"Uhm, yea. This is my friend Tessa, Tessa this is Jace." Harry waves between us.
Friend? I feel like I have just been kicked in the stomach. I try my best to hide my humiliation and smile.
"Do you go to WSU?" I ask. My voice is much more composed than I feel inside.
"Hell no, I don't do the college thing." He chuckles coldly. "But if all the girls there looked like you, I would reconsider."
I gulp and wait for Harry to say something. Oh right, I am his friend. Why would he? I stay silent and I wish I would have just stayed at my table.
"We are going to the docks tonight, you two should make an appearance." Zayn says.
"We can't. Maybe next time." Harry says. I think about saying I can, but I am too pissed off to speak.
"Why not?" Jace asks.
"She has to work tomorrow, I suppose I can drop by later. Alone." He adds.
"That's too bad." Jace smiles at me.
Harry clenches his jaw and looks at him. I feel like I am missing something. Who is this guy anyway? His sandy blonde hair falls over his eyes and he shakes his head to move it.
"Yea, I'll hit you up later when I am on my way." Harry says and I stalk away.
I hear Harry's boots stomping behind me but I keep walking. He doesn't call my name, I am sure he doesn't want his friends to think anything but he keeps following me. I walk faster and dip into Macy's and turn a sharp corner, hoping to lose him. With no such luck, he grabs my elbow and turns me to face him.
"What is wrong?" His annoyance is obvious.
"Oh I don't know Harry!" I shout. An elderly woman looks at me and I give her an apologetic smile.
"Me either! You are the one who just hugged Zayn!" He yells. We are already attracting an audience but I am fuming so I don't care at the moment.
"Are you embarrassed of me or something? I mean I get it, I am not exactly the cool girl but I thought..."
"What? No! Of course I'm not embarrassed of you. Are you crazy?" He huffs. I fell crazy at the moment.
"Why did you introduce me as your friend? You keep talking about living together and then you tell them we are friends? What are you going to do, hide me? Not tell anyone? I won't be anyone's secret. If I am not good enough for your friends to know we are together then I don't want to be." I turn on my heel and walk away after my speech.
"Tessa! Damn it..." He says and follows me through the store. I reach the dressing rooms and glance at them.
"I will follow you." He says reading my thought.
"Take me home. Now." I demand and head towards the exit of the store. I stay quiet and at least ten feet ahead of Harry as we walk out of the mall and to his car. He moves to open the door for me but backs away when I glare at him. If I were him I would keep my distance.
I stare out the window and think of all the terrible things I could say to him but I don't. I am mostly embarrassed that he feels like he can't tell people we are together. I know I am not like his friends and they probably all think I am a loser or not cool enough but that shouldn't matter to him. I find myself wondering if Zayn would hide our relationship from his friends, and I can't help but think that he wouldn't. Come to think of it Harry has never actually called me his girlfriend. I probably should have waited to sleep with him until he at least confirmed we are dating.
"Are you done throwing a fit?" He asks as we pull onto the highway.
"A fit? You aren't serious!" My voice fills his small car.
"I don't know why it is such a big deal to you that I called you my friend, that's not what I meant. I was just caught off guard." He lies. I can tell he is lying by the way his eyes dart away from mine. He could have easily introduced me as his girlfriend.
"If you are embarrassed of me then I don't want to see you anymore." I say. I dig my nails into my leg to keep me from crying.
"Don't say that to me." He runs his hand over his hair and takes a deep breath. "Tessa, why do you assume I am embarrassed of you? That is just fucking ridiculous." He growls.
"Have fun at your party tonight."
"I am not going, I just said that so Jace would lay off." Harry says.
"If you aren't embarrassed of me then take me to the party." I say. I know it's a terrible idea but I want to prove my point.
"Absolutely fucking not." He says through his teeth.
"Exactly." I snap.
"I am not taking you there because Jace is a dick for one. Two, it is not the kind of place you should be."
"Why not? I can handle myself." I remind him.
"Jace and his friends are way out of your league Tessa, hell they are even out of my league. They are all stoners and scum."
"Then why are your friends with him?" I roll my eyes.
"There is a big difference in being friendly and friends."
"Well why would Zayn hand out with him then?"
"I don't know, Jace isn't one of those guys that you say no to." He explains.
"So you're afraid of him. That's why you didn't say anything about when he came onto me." I point out. Jace must be really bad if Harry is afraid of him.
Harry surprises me by laughing. "I am not afraid of him, I just don't want to provoke him. He likes games and if I provoked him with you he would turn you into a game." His knuckles turn white from his grip on the steering wheel.
"Well good thing we are just friends." I say and look out the window at the beautiful view of the city passing by. I know I am acting childish but I can't help it. I am not perfect, I am emotional and pissed off.
"Tessa...just stop." He begs.
"Harry you really hurt my feelings by calling me your friend." I admit. Now that I know how big of a creep Jace is I am a little more understanding why he did it but that doesn't make it hurt less.
"I know, I am sorry baby. I swear to you I didn't mean it that way." He says and put his hand on my thigh. I almost push his hand off but I decide against it.
"Can I come inside?" He asks as he pulls into the parking lot of my dorm.
"I guess." I groan dramatically and get out of the car.