Never Good Enough \\ n.h. au

Twelve

School on Monday wasn't my cup of tea. Nothing really was anymore.

We were running the mile, and I had finished first in my class with 6 minutes and 46 seconds, beating my previous record.

I breathed heavily, sitting on the concrete wall situated around part of the track. I had a headache, and the bump I got from falling didn't help.

A few minutes passed as more and more people joined me to sit on the wall.

My ears caught my name all of a sudden, and I perked up.

"Did you hear that Melanie tried to kill herself?" I heard, and I rolled my eyes, wondering where they had possibly heard that.

I shrugged it off, sending them a subtle glare as we walked inside. At lunch, Chloe and I were talking when I heard it again. I shushed her, telling her to listen.

"I heard Niall broke up with her, so she tried to off herself," another girl said. My eyes widened, turning to look at whoever had said it. They shied away from my gaze.

"Have you heard anything like that?" I asked Chloe, rubbing my temples. She looked down, sighing.

"Everyone's talking about it," she answered me, making my stomach drop. I glanced at Niall, sitting with Harry and his other three friends laughing like the past wasn't repeating itself. I didn't want to have to, so I called on Chloe.

"Can you talk to Niall for me?" I asked her, running a hand through my hair and trying to calm down. She stared at me.

"Talk to the guy who has broken your heart over and over? No thank you," she scoffed, making my heart deflate. I sighed tiredly, figuring that I would have to do it.

At the end of that school day, I found him outside, walking to his car. I took a giant heap of adrenaline and applied it to the situation, jumping in front of him. He stopped abruptly, just like I hoped he would.

"What?" he growled, just how I knew he would.

"The rumor that's going around," I prefaced, looking down at the ground, at both of our shoes. "Can you make it go away?" I inquired, maybe asking for too much from him.

"Why should I? It's not far off," he shrugged as I looked back up at him. I let out a disappointed sigh, shaking my head.

"Fine, whatever," I uttered, walking away. I didn't dare look back, knowing how much he hated me.

Later that night, my parents sent me to McDonald's for dinner, if that's what you call fast-food. The drive-thru line was super long, so I resorted to going inside, tapping my foot as I waited in line.

A few kids from school were there, and I heard them whispering about me. I was about to order, opening my lips, when someone spoke up behind me.

"Are you serious? Are you everywhere I go?" Niall asked, groaning afterwards. I glanced at him behind me, seeing the glare he was sending right at me. I ignored his attempts to aggravate me, set on ordering the food and getting home.

"I'd like-" I tried, clenching my fists when he interrupted me for the second time.

"I want an answer, Ryan," he called, smiling without conviction when I flipped around to meet his eyes.

"Oh, my gosh," I chuckled, putting my hand over my heart. "I didn't think you cared enough to learn my last name. Or did you think I didn't have one?" I smiled falsely, frowning as soon as I finished. I gave the employee a sympathetic sigh, giving him my money as I finished ordering. I was lying to myself if I said I didn't feel threatened with Niall behind me, unmonitored.

I turned with my tray full of food, going to grab straws and napkins, but I was surprised when I turned.

I felt the tray fly from my hands, watching the food become splayed across the floor.

"Oops," Niall shrugged, going up to order. I started picking up everything, shaking my head. The moment I let words slip from my mouth was the mistake I made.

"I'd like to spill you all over the floor," I muttered, apparently loud enough for him to hear. I felt his hands grip my upper arms, pulling me up and slamming me against the condiment table, knocking off a napkin dispenser. He lifted me to his eye level, and that meant my feet were off of the ground.

"The next time you make threats is the next time I put you in the hospital!" he yelled right in my face, making my stomach churn at the fear coursing through me.

I thought about coming up with a sassy remark, but his grip on my arms hurt, and I just wanted to go home, not to the hospital.

"I'm sorry," I sighed, looking down. His iron grasp did not loosen, but he was silent. I looked up at him once more, flinching when I saw he was still staring at me.

"What?" he whispered, seeming surprised at what I said. The restaurant doors opened, and in walked two police officers.

"Hey!" one of them exclaimed, pointing at both of us. "Put her down," he growled, walking up next to us. I felt him let me go, allowing me to drop on my feet.

"We'll have to ask you two to come with us," the other one spoke, hooking a hand on his belt, right next to his loaded gun. I swallowed, blushing madly.

"Yes, sir," I sighed, walking out of the doors before Niall could even blink. We both were locked in the back seat, and I tried to be as far away from him as possible.

When we got to the station, I dreaded everything my parents would say.

"You'll have to to stay in this holding cell until your parents can come and get you out," they informed us. We got a phone to call our parents, and I hung up before they could ask what happened or why. Before I knew it, someone was locking just us two behind bars.

"Don't cause any trouble in here or you might actually get arrested," the younger cop smiled lightheartedly as he walked away. I nodded at him, glad that there were people like him.

I sat down on the bench at the back of the small cell, putting my head in my hands. After mulling everything over for a few seconds, I sobbed, and then I was crying. I didn't care what Niall thought. I didn't care about Niall at all. I think.

Minutes passed, but neither of parents had shown up yet. I had stopped crying, but my chest felt heavy, and I wanted to explode.

"Why do you hate those things about me so much?" I blurted out. He turned to look at me from where he stood by the door of the cell.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I just do."

"You need to be willing to accept people for who and what they are," I pointed out, thinking that maybe he had some sort of problem.

"What if I just don't like you?" he wondered, sneering a little. I stared at him, thinking things over before I burst out with another snide remark.

"You're always so nice to people at school. I've never once seen you be rude," I reminded him, finding it a little creepy that I kept count. Yeah, sure, he played pranks on everyone, but they were always light-spirited and came out well.

I looked up at him staring at me as he said, "Well, then I guess it's just you."

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hi guys lol I'm kind of busy this week or else I think this update would have been a lot sooner

please comment what you thought because you have thoughts xD

I love you guys so much! my reads are skyrocketing and it's amazing

Mel xx