(harry)
It's the first time this semester that I'm eating in the cafeteria. Usually, I'm dreading the rain but grateful today because we don't have soccer practice now. It's just Niall and I with another teammate of ours at the table. I'm trying to pay attention to the conversation before me but I'm spacing out. With senior year, soccer and helping my brother with his homework, I'm beyond exhausted.
When I'm finally paying attention again, Selena and Gigi arrive at our table and nonchalantly take a seat there. Both of them look quite disgruntled and only say hi briefly. "Hi?" I say, giving them a questioning look.
"Not now, Harry." Gigi grits through her teeth.
"Excuse her." Selena looks up from her food. "It's this homecoming thing all of us are trying to put together." She continues and looks over at Gigi before continuing. "We have it easy. Taylor is with Karlie right now and I think Karlie has collectively had more caffeine today than her entire life." She rolls her eyes before taking another bite of her food.
"That's weird. I didn't know you were guys in the graduation committee." Niall says which is what I'm also wondering. Usually the graduating committee handles things like these and as far as I knew, only Karlie is in the committee.
Gigi and Selena explain to us what the situation is and that not only did Liz Xander agree to Karlie's plan but also given her free rein. Obviously, there is a catch to it. Karlie only has half the graduating committee members to help her out and knowing how much of a perfectionist Karlie is, she must be beyond stressed and very hyper. Another catch is that the homecoming dance only welcomes couples. So, everyone has to have a date. In Liz's words, I don't care if a girl comes with another girl, a boy comes with a boy or if someone's date is a goat. We're only selling tickets in pairs.
"Okay, wow." Our friend, Trey, who's sitting with us say with his eyebrows and shaking his head.
"Yeah." Niall says. "I need a date quick. When's the dance?"
Selena looks at eagerly and answers. "In exactly a week." She giggles and adds a wink.
"Okay, so, Niall and Sel are going together. I'm with Karlie." Gigi says diverting her attention from Selena and Niall to me. "I take it you're asking Tay?"
I scoff. "Yeah sure." The lone assumption that I don't have a date offends and makes me roll my eyes.
Gigi scoffs back and smirks. "Yeah, sorry. I'm sure Tay has a long list of boys dying to take her anyway."
"Yeah, and Harry's the front of the line." Niall slaps my back, chuckling.
"So, you and Selena. What are you two?" I know how to hit a nerve between the two of them. They've been fooling around since sophomore year but never got around to 'defining' part of their 'relationship'. I smirk as there's silence around the table. "Yeah, thought so." I nod and look over at Gigi.
"Seriously, go as friends at least. Tay's working her ass off and I don't want her to miss it because of a stupid 'rule'."
"Yeah, yeah. If she needs a date," I pause and roll my eyes. "I'll graciously let her take me as hers." Without even wanting to, I smirk as I finish my sentence.
"I'd take her." Trey chimes in. "Taylor Swift, right?" He asks, looking at all of us around the table. "She's hot." With a sheepish smile, he says.
"Cool!" Selena claps her hands and looks behind Trey and I. "Because she's coming here right now." She beams as Tay takes seat between Selena and Gigi.
"What's up?" Tay asks as she opens her Tupperware, glancing at all of us round the table. It's a rare day when I see Tay wearing her prescription glasses. I assume that the stress of planning this homecoming dance must also be "Oh." She lets out as her eyes land on Trey. "I'm Taylor." She gives an awkward smile to Trey.
I glance over to Trey who still has a stupid-looking smile on his face as he stares at Tay. Yeah, Tay is pretty, maybe even hot. But, she isn't that hot that he needs to act like a fool like this. "He's Trey." I chime in, nudging him. "He's on the soccer team with us." I add and give him another glance.
Trey coughs and pulls himself together. "Yeah, I'm a striker." He says as if that would mean anything to anyone on this table besides Niall and I.
"That's cool." Tay says, nodding her head slowly. Then, she just goes back to eating and the conversation just goes somewhere else. Trey doesn't get to ask Tay to the homecoming dance and I'm glad. The poor bastard probably wouldn't get another word out till the end of the dance if he took her. I guess that's a relief because it would've been a cringe fest.
When the bell rings, Trey leaves the table right away. Both Niall and I look at each other with a confused look which makes Selena and Gigi burst into laughter. Similarly, Tay gives us a questioning look across the table.
"What happened?" She asks, looking at the two of them.
"Trey wanted to ask you to dance!" Selena says through her laughter. "He thought you were hot and I guess you must've stunned him." She says, calming down her laughter.
"Honey, how did you not know?" Gigi asks with a red face from suppressing her laughter. "Harry talked for him the entire time."
Tay shrugs, looking at me. "I just assumed Styles was being his nosy and annoying self. Speaking over Trey like that. I felt for Trey then." She pulls an overtly innocent look which is far from what it was.
"Well, I guess Trey was just so put off by your Shrek-like appearance that he couldn't talk. Else, he would've thrown up." I squint my eyes at her and feel a smirk come up on my face.
"That's rich coming from a guy who can't keep a girl around longer than 2 weeks. Or had a girlfriend in the two years." She scoffs and smiles widely when I open my mouth to talk but decide not to say anything. "Yeah, thought so. Troll." Tay sticks her tongue out and gets up to leave.
"The sexual tension is crazy." Selena says as she gets up with Gigi.
Gigi laughs and fans herself. "Hot stuff, you two." The two of them wave a goodbye and quickly follow where Tay's headed.
