I open the door to find Niall standing at it. He has a smile on his lips. My dad walks past the door behind me. He stops dead in his tracks, as he sees a boy. He comes to the door with me.
"So Alex, who's this?", he asks.
"This is Niall, he's only picking me up to walk to school together", I explain.
"Hello, Mr Hemmings. Nice to meet you. I hope it is okay when I walk your daughter to school today", he smiles at my dad.
Niall holds his hand out for my father to shake, which he does. I look at my dad and see that he's not quite pleased by Niall. Maybe because of his tattoos and tunnels. My dad knows that I wouldn't hang around with people that hurt me. I give my dad the best smile I have. He still doesn't look quite okay with it.
"Okay but only today", he grumbles.
"Thank you, Sir", Niall says.
My dad just nods and closes the door behind him. Niall sighs. He hugs me to his body. I hug him back quickly. Body contact still isn't my favourite thing.
People can feel how fat you are during a hug.
"What did you eat this morning?", Niall asks while walking.
"I had half an apple and a glas of orange juice", I tell him the truth.
He nods in statisfication. I think Ana is back at it again but I think I can trick her by eating healthier. I smile slightly at his happiness. It feels great to be helped. Maybe I should've went to therapy again but now I have Niall and my own will-power.
"What did you pack for later?", he asks.
"I have a small pack of chocolate and two oatmeal bars. For lunch I have a sandwich with cheese. And at home I'm going to eat another three small meals", I explain.
He throws me a charming smile. My heart pace quickens at his smile. I need to get my thoughts onto something else than Niall. Why am I even friends with him? I don't want the unnessesary drama. Miranda will kill me when she sees me walking into school with Niall.
"I can't walk into school with you, Niall", I say quietly.
"Why? You're a normal person. I can walk into school with you", he asks worried.
"Miranda is going to kill me. She hates me."
Niall shakes his head and gives me a assuring smile. He takes his phone out and opens the camera app.
"No one will hurt you, I'll make sure of that", he explains, "Now, let's take a picture. Your new life starts now and we need a picture to remember that."
We stop walking and Niall lifts his phone. I force a smile to my face. He takes a few pictures.
Just look how fat you look, Alex.
"Good, now let's go inside and show all the haters to fuck off", he announces.
The school gates feel like they're about to crush me. My breathing goes flat and quick. I feel like I need to cry and throw up. It's not right when Niall walks into school with me. Everyone is going to stare. Miranda is going to kill me. We enter the hallway. My eyes wander from face to face. They're all watching us. I'm going to die from uncomfort. Niall just continues walking. I tag along and try to ignore the stares. We soon arrive at my locker, so I get my stuff. Josh comes soon, too. He gives me a weird look. I didn't tell him everything in the past few days.
"Hey, you two", he says and gets stuff from his locker, "I think I missed some things out in the past days. Are you two friends or something?"
I look at Niall and motion him to talk. He explains everything to Josh, yes, even the part that I think my Ana is back.
"Oh, okay, so are we somehow supposed to be friends?", Josh asks.
"Well, I don't mind hanging out with you guys and I don't think Sam has a problem but Miranda is going to be mad as hell", Niall says.
"Yeah, but I'll just try to be nice and ignore mean or rude comments. She'll have to accept that we're friends now", I say quietly.
They both agree, so we make our way to Sam and Miranda. I just hope Miranda doesn't start to bitch or make rude comments. As soon as she sees us walking towards them with Niall, her face turns red and her hands form fists.
"Before you say anything: These two people are friends of mine and I would love, if you accept it. I do not care, if you don't like it because they are amazing people", Niall explains.
Miranda shoots me a glare. Her eyes burn into my soul again. Her eyes could really kill someone. Sam nods and gives me a knowing smile. He knew that we were going to become friends sometime.
"Okay, but please don't leave them alone with me", Miranda says, giving me and Josh a disgusted look.
Niall rolls his eyes and agrees. At least she'll leave me alone now.
*****
I pack my bag and wait for Niall to get his stuff packed, too. He smiles at me quickly before taking my hand to start walking. I peal my hand out of his. It's quite uncomfortable. I like Niall, yes, but I don't like body contact that much. That hug Niall gave me two days ago was okay because I didn't think about it but this is too much and what will people think about us.
"Is your Dad home today?", he asks.
"Yeah."
We leave school. Josh's last period got cancelled and I didn't talk to Luke the last couple of days. He avoids me. Niall suddenly holds out a granola bar to me.
"It's time for you to eat", he explains.
I take it. Niall drew over the calories with a sharpie. A smile creeps on my face. He really thinks of everything. I take a bite. This feels so wrong. I hate how much I eat but I have to. Otherwise I won't gain weight and get back to normal. This feels like betraial.
How could you, Alex? I thought we were friends? I was always there for you.
I literally have to force the bar down my throat. After I eat up, we arrive at Niall's place but we continue walking. He's bringing me home and walking a longer way home.
"So, we're having a small vecation at my parents house at the lake nearby next weekend since it's a long weekend of four days. It's Sam, Josh, Miranda and I, your brother could come, too. We do this every year around the same time. We go swimming in the lake, go hiking and we grill and sometimes meet up with other people around and have a small party. Josh already said he's coming. I have to talk to your dad but I don't think he likes me", Niall tells me.
"I don't know", I mumble.
They'll all see you in a bikini.
My Dad won't be okay with this and I don't know Niall and his friends for that long.
"Come on. It'll be fun and Josh will be there, too. I'm sure when your brother comes, too, he'll say yes. He doesn't like me, so this is going to be hard."
"Yeah, probably because of your tattoos and your gages. I'm sure my Mom will like you", I say.
I have gages, too, and my father still doesn't think I'm bad. Dad should just listen Niall out. He's a nice guy. After Liam broke my heart, he got kinda overprotective over me. Maybe I could talk to him and Mom, too. My Mom isn't home much. She's a doctor at the near hospital. My Dad works as a mail man. It's two really different jobs but they love their jobs. Niall and I arrive at my place soon. My Dad's car is in the driveway. Luke's bicycle stands leaned against the garage. I lock open the door.
"I'm home", I call.
"In the kitchen, honey", my father shouts.
I take a deap breath. This is going to be hard.
"I brought a friend", I explain and step into the kitchen with Niall.
My Dad turns around from the dishwasher. His smile turns into a frown. This is really going to be hard.
"Niall", my Dad spits out.
I hear Niall swallow behind me. Never in my life did I think of Niall talking to my Dad and being scared of him.
"Uhm... Niall needs to talk to you, Dad. Please hear him out. I'll go upstairs and talk to Luke", I say.
"Okay", he mumbles.
I take Niall's arm quickly and pull him out of the door and around the corner to tell him that everything is going to be okay. Where is the confidence coming from?
"Okay, this will work out. When he throws you out, call me. I'll talk to him. He'll probably be very harsh and deny everything. Bring up that Luke could come and that Josh is tagging along. You can do it, okay. When it works, just go upstairs and turn to the door on the left. I'll probably be talking to Luke for a while. I trust you, okay?", I try to motivate him.
He nods and goes back into the kitchen. I walk up the stairs and go to my room. My backpack is getting pretty heavy. We have a shit load of homework today. I need to talk to Luke. He'll just have to accept it.