CHAPTER 37 (A CONFESSION I SHOULD HAVE MADE A LONG TIME AGO)
The cool breeze whipped past my cheek. I sneezed a bit and rubbed my nose. It was kind of cold today, but it wasn't icy cold. Yesterday was even colder.
I sat on the bench, looking at my brother Kristoph as he collected strawberries from the patches around the farm. Jenna, Harry's little cousin, appeared too, holding a basket full of strawberries. I smiled. Aw… they looked so cute together.
"You want a berry?" Harry offered, giving one to me.
I nodded, smiling. "Thanks". I took it and ate it. Hm… very delicious.
Harry and I decided to take the kids here. Kristoph was really begging me to take him here. It was lucky that Harry chatted with me on the internet a few days ago. He chatted about how his cousin Janice wanted to go to the strawberry farm around here. I mentioned about Kristoph, and we decided to go to the farm together.
So here we were, at the farm.
"Why don't we pick some berries?" Harry said excitedly.
I agreed at once. "Good idea Harry".
We went around the bushes, picking berries. The berries looked absolutely heavenly and appealing. It really made you want to eat them. I carefully plucked a few. Harry looked excited as he plucked a few.
He still looked gorgeous to me. I smiled. Well, at least I don't feel so embarrassed now when I'm around him. I felt pretty comfortable around him now.
Before, I used to reject the idea of having him as an older brother. But now, it sounds really nice. And he would make a good older brother I guess.
We finally finished plucking quite a few juicy and plump strawberries. We began eating them as we sat down on a bench. Jenna and Kristoph were still picking too, but I couldn't see them anywhere. Oh well, let them be.
"Hey, you've got a stain there", Harry chuckled as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped some stain from my mouth.
I grinned. "Thanks Harry".
I began to think of something. What if I told Harry about how I felt about him before? I mean, it's been quite a long time, and I wanted him to know.
"Harry, can I tell you something?" I asked him.
He nodded. "Sure Anthea. You know you can tell me anything".
I gave out a huge sigh. "Um… Ha-Harry… I… I…", I stuttered.
Jeez! I thought I was already comfortable around him??
He only laughed. "Spit it out Anthea. Come on".
"Okay. Fine. Here goes. I had a crush on you before you know".
Harry blinked. "Really?"
I smiled. "Yeah. Really. Harry, you are so gorgeous, can you blame me? I had a really, really, really huge crush on you before. I like, even daydream about you".
Harry laughed and grinned. He was taking all of this quite well actually. "Really? I never knew. Well, that was shocking".
I laughed. "But you know what; I think I've fallen for Danny now".
Harry smiled even more. "Ah… I see. Danny is a pretty great guy you know. He's very sweet and just so caring, even if he does act like a goof."
I agreed, grinning. "I know. But you know, I can believe that he's so sincere and sweet. And I always feel safe around him. That's why I couldn't help but fall in love with him".
Harry paused for a bit, and then he smiled. "You know, he seems to be really happy when he's around you. And he's always concerned about you. I think he'd go nuts if anything happened to you. I'm glad you manage to brighten him up. He was depressed before you came".
I looked at Harry, a puzzled expression on my face. Danny? Depressed? I couldn't imagine that. He was always so happy.
"Danny? Depressed?" I asked.
Harry nodded. "Yup. You see, he had this girlfriend before. He really liked the girl. But then, the girl suddenly broke up with him because she liked another guy. So yeah, she was actually just playing him. He was heartbroken after that. The girl's moved now though. Good thing too".
I frowned. I never knew he went through something as awful as that. Aw… Danny…
"But then you showed up. And he became really happy. Tom, Dougie and I noticed that. And we were grateful that you did come along. That's why we all care about you", Harry said with a wide smile on his face.
I smiled too. I never knew that I actually brightened up Danny's life. I was happy that I managed to make him smile and look so happy. The bright expression on his face was the one thing that I always wanted to see.
The girl was completely stupid to do something like that. She already had Danny for Pete's sake.
"Well, she's a bloody idiot. If you ask me", I remarked.
"Yeah. I know. Dougie, Tom and I managed to get revenge on her though", Harry replied.
"Oh? How did you do that?"
"Easy. We got to school early and placed a toad inside her desk. She totally freaked out when she opened her desk".
I laughed. Now this was pure evil.
"Oh? So things went smoothly?" I asked him.
"Yeah. We never got caught. She reported the incident to the principal. The principal didn't care. He despised her anyway. He told her to stop crying like a wimp and just go back to the classroom", Harry grinned.
I chuckled. Wow. They were really tight. They really looked out for each other.
"So, are you gonna tell Danny anytime soon about how you feel about him?" he asked me, smiling widely.
I blushed. "Um… about that… I'm… er… how do I put this?" I began to say nervously.
