Blackmail - Harry Styles **ON HOLD**

3.

I can't believe it. Why is he texting me? And why is he staring at the picture? I guess that confirms that he did take one, which makes me feel sick to my stomach. I may have to cancel my lunch plans with Harry.

"Did you not hear me? I asked who is texting you." What am I supposed to tell her? I can't tell her the truth, so I guess it's lying again, even though I hate doing it.

"It's Kayla. She wanted to know if we could hang out later this week," I lie, straight to my mother's face.

"Oh. I didn't know you even talked to her anymore, I thought you two weren't very close." She's right, we aren't very close anymore. Not after I found out what she really does on the weekend, and let me tell you: it ain't homework.

"We still talk." It's only half a lie, we do still talk some... Okay, maybe only when we're forced to, like being assigned as partners for a project.

"Okay, well I'll leave you two alone," she says, starting to walk off, but I stop her.

"Why are you home? Aren't you supposed to be at work?" I ask. She is never home, she's always at work or, well, work. That's literally all she and my father do.

"I had an hour off, so I thought I'd stop by and eat lunch real quick." I nod, then turn to Harry saying, "Just let me change real fast, then will get going."

I run upstairs, opening my closet and rummaging through all my shirts. It seems all I have to wear are t-shirts and sweaters. I'm really not for sure why my sweaters are in my closet in the middle of summer, but I guess they just are. I grab a blue t-shirt that says 'Woodburn High' on the back, stripping off my painted clothes and throwing them into the dirty laundry, hoping they don't stain any of my other garments.

After slipping on a black pair of shorts and flip flops, I'm ready. I run back downstairs, meeting Harry in the kitchen.

"I'm ready," I state, grabbing my keys from the countertop. I lead Harry out the front door and to my car.

"Don't you need to tell your mom you're leaving?" his deep voice asks.

"No, it's alright, she doesn't really care as long as I'm back by twelve. She's fine with it." he nods and gets into the car. I pull out of my drive and head towards Applebee's.

"I never even thought to ask: do you need to change clothes before we go?" I eye his gold splatted top.

"No, I think I'm good." He laughs a bit. His laugh's nice, smooth yet raspy.

"Okay," I simply reply.

About half way there, Harry decides to speak up, "So are you like home alone often?" He wonders. Saying I am home alone often is an understatement, I'm always alone. Always have been.

"Yes, very often," I answer. I don't really want to tell him that I only see my parents at night for about thirty minutes. I would just be creepy to know he knows, although I know Harry is probably harmless.

"Do you like being alone?"

"I do. It's peaceful to me, very relaxing I guess you could say." At first I hated being alone, I always wanted someone to talk to or play with, but now I truly enjoy it.

"I hate being alone," he tells me. The air seems to become crisp, even though it's the middle of summer.

"Why's that?" I ask, after finding my voice. He turns to me in his seat.

"When I'm alone I'm left with my thoughts."

We're opposites. I love my thoughts. We are pulling up to the restaurant, "We're here," I say, climbing out of the car. We head for the door. It's only a little after twelve, so the restaurant is full for lunch hour.

"Table for two?" The lady at the desk asks. I nod, and we both follow her to a booth near the back of the building. "A server will be right with you," she says, then walks off. I grab one of the menus off the table and start to decide on what I'm going to order.

"What do you normally get here?" I ask Harry as I'm reading through the menu.

"Usually the steak with mash potatoes and broccoli with cheese," he replies. It sounds really good, I must say.

"I might just get that," I tell him, already planning on ordering it.

"Hello, welcome to Applebee's. My name is Stacy, what can I get you to drink?" A young girl with blonde hair, probably in her early twenties, asks, smiling at both of us.

"I'll have a sweet tea. No lemon, please," Harry tells the girl.

"And for you, miss?" she asks as she jots down his order.

"A water with lemon," I answer.

"Alright, I'll be right back with those." she walks off.

"You like lemon?" Harry's eyes lock with mine.

"Yes, I actually do," I say, folding my menu back and placing it on the table.

"They're a bit sour, don't ya think?" I just laugh.

"Yeah, a bit, but overall they're really good." It's a bit awkward then. Harry stays quiet after we both order our food. I was really hoping we could use this time to get to know each other, sometimes he is really talkative and chipper, but other times it's like he's not even present. Maybe he's just really shy.

After an awkward silence of twenty minutes of eating, Harry pays. I try convincing him to let me get mine, but he won't have it.

"Thank you for lunch," I say as we pull out of Applebee's.

"You're welcome. Thank you for going with me." he smiles over my way.

"Do you just want me to drop you off at school?" I really don't know where else he could go, I'm guessing he drove to school so his car will be there.

"Yeah, that's fine, thanks." we ride in silence, only a few words said between the two of us. "I really like your car. It's very nice," he compliments my one year old car. It may only be a year old, but my parents still insist I let them buy me a new one. I refuse, though, it's fine. I don't need one.

"Thanks, I got it for my sixteenth birthday." he says a small 'cool', and we get to the school. I park beside the entrance, not knowing which car's his.

"Thanks again for having lunch with me, and for the ride. It really means a lot." his smile is bright and makes me smile, that is until my phone buzzes.

'Stop ignoring me babe.' It's from Eric. "Yeah, it's no problem," I tell Harry, forcing a smile as I half stare at the text, half stare at him.

"Alright, see you tomorrow?" I had almost forgotten I was helping again at the school.

"Yeah, see ya tomorrow." after saying a quick 'goodbye' I speed out of the parking lot and head home, only thinking: how am I supposed to handle this situation with Eric?

EDITOR: @directioneremo

Hey guys!

I'm thinking about updating every 3-4 days how does that sound? I've actually started reading again (I hadn't been able to read much since Psycho Sitter ) so I'm still trying to have a little 'me time' because I love writing don't get me wrong but I also love reading!

Please VOTE and COMMENT it just shows me you really like my work I put in a lot of hours writing these stories so taking five seconds out of your day to hit that 'star' button really makes writing easier :) and also comments are really nice too ;)