Lovely

Self-Denied Love

When Blair and I got out of her car in the school parking lot, I was shaking, my palms were sweaty, and I couldn't concentrate.

"Why do you look so worried?" Blair asked as we walked. "Nobody's going to notice that you skipped."

I grunted. "While I should be worried about that, that's not why I'm worried!"

Blair seemed surprised. "Then what are you worried about?"

I faced away from her so as not to give away the answer.

"Oh my gosh!" Blair scoffed. "Why are you so worried about Niall? He did this to you! He deserves this!"

I swallowed dryly. "Right."

Walking into the school, I scanned left and right, desperately hoping that Niall wasn't there.

But there he was.

He was talking to Caspar, and his eyes locked on mine. Instinctively, I stared back. His eyes were so intruiging...

But thinking back to Blair's words, my head snapped in the opposite direction as I walked to my locker.

"Don't you have science with him?" Blair asked as I rolled out my combination.

I scowled. "Don't remind me."

Blair put a friendly hand on my shoulder. "I'll walk to class with you. We'll ask Mr. Gatsby about switching seats."

I nodded and grabbed my things for class. Thank goodness I only had one class with Niall, or it would make my day even harder.

When second period came around, I waited nervously for Blair, and every step closer to Mr. Gatsby's door, my heart started pounding louder.

There were a few kids in seats, and Mr. Gatsby was busy at his computer.

"Mr. Gatsby?" Blair asked rather loudly. He looked up as well as the few kids in the room. I blushed and tried to hide.

"Yes?" Mr. Gatsby cleared his throat.

Blair looked at me and edged me on. Sheepishly I walked forward to his desk.

"Um..." I fiddled with my fingers as I averted my eyes from Mr. Gatsby. I remembered Blair's words:

"He did this to you! He deserves this!"

I swallowed and looked as confident as possible. "I want to request that I change seats."

Mr. Gatsby nodded. "Why? What's wrong with your seat?"

"Well," I began, "someone I sit by is distracting me."

Mr. Gatsby checked the seating chart for our class. "Is it Autumn?"

I shook my head.

"Lauren?"

"No."

"Niall?"

I only looked at him as if to say: Yes. And he's ruined my life.

"Ah," Mr. Gatsby said with a small smile. He jotted something down and looked at me. "Where would you like to move?"

A huge weight lifted off of me and I chose a desk in the back of the room. I said goodbye to Blair and walked to my new seat. I just hoped that Niall wouldn't try to talk to me.

Who am I kidding? This is Niall we're talking about! He'll do anything to make me fall in love with him again.

And you know what? So will I.

When Niall came into class, he seemed confused when he saw my desk empty. He looked around and I tried to hide myself behind my textbook.

"Funny. I never remember you sitting in the back," a familiar voice whispered.

I peeped over the top of the textbook to be met by those breath-taking eyes. I rolled my eyes and let out an annoyed sigh.

Niall knelt down and looked longingly at me. "Pepper, what did I do?"

I grunted. "Everything."

Niall smirked slightly. "I couldn't have done all of that, Pepper. What did Blair say to you?"

I was literally saved by the bell as it rung and Niall glumly walked to his seat. I sighed with relief and tried to focus as best I could in class, but couldn't get his smirk out of my mind.

After class, I had barely gotten into the hall when a firm hand grabbed mine and pulled me out into the courtyard.

"Pepper, please!" He begged. "I can't live without you: I can't live without loving you! Please, what did Blair say?"

With tears forming in my eyes, I turned away. Looking at him made everything in my life ten times worse.

Suddenly, Niall wrapped me in an embrace and kissed my head. "It's okay. All that matters is you aren't avoiding me."

I pushed away and looked at him with disgust. "How could you!"

Niall looked confused. "How could I what?"

"Don't ever kiss me!" I yelled. Then I added in a threatening whisper. "Ever."

I walked out of the courtyard and didn't look back. Not because I didn't care, but I knew that if I did that I'd run into his arms and apologize.

But I couldn't do that.

******

Helllllooooooo my people!

I know, my chapters are kind of short, but I'm having writers block! I can't think of any good things to happen in between the really good parts. Please bear with me!

<3

Beyy xoxo