As I was walking to school I felt my phone buzz against my hand in the pocket of my coat. I furrowed my eyebrows, not expecting a message to come at that time and I pulled it out as I crossed the street, curious to know who it could've been. The frown, though, didn't leave my face after finding out who it was.
From Harry: Should I come to yours today again?
I sighed, almost considering telling him not to, but as I remembered that I hadn't taken a single picture of him in all those days I decided it would've been better for him to be around so that I could've fixed the final touches before having to give in the drawing.
To Harry: Yeah
I sent it and looked up as I neared the building, taking in all the people that were amassed in front of it waiting for the doors to open. My phone buzzed again, and I stopped in my tracks, taking it out of my pocket. I was sure that as soon as I would've got there I would've had to talk to either Ella or Aiden, if not both, and I was willing to do anything to delay what I knew would've been an awkward encounter.
From Harry: Can I come a few hours earlier? I'm busy later.
I bit my lower lip, thinking about it. I usually tied up the house a bit before he came, which I couldn't have done if he would've come earlier. But at the same time, he'd come at mine every day for the past three days, so I was sure I wouldn't have had anything to set straight beforehand. I hoped so, at least.
To Harry: When?
I put the phone in my pocket and started walking towards the group of people. As I came closer I saw Ella sitting on the stairs by herself. She looked up, and our gazes met. I took a deep breath, hoping to soothe the discomfort I was feeling, and started walking towards her. I felt my phone buzz again and I took it out right away, welcoming the interruption and unlocking the screen.
From Harry: Right after. I can give you a ride home.
I frowned. I didn't know Harry had a car. But thinking about it, it made sense. I'd never seen him leave, and I had no idea of where he lived, but considering he always managed to come by exactly at four, often with different clothing, it made sense for him to have a car.
To Harry: Okay. Thanks
I sent it and locked the screen, resuming my walk towards Ella. I immediately stopped walking, though, when I noticed that Aiden had joined her. I sighed, leaning against the short wall on the other side of the steps, unlocking my phone and pretending to do something for the couple of minutes it took for another text to pop up.
From Harry: You're welcome. I hope you won't mind if we give Niall a ride home first.
I tapped my nail on the screen, thinking of what to reply. I didn't mind it obviously, but there was something interesting in knowing that apparently Harry usually took Niall home from classes. Harry didn't seem the kind of person to do something like that, so I couldn't help but wonder how little I knew about him. I wondered if I should've asked him about it. He didn't usually share much, but after all the things that had happened the day before I'd started to feel as if he was starting to let his walls down. I decided that nothing too bad could've happened and I typed in a new message.
To Harry: Of course. I didn't know you usually drive Niall home
I sent it and glanced around, wondering if I could've spot him in the mass of people. If he'd already arrived at all. The reply came soon after, catching me by surprise.
From Harry: It's not a big deal, we live together.
I furrowed my eyebrows, staring down at the screen. That information for sure came unexpected. I'd never thought about it, but if I had I would've imagined Harry was more the kind of person not to have roommates. But it also made sense at the same time, showing why Niall was so comfortable around him and why they so often seemed to be together when I'd called Niall a few times a couple of months before.
To Harry: Together? Like roommates?
I heard a sudden silence and looked around, noticing that Harry, Niall and his raven-haired friend had just arrived and were sitting on their usual bench a few feet away from the steps. I refrained from rolling my eyes when I noticed Janette pushing through people to reach them. She joined them and sat next to Harry, who seemed to be busy looking at his phone. I looked down when my phone buzzed in my hand.
From Harry: More like part of the same family.
What? I read through the words a second and a third time, frowning, not understanding. There was no way Harry and Niall were related, especially so closely. They looked absolutely nothing like each other, and I couldn't remember Niall's last name, but I was pretty sure I would've noticed if it was the same as Harry's.
To Harry: What do you mean?
I sent it and glanced at him again, seeing him pull out his phone soon after. He looked up after a couple of seconds and I looked in the other direction fast, not wanting to be caught staring by him. A minute or so went by without a reply, and I was distracted when I noticed that the main doors were being opened. The buzz came again as I was entering the school in a flock of people and I pulled out the phone fast, careful not to drop it on the ground.
From Harry: I'm adopted, Sierra.
