Lola began to settle into her new home fairly quickly. Much to her suprise since she was so reluctant to move here in the first place. The fact that she was living in the house Harry lived in 3 days a week, was made up for by how nice and welcoming John had been. He really made Jake and Lola feel at home, because he knew that they weren’t happy about having to live here. In some ways Lola was grateful that someone was there acting like a Father figure, even though she knew it wouldn’t last.
Since the first day they moved, Lola had become increasingly confused about what happened with Harry and the shed. She hadn’t returned back to the shed since, afraid that he’d find her there. It was evident that he used it as a place to be alone, which she could understand since everyone needed a place of privacy. But why was he so protective of it? Why did he get so angry about her being in there? And more importantly, what had made him so distressed that day?
These were the questions she’d been wondering in the week and a half that had already past. Luckily her new bedroom wasn’t much different in size and shape to her old bedroom, so she found it easier to adjust.
Jackie had come round to visit for a bit after school one day, luckily when Harry wasn’t there. Lola used this as an opportunity to tell her what she witnessed in the shed.
“So you’re sure he had been crying?” Jackie asked, trying to staighten it out in her head
“Yeah” Lola nodded surely “Definitely. His voice was wobbly too even when he was trying to shout at me, like when you have that lump in your throat”
“Right…well…” Jackie shrugged “My guess is that he’s probably just an utter nutcase”
That was all Jackie really had to offer in the way of conclusions. Lola was still anxious and confused, but since that incident she hadn’t seen Harry looking upset or stressed. At school he’d been fairly normal, hassling her in Maths class as per usual and sitting inbetween a dozen girls at lunch.
At the weekends he came to live with his Dad and would usually spend most of the day in bed, before going out with his friends at night. Lola avoided him as much as possible and so far it seemed to be working out okay. But she figured her plan was short lived, and sooner or later they’d have another run-in.
Christina had generally treated this place as if she’d lived there all her life. She went out to work at 8:30am and came home at 5:30pm every day. John worked as a caretaker in the village primary school so Jake could be taken and picked up from school by him. Christina commented on how well everything worked out, and how much of a nice little family they were already becoming. Lola scowled at her comments, refusing to believe that would ever happen.
She liked John and everything, but her Mum still really grinded her gears. She still ignored Lola and Jake every day, just giving John undivided attention in the evenings when she was home. It was like they barely existed. Christina would bring home fine dining proper meals and when John asked what the kids would eat, she’d say they can have microwave chips while her and John crack open a bottle of wine . Sadly Lola was used to this kind of neglect though and Jake barely knew any different.
****
The sun was warm on a Tuesday afternoon as Lola headed down the street towards her house. It beated down on the pavements, causing her to squint as she fumbled in her bag for her keys. It was only 1:15pm and a school day, but Lola had realised she’d forgotten her Chemistry books and came home to quickly fetch them at lunch.
Twisting her key through the lock, the door opened allowing her to relax her eyes as they adjusted to the less bright surroundings. It was almost tempting to stay home for the rest of the afternoon, but with exams coming up it was important for Lola to attend all her lessons if she wanted to pass.
The exam she was most worried about was English. One thing Lola loved was writing, and she aspired to study Journalism at University. It was also a good method of releasing built up inner emotions by transforming them into a poem, or scribbling them down onto paper.
She quickly grabbed a cold bottle of water from the fridge before dashing upstairs to grab her books. She had 15 minutes until class started, and she needed to be quick.
Running up the stairs, Lola heard voices coming from upstairs. From Harry’s bedroom. She froze still, and silently tiptoeing up the last few remaining steps.
“Ohh G-GOD Harry” a female voice panted, her breaths heavy and audible from the landing. “Fuck, keep going. Harder”
Lola felt the pit of her stomach churn, followed by the sound of bedsprings squeaking and a long deep groan.
“Oh fuck right there!” the girl called out at the top of her lungs
“Mmm right, there?” Harrys voice growled, causing more squeals and moans as the headboard hit the wall.
“Ew ew ew ew” Lola hissed to herself, scurrying quickly into her bedroom trying to escape the noises. She scrambled around the desk, tipping over piles of revision trying to find the right book. The moans coming from across the landing were getting more noisy and frequent and Lola wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. She saw the yellow book she needed resting on the floor beside her bed and grabbed in, making a quick exit.
“Ugh” she scoffed as she closed the front door behind her. “Vile”
**
Chemistry was hell as usual, enough to give Lola a pounding headache with the amount of complex material she had to learn. On top of that, her mind was clouded with images of Harry having sex with some bimbo and she’d had the unpleasing experience of hearing it. It wasn’t even meaningful, he just fucked girls then added them to his tally chart.
It made him even more sickening but she couldn’t help get the mental image of him out of her head. What it must be like for those girls laying underneath his sweaty naked body, tasting his poisonous pink tongue and having his rough hands all over their skin. She knew she didn’t want to think about it, which made it worse. It made her feel sick and repulsed.
As she arrived home, the TV was glaring and the house was dull, the sunlight hiding behind a large grey cloud in the sky. Lola dropped her heavy school bag and kicked off her shoes, in desperate need of a drink. Her throat was scratchy and ached whenever she swallowed, a clear sign that she was developing some kind of seasonal or stress related illness.
She saw Harry sitting on the black leather sofa, dressed in grey joggers and a white t-shirt, his curls hiding beneath a beanie. His ankles were crossed on the coffee table and he was watching Come Dine With Me.
Lola debated whether to ask him why he is home early but decided to stick to her plan of avoiding him. Harry watched her stick her nose in the air and waltz to the kitchen, making it quite clear that she wasn’t going to talk to him.
