“Babe!” I rolled my eyes, Willow chuckled from the driver’s side.

“See you later, babe,” she teased throwing the car keys at me, and jumped out of the car.

“Brittany,” I smiled at the blonde, trying to be polite. She placed a sloppy kiss on my lips, and made a huge show of handing her stuff to me, I groaned internally, and walked behind her, to her homeroom.

“I’ll see you later!” she spoke in a way too cheery tone.

Hope not, I thought.“Sure,” I replied and turned away before I would have to face another one of those disgusting smooches.

“Harry, how are you?” Willow spoke in a high-pitchy tone, obviously trying to mimic Brittany.

“Shut up,” I groaned slipping beside her.

“Why, again, are you dating her?” She asked tucking her phone in her back pocket.

“Because I sorta have too,” I mumbled. Yeah, I was dating Brittany because my dad wanted me to date her, it’s some business thing.

“One more year,” she winked, making me grin. One more year. Then maybe I’ll make you mine.

“Yep,” I answered, “Then we’re off to college,” I said instead.

“Yup,” she said popping the ‘p’, as her face lit up like a child on Christmas. I knew how badly she wanted to get out of this small town. And study in her dream school, well our dream school--Cambridge University.

We sat in silence as the teacher called the names off the roll. “So, we’re meeting up at mine for the lab?” I asked hopefully.

“Mhmm, and for dinner,” she pointed out making me chuckle.

“Yeah, mum would love that,” I said.

“You wouldn’t?” she asked masking fake-sadness.

“I don’t know, I guess it’ll be fine,” I lied. She punched me lightly on the arm, while I made a big show of being hurt.

“You know I love it,” I mumbled still rubbing my arm.

“Awwe Hazza got hurt,” she mocked, then leaned over to kiss my cheek. The same butterflies that flew wildly whenever she touched me erupted in my stomach. While I pulled my shirt sleeves down to cover the goosebumps. It took every ounce of energy not to smash my lips on hers right then, but before I knew it was over, she sat back, tying her long golden locks into a bun on top of her head. The same locks I’d had the wild urge, infinite times, to run my hands through.

“What do we have now… Linear Algebra?” she asked picking her bag.

“Mhmm,” I nodded walking towards our class. We walked into the empty classroom, being the only two students taking this course.

“Morning, Mr. Clark,” we mumbled.

“Morning Styles,” he acknowledged me with a nod, “Tyler,” he gave Willow a glance. Before pointing to a stack...no two sheets on his desk. “Finish up the Quadric and conic section. And then you can start revision for the finals,” he said turning back to his crossword. I grabbed both the sheets as Willow walked towards the corner of the classroom. After a lot of pencil tapping, nail biting, and frustrated hand-running-through-hair, we finished the investigations, just as the bell rang.

“Wo-hoo, we’ve finished Linear Algebra!” Willow cheered like a little kid, making me smile too. We high-fived, making Mr. Clark flash us a smile.

“Good job, kids!” Willow beamed with pride, and pulled me in a gigantic bear hug. I couldn’t hold back my smile any longer either, everyone knew a compliment from Mr. Clark, was what students waited for their whole life. We pulled away when we heard an impatient cough from the door. I held in a snappy comment.

“Brittany!” Willow smiled, being the friendly, innocent girl she is. Brittany, in return gave her a cold, hard stare. Willow swallowed, and mumbled a see you to me before walking out the door.

“Your dad, was with my mom last night, just letting you know!” Brittany yelled. I saw Willow’s bottom lip quiver, which she stopped by biting on it.

“I know,” she whispered, clearly lying. Then, without looking back she walked briskly to the next class.

“Brittany, WHAT THE HELL!” I yelled, as she stared at me with a smirk.

“C’mon babe. How about we ditch tod--” I had never ever slapped a girl, but right now I had a wild desire to do so. Without saying a word I ran towards Willow and I’s English class.

Her vulnerable expression reminded me of the first time, I’d seen the girl who lay behind those golden locks and blue-green eyes. She gave me a quick glance and easily changed her expression, giving me a beautiful smile instead.

“I’m sorr--”

“Don’t be!” she said smiling so fakely that it almost looked real. Fake it till you make it, She’d been the one who’d told this to me when I started dating Brittany in sophomore year. “She’s right,” she replied twirling a loose strand of hair between her fingers, proof that she was lying. When she saw me staring she dropped it immediately. Doodling in her notebook instead, when she realized what she was doing,”I’m not lying,” she mumbled. Whenever she lied she’d find countless ways to distract herself from the fact that she’d just lied.

“I never said you were,” I said, trying to not make her uncomfortable by talking about the topic she avoided the most--her parents.

“I really am not, Haz.”

“I believe you,” I lied, pulling my focus out of her elf-like features.

“Thank you,” she whispered, even though she knew I was lying.

Notes

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The song: A place in this world, by Taylor Swift.

And don't forget to check out my other story They don't know about us.

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