The Essence of Time (Harry Styles Fanfic)

The Awakening

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I woke up the next morning and stretched my cramped limbs. I listened to the sound of the chirping birds and smiled. Then across the room I saw a picture of my mother, Harry and me and standing in a circle. I remember the day perfectly. It was one of the last days my mother was alive and my friendship with Harry still strong. Then like a gust of wind it was all over.

I picked myself out of bed and felt as if someone had tied a weight around my waist. I stood in front of the full length mirror and examined my 'fat, cow-like' figure. I didn't understand where she was coming from with that. I wasn't fat, but I wasn't stick thin either. I was normal. With my long auburn hair and clear hazel eyes, I could consider myself pretty. But no one else seemed to think that. To them I was a horrid looking creature whose eyes were lopsided and teeth crooked, which was far from the truth. My teeth were naturally straight and my hair had a slight wave to it. I didn't need glasses, so why did they persist on saying I was ugly?

I let out a long sigh and began to get dressed; throwing on a safe sweater and jeans I grabbed my bag and headed downstairs. My father was already there eating toast and reading the news. I grabbed a piece of toast out of the toaster and headed out the door. I didn't live far from school so I could usually walk. I chewed on the toast as I walked and I thought about what Sarah had said.

"A motherless cow."

Did she realize how much it hurt me? She couldn't have enough respect for the fact that I missed my mother terribly and wished she were still around to give me advice. Usually things that she says I brush off. But then Harry brought it up as if it were funny. He was there for God's sake! Didn't he remember it? Did he just think that he could forget we used to be friends, and that he stood there with me as we watched my mother die? He never tried to comfort me. In fact he never even talked to me after the incident.

I felt the tears coming back and I let them flow freely until I reached the school. I saw Sarah and Harry standing at the front step holding hands and laughing about something. I took a sharp intake of breath and hid behind a tree before they could see me. I minute later I poked my head out and say them kissing each other. She had her hands wrapped around his neck and he had his arms wrapped around her waist. I felt like someone was stabbing me repeatedly in the chest; over, and over. Every second that passed made me feel worse and worse. I walked out from behind the tree and walked up the steps. Luckily they were too busy to notice me.

I felt my eyes drooping with sadness as I walked into the old building. I gathered my books for the first class and walked to the tiny classroom. I took my seat and listened to the sound of the teacher writing the agenda on the board. Harry walked in and threw is bag on the desk farthest away from mine. I pretended not to notice him, but I was watching out of the corner of my eye. Once the whole class had filed in the teacher cleared her throat and began to talk.

"In three weeks, you will have a project due; something that revolves around the world of science." She looked around the room with her cold eyes. "Now I will be choosing partners. If you do not work with who I assigned you to, you both will fail my class for the year. Are we all understood?" She stared longer at some than others. Grabbing a black top hat off of her desk she carried it around the room and gestured for us to pick a subject to work on. I pulled out something to do with molecular energy and looked around the tiny room.

"Now," her voice rang out through the silent room. "Go find your partners."

Not wanting to make a fool of myself and ask random individuals if we were supposed to work together, I stayed seated. I listened to the sound of excited voices and the glum ones. Everyone was at a lab table beginning to plan except for me; and Harry. I had to do a double take. He looked shocked and angry. I watched him storm toward the teachers desk.

"I can't work with her." He fumed clenching and unclenching his fist.

"Why ever not Mr. Styles? You would benefit from working with her, seeing as she has the highest grade. And you need all the help that can be offered. With that she looked back down at her desk and continued to grade papers.

He sulked over to where I was sitting and I felt all the eyes in the room staring. I cleared my throat and starting biting my lip.

"Er, so what do you know at molecular energy?" I asked him twirling the paper around my fingers. He looked glumly at me.

"Look I don't want to do this. Especially if I have to work with you. So let's just cut this short and make it easy on both of us. I'll do my part you do yours. You do the research and I'll do the project part."

I sat there with my lips slightly parted and my head spinning. Why did he hate me so much?

"No Harry, we're not going to do this. Despite your wishes I don't want to see you fail. I know you don't care about me anymore, but I still care about you. Judging by what Mrs. Fields said you can't afford to get a bad grade on this project. So we can work together for a short period of time and you get a good grade. And you can go back to making my life painful. Or you can fail. Your choice."

This time it was his turn to be shocked, because his face showed shock and I could tell he agreed with me. He needed a good grade to pass the year and he wasn't go to do it without my help.

"Okay. What'd you have in mind?" He asked in defeat leaning back in his chair crossing his arms over his chest.