Never Good Enough \\ n.h. au

Eight

So guess what Niall did? He ignored me. It was like we hadn't even met. That whole week he didn't say a word to me; not in art, not at lunch, not about basketball on Friday.

Wednesday morning, however, I tried rearranging my locker before the bell rung. Random papers were littered at the bottom, and my backpack didn't really have any room. A few of my books fell out into the hallway, and I groaned, already having my hands full. I put down what I hand, catching a glimpse of the time, and then turned back around to grab what I had dropped.

I looked to see who had grabbed my things, raising my eyes only to find Chloe. Her hair was in perfect blonde curls, per the norm, and she wore a blue patterned dress. Honestly, she looked as good as she normally would, but I couldn't have been more glad to see her.

"Chloe," I breathed out, furrowing my eyebrows. She had no reason to be apologizing to me, at least, not one I could see. Chloe was stubborn when it came to her opinion.

"Hi," she blinked, looking as confused as I was. "Here." She handed me the random things that had fallen on the floor, and I stuffed them in my backpack, quick to hear what she had to say.

"What's up?" I wondered, holding my books and binders in my arms. She played with her fingers, and I could really tell she was nervous. She was my best friend.

"I-" She stopped and glanced behind me, just barely shaking her head. "I'll tell you later." She walked off and the bell rang. I sighed, looking to see where she had been looking behind me. My eyes met Harry's right before he turned and walked away as well.

.

After school that day, I found Chloe once more, determined to get her to spill; whatever she needed to say was something I felt like I needed to hear.

I caught up to her as she strutted out of school with Harry on her arm, walking at her pace until she noticed me.

"Mel!" she exclaimed, quite surprised. I flashed her a small smile as Harry stopped and left us to talk. "I mean, Melanie," she corrected herself. I sighed, wishing everything could be the way it once was.

"So, you needed to tell me something earlier," I spoke dubiously. She nodded, looking down and away from me.

"Look, Mel," she sighed, locking her eyes with mine. "I was really stupid. I let a boy come in between you and me, and I feel terrible. Harry was the one who convinced me to do this," she smiled lightly. I felt warm and overly happy, glad she realized that what she had done was wrong.

"I was blinded, and I'm sorry," she said, opening her arms for a hug. I hesitated for only about three seconds before hugging her, glad that something in my life was normal again. She said her goodbyes to both Harry and me, telling me that we needed to hang out sometime soon.

"You'll have to tell me how things with Niall are going," she winked, whispering close to me. I felt my cheeks burn as she walked off to her bus.

I turned to Harry, and he smiled, adjusting his backpack strap.

"Thank you," I said, walking up so I was closer to him. He shrugged.

"It was the right thing to do, I thought. She told me what had happened and how bad she felt, so I nagged her until she finally did something about it," he explained. I reached over and hugged him, feeling so grateful for his kindness and concern for me.

"Thank you," I sighed into his shoulder once more. "I can't tell you how much it means." He pulled away, sighing quickly. I reminded myself of the time I was wasting and how my mom would be waiting and how he had somewhere to be as well.