TW: homophobic and derogatory language used.
I hope you guys enjoy it! Please comment.
//
It was yet another dreadful day at North Bridge as Harry pulled into his parking spot. He spent a couple minutes upon turning his ignition off by looking out the window. He was hesitant to step out the safety of his car, knowing very well what could happen if he was in front of everyone. He was embarrassed to walk the halls after what happened to him the day before. He got harassed by the football team and got his lunch tossed all over his clothes. Who knew what he had in store for today.
Before he decided to get out, his phone buzzed in his lap. Harry looked down and saw that there was an incoming message from Reid. After going weeks on not talking to one another, it was quite strange that finally he got a text response from him.
Reid: Sent an image
Reid: Is this is you? Lol.
There was a twist to Harry's heart when he clicked the image, realizing fast that it was a picture of him from lunch yesterday - with his clothes soaked in food. Harry had no idea who took the photo, or who sent it to Reid for the matter, but he didn't appreciate his boyfriend laughing about it. The whole situation was humiliating for him, and he was quite annoyed how Reid was responding to it.
Harry: Seriously?
He laughed bitterly.
Harry: You haven't responded to me in over a week and this is what you send me?
Harry shouldn't have been as disappointed as he was when Reid never responded. He should have suspected it.
Eventually, Harry dragged himself out the car. His mood was put in a damper, but sitting in the car wasn't going to make things any better. Upon getting out, Harry looked up and saw some of the football players hanging around the front entrance of the school. It was some that Harry didn't recognize, aside from Louis. He was separated from the group with a girl, a cheerleader, from what Harry suspected. They were lingering off to the side of the steps, leaning up against the column and standing fairly close to one another.
Harry waited for the rest of the players to walk away. Once he was in the clear, he tried to blend in with the influx of the students so that at least Louis didn't take notice of him. Louis looked like he was in a mood - a cocky mood. And the girl he was with didn't seem the nicest. She looked faintly familiar, probably a cheerleader that Cara had talked about once before. They were being handsy and touchy with one another, and Harry did his best to run up the stairs to remain hidden.
Unfortunately, it didn't work. Louis caught sight of him first, and he stepped in front of the steps to block Harry from escaping.
"Styles," he greeted with a smirk, the girl walking up to his side and leaning in close.
Harry watched the movement with a frown before glancing over at him. "What do you want?"
"Have you met Eleanor?"
Ah. This was Ms. Calder. This was the girl that his old cheerleaders friends would talk about, the one they did not like the most. Just glancing at her, Harry could tell she was rude. She was staring Harry up and down like he was germ - like she was disgusted with him. It made Harry's jaw tighten.
"What do you want?" Harry questioned curtly, arms impatiently crossing over his chest.
"Have you met Eleanor?" Louis repeated as he wiggled his arm around Eleanor's waist, eyes glistening when he noticed Harry looking at their point of contact.
"Have not," Harry finally responded, ignoring her, glancing past them towards the front doors. He wished he could just walk inside. "It's good that you have someone on the other end of a leash."
Eleanor scoffed loudly. "That's a lot of mouth coming from you ... faggot."
Harry's entire body tensed at the slur, but he was momentarily distracted when he noticed Louis as well. He quickly looked over and saw a deep frown on his face, faltering back a little and looking what seemed it be ... offended. Harry didn't understand it. He glanced back over at Eleanor and saw the wicked grin on her face, pleased herself.
Harry could barf.
"There's nothing to convince me otherwise."
Louis' blue eyes flicked over to him again, and they looked at one another.
"If you'll excuse me." Harry stepped around the two of them and made his way up the steps, not bothering to glance their way again.
Once he made it in the clear, he let out a big breath as he headed to his locker. He pulled out his phone and tapped on Cara's contact, sending her message and trying his best not to let his run-in with Louis affect him too much.
Harry: I just met Eleanor.