What bugs me about what Tay said is not the fact that it's true but because there's nothing wrong in not dating anyone. Hell, she hasn't dated anyone ever. So, I don't understand what kind of high horse she's on. Maybe she has but that's weird as fuck because I've never heard about that atrocity. I realise that I'm thinking about Tay and another boy which is weird because my mind is going to some very dark places and that's an unhealthy way to think of your friend.
I shake off my thoughts and get to class with Niall.
When I do get to class, I forget that Tay is also in Chemistry class with me. "Hey." I say after taking a seat beside her. If it weren't for Chemistry and the other girls, she and I wouldve virtually stopped being friends. After middle school, Tay and I just couldn't be best friends anymore. The vibes between us had just become different. I think we just bicker to avoid that strange vibe.
"Hey." Tay says quietly without looking at me. She's resting her chin on her head, looking ahead. If she's not taking notes, she's definitely not paying attention. I nudge her but get nothing. She's trying to look at me from the corner of her eyes. I can tell. All she's looking for is an opportunity for us to interact now.
"Who in the hell have you dated?" I write on a piece of note and pass it to her.
Slowly, she's unfolding the note. She pauses after she reads it and looks over to me, finally. "Fuck off." Tay mouths before starting to scribble in her notebook. That's when I know to stop budging and to just pay attention in class. It's hard to focus when all the questions I want to be answered aren't even being taught, not that Ms Mason can answer who Tay has dated.
When the bell rings, indicating that class is over, Tay turns to me. "So, about this project." She starts off with and trying to make her voice light. "I say we start as soon as we can. I don't think I'll have time at the end of semester." She says and then stares at me with my own mouth open a little. I'm staring back at her. "What?"
"I just thought," I say before she interrupts me.
"Oh, did you have another partner in mind?" She looks away. Her whole face becomes smaller and she starts starting to pack her belongings. "Well, Styles?" She snaps, holding all her books to her chest.
"No." I suck in my breath and look at her again. "We can start right away and finish it after the homecoming dance."
She nods and she gets up to leave. Why's she even mad at me? I can tell she is. Maybe I always overthink with her. Sometimes I just don't think too much about her but when I do, why does she always drive me to madness? I'm following her out the room but I can't seem to get my voice out.
Why am I following her? Clearly she's in her own world and I'm just overthinking this entire situation. I shake my head and stop. I'm not going to let her win again. I can't let Taylor Swift rule my life again. I decide to just head back to my locker because I have free period.
Somehow, even fate wants to screw me over. I see her in her own locker now. Just with her locker open, standing in front of it. When I get to mine, she starts moving again. I assume she's just fumbling over some books because she never actually takes any books out.
"You don't know me, Styles." She finally says, slamming her locker.
I slam my own and look at her with my forehead pinched. "What the hell are you so angry about?"
She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes but opens them back before speaking again. "Don't ask me stuff you aren't ready to know about." She says carefully, referring to my note. "We're friends but only just." She shoots me another look but I don't know what look this is. She looks away quickly though.
"Yeah, tell me something I don't know." I scoff. "Anyway, I was just surprised someone wanted you around for longer than 2 weeks." I'm trying to make light of the situation and force a little smile on myself. I can see she's displeased and crosses her arms to roll her eyes at me again. "Listen, tomorrow at my place, alright?" I ask, trying to ignore the issue before.
She nods with a meaningful look to me. "I can only come at 6 though." Tay adds, opening her locker again. "The homecoming prep and all—"
"I know." I interrupt her now. "Just text me when you're done with that." I say before leaving for the library.
I push our conversation to the back my mind. I'm not going to get anything out of stressing myself over her words just like before. When I get to the library, I see Niall and Liam already there.
I met both Niall and Liam in freshmen year. Liam is not very into soccer but he's always a good sport about playing soccer with Niall and I during the breaks. He's not that bad but he says that he'd rather get both his arms chopped off than play soccer competitively. Liam's also on the graduating committee with Karlie. They've been good friends of mine ever since then and I've rarely looked back on having Tay as my best friend. When I take my seat, the two of them look over and give me slight nods, only acknowledging before going back into their conversation.
Niall chuckles after hearing what Liam says and looks over at me. "Liam wanted to ask ol' Karlie out to the dance."
"Weird. Never heard you talk about her like that, man." I say and thinking back on all the times he and Karlie have been in the same room as the rest of us.
Liam scratches the back of his neck with a thinking look on his face. "I guess, I've thought she was pretty. But not until, a few ago days when she was fighting so hard with Liz." He pauses to look at Niall and I. His eyes are wide but unfocused as if he's trying to go back to that exact moment he's talking about. "Like, there was such fire."
Niall raises one of his eyebrows to me. "Yeah, mate. Are you in love with her?" He jokingly asks Liam. Liam shoots up and looks at us both like a deer staring into headlights.
I clear my throat, looking away from him then back again. "She's going with Gigi though. I'm sure you could pull some strings and go alone and woo her there."
"Fucking shit, I didnt know she was into both girls and guys." He says as he sinks into his seat. This makes both Niall and I roll out eyes and we try to remain serious but the lost look on Liam's face makes us laugh.
"No, none of the girls wanted to actually look for dates so they're going with each other." Niall says and it's weird for someone else besides myself to refer to Karlie, Gigi, Tay and Selena as 'the girls'.