Harry:
From: Taylor S.
Hey, Harry :) Or, good morning, I should say haha. I can’t sleep…can we talk? Too bad I can’t hear your voice… :) <3
Sent at 12:34am
I groaned, squinting at my phone. “What the hell?” I whispered, throwing my phone onto the far end of my bed. She’d texted me at twelve-thirty in the morning…to talk?
“No…no we cannot talk,” I slurred, curling into a ball and closing my eyes. That damn Taylor Swift, entirely gorgeous but such an excessive talker. Yes, I got it – she liked my voice. But did she have to remind me at 10:00am, when I was in class? Or in the middle of the night when I’m asleep?
I sort of liked being with Taylor. It was something different. I liked having a girl’s opinion on things, but I got way too many of those from Taylor. I didn’t want to know what she thought about everything. And somehow, she’d found a way to come downstairs after every class period, just to tell me about how the last hour was for her. It was annoying.
Other than that, we’d gotten on with each other well for a few days. I didn’t try to keep my relationship with Taylor from Louis’ presence. I sort of wanted to rub it in his face, in a way that said: See, I’ve totally forgotten about this kiss! It’s not bothering me at all.
Even though it was.
I definitely had not forgotten about it.
In fact, it was slowly killing me.
I hadn’t told anyone about the kiss, and that was probably the problem. Having the secret bottled in…it was terrible. I wanted to talk to Louis about it – maybe get a clarification as to why he’d started kissing me in the first place.
And then maybe I’d ask if he could do it again.
I turned over, burying my face into the pillow and huffing. I wanted to say that I didn’t care about Louis. I really did. But that just wasn’t working. Being with Taylor wasn’t stopping me from thinking of how Louis’ eyes were much prettier than hers, or about how badly I wanted to touch Louis’ hair rather than hers.
My phone rang yet again. I still checked it; I wanted to see what she had to say, but I wasn’t going to answer.
From: Taylor S.
Harry, babe?
Sent at 12:37am
My eyes widened. No. I wasn’t her ‘babe’. I wasn’t anyone’s ‘babe’. If I were anyone’s ‘babe’, I would be Louis’ and only Louis’.
I rubbed my sleepy eyes. I reminded myself of why I was doing this in the first place. I did that over and over again. See if you’re gay or not. Just do that and we’ll take it from there. Baby steps.
My phone rang a third time.
From: Taylor S.
LOL, by the way, my friends were wondering whether or not you’re going to ask me out? ;)
Sent at 12:40am
I raised my eyebrows. My fingers automatically started typing, even though every part of my brain was screaming. No! Why’re you answering her?!
To: Taylor S.
I don’t ask out girls very well…
Sent at 12:42am
I really didn’t. I’d asked out probably four girls in my entire life, and all of them consisted of stumbling over my words and making a fool out of myself.
From: Taylor S.
That’s alright. :) I just really like you, haha.
Sent at 12:44am
I felt my face heat up. I wanted to respond with something along the lines of: that’s cool, but I thought about Louis, and how he’d kissed me, and how he’d turned my brains to absolute mush. This was an experiment. I had to ask her out
I closed my eyes momentarily, breathing in deeply. I reopened them.
To: Taylor S.
I like you, too. Would you like to go out? With me?
Sent at 12:45am
From: Taylor S.
Of course! <3
Sent at 12:45
I squinted at the phone before turning off the screen and throwing my phone across the room. I wrapped myself up in the blankets, ready to go back to sleep. I started to feel ashamed.
What the hell did I just do?!
I had a girlfriend now.
And I didn’t even like her.
~~~
“It was really difficult! I knew, like, none of the answers!”
“Oh…that stinks…” I muttered halfheartedly, focused more on not tripping myself up in the busy hallway rather than listening to Taylor as she rambled on about her history test. I held her hand and pulled her along with me, anxious to get out of the school.
I didn’t like the feel of Taylor’s hand in mine. Her fingers were too skinny; her nails dug into the back of my hand uncomfortably. Her palm was sweaty.
But she was my girlfriend. I wasn’t supposed to let go.
