Distance Between Them
1065 Words
For the first time in weeks, Harry didn’t sit beside Anna in class.
He came in late, his hair tousled, his stride unhurried. Instead of sliding into the empty chair next to her as he always did, he took a seat two rows back, off to the side.
Anna’s shoulders tensed.
She didn’t turn around, didn’t look at him, but she felt the absence like a hollow space against her skin. She told herself it was a relief. No steady gaze burning through her. No whispered jokes passed under the desk. No tempting warmth beside her.
It should have been easier.
But somehow, it wasn’t.
Her pen hovered above her notebook, unmoving. Every word from the professor blurred. All she could think about was the way Harry hadn’t chosen her seat this time.
And worse—the quiet part of her heart that wanted to glance back, just to see if he was watching.
***
Harry, meanwhile, was battling himself.
He’d promised, lying awake in bed, that he would ease back. He’d push less, give her space. Stop pressing so hard against her fears.
So he forced himself into the seat two rows back, even though the sight of her shoulders, stiff and tense in front of him, made his hands ache to reach out.
When she didn’t turn around, not even once, he told himself this was proof he was doing the right thing.
But it felt like swallowing glass.
***
That was when Bella Golden walked into his life.
She breezed into the lecture hall with a confidence that turned heads. Long golden-brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, and her bright smile seemed crafted for attention. People whispered her name often—Bella Golden, the beauty everyone noticed, the one with the effortless charm.
Harry barely looked up when she passed his row, but Bella noticed him. She always noticed.
“Harry Pitt, right?” she said after class, falling into step beside him.
He glanced over, polite. “That’s me.”
“I’ve heard about you,” Bella said with a grin. “The mysterious exchange student everyone’s curious about.”
Harry chuckled softly. “Mysterious? That’s news to me.”
“You don’t talk much outside your circle,” Bella replied. “Makes you stand out.”
He shrugged. “I guess I just focus on my classes.”
Bella tilted her head, studying him. “Or maybe you’re focused on someone in particular.”
Her words hit too close, and Harry quickly shifted. “We’re all focused on someone, aren’t we?”
Bella laughed lightly, letting the evasion slide. But the gleam in her eyes said she wasn’t letting him go so easily.
***
Over the next few days, Bella made herself a fixture. She sat beside Harry in lectures when he didn’t take the spot next to Anna. She invited him to group study sessions and always angled her chair close to his. She asked about his home country, his favorite foods, his plans after graduation.
Harry answered with polite detachment, never rude but never warm. To him, Bella was friendly, confident, maybe even refreshing—but nothing more. His mind was always somewhere else, on someone else.
Still, Bella’s presence didn’t go unnoticed.
***
Anna had told herself she didn’t care.
When Harry started sitting elsewhere, she’d forced her chest to stay still, to pretend it didn’t ache. When Bella began drifting closer to him, she told herself it was natural. Harry was handsome, charming. Of course someone like Bella would gravitate toward him.
It didn’t matter. He could do what he wanted.
That’s what she told herself.
Until the day she walked into the café and saw them together.
Harry was at the counter, Bella at his side, laughing at something he’d said. She leaned in just a little too close, her hand brushing his arm.
Something sharp and unfamiliar stabbed through Anna’s stomach.
Jealousy.
It startled her. She almost stumbled as she carried her tea to a table. She sat down too quickly, spilling a drop on her sleeve. Her heart thudded in her chest.
Why did it matter? She’d been the one pushing him away. She’d told herself he deserved someone who wasn’t destined to destroy him. And yet the sight of Bella’s hand on his arm made her want to tear the air apart.
***
Harry noticed her before Bella did. His eyes flickered to Anna’s table, his chest tightening at the sight of her hunched shoulders, the way she avoided looking at him.
For a moment, he wanted to go to her, to explain that Bella meant nothing.
But then he remembered his vow. Distance. Space. Patience.
So he stayed where he was, forcing himself to keep talking to Bella even as his mind screamed for Anna.
***
Later that week, Bella joined Harry again after class.
“Want to grab lunch?” she asked, her tone breezy.
Harry hesitated. He could feel Anna’s presence at the edge of the hall, lingering as though waiting to see what he’d do. His chest ached with the urge to run after her.
But he forced a smile for Bella. “Sure. Why not?”
Bella beamed.
Anna, watching from the doorway, felt her throat close. She turned sharply and walked the other way, her nails biting into her palms.
***
Harry sat across from Bella at the dining hall table, his food untouched. Bella chatted easily, her laughter filling the space, but Harry barely heard her.
His eyes kept drifting across the room. Searching.
And when he found Anna at the far corner table, alone, poking at her salad with her fork, the pang in his chest nearly stole his breath.
She looked… hurt.
Not indifferent. Not relieved by his distance. Hurt.
For the first time since he’d stepped back, Harry wondered if maybe giving her space wasn’t helping at all.
***
That night, Bella sent him a message: Had fun today! We should do it again soon. Dinner, maybe? Just the two of us?
Harry stared at the words, his jaw tight.
He typed a polite response—Thanks, Bella. I think we should stay friends.
Then he tossed his phone aside, scrubbing his hands over his face.
He didn’t want Bella. He never had. But Anna… Anna was different. And maybe, just maybe, she was starting to realize he mattered to her too.
- Writer
