed and Harper shook her head. "Alright, alright," she said. "I promise to be there."
Her three friends let out cheers and called out promises of events that would happen later that night as Harper turned back down the street with a smile. Archie waited a few moments after she'd passed him before he followed. If nothing else, maybe he'd learn more about her by doing this.
Archie soon found out that Harper's typical day was insane to follow. It was like she knew every dance studio and public gymnasium in the city—and she visited each of them. Spending anywhere from half an hour to two hours at each before bounding off to another one. The only brake she took was after Madam Petrova's Ballet Academy, where she stopped by a panini vendor before crossing the street into the park around 1:15.
Archie opted for a hotdog stand nearby as his stomach growled in its envy of her lunch. Then he slunk forward, peeking around the large stone columns that marked the entry tot he park, but he didn't see her on the path ahead.
Frowning, he stepped into the archway and scanned the area only to react too late as a foot connected with his middle. The force sent him doubling over onto the grass, his hotdog flying from his hand.
"Hey!" her growled, trying to kick his assailant's legs out from beneath them, but they easily dodged him. Then he stopped to stare sheepishly.
Staring right back down at him, clearly suspicious, was Harper who now held a panini in one hand and a hotdog in the other. Her eyes flickered with a few different emotions before she finally held his lunch out to him.
"You're clogging arteries with this," she said.
Archie shot her a dirty look, but took the hotdog. "I like hotdogs," he defended, ignoring how she offered to help him up. "And there's nothing wrong with my arteries."
"Just your spying skills," Harper commented cooly, then turned away.
"Spying skills?" Archie repeated, following her to a park bench where she dropped her duffle and tucked her legs beneath her before settling into her lunch. "I wasn't spying."
"No?" she asked, swallowing a bite. "So you just skulk around the city aimlessly everyday? Or do you try dancing too?"
Archie gave her another dirty look, but Harper kept her attention on the sandwich in front of her which only made him more frustrated with her. Almost like she was bating him by acting above him.
"You can sit down, you know," Harper pointed out, gesturing towards the rest of the bench.
"Well maybe I don't want to," Archie said and took a bite of his hotdog.
"Then don't," Harper said with a noncommittal shrug, but she frowned at him. "I don't care either way."
"And I don't care if you care or not," Archie responded, knowing how immature he was starting to sound but not able to stop himself.
Harper raised an eyebrow at him, then rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said and turned her attention to some kids by the pond.
Archie narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously as he finished his hotdog. He thought about leaving, but that would defeat the whole point of following her this morning. So he begrudgingly took a seat, deciding to study her up close—since she already knew he was following her anyway.
She barely glanced at him, the only real acknowledgment she gave to him joining her on the bench was an ever so slight victorious smirk. He pretended he was watching the people playing frisbee nearby, but he cautiously watched her out of the corner of his eye.
After about five minutes, it became clear that she wasn't going to speed up eating that sandwich, so Archie settled for conversation. Maybe one-on-one would get more information than her playing the questions off on someone else.
"So," he said, wondering if he sounded as awkward as he felt. "Where are you from?"
Harper raised an eyebrow at him and looked at him suspiciously before facing away from him again, her eyes wandering around the park. "Here," she said after a moment or two. "Or more so, five blocks that way and seven blocks over, but I was here most of the time anyway."
"You grew up in New Olympia?"
She nodded, giving him a bemused smirk. "People do actually live here, ya know," she chided. "We're not all bussed in by gryphon. Doesn't Herry's granny live just outside of town?"
Archie shot her a glare. "So what's with all the different dance studios?"
Harper broke into a victorious smirk before she answered. "I don't have the focus to be on a dance troop. So I kinda just float," she said, then smiled in a weird far-off kind of way. "There's this prestigious academy on East Elm that probably would have been cool, but that takes alot more money that I have to get into. A friend of mine goes there and claims it's brutal, but that's dance for ya."
She seemed to snap back to the present after that. She looked at Archie and quickly turned back to her sandwich, which she ate faster than the first half. Then she got up and stretched out her legs as she dropped the wrapper into the nearest trash bin.
"I'm heading to Guido's for salsa and tango," she said, picking up her dufflebag again. "Then Dilligan's for step and Carnival del Barrio for zumba at four. Just—ya know—in case you want to follow me some more."
The last sentence had brought back that teasing smirk, the one that made it seem as though she'd won something over him, and made Archie glare at her as he got to his feet too.
"No thanks," he said. "I have other places to be."
"Well that's reassuring," Harper said and turned back toward the nearest park exit, lazily waving a hand over her shoulder at him.
Archie frowned after her for a moment or two more, then turned in the exact opposite direction—the direction they'd been facing. She'd said that she used to live over there. What better place to find out a little more than her old home?
A/N: I really do wish I had more time to work on this! *sigh* Not much is mine, but it's fun anyway. More to come soon! I'm glad you're all enjoying it! ^_^