While waiting for a response, Harry approached his locker and opened it up. He switched out his bag for his folders and then felt his phone vibrating with a response. Cara was the only person at this point that actually managed to respond to Harry's messages. It wasn't often that they texted one another, especially since the move. It seemed like everyone from Harry' old life was drifting away from him, and Cara was the last one of them that was holding on to him. Even then, it seemed like she was close to letting go too.
Cara: She's the worst.
Harry giggled at her message right as another came through.
Cara: Can't stand her.
Harry didn't know much about their past, but he knew they had a similar relationship to what Reid and Louis have. They knew each other young. Were on the same cheer squad. They fought for the same position as captains on the team. Had the same interest in boys, and let this feud continue to drive them apart. The last thing Harry remembered happening between the two of them was Eleanor texting Cara's ex-boyfriend at the time they were dating. It happened over a year ago, and Cara was on the verge of fighting her at one of the school football games.
The conversation eventually died out after Harry responded so he pocketed his phone and made his way to class. He walked down the hallway and spotted Nick not too far away. They smiled at each other upon spotting one another, and Harry walked over to join him so they could walk together towards class.
"Hey, Nick."
"Hey." Nick smiled, bumping Harry's shoulder with his own. "How was your first day?"
Well. That was the first person to ask him. Aside from his parents.
"It was .... " Harry made a face, grimacing.
Nick let out a breath. "Yeah, I hear about what happened. People love to gossip here."
Harry figured as much. He knew people were gossiping about him and Nick right now. He saw the way they were looking at them. He heard the whispers.
"I didn't think it would be so terrible, but I guess that's what happens when you come from West Point."
Maybe the second day wouldn't be as bad as the first.
"I'm sorry." Nick reached across and grabbed Harry's arm, squeezing gently.
Harry frowned. It felt a little weird having Nick touch him like that. They had just only met the day before.
"The football team are just a bunch of wankers," he continued, dropping his arm to his side. "I've dealt with them too."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"
They reached the door for the music class, but since they had a couple more minutes until class began, they stepped off to the side. Harry smiled at some of the students who walked past them into the room, trying to ignore the way they glanced at them in an unkindly manner.
"Believe it or not - it was because of Louis Tomlinson."
Harry was the least bit surprised.
"Really? What happened?"
"I threatened his hetero-image," Nick admitted. Harry almost choked on his breath, and Nick laughed in response. "I know. Shocking."
"How so?"
"We fooled around a bit last year. Not much, but like at parties and shit."
Harry could not believe what he was hearing right now. Louis Tomlinson ... fooled around ... with Nick Grimshaw. The same Louis Tomlinson who was touching and kissing a girl in front of the school. That same Louis was apparently into guys ... as well?
"It's still not my proudest moment." Nick laughed nervously. "But his teammates started to question why he was always around me - people at school were whispering about us. When that happened, he started acting like a dick to me. Hooked up with a girl at the next party, and the rumors about us died out."
"So you went to school here?"
"I graduated last year. This is my first year in Uni. I do a teacher's assistant program, and they have me come here to work with some of the teachers. So it's great getting to see my past couple times a week."
Harry still couldn't wrap his head around what Nick just told him.
"Okay ..." He drawled out, eyebrows furrowed. "So Louis is not straight?"
It didn't seem realistic, but it could be true. Especially if Nick and Louis had a thing last year. Maybe Louis swung for both teams, but he kept that one side of him a secret. It wasn't like Harry knew much about Louis and his past so he didn't have anything to go off of besides Nick.
"I don't know, honestly," Nick admitted, shrugging. "I think he's been with other guys too, but it's all rumors. It's only when there's a party or if he goes to a bar. It's never out there in the open, but people talk. Who knows what's true and what's not true."
Harry leaned back against the wall and blew out a deep breath. "I wouldn't have guessed." He ran his fingers through his hair, still stunned. "I just saw him snogging a girl."
"Eleanor?" Nick laughed.
Harry nodded.
"Yeah. The rumors are less convincing when you always have a chick on your arm."
