(ATLANTIS) - haylor au

chapter six

I glance over to Trey who still has a stupid-looking smile on his face as he stares at Tay. Yeah, Tay is pretty, maybe even hot. But, she isn't that hot that he needs to act like a fool like this. "He's Trey." I chime in, nudging him. "He's on the soccer team with us." I add and give him another glance.

Trey coughs and pulls himself together. "Yeah, I'm a striker." He says as if that would mean anything to anyone on this table besides Niall and I.

"That's cool." Tay says, nodding her head slowly. Then, she just goes back to eating and the conversation just goes somewhere else. Trey doesn't get to ask Tay to the homecoming dance and I'm glad. The poor bastard probably wouldn't get another word out till the end of the dance if he took her. I guess that's a relief because it would've been a cringe fest.

When the bell rings, Trey leaves the table right away. Both Niall and I look at each other with a confused look which makes Selena and Gigi burst into laughter. Similarly, Tay gives us a questioning look across the table.

"What happened?" She asks, looking at the two of them.

"Trey wanted to ask you to dance!" Selena says through her laughter. "He thought you were hot and I guess you must've stunned him." She says, calming down her laughter.

"Honey, how did you not know?" Gigi asks with a red face from suppressing her laughter. "Harry talked for him the entire time."

Tay shrugs, looking at me. "I just assumed Styles was being his nosy and annoying self. Speaking over Trey like that. I felt for Trey then." She pulls an overtly innocent look which is far from what it was.

"Well, I guess Trey was just so put off by your Shrek-like appearance that he couldn't talk. Else, he would've thrown up." I squint my eyes at her and feel a smirk come up on my face.

"That's rich coming from a guy who can't keep a girl around longer than 2 weeks. Or had a girlfriend in the two years." She scoffs and smiles widely when I open my mouth to talk but decide not to say anything. "Yeah, thought so. Troll." Tay sticks her tongue out and gets up to leave.

"The sexual tension is crazy." Selena says as she gets up with Gigi.

Gigi laughs and fans herself. "Hot stuff, you two." The two of them wave a goodbye and quickly follow where Tay's headed.

What bugs me about what Tay said is not the fact that it's true but because there's nothing wrong in not dating anyone. Hell, she hasn't dated anyone ever. So, I don't understand what kind of high horse she's on. Maybe she has but that's weird as fuck because I've never heard about that atrocity. I realise that I'm thinking about Tay and another boy which is weird because my mind is going to some very dark places and that's an unhealthy way to think of your friend.

I shake off my thoughts and get to class with Niall.

When I do get to class, I forget that Tay is also in Chemistry class with me. "Hey." I say after taking a seat beside her. If it weren't for Chemistry and the other girls, she and I wouldve virtually stopped being friends. After middle school, Tay and I just couldn't be best friends anymore. The vibes between us had just become different. I think we just bicker to avoid that strange vibe.

"Hey." Tay says quietly without looking at me. She's resting her chin on her head, looking ahead. If she's not taking notes, she's definitely not paying attention. I nudge her but get nothing. She's trying to look at me from the corner of her eyes. I can tell. All she's looking for is an opportunity for us to interact now.

"Who in the hell have you dated?" I write on a piece of note and pass it to her.

Slowly, she's unfolding the note. She pauses after she reads it and looks over to me, finally. "Fuck off." Tay mouths before starting to scribble in her notebook. That's when I know to stop budging and to just pay attention in class. It's hard to focus when all the questions I want to be answered aren't even being taught, not that Ms Mason can answer who Tay has dated.