Before You Go {l.s.}

1

was there something I could've said...

***

Louis Tomlinson walked into the cafeteria with the swagger he usually did. His head was held high with bright smile adorning his handsome face. He flicked his fringe out of his eyes before a laugh erupted from his lips at a joke his teammate said about their history teacher. "C'mon Liam, I'm sure Ms. Kelley didn't bruise your ego enough for you to say that about her," he teased eyes scanning the room for a place to sit.

Liam sighed and an unnecessary grunt followed. "She didn't bruise my ego, I just know my paper deserved more than a 'D'. I worked really fucking hard on it and just because she doesn't get any 'D' that doesn't mean she has to give me one."

Louis snorted at the rude comment but didn't respond, too focused on trying to find the rest of the teammates who should have already secured a spot in the busy lunchroom. Liam did not, in fact, work hard on his paper on the organized crime of the 1920s. He instead focused his attention on the upcoming state tournament for baseball. Liam was usually good at bullshitting his way through papers, but Ms. Kelley obviously saw passed it. Liam was lucky enough to get a 'D' because Louis knew the paper well deserved a 'F'.

When Louis' eyes caught a flash of red, he smiled and made his way towards the table of red and blue letterman jackets. Louis opted out of wearing his jacket considering its already a staggering 85 degrees Fahrenheit on this sun shining Louisiana day, but some of his teammates believed that their jackets are a part of them. Harry Styles, the coach's son, being one of them.

Sitting at the table in the corner of the cafeteria, Harry had his back leaning against the wall. His feet were propped up on the bench opposite of him with players sitting on each side of his dirty white vans. In one hand he had a green apple halfway munched already moving back towards his pink lips for another bite. In his other hand was a book. Louis couldn't read the title of the book because of how Harry folded the pages behind it, but knowing his teammate, his friend, Louis assumed it was something philosophical or psychological. Two subjects Harry was obsessed with.

"Move," Louis said to one of the freshmen team members, Luke, who was sitting next to Harry. Obeying his captain with out even questioning it, Luke nodded his head scooted down to the other side of the table so that both Louis and Liam could have a seat. Louis sat the lunch that his mother made down in front of him as Liam pulled out some type of protein shake.

"That wasn't very nice of you Tomlinson," Harry said eyes never teetering from his book.

Louis hummed pulling out his ham and cheese sandwich before he leaned back to be even with Harry. "What you going to do about it Styles? Run and tell daddy?"

Harry smiled and clicked his tongue. "You would like that huh?" he mumbled so only Louis could hear. Louis took a loud, obnoxious bite of his sandwich and Harry giggled, "fucking pig." He stuck his apple in his mouth before turning the page in his book.

Louis swallowed, "what are you reading?" He took another bite, this one not as loud.

Harry screwed up his face, lips pushing upward as his eyebrows furrowed. He sat his apple down on the table and grabbed his Harry Potter bookmark before marking his place. Closing the book, he showed it to Louis, "it's called 'A Child Called 'it'."

Louis gave the book a once over before taking another bite of his sandwich, "sounds stupid like all of your boring scholarly books."

Harry deflated a little, shoulders curling inward, but tried to recover with a sly grin, "at least I read Tomlinson, what can you do besides baseball?" He opened the book back up and moved so he was hunched over the table. Harry's hands gripped each cover, elbows sat on the table, and his nose burrowed in the book's crease.