Wow. It was all so eye opening for him.
"You should probably get to class. I know I need to."
Harry blinked. Right. He forgot he still had a whole school day left.
"Well, this was a nice chat." He laughed shakily. "Thank you."
Nick smiled. "No problem, babe. I'll see you later."
Harry stood there stunned as Nick leaned in close to hug him. It was the second-third time that Nick had done something out of line. The first was the arm touch. The second was the babe, and the third was the hug. If he remembered correctly, he told Nick that he had a boyfriend. And if he remembered correctly, the two of them barely knew each other. Nick was doing stuff that even his own boyfriend hardly did, and that did not settle right with him.
Once Nick turned away, Harry walked into the room. He avoided eye contact with anyone that was already there and made his way up the stage to get to his seat on the top. The same guys he sat next to yesterday were sitting in their seat, and Harry briefly glanced at them before sitting down.
"Hello," the lad next to him greeted, the Irish one.
Harry turned his head towards him and smiled, a little warily. "Hello."
The guy next to him continued to stare, and Harry was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. Noticing his discomfort, the guy on the other side of the Irish one leaned forward and slapped him on the leg.
"Niall, you're being creepy."
Harry's eyes flicked over to the other guy and frowned.
"I am not being creepy," Niall argued, turning to look at him as well and shoving his shoulders. "I'm trying to be friendly."
"Then don't stare."
Niall rolled his eyes and looked at Harry again. Harry raised his eyebrows in response.
"You're the new kid, yeah?"
The Malik kid snorted.
"I suppose I am."
Harry felt his guards going up. He wasn't sure what to make of this conversation, and he didn't know if these guys sitting next to him were friendly or not. They talked with Louis yesterday as if they were good friends, which meant that they probably hung around the football team as well. For all Harry knew, these were a bunch of guys that would contribute to giving him a hard time. He really hoped he didn't sit himself next to a bunch of assholes.
"I am Niall Horan." He offered his hand, and Harry was hesitant to shake it. "Nice to meet you."
Harry eased up a little bit. "I'm Harry Styles."
Niall smiled warmly and then leaned back so he could show the guys sitting next to him. "This is Zayn Malik, and on the other side of him is Liam Payne."
Harry flicked his eyes across all three guys. They seemed nice, friendly enough. Maybe he didn't have to worry. They were the only ones who actually took the time to properly introduce themselves. Now he felt awkward for thinking the worse when all they were trying to do was greet him.
"So you're the one from West Point?" The one on the far end, Liam, asked.
Harry raised his eyebrow when Liam tossed his arm around Zayn's shoulder. It was different seeing two boys being openly comfortable with one another.
"Unfortunately, that is me."
Zayn smiled apologetically. "Must have been a tough move. Hopefully this school hasn't treated you too badly."
Clearly, Zayn didn't hear about what happened at lunch. Maybe that was a good thing, and Harry didn't have to feel too embarrassed about it.
"It's been ... okay."
"We do have our fair share of wankers," Liam admitted, making a face.
Harry could guess that much.
"Are you doing anything this weekend?" Niall wondered.
Well, he was supposed to have plans. It was his anniversary weekend, and he intended on going over to Reid's and spending it with him. Reid's parents were going out of town so Harry was looking forward to being alone with him and maybe seeing some of his old friends. This was a weekend that he was really depending on to save their relationship. Ever since the move, things have been off between them.
Harry didn't necessarily want to inform these guys that he was spending it with his boyfriend. He still wasn't so sure how this school was around gay couples. It had been a mix between harassment and then not caring. Harassing from the football team but then not caring with how comfortable Zayn and Liam were.
"I'm not sure," he settled with, hoping that sounded convincing.
"If you're free, I'm throwing a party at my house on Friday," Zayn spoke up. "I do it every year. My parents head out of town so we're in the clear."
