17
HARLEY
“Iced latte with vanilla syrup for Tom!” Harley bellowed, as she waited for the customer to come get their order. An office worker in a pinstripe suit walked up and snatched the coffee out her hands, all without uttering a thank you.
Prick.
Three weeks of working in the cafe under her belt, she was used to the rude behaviour.
She had worked in retail for years before this so it wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to.
The long hours and juggling school at the same time, it had been a couple years since she’s had to do this.
But it was all worth it to stare at the auburn haired girl with the heart shaped face and bow lips.
Purely for research purposes, of course. She was simply curious about her and whatever reason she had to hate Annabel. She knew her half-sister was a handful but what could cause a hate to run so deep.
Harley hadn’t yet had the courage to try again to make conversation about anything other than work after how terribly wrong the last time went. She was still confused why she got so angry.
The girl in question came out from the staff room to restock the muffins that Bloss made for the shop. They were pretty good, better than anything she’d ever made. Harley was an excellent cook but a shit baker.
Speaking of, she and Bloss had formed a copacetic friendship in the last couple weeks. The first few shifts she had, all they did was snap at the other until a late Saturday when Bloss burnt her hands making cupcakes.
Harley had rushed to the back amidst the commotion to find the cupcakes all over the floor and Bloss hunched over, clutching the spot on her left hand that had darkened from being burnt.
They were the only ones left in the shop as Lily, a sixth form girl who came in twice a week, and Scarlett had gone home early.
She went over to her and helped apply first aid without a word.
Then they cleaned up the splattered cakes on the floor.
Once everything had been cleaned, in the throes of awkwardness, Bloss muttered a disgruntled thank you while Harley simply nodded. When she came in the next day, Bloss offered her a cake from a new batch. She knew it was the girl’s way of calling a truce.
Her mind went back to the girl standing not two feet away from her, Scarlett’s hair was being held together by two blue no-crease hair clips while flowing down her back, as the rare British ray of sunlight had it looking more ginger today.
It was a different shade of red every time she saw her.
She was in flared low rise jeans and a tight top that matched the colour of her eyes, brown.
Whenever she reached up to put something on a higher shelf you could see the tattoo on her lower back, the design was gorgeous; a heart that spiraled into angel wings of sorts.
It wasn’t the only tattoo that was on her.
She had a few on her arms and stars on her belly that disappeared under her shirt.
There was also the one on her ribcage of a spider with the letter C outlined around it, Harley had seen it once when she walked in on Scarlett changing.
The tattoo was a little creepy but secretly her favourite.
Harley had always wanted tattoos but could never find the time nor could she ever decide on what she actually wanted.
The noon rush had come and gone and only a couple customers were scattered around the room.
Her and Bloss were talking in low tones and Harley could only catch certain words ‘alcohol’, ‘race’, ‘balloons’, none of which separately made any sense.
She caught the tail end of their conversation and heard Bloss say to Scarlett “I’ll have him confirm it tonight,” to which the latter nodded, so Harley decided to take this moment to slide into the conversation.
“What’s tonight?” Harley asked, trying to not make it obvious that she was itching to be in the know.
Scarlett and Bloss looked at one another, they spoke telepathically deciding whether or not they were going to spill.
“Just a party. Do you want to come?” Bloss spoke, and Harley peeked at Scarlett trying to gauge how she felt about Harley infiltrating her space. It wasn’t something she wanted before and that had Harley hesitant to say yes.
So, she shrugged her shoulders, in faux-nonchalance. “Not doing anything else, so yeah,” Harley drawled out the last word, then she turned to Scarlett. “If that is okay with you.”
“Why wouldn't it be?” Scarlett questioned with a raise of her eyebrow, and they stared at each other for a moment without saying a word.
Her brown eyes were so piercing it was as if they were seeing through you and not just at you.
If Harley was a different woman she would've crumbled under her gaze but she held her own.
A snap of a finger brought them out of the trance, Bloss had been looking back and forth between them with her eyes narrowed. “I’ll text you the details.”
