concealing ➸ tomlinson

vi

kris didn't see louis until lunch period, where she shared the table with harry. zayn wasn't there, which she found admittedly odd, since she'd seen him that morning. louis and harry didn't bring it up, though, so she didn't either.

as louis sat down, his phone buzzed.

how come she's still here? shuldn't she b @ hq?

louis glanced over at harry and just shrugged. harry rolled his eyes.

"so," kris started the conversation, "why does louis know where i live again?"

louis inwardly cringed. he could've played that better, said he was just taking a detour on the way to school. that would at least be acceptable and not really really creepy.

harry, bless him, stepped in. "it's a favor for a teacher. mr. hill is asking us to show you the ropes. i mean, you are sort of flying blind what with being homeschooled your entire life."

quietly, louis exhaled. he knew, obviously, that a teacher would never tell a student to walk another student home. teens are horny douchebags. but kris didn't know that.

"okay, the way he said it makes that sound like the entire thing isn't our choice. we want to be friends, ok? we really do." louis assured her.

kris smiled and nodded. "i believe you."

suddenly, a weight came down on the bench on the other side of louis. he glanced to his left. kris frowned softly in confusion. there was a girl sitting there with slightly wavy brown hair, moderately tanned skin, and winged eyeliner that was surprisingly well done.

"you've missed two weeks in a row, where the literal hell have you been?" harry proped his elbows on the table.

the girl glanced up lazily. "is it important?"

"yes." louis answered.

she rolled her eyes. "i'll tell you later."

then, the girl looked up at kris. everything about her was intimidating. it made kris wish she could turn invisible.

"who's she?"

"is it important?" louis retorted.

a death stare. "yes."

"i'll tell you later."

she rolled her eyes and stuck a hand across the table. "courtney."

gingerly, kris smiled. "kris."

after a moment, courtney pulled her hand back. she knew about the rules, so she was already suspicious of the girl. there were systems laid out in schools for their kind, after all.

the bell rang, and the four joined the crowd on the way outside. one thing kris picked up on quickly: courtney was loud. dozens of kids shoved each other around- into courtney, coincidentally- and all kris heard was

"watch it, pricks!"

she seemed fun to be around, seriously.

once they were outside, back in their corner, kris noted, "you have a hot temper, it's really interesting."

courtney closed her eyes for a beat and smiled. "thanks."

louis snorted, putting a hand over his mouth and silently started laughing.

"ignore him." courtney rolled her eyes. "he's a twat."

kris smiled, despite not understanding what was so funny.

what happened next happened so casually, so easily, kris was taken completely off guard by it.

louis jokingly shoulder bumped kris, sending her stumbling a few feet forward. fingers uncurled from the fist to catch herself against the wall. caught up in the moment, kris went to shove him back. in an instant, louis flew back, knocking through a group of kids; the landing being a painful drop into the sidewalk.

spontaneously, courtney partially combusted near her wrists. harry rushed over a patted her out.

"why aren't you wearing the gloves?" he whispered harshly, glaring at her.

courtney shrugged.

no one noticed that; everyone was completely occupied with kris.

the concrete was dented around him, which should've indicated more injury than was actually inflicted. louis, amazingly, was fine. a bit surprised, and had had the wing knocked out of him, but otherwise fine.

"so that's what she does." he said, audible to only himself.

kris gripped her hands shut, one hand clutching the other. dangerous. freak. her skin paled.

abort.

get out.

kris bolted to the double doors nearest to her. the students in the quad parted like a wave, some screaming, others stumbling back when she got near. frantically, she went to open the door. just as her open hand hovered over the handle, the door blew back, clean off it's hinges. more screaming; that sent people into the panic.

harry helped louis out. "you in one piece?"

"yeah, i'm fine." louis rolled his shoulder.

kris raced through the doors, hands balled tightly into white-knuckled fists. it was a straight shot through the school parking lot, a small park, a street, and home. home to hide.

making it across the first two problems were easy. no one was interested in stopping a teenage girl running through a park. that was vaguely normal. but making it to the street, kris heard a loud roar come from her left. she spun to a stop in time to see a white toyota speeding her way. she let out a scream and threw her hands up in protection.

instantly, the front hood of the car crumpled up. the tires screeched. she watched the driver jolt forward; the car slowed to a stop just inches away, broken, and then flew backwards. kris stumbled backwards, crying by now, and ran down the street.

"kris, kris whoa!"

zayn, who'd been walking up and down the streets of the neighborhood, caught kris as she tried to run by. she was sobbing, her cheeks flushing red and tears falling down her cheeks.

"what happened?" he asked, frowning in concern at her.

kris couldn't form words. she just shook her head, and kept her hands balled up in front of her chest. zayn looked up at the school; police sirens weren't far in the distance. multiple people were running down into the park. teachers, no doubt.

"shit." zayn bit his lip. "ok, ok i know where we can go. come on."

he took her wrist and the two bolted down the side of the road.

freak.

dangerous.

hurting everyone.

fuck.

--

dedicated to courtney, my bby.

this was really fun to write bc kris reminded me of elsa at her coronation.

god i need to stop thinking of frozen.

-k