Harry laughed. "Really, you're still shy towards Danny after all this time?"
"Um… I guess so. I'm just afraid that I'll do something stupid or mess things up".
Harry placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled. "Sometimes you just have to try. There's no harm in trying. You'll miss out on a lot of things if you're scared".
That made me feel much better. Harry was right. Nothing will happen to me if I don't try.
Okay. I'm going to tell Danny as soon as possible. Wow. I'm glad I talked to Harry.
"Jeez. I sound like a fortune cookie", Harry remarked.
I chuckled. "Nah. It's okay. I'm enlightened".
I'm glad that I bumped into Harry today. At least I knew what to do now.
Even if Danny pushes me away, at least I tried telling him. That's way better than not doing anything at all.
Suddenly, a strawberry hit the back of my head.
"Ow!" I exclaimed and rubbed the back of my head.
Harry laughed. He was so evil. "Ooh. That's gonna leave a mark".
Then, another strawberry hit the back of Harry's head. Wow. Karma was fast.
"Ouch!" he yelped, also rubbing the back of his head.
We both turned our heads and saw Jenna and Kristoph snickering while hiding behind the bushes.
Harry and I nodded to each other. Payback time.
We carefully crept around them. Jenna screamed all of a sudden.
"Run Kristoph!" she squealed.
The two ran quickly, throwing berries at Harry and I as they sprinted.
Harry and I ran after them. This was fun, even if we were already teenagers.
Suddenly, Kristoph hurled a strawberry straight at Harry's eye.
Harry immediately stopped running and began placing his hand on his hurt eye. I stopped running and gasped. Harry began to squat, still tending to the wound of his hurt eye.
I bent down, checking if he was okay. "Harry, you okay?"
He removed his hand from his eye. His eye was a little red, but he looked okay.
He finally got up, rubbed his eye, and grinned.
"Nah. I'm okay. It's just a little strawberry anyway", he replied.
I laughed. Aw… Harry was so cute. He looked absolutely adorable.
"You sure?" I asked him.
"I'm positive".
Kristoph and Jenna finally emerged from the bushes. Kristoph suddenly ran to Harry and hugged him.
"I'm sorry Harry", he apologized.
Harry only patted his head and smiled. "It's okay Kristoph. I know you didn't mean to".
Kristoph began to smile. Aw… Harry was so understanding.
"Well, I guess it's time we left the farm", I suggested after taking a glance at my watch. They needed their nap after all.
Harry nodded and began carrying Jenna on his back. Jenna seemed sleepy. Finally, she yawned and began to doze off.
It was sweet of Harry to carry Jenna on her back as we walked home. He really was like a big brother.
I looked at Kristoph as he held my hand. Being an older sister wasn't so bad after all.
Harry's cell phone suddenly rang as we passed by a few houses. We were only a few blocks away from my house.
"Hey Danny, how'd the competition go?" Harry answered on his cell phone.
Oh. I nearly forgot. Danny had a competition in Chemistry today. He was at some town. He really was amazing.
I listened intently, I was wondering what happened too.
"What? What? I can't understand you. Huh? You're being attacked?" Harry asked in a confused tone.
I had a puzzled expression on my face too. What? Danny's being attacked?
"Huh? What's a 'lora'?" Harry asked.
I continued to listen. Oh my gosh. What's happening to Danny?
"Oh. You mean you're being… What? Attacked by a girl… her name's Laura?" Harry asked.
I started getting worried. Was Danny hurt?
Suddenly, an ear-splitting scream came from the phone.
"DAAAANNNNNNYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!" a girl's voice screamed.
Harry flinched. He nearly dropped his phone. Jenna woke up but dozed off later on. Man that scream was so loud.
I covered my ears with my hands. What the heck was that? It was worse than the sound of nails scratching on a chalkboard.
Harry placed his phone back in his pocket after pressing it against his right ear.
"The line went dead. Sheesh. What was that scream about?" Harry muttered.
Oh no. Did something happen to Danny?? I hope not.
"Harry, did anything… um… bad happen to Danny?" I asked him, concerned.
"I don't know. He said that he was being attacked", Harry replied.
"What? Attacked by what?" I asked him.
"I don't know. A girl named Laura. He was scared out of his wits".
I fell silent. What? A girl was attacking Danny?
"Really?" I asked again.
"Yup. Oh well. He gets that all the time. Some girls really chase him. I sort of pity the guy sometimes. Don't worry Anthea. I'll make sure this girl doesn't get too cozy with Danny".
I nodded. I still felt like something bad was about to happen, like a hurricane was about to wipe out the whole town.
Harry and I finally arrived at my home. I waved Harry goodbye and thanked him for bringing me home.
That night though, I couldn't help but feel that something bad would happen. I couldn't sleep well because I just couldn't shrug off that feeling.