new kid / h.s

46

H A R R Y

I was completely smitten this time.

There are instances where a guy might brag to his friends and say, "Man, she has the nicest body" or something along the lines of "she's just perfect".

But I couldn't say even that.

Because I didn't want anyone, not even my best mates, to find any interest in what was currently mine. Kat was the main source of happiness in my life, and not a soul had the privilege to take that away from me.

So that was why I was doing this tonight. To keep her safe. And secure.

So when we opened the main doors to the school and we found ourselves about 100 yards away from a distracted Louis, my heart began to beat out of my chest.

"We need to find another way in." I whispered to Zayn and Kat, praying Louis didn't hear me and recognize my voice.

Zayn nodded in agreement, obviously he could tell who the figure belonged to even though he was not facing us.

Out of panic I grabbed Kay's hand tightly, and it felt remarkably sweaty. She must've been very nervous, and she used her other hand to push up her glasses.

We slowly sneaked back out into the front entrance, and began to walk towards the back.

"Do you think this'll be any more safe than going in through the front?" Zayn asked cautiously, constantly scanning our surroundings for any sign of Liam or Niall.

I scoffed sarcastically. "In case you don't remember, I'm expelled. I'm not legally allowed to be on school property for any reason. So sneaking in is our best chance at making this plan work."

Kat squeezed my hand, giving me a sense of assurance. "Harry is right. If he gets caught, then everything will go to hell. And most likely we'll all be killed."

Zayn didn't say anything after that.

Luckily, the back door besides the dumpster was unlocked, and we crept through. It led straight to the gymnasium, where prom was being held. The room was dark and people were dancing everywhere. The music was loud.

I quickly shut the door behind us and we trailed in, indecisive on where to go first. We had until the last slow song of the night to do whatever we pleased, and suddenly the most 'exciting night of high school' became a bore.

But Kat seemed to think the opposite. "Can you believe we're actually here?" she gushed. "I've been looking forward to this day since freshman year. And it's here."

Zayn clicked his teeth. "Yeah, on different circumstances."

I punched him in the arm. Was he ever going to shut up? It seemed like all he loved to do was make me and Kat feel uncomfortable. And to think we used to be best lads.

"Alright, alright." he said with a smirk plastered on his face. "I'm going to go party, maybe find my girl and dance with her. Remember the plan."

"Oh, I will." Kat said with squinted eyes from beside me. That was so cute of her. Kat was so cute. And so mine.

Zayn rolled his eyes and disappeared into the crowd of dancing people.

Kat's hand was still in mine. And it felt like heaven.

As much as Zayn loved to say, he was right. Kat had me completely and utterly whipped.

"Harry?" she giggled and waved her hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my trance. Her newly polished nails gave off an unusual aroma.

I smiled at her with as much effort as I humanly could. With Kat was the place to be. She made me happy, and I couldn't ask for any more than that. "Yes, baby?" I said lazily, which made her eyes flutter as I had expected. She loved it when I called her that, and I loved to call her that.

"Let's get some pictures together." she said, suddenly sounding breathless under the touch of my hand merely floating to her waist.

My hand still holding hers, I led her over to the photo booth. She didn't seem herself while we waited in line; she constantly fixed her hair and pushed up her glasses. She adjusted her dress and looked at herself in her pocket mirror.

"Babe...?" I asked, worried for her. She didn't use to be this aware and concerned with how she looked. She never cared because she knew that I thought she was beautiful. And I still did. But she seemed obsessed with her appearance.

She looked at me for a split second and opened her mouth to speak, but we were cut off by one of the high school teachers.

"You're next in line." he said, and Kat and I climbed into the booth.

"What kind of photo should we take?" she asked with a smile across her features, her bright red lipstick leaving an impression on me. "Silly or serious? Cute or formal?"

"Just be yourself." I said plainly, hoping she got the message.

But she didn't. "Okay!" she chirped happily and smiled into the camera. It almost looked identical to the smile in her yearbook photo.

I smiled as well, and before I knew it the shutter clicked and the whole booth illuminated with a bright flash for only a second before restoring to its natural light.

"Done!" she chimed and we stepped out of the booth together. She picked out the picture from the slot and stared at it with disgust.

"Look at my hair here!" she whined. "And my glasses made a glare! You can't even see my eyes."

I was so hurt that she would even think of talking to herself like that. But no amount of "you're beautiful"s could fix her decreasing self esteem. Thanks to Caitlyn.

"Let's get some punch." she said, half enthusiastic about prom as she was before we stepped in the booth. On our way there, she tossed the picture into the nearby garbage can.

*

im trying to move this whole prom thing along pretty slowly because after prom the story will be super close to ending and I don't want that to happen :(

double update as a thank you for 1k reads. :)