Karma ||H.S||

Chapter 8

I was running late because Nova was taking too long in the bathroom and I was forced to use the shower in Harry and Niall's room. Harry had banged on the door while I was rinsing out my shampoo, yelling about how he was going to meet me in class and if I didn't hurry up, I would be late. Dammit Nova! Why do you have to be such a fucking girl!?

I was the kind of girl who had to have a shower in the morning to wake up, no matter what. If I didn't shower first thing, the day was shot to hell. But on the other hand, I hated to be late for anything. Being late meant having to deal with consequences. At least that's what I remember. It was never a nice price to pay, and I had learned my lesson fairly quickly and I was now on time for everything, or early if I could help it. But today, odds weren't in my favor. It was a lose lose situation and I chose being late over bedhead.

Being late today, meant no coffee from the coffee cart and no meeting Astrid there to walk to class with. It was definitely not the way I wanted to start the week off. I liked routine, and last week I had just that. But today, clearly was already not going well. If I had known just how the day would go, knowing karma would somehow play a part in my being late, I would have definitely chosen to skip the shower. Because none of what was going to happen today, would've happened the way it did.

I ran all the way to class, hair still dripping wet and Harry's portrait in hand. As I open the door to the classroom in a huff, I feel dizzy and can't believe how out of shape I am, as I drop all of my belongings onto the floor in front of me. I try to take in my surroundings, realizing all eyes are on me as I try to steady my heaving breathing.

"Nice of you to join us Miss. Hayes," Drew states from the front of the class, as I stand in the doorway hunched over. "Maybe next time you could be on time!"

When I come to my senses, I realize Harry is bent over in front of me, picking up my bags for me and I follow him to the table he has set them on. "Thanks," I say quietly, as I sit down at the empty table. I watch as he sits down at the table in front of me, where I notice he is sitting with Ruby, who is looking at me with a smirk on her face, clearly pleased with the seating arrangements. But when Harry turns around and places a coffee in front of me, she rolls her eyes at his sweet gesture towards me.

"I knew you wouldn't have time, so--" Harry whispers. He gives me a cute closed mouth dimpled smile before turning back around in his chair, not giving me a chance to thank him for it. I smile to myself, quickly acknowledging the fact that he already knows I need coffee in the morning to function properly and has paid enough attention to know what I take in my hot beverage. It was such a small thing, yet to me, it felt like so much more than that.

My cheeks are flushed from running and I feel like I'm dying of heat because I had to wear a long sleeved shirt since I had no time to cover my scars after my pointless shower. I am going to kill Nova for doing this to me! I'm trying to concentrate on getting my notebook out of my backpack to calm myself down, when I notice Drew standing before me, holding my portrait of Harry.

"I don't even care that you were late today," Drew says with a clearly evident smile on his face, not taking his eyes off of my picture. He takes it to the front of the classroom and shuffles through what I assume to be everyone else's portraits they had probably handed in while I was still in the shower. "These," he holds up two pictures for all of us to see, showing mine of Harry and Harry's of me. "These are exactly the pictures I was looking for for this assignment. The lighting, the edits, the positioning. As you can see, everything about these screams a simple portrait, which is what I asked of you for this assignment. Maybe next time the rest of you will get it right."

I feel slightly better about how the day is going to proceed, now that I know my assignment turned out to be better than I anticipated, even though I know the only reason I got the lighting perfect for Harry's portrait was all because of him and his know-it-all brain when it comes to photography.