Realize Your Potential (H.S)

Chapter Twenty-Four

                 

"News on the street is that you and Liam are official," Nat says to me.

"You know, one of these days you could actually greet me instead of bombarding me with questions or gossip," I tell her.

"So it's not true then? Liam and you are not officially boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"That's not what I said," I say, side eyeing her as I put my stuff down.

"Oh, God! Way to go, Liam," Nat says, nodding in approval.

"You're relentless," I tell her, opening up my bag.

We're currently sat in the dressing room at the college as we prepare for our dress rehearsal for the acting showcase. All performance finals are at the end of the week while my other finals will be held next week. I have my textbooks shoved in my bag so I can do some studying whenever the other students are running through their scenes.

"Sue me for caring about two of my best friends finding the perfect relationship together," she continues.

"Enough about Liam," I tell her. "Let's just focus on getting through this tech rehearsal alive. Shall we?"

Tech lasts us eight hours and by the end everyone is exhausted. However, we're also starving. Evan asks us if we would like to go to grab something to eat, and Nat accepts on behalf of both of us.

We all decide to go to our usual place that's only ten minutes away from the school. I do enjoy that it's practical, but the fact that they also sell breakfast at all hours of the day doesn't hurt either.

"Remind me to bring a blanket next time we do tech rehearsal," Evan says, shoveling a bite of pancake into his mouth. "It was freezing backstage during the entire run today. I swear I could see my breath."

"I think you just want a blanket for the sake of taking a nap," Nat teases.

"Hey, if there's an opportunity for dual purposes then I'm not against it," Evan voices.

"It is actually pretty cold backstage since the air conditioning turns on whenever the stage lights are powered up. It wouldn't be so bad if we weren't in the middle of winter," I say, pointing my fork in the direction of the snow falling outside.

"Hey, whose side are you on here?" Nat asks.

"No ones," I insist. "I was just agreeing that it's cold."

"Sure," Nat draws out the word, now teasing me too.

I open my mouth to challenge her once again, but I'm suddenly silenced as I see a familiar face walk into the restaurant.

His disorderly hair is currently covered with a thin layer of snow that also rests upon the shoulders of his black coat. He shakes his head in order to clear the pile from his hair, which causes some strands to stick against his forehead. If it were anyone else it would have probably looked ridiculous, but the wild hair suits him. I'm convinced Harry Styles can make anything look good. Even wet hair that is now drying in his usual semi curls.

I'm so focused on him that I hadn't even noticed the girl trailing in behind him. I now watch as she places a hand on his shoulder, giving him a cheeky smile as the hostess leads them towards a table. Luckily their seats are not near ours so they don't have to pass by us, but I can still see them. The girl sits with her back facing me while I can see Styles' face. If he cared enough to look over to his left slightly and passed a few other guests then he would catch me staring at him. But he doesn't.

However, someone else notices me staring at him.

"Ugh. There's Styles. Working his magic on yet another girl," Nat says flatly, taking a drink of her water.