For the Fun In The Sun thread on the Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry Forum.
Harper has spent years imagining her first kiss with Justin. But when it happens—when it finally happens—she can smell the alcohol on his breath and feel the desperation in his lips. But most of all, she can hear Alex's voice in her ear: Juliet left Justin last week. I mean, good for her. But he's a wreck. And without thinking, Harper takes a step back.
"No." The word slips out before she can stop it. "I don't—Justin—just no."
"Oh." Justin's mouth curls into a frown as he crosses his arms. She watches as his initial flash of confusion turns to anger. "Fine. I don't like you anyway. Not like that."
She's heard him speak like this before. Usually, it's with Alex. He slips into his teenage persona—dramatic and cruel. It's a petulance, she thinks, that most boys his age have long since grown out of.
But hasn't it always been true? Hasn't she always been his little sister's annoying friend? And then hadn't she been his best friend's girlfriend—the one he'd never really approved of, but been polite to for Zeke's sake? And even through that, hasn't she always been the one thinking that one day they'll fall into each other while he rolls his eyes and laughs in her face?
"Yeah," Harper finally says. "I know."
It seems unfair that although she's finally the one rejecting him, it still feels like it's the other way around. He's still looking at her with disdain, and she still feels her heart ache.
"You don't like me, Justin." Her cheeks begin to warm and, much to her dismay, her eyes begin to water. "You've never liked me. You don't want this. You never have. And it's not fair. It's not fair for you to come to me now and expect me to—"
"I don't expect you—"
"You do." Harper is insistent. "You've always expected me to just be here, wanting you. Because I always have been."
"But now that I'm here, I'm not enough for you. Is that it? I've finally come around, and you've changed your mind."
Harper tries to remind herself that this isn't about her—that this about Juliet, because Justin's world has always been about Juliet. It's Juliet he's not enough for. It's Juliet who changed her mind.
"I think you should go," Harper says, willing her voice not to tremble. "Now, Justin. I think you should leave right now."
He grumbles on his way to the door and slams it shut behind him. Even when she begins to heave from sobbing, the sound of it echoes in her ears. It hurts. When it comes to Justin, it's always hurt. But this time, it feels different. Somehow, it feels final. Harper wonders if it feels like closure.