Scarlett merely went back to dealing with the muffins and Harley turned around to get the order of a customer who had just walked in.
???
After the fifth outfit change of the night, Harley decided to stick with a black top, black jeans and the red leather jacket that Annabel had recently snuck back into her wardrobe.
Annabel had given it to Harley during a recent round of shopping because of some unknown thing that was bothering her, and apparently it eased her mind to do some charity. The charity, in question, being Harley.
When Harley had tried to give some of it back, she said, “Stop being silly. You can never have too many clothes.”
So Harley chucked it all onto Annabel’s floor. Then Annabel went around yelling that she had no respect for priceless clothing. “This is vintage Tom Ford, Harleen! Show some care!”
Either way, she figured she might as well accept it, it was a nice touch to the total of her outfit.
Her boho braids that she had completed two nights ago hung down her back.
She had considered doing half up half down but decided against it.
The dark eyeliner and false lashes she was wearing brought out the green in her eyes and complimented her brown skin.
She wasn’t vain but was willing to admit that she looked good.
The whole ensemble came together really well.
Her clock on the bedside table showed it to be 10:50 and that had her on alert, she rushed to get all her things together.
Bloss said they would get here to pick her up at eleven on the dot.
Harley was a little nervous about tonight but she was willing to let her fear sit aside and attempt enjoying herself for once.
She left her room to see Annabel sprawled on the living room floor with textbooks and a notepad opened in front of her, scribbling, another pen stuck in between her messy bun.
So immersed in the work in front of her, dressed in her ballet clothes that signified she would be practising once she was done, she didn't hear Harley walk down the steps until she was standing right in front of her, “Hey.”
She looked up from her notes and her jaw hung wide open, “Oh my, where are you off to looking like that?”
“Shut up. It’s just a thing,” Harley said, her cheeks heating up a little from the compliment. “What thing? Can I come?” Excited, she meerkats upwards in curiosity.
“No. I’d like to do something without you hovering in all your annabel-ness.
” She pouted with a mock frown that Harley leaned down to pinch her cheeks, which caused her to giggle.
Annabel rubbed her face as she asked, “Seriously, do you need me to drive you or are you going with people? Anyone I know?”
“Friends from work. Lily, Bloss…and Scarlett.”
“Scarlett Argent?” Annabel’s eyebrows raised so high it wouldn't come down, her entire demeanour shifted. She tried to be subtle about it but subtlety wasn’t exactly her strong suit.
“Yeah, but it’s a group thing.”
“Where exactly is this happening?”
“Somewhere by Rotherhithe Tunnel, I think…why, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. The area is just a little dodgy is all,” she replied but hesitant, like she was holding something back. As she was about to speak, Harley's phone rang and she raised a hand to stop her. Bloss was on the other line telling her to come outside, they spoke briefly and she cut the call.
“I have to go. See you in a bit.”
As Harley opened the door to leave Annabel called back to her, she warned, “Just be careful, okay?” Her tone is a little ominous.
“Scarlett isn’t all she pretends to be.” Harley’s brows dipped at the vague statement but a car honk brought her out of her thoughts.
She gave Annabel a sharp nod and short wave before exiting the door.
Later, Bloss drove into the street and the sheer amount of people Harley saw loitering almost shocked her. She had assumed it was a more lowkey event but there had been so many people standing in groups talking.
More importantly, it was the way in which the road opposite where they had parked looked like a race track which caught her eye. It was a large roundabout that had six or seven exit roads and judging by the slew of cars in her line of sight, Harley guessed that this was some form of street racing.
“I assumed this was more of a house party,” she said to no one in particular.
“You thought wrong,” Lily answered. “You’re about to experience the best night of your life.” She and Bloss highfived in the corner of Harley’s eye, while laughing.
She looked at Scarlett who seemed more relaxed than Harley had ever seen her, like she was at home in the midst of the chaos in the air.
The wind blew in her hair, which was different from a couple hours ago, fluffier and more coils.
When she looked to the left to where she was staring, Harley quickly averted her eyes.
But she could feel Scarlett’s on her now.