Chapter 11: Ask Him for Help
** Harper **
Too many thoughts raced across her mind.
Harper remembered the countless times in college when she had pulled out her phone, staring at Eli's name in the contact list and itching to call him. There were tons of excuses she could use, tons of questions about the school and the city that she could've asked him unsuspiciously. But every time she felt tempted to press the button, her eyes would lock onto that profile picture she saved, and she would remember the last day she had seen him at his graduation ceremony.
She would remember the person next to him that was cropped out of the picture. His girlfriend.
It was the only time they had met, and Harper couldn't even recall her name. But she still remembered clearly the beautiful blonde with her glamorous princess waves, bright sunshine smiles, and perfect curves that even the oversized graduation gown couldn't hide. She was gorgeous, polished, everything the opposite from the little girl who always slouched next to Eli wearing glasses and pajamas.
Harper had known since then that it made no difference whether she was still into him or not. She wasn't his type, end of the story.
But she wouldn't say that out loud, because she knew without a doubt that such sentiments would only trigger a lecture on confidence and self-assurance from Chelsea. So instead, she said, "It's irrelevant. I don't have time for dating anyway, work is busy enough."
"Lies," Chelsea scoffed. "Work is busy enough that you have time for writing web novels? And besides, your book screams that you need to get lai—" She cut herself short, her eyes lighting up anew. "Guess what, I have an idea. You want to improve that book, right? I think what you need most is some real life relationship experience to draw from. Why don't you use this opportunity to, you know, ask him for help?"
If that series of comments had come from anyone else, Harper would've dismissed it as mildly obnoxious and completely ridiculous. But she knew her trusted friend only had her best interest in mind, and considering her current mess of a situation, she actually gave it a serious thought. "Ask him for help?"