Finding, Finding... Found.

Chapter 8

“Niall, do you want my honest opinion on this matter?” Harry asked as he shifted himself to give Louis some space on the couch.

“Sure, I guess,” Niall shrugged as he looked over at Harry.

“You should come clean about this as soon as possible,” Harry looked deep in thought. “Before things get even more complicated.”

Oh. So Harry was going to tell me that.

Niall sighed. He knew Harry was right, and he himself had wanted to confess to Alyssa so badly after he had kissed her on the forehead. But he was scared. He was scared that once she finds out, she would walk out of his life... and he’ll lose the opportunity to explain everything. He felt that Alyssa would respond to his confession in a more understanding manner if the both of them were in a more friendly position in the first place.

“I know,” Niall responded meekly. “But… it’s scary. That thought alone is scary.”

Louis patted Harry on the back and signaled for him to leave.

“Take your time to think things through Niall,” Louis smiled at Niall in what he hoped was an encouraging manner, for even he himself wasn’t sure what exactly would happen if Alyssa finds out.

***

“Alyssa!” Karla ran over and squeezed Alyssa so tightly that Alyssa found it slightly harder to breathe. “Details! Now!”

Ah, so she did not forget… Alyssa thought dejectedly as she pried Karla’s arms off her.

“Can we go inside a classroom?” Alyssa asked. “I don’t want people to think I’m a delusional fan girl who creates her own experiences with-”

“Okay, okay! Just tell me what happened!” Karla groaned in frustration as she pulled Alyssa into an empty classroom and closed the door.

Without wasting a minute, Alyssa launched into the story of how she had met the boys somewhere near the kindergarten – a small lie wouldn’t hurt, she decided – and how they’ve hit it off instantly. Alyssa had never given the whole experience a second thought until she finished talking about it. Now, it seems slightly surreal that all that actually happened.

“You’re so incredibly lucky,” was all Karla could say as she looked at Alyssa with slight jealousy. Alyssa couldn’t help but flinch a little at that expression. She knew it meant trouble, and trouble with Karla was serious trouble. Unlike Alyssa, Karla had well-to-do parents and was only working as a way to earn her own money and thus avoid having to abide by her parents’ rules. With wealth often came power, and Karla’s parents were no exception.

“Yeah… I guess,” Alyssa muttered as she looked at the floor, avoiding Karla’s gaze. After thinking things through for a moment, she decided to go straight to the point. “You’re not jealous or angry or anything, right?”

Karla gave an abnormally high-pitched laughter, and at that moment Alyssa realized that nothing will ever be the same anymore.

She stood up and dusted off the dirt that had collected on her jeans before sighing and waving Karla a goodbye.

“See you later,” Alyssa smiled hesitantly, studying Karla’s reaction. Her smile disappeared when Karla simply gave a nod and waved her off dismissively. Alyssa had always known that Karla had a side of her that got easily jealous and wanted everyone to be worse off than her – she realized that as the time went by, and she often caught Karla smiling at her misfortunes. She had always thought their friendship could go past that obstacle – they had spent a few months together without too much friction, after all.