concealing ➸ tomlinson

ix

after a moment of suspension, people started to clap. louis whooped obnoxiously loud. kris didn't feel right. it was like she'd done something wrong, but no one seemed to know that.

"i'm jacob." the boy said, distracting her from the growing uneasiness in her stomach.

kris forced a smile as the applause began to quiet. "kris, obviously." she forced a small laugh.

jacob smiled again, then began walking back to his seat. kris followed his lead and sat between louis and liam again.

"did i do good?" she asked, to neither of them in particular.

liam nodded. "yeah, i think they like you."

louis nodded too, taking a lazy drink from his can. he didn't look over, which caused kris some confusion. had she done something wrong?

"alright! knock yourselves out and do try to aim for a trashcan!" niall shouted, having moved across the room without kris noticing. he flipped a switch on the wall, and, from speakers in the upper corners of the ceiling. loud music came pumping out. it was enough to make kris cringe, but probably not enough to be heard across the entire complex.

everyone began to stand up and run around the ugc. liam stood up, said goodbye to kris, then left. louis stood up and went to talk to several boys across the room. kris sat on the floor- the only one to still be doing so- and looked around. she felt like she had a sign attached to her forehead that read "warning- do not approach!"

eventually, she glanced back over her shoulder and saw zayn, standing up against the wall in the corner. after a moment of hesitation, kris stood up and leaned against the wall next to him.

"hi."

"hey."

"why aren't you with louis, or your other friends?"

"because they're better friends with the people they're talking to. you?"

"i only know you, louis, and harry well enough to try conversation."

zayn smiled. "i consider myself honored. you seem really interesting, and i've only known you for two days."

kris scanned over his obvious appearance change. he'd covered up at school, for reasons she's assumed were connected to not standing out. now, he wore a plain white t-shirt, which revealed dozens of tattoos running up and down his arms. there were too many for them not to have any meanings. kris wondered to herself what they could be.

"does louis not like jacob?" she asked as the music track switched to the next song.

zayn looked over at her. "how'd you guess?"

she ignored his sarcasm. "does he have a past with him?"

"a past?"

"all people in the books or shows have a past with their enemy."

zayn laughed to himself. "nah, jacob's just an asshole." he took a final swig of his drink. "everyone treats him like a god damn god, besides a few of us. no one puts him in his place, and no one's going to. it's better to stay quiet about what you think about him."

"why don't we stand up to him? i mean, you have a tiger."

"he has telekinesis. he could throw the tiger against the wall with his mind."

"and i could throw him against the wall." kris countered, holding up one hand.

zayn smiled. "we'll settle that score on a later date, ok?"

kris watched him spin the can between his hands. despite feeling like she should've slept through the whole thing, getting a few seconds with friends was worth it.

sure, louis was being as sour as the lemons he smelled like, but she didn't mind.

the night went rather pleasantly from there. zayn told her stories about previous gatherings like this- example; louis once made the ugc an ice rink, which had meant everyone was sliding around on their ass- while kris watched and listened attentively. that went on for twenty songs at least.

it was about then that liam came back. the three of them began helping everyone back to their rooms. louis now smelled of lemons, sweat, and something sickly. he laughed at everything; although she supposed he did that sober as well. zayn looked totally done with him as he closed louis's door behind him.

"alright, i'm calling it a night. any stragglers are officially the responsibility of you two." zayn gave kris and liam a brief smile before heading down the hall to his own room.

now that the music was stopped, kris had a quiet ringing in her ears, and ache had settled into her joints.

"i'm going to call it a night." liam said, breaking the silence.

kris looked up at him. "oh, ok."

he smiled. "i'll see you around."

"see you."

liam went to a room at the far end of the hall, and kris found her own room again. she promised herself that she'd sort through all that was going through her head in the morning, or at least after she'd gotten some sleep.

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1850+ words hot damn