White Eskimo ~ Harry Styles

Now

July 26th, 2010

"White Eskimo, eh?"

Zayn's sitting on the edge of my bunk, one dark eyebrow raised whilst tapping his fingers on the sheets. I don't remember why he brought it up until Zayn speaks again.

"You know, the band you mentioned today?"

"Oh yeah," I smile, looking up from the bed.

"So," he trails. "Another name thought up by Mr. Styles?"

I laugh and shake my head. It's only been a few days since One Direction was formed but already the lads and I are friends.

"Nah, I didn't come up with it."

"Then who did?"

The question shouldn't bother me, but it does. I can't see Zayn anymore. I'm no longer in the house that X Factor contestants will stay in for a few more months. Now I'm somewhere else. Somewhere with three other boys, still wearing their school uniforms which have been styled to suit their personalities. I'm in Holmes Chapel.

I stumble over my words, "Erm... A friend of the band," I eventually say. "Will's girlfriend."

I don't think Zayn notices my discomfort and as he opens his mouth, I'm sure that he is going to ask more. I don't blame him though. Zayn probably thought the topic was good for us to get to know each other better.

Louis comes in, my own superman. I would whisper him a thank you though he would probably scrunch up his nose, confused, and send back a remark questioning my sanity, causing everyone to laugh. I wonder why he decided to come into the room before noting that I don't really care. Whatever reason he came into the room for, I am grateful.

"Hey Lou."

"Hi Harry, hi Zayn." He cracks a signature smile, one where his lips thin naturally and his white teeth shine. In only a few days I picked up these things, like how Louis prefers to have his hair messy and Zayn likes to relax every now and then. I also noticed how large Zayn's collection of hair products is.

"Vas Happenin?"

Louis shrugs and leans against the doorframe, tucking his hands in his pockets. "Not much. Liam and Niall found the games room. Wanna come?"

His grin is infectious and I take this as a chance to escape the conversation. I don't want to think of her again, so I stand up and tug Zayn off the bunk, dragging him with us. We move down the hall silently. I haven't realised it's this late; the windows that I can just see through a twist in the hallway are open, revealing the deep night sky, sparkling like a dark coat embroidered with diamonds. We bump into Cher and Mary on the way down to the rec room and I remember playing around with Louis on the first night after boot camp. We stayed up the whole night talking. Mary had popped into the conversation and, just to tease Lou, I fabricated a story about how Mary fancied me. Of course, I had been joking and Louis noticed it straight away. We laughed for hours, never getting a wink of sleep. People around us had shouted to keep it down but that only made us laugh louder. It was one of the best nights I had had in a long time.

Louis doesn't knock on the door, he barges straight in. Another thing I've learnt: Louis does as he pleases. Liam's on the sofa holding a controller, biting his tongue in concentration. My eyes flip to the screen where Niall is currently beating Liam at Mario Kart. I grab a chip from a bowl and plonk on the sofa, squeezing in between the two lads.

"Niall's beating you?" I pretend to be shocked.

"Shh Harry! I'm concentrating." Liam jerks the controller to the right as I chuckle. Louis grabs a handful of snacks, munching on them loudly - disturbing Liam's concentration further - and Zayn searches for another controller in a nearby cupboard. A mischievous grin grows on my face and I yank the controller out of Liam's hands.