It was only his second day of school, and Harry managed to make three friendly faces and got invited to a party. So far, this day was much better than yesterday. Even though he knew he wouldn't be able to go, it was nice to be included. It was nice to be invited. He was used to always getting invited to parties and having people to talk to so this drastic switch of becoming a nobody was not something he was used to. Now he sort of wished he could go just so he could make a better name for himself.
"Sounds fun. I'll see if I can make it."
The class shortly began, and the conversation died out. Mr. Reeds walked in to the room with the door closing behind him and walked to the front. Before the door clicked shut, it was being abruptly pushed open again. Mr. Reeds turned to see who it was that entered and frowned upon Louis walking in. He sighed as he turned towards the white board, uncapping a marker and beginning to write something.
"You're supposed to enter before the door closes, Mr. Tomlinson."
Louis made a face as he walked up the stage towards his seat. His hair was a ruffled mess on top of his head and lips bitten red. There was an unsettling churn to Harry's stomach when he remembered seeing Louis and Eleanor kissing one another not too long before he walked inside the school. Was kissing Eleanor just for show? Did Louis want people to see him like this and automatically think it was because of a girl? Harry had so many questions inside his head.
"I got caught doing something," came Louis' snarky remark. A few of the students snickered. Harry heard Zayn groaning under his breath.
"Please, take your seat. Class has begun."
Louis rolled his eyes and walked up the steps of the stage. The seat next to Harry was empty for him to take, but instead of sitting, he stood there and expectedly looked at Harry.
"What?"
Louis waved his fingers between the empty seat and the one Harry was sitting in. "Move. You're in my spot."
What?
"What?"
"Get out of my chair."
Harry had no idea if he was joking or what. This was the seat Harry sat in yesterday. He assumed that it mean it was his chair now.
"You're kidding. I sat here first."
All in all, Harry stood his ground ... or more like he sat his ground. He wasn't getting up just for Louis' enjoyment. That was his seat, and Louis could sit down in the empty chair. This was immature, and Harry was't going to indulge in it. It seemed like Louis got the hint because he moved, to what Harry thought was him sitting down. He didn't know because he turned his head the opposite way. But instead of feeling Louis' presence right there next to him, he felt the back of his chair rattling. He immediately turned his head to see what was going on behind him, and his eyes widened when he saw Louis gripping his seat.
Before he realized what was happening, his chair was being tipped forward. A yelp belted out of him when he slipped off the chair, tumbling down to the ground and making a loud sound that had heads turning his way. Harry looked up and flushed when he noticed all the eyes looking at him, heart rabbiting in his chest. When he glanced back at Louis to get some sort of explanation, he now saw that he sitting in the empty chair, acting as if he hadn't just tipped him over.
"Are you okay?" Niall questioned, head tilted in concern.
Harry was baffled. Did no one really see Louis tip his chair? How did no one see that? Now people probably thought he was stupidly clumsy.
"Mr. Styles."
Harry's heart jumped when he heard Mr. Reeds call out his name. He slowly got up and sat back down, trying to calm all the anxiety he felt growing inside of him.
"Are you done disrupting my class?"
"I'm sorry." He swallowed nervously, palms sweating. "I slipped."
Some of the students started laughing, even Louis snickered under his breath. Harry shot him a dirty glare.
"Please, keep it down next time."
Harry nodded.
Once Mr. Reeds went back to the board to continue writing what he had before, Harry turned his head towards Louis. "Was that really necessary?" Harry growled under his breath.
Louis shrugged, still smirking. "I warned you sweetheart."
"You didn't even take my chair."
"It was too ... slippery for me."
Okay. Harry attacked him in his mind.
The class carried on after the commotion, and Harry didn't bother to look Louis' way for the rest of the hour. Mr. Reeds talked in a little bit more detail about the upcoming projects he has intended for the class. The first was supposed to be poem written by partners, which - Harry was worried about who would want to work with him. Maybe Niall, since Liam and Zayn would probably work together. But then if Louis was their friends, then Niall would most likely want to work with Louis instead of with him. Now Harry was stressing about finding someone to write a poem with. He was reminded once again that he was a loser at this school.
