Bound by Pages | larry

eleven

Nothing eventful happened on Wednesday during school, to say the least. During English, the guidance counsellor came to talk about their courses for next year. They never got a chance to work, meaning Harry didn't have a chance to talk to Louis. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not. 

The thought of the younger boy was plaguing him all day. Harry couldn't focus on any of his classes and he found his mind wandering to different places. More often than not, it would wander to the adorable boy that sat on his rug just yesterday.

It's crazy that all that happened yesterday. Days always seemed so much longer when they were packed with events. Well, for Harry, days usually flew passed and it felt like over a week since he was with the other boy, smiling and laughing away. It was just yesterday, and Harry couldn't smile about it anymore. 

A few years ago, Harry had a crisis about his sexuality. He went through so much anxiety and stress trying to figure out who he was. He could remember all the nights he stayed awake in bed, sheets tangled between his legs as he tossed and turned for hours. His mind used to be a non-stop machine without an off button. It would run at hundreds of miles an hour, uncontrollable by even Harry himself.

Eventually, Harry was sick of living that way. He figured that all the stress wasn't worth what he would get out of it, which of course was just a label. He didn't need to label himself, sorting himself into a category that would make him more understandable to society. Harry figured that if he was in love, it was love, and he didn't have to call it anything more.

Harry wished that worked with all of his problems, that he could ignore them and they would work themselves out. Unfortunately, that's not the way the world works. If Harry couldn't find a label for himself, he just lived without one. If he had a problem with Louis, well there was no way that he could ignore the fact that Louis existed in his life. Even if he wanted to, the shorter boy was just so damn captivating.

The last bell echoed through the empty hallways of the school but was barely heard in the noisy classrooms. Harry dashed for the door, his books already neatly packed away in his bag. He manoeuvred through the hallways, which were nowhere near empty now, and found his way to his locker. He was surprised to see a boy already standing in front of it, staring at his phone impatiently.

"Liam, what are you doing here?" Harry asked as he tried to open his lock. His fingers slipped past the targetted number and the silver lock refused to open.

"Waiting for you." Liam shrugged and went back to his phone. Harry cursed at his lock for not opening and cursed at his best friend for actually being the vaguest person ever. 

"Why?"

"Tryouts." Harry snapped his head up to look at his friend. Liam didn't look phased by his alarming look, nor did he see it because his eyes were glued to his screen. 

"I thought those were on Wednesday." 

"It is Wednesday," Liam stated like it was obvious. Well, it was obvious. Harry was just being stupid.

"I don't have my stuff!" Panic flew through Harry's mind as he checked his phone. Indeed, 'Wednesday' was lit up across his dark lock screen background picture. He slammed his locker shut before his variety of books could fall out and locked them up. 

"Oh my gosh Harry, I have extra cleats." Liam looked up at his phone just to give Harry an annoyed look, and the pair started walking to Liam's locker.

~

"You did fine." Harry heard Liam's voice beside him. They had just finished their soccer tryout and were currently standing in the empty school hallway. Neither of the boys wanted to go home, so they stood in the hallway and just talked, pretending like they were doing something useful.