Masterpiece {h.s}

36. School & Coffee

“Well, someone looks happy,” was the first thing that I heard as I entered the class.

I sat down at my usual desk and turned to Liam who was looking at me with a smug smile.

“Well, someone is being presumptuous,” I replied back with an equally smug smile.
Liam chuckled and shook his head. “Be sassy all you want, I think you look great when you’re happy.”

I stared at him in shock while he went back to doodling in his book as if he hadn’t said anything.  I didn’t think that it was that obvious to other how much Harry had impacted my life. We had spent the weekend in our own little bubble that it felt almost weird to have people around us notice our happiness.

“Thanks,” I mumbled before unpacking my bag. Liam turned his head and smiled softly then directed his gaze at the teacher who was coming in.

The class went by quicker than I anticipated. The first class of the week always seemed to be the hardest for me and Liam but we always got through it. Liam always complained that History wasn’t his thing and that he was always surprised to make it out alive every week.

Once the teacher dismissed the class, Liam and I grabbed our thing and walked out together.

“I was going to grab a coffee with a friend of mine, want to join?” Liam asked as we went outside. The afternoon sun warmed our skin and it distracted me for a moment as I enjoyed the heat that it brought.
“Anna?” he tried to get my attention.
“Yeah, that sounds great,” I finally replied.

I had no idea who his friend was but I thought that it wouldn’t be too bad to socialize a little. I had spent most of my time with Harry and I felt as if being friends with Liam was great, but we never hung out together outside of school. Now I had an occasion to and I was going to seize it.

We started to walk in the direction of the coffee shop, when I heard my name being called. I turned around quickly and was met by a very confused looking Harry. It took me a minute to remember that he had told me that he would wait for me at the end of my class, and I immediately felt bad. I had walked right by him without realizing and now he was probably wondering why.

“Harry!” I greeted him and went to hug him. He opened his arms and held me as I rested my head on his chest. “I’m sorry, I forgot that you would be waiting!”

I looked up at him and stood on my tiptoes to press my lips against his, hoping that it would ease the tension I could feel in him. The second our lips touched, I felt him relax, but I couldn’t help but to wonder why he was so tense.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated.
He hummed against my lips. “Where were you going?”
I turned around, suddenly aware that Liam was only a few feet away from us. “I was grabbing coffee with Liam and one of his friend!”
“A friend?” Harry asked Liam.
“Yeah, we’re meeting with Zayn.”
“Zayn, uh,” Harry repeated.

And just like that, all the tension in Harry’s body was back. I looked confusedly between the two boys, wondering why this ‘Zayn’ seemed to be a problem.

“Come on mate, join us,” Liam suggested.
I looked up at Harry at the same time that he look down. “I thought we were spending time together?”
“We will, but I’d like to spend time with Liam too.”
Harry sighed. “Alright.”

I smiled and kissed him again before grabbing his hand and joining Liam. While Liam and I kept talking about our previous class and future school projects, Harry stayed silent and kept me close to him. Soon enough we were walking inside of the coffee shop. It was a different one from the last time with Jesse, but it still had the amazing smell of coffee floating through the air.

I followed Liam as he guided us to his friend. We reached the table in the far left of the shop, isolated from everyone else. A boy with dark hair and olive skin was leaned over a notebook covered with sketches.

“Hey!” Liam said as we reached his table.
He looked up and greeted Liam with a handshake. “Hey man,” he replied then nodded in direction of Harry but said nothing before looking at me. He stood up and leaned in to kiss both my cheeks. “Hi, I’m Zayn.”
Harry’s grip on my hand tightened but I pretended like I didn’t feel it. “Hi, I’m Annabelle.”
“Nice meeting you Annabelle.”

We both smiled before sitting down. Harry brought his chair closer to me and rested his hand on my thighs. I put my hand over his, in hopes that it would soothe him.

Ever since Liam had mentioned Zayn, tension had been clear in his posture. Usually, I should’ve taken his tension as a sign, it was obvious that Harry didn’t like Zayn, but as I sat at the same table as him and saw how he interacted with Liam, I couldn’t really understand why. I knew Liam was a great guy, so why would he be friends with someone that isn’t?

Zayn looked like a polite young man, very reserved but still very nice. From what I could see now, there was no reason for Harry to dislike him, unless something had happened between the two of them in the past. But that would be something I would question Harry about later, but for now I decided that I would make my own opinion on the boy.

“Anna,” Liam called my name. I turned my head to look at him.
“Yeah?”
“Zayn asked you a question,” he laughed at my puzzled expression.
I looked at Zayn shyly. “Sorry, what did you ask?”
“I asked if you liked studying art,” he smiled sweetly.
“So far yeah,” I replied while nodding my head. “I didn’t take a lot of classes this semester so my load of work isn’t so bad.”
"Why are you taking less classes?”