The next project was a song writing assignment. This was something Harry was really looking forward to. He always spent time writing in his journal and jotting down ideas for a song or a poem. He had these thoughts that would pop into his mind from things that he's done, and he constantly wanted to remember. He hoped that with this song he could bring a personal journey to life through his words. Now that last project, the group performance, he wasn't looking forward to it. He didn't like performing in front of people, and again, he didn't know who in the hell he would be grouped with. That was something he didn't have to worry about until towards the end of the year.
After the hour ended, Harry made it through the next couple classes with ease. His knees were stinging a little from the fall, but at least there was no true damage from what Louis did. Word had gotten around about what happened in music class, and Harry heard people snickering about it in the halls. It was rather embarrassing.
On his walk over to the final class before lunch, he caught sight of a group of football players standing in the corner of the hall. It wasn't a group that Harry was familiar with, but he knew they were on the team considering they hung around Stan and Louis. Harry tried holding his head up high as he walked around him, not making eye contact with them and hoping he could get by with ease. Unfortunately, he didn't get away easily. With all the talk about what Louis did in music, that seemed to spark something inside of them to reciprocate it.
A leg stuck out right as Harry took a step forward, and he tripped over it. Then a hand was pressing to his back, and he stumbled over his feet about to fall. The people around were already laughing at the anticipation of Harry falling down, but thankfully the person rounding the corner acted as a block. Harry ran into the body and felt hands reaching out to his waist, effectively holding him up from falling to the ground. Harry let out a breath as he looked up at his savior, feeling an immense amount of relief when he noticed it was Nick who saved him.
"Are you okay?"
Harry turned to look behind him and saw the football players laughing. A couple steps behind, Louis was standing there with Stan by his side. He had a slight furrow to his brow as he looked between him and Nick, his eyes falling down to the way Nick's arm was securely around his waist.
Harry swallowed and glanced at Nick again, standing upwards and taking a step back from his hold. "I'm okay. Thank you."
Nick nodded his head and pulled Harry away from the scene. He followed alongside him on his way to the next class and stay in close to his side.
"I was on my way to find you actually."
Harry hummed. "I got lucky then."
"Yeah," Nick agreed, looking slightly annoyed. "I wanted to make sure you were good with where your classes are at."
"I think so. I might need help finding secret hallways or summat."
Nick smiled sympathetically as they stopped by the classroom door.
"Thanks for catching my fall." Harry ran his fingers through his fringe. "I better get to class. Hope I don't run over anything."
He walked in not a second later and headed over to a lab table in the back. He sat by himself yesterday, and he fully intended to do that today as well. Just as he set everything on top of the table, the chair across was being pulled back. Harry looked up when a girl sat down in front of him - blonde hair, red-stained lips, blue dress. She smiled at Harry as she made herself comfortable at the table, clearly not intending to leave him alone.
"Sorry about the day you've been having," was her greeting. "Football team can be a real jerk at times."
Harry shrugged his shoulders, tapping his pen on top of his notepad. "Not your fault."
The girl pursed her lips. "No, but they are my friends," she said with a slight grimace. "I'm Taylor, by the way."
"Harry," he responded. "But you probably know that."
Taylor laughed lightly. "Unfortunately, I do know that already." Harry smiled a little. "I'm on the cheer squad, so that's also why I know. I swear not everyone is an asshole."
The teacher walked in shortly after, and the whole classroom's attention was on them. Taylor pulled out her notebook and began taking notes on the lecture. Harry ended up grabbing his phone from his pocket. He tapped on Cara's contact and sent off a message to her, not entirely too sure if Taylor was a good one or not.
If she was anything like Eleanor, then Harry wanted nothing to do with her.
Harry: What do you think about Taylor? She's on the cheer squad.
Cara: She's friends with Gigi. She's cool. Nothing like Calder.