We finally made it out into the schoolyard, where kids were going home. Taylor and I pushed our way through the crowd and settled on one of the benches, and as soon as she pulled her phone out, she was lost in her own world. She scooted closer to me and leaned against my arm, her head on my shoulder as she checked her messages.
I placed my right hand in my lap, slowly breaking my right one from Taylor’s grasp and putting that in my lap as well. I just sat, bundling up in my sweatshirt to stay warm. It was nearly Thanksgiving, but the air was as cold as it would be if it were Christmas.
I hummed to myself, my eyes falling on a familiar face. He walked quickly out of the front doors, his eyes to the ground. His red TOMS scuffed along the pavement and his shoulders were slumped. He went and sat against the big Oak tree, wrapping his arms around his knees and setting his chin on top of them.
Louis always seemed to show up at a bad time.
I squirmed in my seat, feeling very nervous. He was in front of me, and even though he was several yards away, if he looked up the slightest bit, he would see me with Taylor.
Isn’t that what you want? I thought. To show him that you’re over that kiss? That you now have a girlfriend?
Well, it didn’t matter, because Louis did exactly what I hoped he wouldn’t. He brought his eyes up from the ground, and they landed right on me.
From what I could see, he squinted at me. His whole forehead was wrinkled up in confusion. He pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth and chewed on it, looking confused.
And then he glared. It was a cold, hard glare – one that managed to make me feel like he was going to come over and strangle me.
He was…angry?
At me?
Louis abruptly stood up, tripping over his feet some as he straightened his clothes. His eyes never left the spot where I was, and I saw them scan over Taylor, who was still distracted by her phone. He pulled out his own cell phone, appearing to be pressing hard on the screen. He then stormed off, sending one last deadly stare my way.
“T-Taylor?” I stammered, inching away from her. She sat up, smiling at me. “I’m really tired,” I lied. “Think we could head home?”
Taylor nodded and rose to her feet, shouldering her bag. She grinned with too-white teeth. “Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow? Or I’ll text you later?”
I nodded, and she started leaning in. My brain went into overdrive. What is she doing? Does she want to kiss me? I don’t want to kiss her! I can’t…I don’t…but…No!
Taylor’s lips came towards mine, but I took a step back and turned my head. Her mouth connected with my cheek instead of her preferred destination. She frowned. “What’s wrong? No kiss?”
“I – well…I think I’m coming down with something…a cold maybe,” I said slowly, smiling sympathetically. “I wouldn’t want you to catch it. Sorry…”
Taylor smiled again, laughing a little. “Sorreh,” she mimicked, pulling off one of the worst British accents I’d ever heard. “That’s what you sound like, babe.”
Of course that’s what I sound like. Duh. I chuckled dryly, waving goodbye to her before leaving and starting home.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, causing me to jump. I rolled my eyes – I was getting tired of all these messages.
From: Niall
He fucking saw you! He’s blowing up my phone with calls and texts! D:
Sent at 2:16pm
I frowned, but I tried to shrug it off.
To: Niall
that’s not my fault.
Sent at 2:17pm
From: Niall
this is so stupid. You’re mad at him and now he’s mad at you. And you guys are BOTH irritating me. Louis is SOBBING, Harry.
Sent at 2:19pm
I sighed, my stomach dropping. I didn’t want him to cry…
To: Niall
crying? Oh…
Sent at 2:20pm
From: Niall
Yeh. And that’s exactly what I didn’t want to happen. I knew you were going to break his heart! Ya happy?
Sent at 2:22pm
To: Niall
The exact opposite, quite frankly…
Sent at 2:23pm
From: Niall
Well I’m tired of it. I’m going to fix this fucking thing.
Sent at 2:35pm
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Hello! Here's the next chapter! Sort of long, yeah? Taylor's sort of annoying, right? :) Comment and tell me what you think, please!
Thank you sooo much for the comments and votes and reads I've gotten - I saw them this morning and was smiling all day. You guys are the best, and I hope you continue to like RWYWM, because I'm nowhere near the end of the story :P
The picture to the right!! Erm...that's like the equivalent to Louis when he sees Harry. I dunno, but he sure looks beautiful :D >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Anyway, thanks again, and please please please comment to tell me what you think! I'll update in a few days! :D
~Amaya