“You know, it’s rude not to greet someone when you come into their house” he called, his voice slightly dry. Lola heard him from where she was in the kitchen, filling the kettle with water. She found a hot lemon drink in the cupboard to soothe her sore throat and went to fetch a paracetamol from her bag, passing him on the way.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes. Why are you here anyway Harry? It’s Tuesday. Shouldn’t you be at your Mums?” Lola argued, throwing the tablet into her mouth and taking a gulp of water to wash it down.
Harry paused, his dark brows flickering before licking his lips. “Decided to stay here today, I came this afternoon”
“In more ways than one i’m sure” she muttered, screwing the plastic lid back on the water bottle. A smirk twitched at Harrys deep pink lips as he realised what she was referring to, and he raised his eyebrows slightly. He figured Lola must have popped home at some point that afternoon. He actually did go to school that morning, but he was flirting heavily all morning with a girl in the year above, and ended up way too horny to sit in English class for two hours.
“Ugh” Lola groaned as her throat ache became harsher. She sloped back towards the kitchen, hearing Harry call after her
“Make me a drink” he said abruptly. Lola frowned and lazily pulled another mug from the drainboard, sitting it beside her own. She was half tempted to spike his tea with some extra strong chilli powder just to return the little joke he played at Sarah’s party.
The boiling water rose to the top of each mug, and Lola gripped them firmly by the handles. She walked carefully into the front room, being cautious as she slowly handed Harry his mug. Her hand was slightly shaky, waiting for him to do something. Like constantly looking over your shoulder.
She was relieved when he took the mug from her with ease, without saying anything else. Lola was ready to go upstairs when he spoke up.
“You didn’t put sugar in dumbass” he said monotonously, as if it was the most stupid mistake to make. Not that he’d told her he took sugar in his tea. Lola huffed silently and turned back around, going to take the drink back to the kitchen.
The mug was resting on the coffee table, Harry waiting for her to meet his orders. He crossed his ankles beside the mug on the table again, and Lola reached for the handle.
Just as her hand hovered close to grasp it, Harry let his heavy foot knock the mug gently.
The drink toppled over, causing boiling water to throw itself onto the skin of Lola’s hand.
“Shit” Lola cried, feeling a painful burning sensation prickle across the top of her hand and over her fingers. “Ow you’ve burnt my hand yo-arghh”
Harry simply chuckled quietly, keeping his lips pursed shut. He lifted and dropped his shoulders carelessly, an innocent dimple in his left cheek as he tried to hide his amusement “It was an accident”
“Accident?! Like fuck was it” she cried, shaking her hand to try and get rid of the pain “This really stings”
“Well, if you’d have put sugar in it in the first place babe, it wouldn’t have happened now would it? You need to stop being so fucking clumsy” he said, raising his eyebrows at her as if she was the stupid one here.
There were a million curses on the tip of her tongue, begging to be thrown at him but she kept her mouth shut tight, knowing it would be something she regretted. She whimpered and rushed to the kitchen, running a cold tap over the hot burning patch of skin.
The pain throbbed continously as the water washed over it. Lola knew he did that on purpose, and she had been waiting for him to strike since she arrived home. Why was it that he insisted on causing her body such pain? It seemed to entertain him to see her get injured, or make her cry.
She felt his presence appear behind her, leaning over her shoulder.
“Go away” she muttered, rubbing gently over her sore fingers
“Stop being such a drama queen and stop snivelling it doesn’t hurt that bad” he said, reaching and grabbing her hand carelessly causing more stinging pain to spread over the red skin
“Ow! Be careful” she cried. Harry inspected her fingers with a deep set concentration on his face. He dropped them limply letting them fall to Lola’s side.
“There. It’s a tiny blister so you can quit whining, i’d clear that tea up in there too if I were you. My Dad won’t be happy”
“Or I could just tell him it was you?” Lola suggested sarcastically, stepping towards Harry hoping to urge him backwards but he kept his feet planted firmly on the ground. “And I could tell him that you skipped lesson this afternoon to fuck some girl instead?”
“Try it” he said, his warm breath fanning out of his lips close to her “You need to understand..” Harry took both of Lola’s wrists in his grip, turning her around so her back hit against the countertop “As long as you’re living in this house, you’re never going to be his priority. He’s going to pick me over you, and i’m always going to be first. Have you got that?”
Lola gulped, her throat aching and fingers stinging. She could practically hear Harry’s heartbeat as well as her own as he forced her to look at nothing but him in that moment. Harry glanced down at Lola’s body, seeing her cowering away. The corners of his lips curled up
“Look at you” he said “You’re a fucking loser” he released his grip on her wrists and let her go. He walked back through into the front room, as if nothing happened
Lola breathed slowly as she kept her position, feeling his words replay in her head. Fucking loser. It was only Harry and she was used to it, but it was still accurate in her opinion.
“How am I supposed to write my homework?” Lola croaked, gesturing to her blistering finger. Harry simply shrugged and flopped back onto the sofa, his feet finding their position on the table again. Lola felt her blood boiling inside, wishing she could just let out her frustration on him, but refraining from hitting or swearing at him was so hard.
The door opened and Jake bounced into the room, hopping onto the sofa next to Harry.
“Can I watch Cartoons?” he asked
“Yeah course you can” Harry sat, passing him the remote. Lola scowled at him, shaking her head slightly. Harry caught her expression and flashed her his cocky smile and wink, making her feel sicker. It wasn’t even that he’d just literally scolded her hand, or that he threatened her all the time. He had a power over her. Like he knew exactly what made her tick and what action would equate to what emotion.
Harry knew more about Lola than she originally thought. But what she didn’t know was that there was so much more to Harry that was still waiting to be found out.
THIS IS NOT MY STORY. All credit goes to xxfan1direction.tumblr.com go follow and check her out. She has an amazing blog and is a beautiful writer.