It made Louis’ blood boil. “How dare he?” he thought, indignantly.

Micky walked back to Louis and Harry and the three of them didn’t speak, but were in silent shock together.

Harry veered off the main pavement to his house and waved at Louis and Micky, “See you two tomorrow.” They waved back and continued on.

“Can I ask what that was about?” asked Louis, after a moment.

“Max asked me out,” said Micky, as if she wasn’t really sure herself.

“Max?” he asked, incredulously, “Where?”

“Niall’s tomorrow,” she said.

“I’m going too,” he said, “Niall invited almost everyone, except Harry, of course.”

He grinned at this comment, and Micky laughed. Harry was basically a nobody, whom Louis dragged around. Louis was the captain of the football team, so naturally, he got invited to everything. Niall Horan was Max’s friend of sorts and a ruddy, blonde, Irish lad, who was always smiling. His parents ran the local golf resort and he had been dating Mia for almost a year.

Louis and Micky turned into her front yard. She handed him back his jacket and closed the front door behind herself. Louis turned and walked back to his house, holding the jacket to his face, breathing in Micky’s scent. She smelled like old books and sugar icing. The smell faded as he climbed softly up the backstairs into his room, but he slept with the jacket pressed to his nose anyway.

Louis woke up the next morning, got dressed and walked up to the bakery as Micky was opening the door and flipped the “Closed” sign to “Open.” The day flew by for both Micky and Louis, who were both anxiously waiting for night. They avoided each other all day, much to Harry’s confusion.

Eventually, it was 5 and Micky practically flew home, where she ran to her room and shut the door. She showered, dried her hair and brushed it, sitting on her windowsill, a towel wrapped around her body. She braided her hair and twisted the thick braid into a bun. She dusted on a light layer of makeup and brushed on mascara. She was pulling on a shirt when Mia called her,
“Oh my gosh! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?” asked Micky.

“That you’re coming as Max’s date!” screamed Mia, “Veronica is steaming already.” Veronica and Max were constantly making or breaking up.

“I didn’t tell anyone about it,” said Micky.

“Max told Niall, Niall, told me, I told everyone,” explained Mia. She was the biggest gossip in the whole school, interfering with everyone’s personal business.

“Gee thanks,” said Micky, sarcastically.

“Thanks for some good news, finally,” said Mia, who had been complaining about the lack of juicy gossip, “What are you wearing?”

Micky looked at herself “A red skirt, you know, the puffy one. A glittery black vest thing with red underneath.”

“Alright then,” said Mia, “You sound presentable. See you soon.”

Micky hung up and finished strapping on her shoes. She checked herself in the mirror once more, and was relatively satisfied with what she saw. She flounced down the hall to her father’s study and spun around so he could see her.

“Lovely, as always!” he exclaimed, “Are you going to tell my all about your new boyfriend?”

“Dad,” she said, “It’s a party, besides, I don’t think he likes me like that.”

“When will I meet him?” he asked, teasing her.

“Never,” she said, teasing back, “If you keep being embarrassing.” There was a knock on the door.

“Love you,” she kissed his cheek, “I’ll be back late.” She opened the door and was surprised to find Louis standing at the bottom of the steps.