I felt Harry’s nervous glance on me but tried to look unphased.

“Let’s just say I’m scared of lacking inspiration,” I said.
Zayn nodded. “School does that,” he replied nonchalantly.
“Are you an artist too?” I asked.
“You could say that,” he simply said and laid back on his chair.
“Have you studied in NYSA “
“Hell no,” he laughed bitterly and I frowned at his reaction. “Studying art is bullshit. Art is lived not studied,” he explained

I nodded, somewhat agreeing with his point. I did feel like the only thing that school would bring me is an improvement in my techniques, but technique wasn’t everything. Inspiration was everything. You could know every methods, you could know the history of art, but that didn’t make you a complete artist. If you lacked inspiration nothing good would come out of it.

“Zayn is really passionate about this subject,” Liam commented with a small laugh. “Don’t be offended.”
I smiled. “I’m not, I kind of agree with him.”
Zayn looked up at me and winked, clearly glad that we shared the same opinion. “Why do you study it then?”
I stayed silent for a minute, searching for the right answer. “I guess I needed some structure.”

I looked at Harry and met his gaze. He looked worried but I smiled, silently assuring him that I was okay. I hadn’t said much anyway and thinking about it didn’t affect me as much as it did only weeks ago.

“So you’re a troubled soul,” Zayn commented as he crossed his arms over his chest.

His eyes scanned me as if he was searching my soul. I shifted on my seat, his gaze making me uncomfortable.

As I was about to reply, Harry stood up. “I’m getting a coffee, want to come?” He asked urgently.
I nodded. “We’ll be right back,” I said as we walked away from the table.

We walked to the counter and stood in line. Harry hugged me from behind and pressed his lips against my ear. I closed my eyes, relishing in the comfort Harry was bringing me and trying to forget about Zayn’s statement.  

“You don’t have to answer him,” Harry whispered in my ear.

I opened my eyes and slowly turned around. I circled his hips with my arms while he hugged me at the shoulders. Harry looked at me, anger and worry mixed in his eyes. I understood why he was worried, it was just him caring for me as always, but I didn’t get the anger.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked him and bit my lower lip.

His eyes widened, “Of course not.” He leaned over and rubbed his nose with mine before pecking my lips. “Why would I be?”
“I don’t know, you’re just really tense and I can feel that you’re angry.”
Harry looked down for a second before looking back at me. “Yeah, I just… Zayn and I aren’t the best of friends.”
“Why not?”
“We just have different opinions on things,” he vaguely answered before twisting his lips in displeasure. “And maybe you shouldn’t hang out with him too much.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he looked away from me. I was going to reply something but it became our turn to order and I had to wait. Harry ordered for the both of us and we stood on the side of the counter to wait for our drinks.

I could see that Harry was trying to avoid me, or at least avoid the conversation. I grabbed his hand in mine to catch his attention but he still didn’t look at me. He knew that what he had said had bothered me.

“Why are you saying that,” I finally questioned him. “He doesn’t look so bad.”
“I know he doesn’t,” he agreed. “But I also know what I’m saying.”
“Maybe, but I feel like I should make my own opinion on him, no?” I argued, trying to keep my tone calm.

The fact that Harry was almost forbidding me to see someone angered me. It made him seem jealous and I didn’t like it at all.

Harry sighed and shook his head before bringing my hand to his mouth. “I don’t want you to get hurt. Trust me, please.”

He looked at me with his big green eyes, pleading for me to agree with him. I sighed, defeated and he smiled softly before releasing my hand and bringing my face closer to his. I grunted lowly as he pressed his lips against mine and I heard him chuckle.

“I hate you,” I mumbled against his lips.
“I love you too,” he replied before winking. “Can we take our coffee to go?” he then asked. “I want to spend some alone time with you.”

I rolled my eyes but agreed anyway. As Harry retrieved our coffees, I went to the table to inform Liam and Zayn that we were leaving. Liam complained that we had barely spent time together and I promised him that we would hang out again. I told Zayn that it was nice meeting him and with that I was out of the coffee shop with Harry.

.
.
.

FINALLY ! Zayn has made his entry ! I asked like 20 chapters ago if I should introduce a new character and I finally did it haha. I felt as if Zayn made perfect sense, he’s a really artsy person and I just think he’s going to be perfect for this story :)
What do you think of his character so far? love it or hate it ? Was the chapter good? Tell me everything you beautiful readers !

Question of the day : HOW FREAKING GOOD DOES ZAYN LOOK IN THE TEASER FOR NIGHT CHANGES ?
HOW IS HE EVEN REAL !!!

I need to calm down, I can’t even imagine how crazy I’ll be when it will be with Harry ice skating. I mean EVERY fanfic has a scene where Harry and the main girl goes ice skating… fanfictions are coming to life. bye.

See you next Sunday!
With loooooots of love,
Karry xx.