I stopped in my tracks as soon as I read the message, in shock. I would've never expected the conversation to take such a turn. I felt someone push me to get to their classrooms faster, and I started walking again, staying on the side not to disturb anyone else as I took in what I'd just read.
To Harry: Oh
I sent the message fast as I entered my maths class, trying my best not to overthink anything, which was starting to become harder and harder by the minute. I looked up as I walked to my desk, meeting Harry's burning gaze before glancing in the other direction. I sat down on my desk, starting to tap nervously on my desk as a new realisation came to my mind.
If Harry was adopted when he was little, why didn't he have the same last name as Niall? Which brought to the question, when was he adopted?
I shook the thoughts away, knowing that it wasn't any of my business. He'd already trusted me enough with that information, and I didn't want to give him any reason to rethink it.
I turned around when I realised someone had just sat next to me, trying my best not to sigh when I noticed it was Ella. I furrowed my eyebrows when I realised that she seemed kind of stressed out about something. "Are you okay?" I whispered to her as our maths teacher entered the class.
"Just about fine" she huffed in response, making me realise that, whatever it was, she had absolutely no intention of talking about it. "Aiden is wondering when you'll stop taking rain checks on your date with him, by the way."
I sighed, almost not believing she'd gone back to it again. "I already told you I don't want to go out with him."
"Well then maybe you should tell him too so that he'll stop asking, for fuck's sake" she said shortly. "I have no time to deal with this bullshit."
"You'd think he'd get the message..." I murmured in response, not getting any kind of answer.
We spent the rest of the class in silence, for the first time having nothing to talk about. When the class ended we exited the room together, going to the cafeteria to spend our free period there. For the first time in quite in quite a while, I didn't feel like hiding away. Mostly because I knew I wouldn't have survived the day if I'd spent my free period around Harry, so soon after what he'd said over text.
I looked up from my notepad, noticing that Harry had walked into the room with his other mysterious friend. I frowned, realising that I didn't even know his name, which, considering the handsome looks of the raven-haired boy, I was quite sure meant I was out of the loop.
I glanced at Ella, she seemed to be studying something, sitting on the chair in front of me.
"Ella?" I called her, and she looked up.
"What?"
"Do you know the name of the dark-haired boy sitting with Harry?" I asked her, nonchalantly motioning in their direction.
She gave him half a glance before going back to her book. "That's Zayn Malik. I don't even know how you don't know him, he's super popular."
I nodded, pretending to think about it. "Oh, yeah."
Ella shook her head at my words, not adding anything else.
The rest of the period went by in a similar silence.
When the free period ended I stood up, putting the strap of my bag over my shoulder, and walked to my next class. I took my phone out of the pocket while walking to see if Harry had said anything else, but no new text had come. I was that distracted that I didn't notice someone was coming my way until my shoulder hit them.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" I said, stopping right away.
"Nah, it's all good" the person I'd accidentally hit replied, making me realise that it was Niall. "Oh hi, artistic girl" he greeted me, taking in my figured.
"Hey" I replied, playing with the strap of my bag. "Well I'm sorry, but I really have to go." I said, starting to walk again before stopping for a second time and turning around. "Hey, Niall!"
He stopped walking as soon as he heard his name being called. "What is it?" he said, reaching me in fast steps. Maybe he was risking being late as well.
I bit my lower lip, wondering if I should've gone ahead and asked him. But I knew I needed to know. "Has your mum ever painted by any chance?"
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as soon as I asked him. "No, why?"
I nodded at his words. "Okay. Never mind, bye" I said, turning around and walking away fast.
For the next few hours I kept thinking of what I'd discovered, trying to make sense of it all. The only thing I could understand at that point was that there was so much more to the whole situation than Harry had initially let on.
When the bell rang I stood up, gathering my belongings fast and exiting the building, leaning against the wall as I waited for Harry. I sighed when I saw Ella coming my way but made no move to try to avoid her.
"Hey, sorry I was in a bad mood earlier" she said when she was in front of me.
"It's fine" I dismissed her words, hoping that either Harry or Niall would've come to save me.
"Yeah, I suppose" she replied, seeming as if she wanted to start a conversation, but she was interrupted when Harry leant on the wall next to me, mindlessly playing with what looked like his car keys.
"Shall we go?" he said, seeming somewhat amused.
I nodded, glad to have the chance to get away. "See you tomorrow, Ella" I said before detaching myself from the wall and following Harry as he walked past her and towards the car park.