Cara: Remember her playing with three guys at once over the summer.
Well, there's that.
"So there's a party this Friday," Taylor mentioned as the two of them walked out of class together. "Are you thinking about going?"
Harry shrugged. "Zayn mentioned it to me this morning."
"You should go. It'll be fun."
Harry made a face. He once again left out the small detail that he was spending the weekend with his boyfriend.
For some off reason, Harry didn't know why he felt why he needed to hide his relationship with Reid. He thought it was pretty well known that the two of them were together, but maybe that was only a fact known at West Point. It seemed like people here had no idea. If anything, they thought Harry was sleeping with everyone on the team. And they thought that he was boy toy for Reid. So now that everyone at the school thought that, he wasn't so sure how he was supposed to outright say that he was in a proper relationship. Especially when he was unsure how accepting people here were.
Come lunch time, Harry was ready to escape everyone. To avoid having a repeat from yesterday, Harry packed his lunch and decided to eat outside on the bleachers again. Normally he had a table full of friends that he would sit with, but now, he had no body. For once, he was quite excited to be alone and have no one around him. So much for his social butterfly title.
Once Harry was outside, the fresh air felt relieving. The only ones out there were a couple people running around on the track. Otherwise, it was just him sitting on the bleachers. It was peaceful and relaxing, and he could sit out there all day if it meant no one would harass him. He sat up on the top row of bleachers and pulled out tupperware of food. As Harry began eating his lunch, he heard the sound of the back doors creaking open. He turned his head to see who was heading out, and his heart stopped when it was Louis and Zayn walking from the building.
Immediately, Harry fumbled with his food and moved to sit on the floor. It was his attempt to hide when he realized Zayn and Louis were walking right towards the bleachers. He hoped they didn't actually walk up the steps because then he really had no where to hide. Luckily, they walked under, where Harry could see them in between the cracks of the rows of benches. Zayn pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed one over to Louis. They each lit one, and when the smoke blew out and rose, Harry quickly covered his mouth.
It would be embarrassing if he started coughing.
Also ... Louis smoked?
"This is fucking great."
Zayn smiled as he blew another round of smoke out. Harry almost gagged.
"You know the new kid in school?" he ended up asking after.
Louis raised an eyebrow. Harry's eyes widen. They were about to start talking about him.
"Harry?"
Wow. His name sounded good rolling off Louis' tongue.
"Yeah, mate. I invited him to the party this weekend."
Louis frowned. "Why?"
Harry did not appreciate the attitude.
"I dunno. A party is a party. He seems like a cool lad."
Louis made a sound under his breath, but didn't make any further comments.
"Liam is gonna kick my ass for smoking."
"Maybe you should stop."
Zayn scoffed. "You need to fucking stop."
Louis started laughing.
"I told him I would meet him at his car in a little bit. He's going to smell it."
Louis smirked wickedly. "A lunch time booty call then?" He hip checked Zayn. "Maybe not after he smells your nicotine."
So ... that was different. Louis seemed cool with Zayn and Liam's relationship. Harry didn't understand.
"I still get more than you right now." Zayn stubbed his cigarette on the ground and began walking away. "Maybe if you stopped smoking you'd get a good lay."
Louis rolled his eyes. "Fuck off you wanker."
Zayn laughed loudly as he flipped Louis' off. He then turned and walked around the building towards the front of the school, heading to the parking lot. Louis remained standing in his spot and finished off the rest of the cigarette. He blew out another big puff of smoke, but this time, Harry wasn't able to hold in the cough. He had been doing good by breathing inside his shirt, but the tickle in his throat grew. The smoke made it's way into his nose, and the coughing fit began.
Clearly, Louis heard him. And of course, he walked up the bleachers.
Fuck.
//
Not really a cliff hanger? But like low key is one?
Oh well. These chapters are short because I didn't want them to be super long like they originally were!
Comment and vote please (: thank you! xxxx