Alyssa's Point of View

I watched the clock above the chalkboard continue to tick. Most students looked above the door where the digital clock easily gave them what they wanted but I like the ticking hands; reading a clock is a good skill to have.

Two minutes and eleven seconds until class is over. I slouched further in my chair; I hate math so much. Who cares what the circumference of a basketball is or why we don't use the metric system? My mind has wandered far away from math into deeper places with deeper meanings. Not a day goes by without thinking about Harry's touch in the fields. Just his words, asking for my permission gives me butterflies.

"So make sure you choose your partner wisely; you only have two weeks on this project!" Miss Laurel said as the bell rang.

I grabbed my bag and didn't bother organizing my things before slipping them away; I really just want to get out of here. It's Thursday but it somehow feels like Monday.

"Hey Lys," it's Alyssa, I mumbled to myself before turning around.

"Hey Liam, what's up?"

"Well, you know....the project?"

"What about it?"

Truth is, I have no idea what he's talking about. The last ninety minutes consisted of a small nap, daydreaming of Dylan O'Brien and watching the clock. The only notes I took were little doodles so it looked like I was paying attention.

"We have to have a partner," he said as he followed me like a duckling down the hall.

"Okay," This isn't good, I'm starting to feel upset for no reason, I hate when this happens. I haven't cut for so long but I just have this urge--this pain building inside me.

"Do you want to be my partner?" I snapped out of my terrifying thoughts and stopped in my tracks. Liam lightly bumped into me as I stopped in front of my car. I didn't realize how far I had gotten with him following.

"What's the project for?"

Liam laughed while zipping up his jacket; this is going to be a cold winter, "for math class, weren't you listening?"

"Oh, yeah, well no, but sure. What do we have to do?" I thought Liam usually partners with one of the jocks, or the really smart girls--whoever will get him the better grade.

"I'm not really sure," he pulled a paper from his pocket and handed it to me, "we can pick from these categories though. Maybe we could look over it tomorrow?"

I stared at the paper, reading all the bullshit we're going to have to do as if I care about the ratio of whatever the hell this is saying.

"Hey guys," a third voice joined in. Liam joined Harry into the conversation as I started the jeep. While they talked I counted to ten about seven times so I wouldn't take my anger out on Harry. I want to cry, just belt out and cry for no fucking reason. It pisses me off so bad that I can't just have a normal day and feel like a normal person.

"You okay?" Harry got into the passenger seat and then there was a knock on my window. Jesus, can we stop scaring Alyssa?

I rolled down my window to find a smiling Liam, "so the project?"

"Yeah, tomorrow afternoon." I rolled my window back up and we headed back home where I could hopefully find some peace in my own room. This feeling I'm having has come back ever since Harry and I have basically broken up, though we were never really together. It's killing me and I don't know how much more I can handle.

We've barely spoken since the night he was drunk and it really hurts, especially since we made love only a few nights before. Tears built up in my eyes until the road became blurry. I felt like I needed to turn the windshield wipers on but the only precipitation was coming from my eyes.

"So what's up with Liam?" I smirked which helped my eyes dry up quickly. Harry's jealous of Liam.

"What do you mean? I can't have friends?"

"No, it's just," long pause, "I didn't know you guys were so," another pause, "close."

"We aren't Harry, we're doing a project together," this is probably good anyways. Liam and I are just friends but it'll be good having another guy around. My parents definitely will have no clue about our relationship if I'm seen with Liam.

"I think he likes you though," Harry played with the lock on the door like he always does when he's nervous or upset, pushing it up and down.

"He doesn't like me. Even if he did why would it matter? It's not like we're together."

"Seriously Alyssa?"

"You said we need to be seen with other people," the tears are forming again.

"No I didn't! I said we can't hang out as much."

I didn't respond and Harry didn't have anything else to add. The rest of the ride was silent and I hated it. I hate not talking to Harry and I miss what we had homecoming night. It's like he completely forgot about it. I wonder how many girls he's slept with; am I just another one to mark off his list? If the ride were any longer I may have asked but when we pulled into the garage I hopped out quickly and let him do whatever he wanted to do.

---

Friday Afternoon

I leaned against the sink counter staring at my phone. If Marilyn doesn't calling me back in five fucking minutes I'm pulling out the razor. Am I over reacting, maybe, but I'm tired of this feeling.

"Alyssa? What's up babe?"

"You finally answer you phone! I've been trying to call you for twenty minutes!"

"I'm sorry, I was just hanging out with Luke," she's so confusing. Is it Niall or Luke? "Did you need something?"

"Harry's going on a date tonight with Maddie," I heard a few shuffles and then everything got quiet.

"Did you just say Harry is--"

"Yes. I don't know what to do Marilyn," a tear hit my wrist where I almost dug into and I fell to the floor.

"Well you guys did say you were going to see other people, right?" I don't like her optimism right now, "Who's Maddie anyways?"

"It's that really nice girl in his physics class. I've never talked to her but--"

"Oh yeah! Maddie's so sweet!"

"You're not helping Marilyn," my voice went from anger to a soft disappointment in the matter of seconds.

"Look, you guys said you couldn't see each other. I see how he looks at you and he's completely in love. Let him go on his date; Maddie is nothing compared to you," she's only beautiful, thin, and sweet and I'm a bitch, yep, I'm so much better.

Marilyn continued and convinced me some ice cream and a good book would make me feel better until the end of the night. It'll be fine, everything will be fine.

"Hold on a sec, someone's at the door."

Normally I'd let someone else get it but Harry's with Zayn, Luke is apparently with Marilyn, my parents are at work, and I could care less where the twins are. I looked down at myself, debating if I should put some actual clothes on but went against it. Whoever it is will have to live with what they see.

I opened the door with my free hand and I swear my jaw could have hit the floor if it wasn't attached to the rest of my face, "I have to go Marilyn."

I hung up and held my body from not only the cold but from who was standing in front of me, "Hey Liam," shit. I completely forgot about our project.

"Uh, hey," he blushed and crossed his arms looking away from crop top which only covered my upper half and my booty shorts which he caught a glimpse of while he was drunk, "do you think I could come in?"

I opened the door for him to come in and walked towards the stairs, "I'm going to go get dressed."

I scurried up the stairs and threw on a black hoodie and jumped into a pair of sweats; I can't believe Liam just saw me half naked. Not to mention I forgot to put some bracelets on. I looked into the mirror and tried to fix the mess living on top of my head and took a few deep breaths. My tears had subsided and now all I need to do is cover up some of the puffiness under my eyes.

"Sorry about that, I forgot we were going to work on our project today," I placed my math books on the table and headed for the fridge to offer something to drink.

"It's fine, I should have texted you. I liked that shirt better though," I raised my eyebrows from across the room, "you know, 'fuck off'," I heard the smile in his voice as I poured us both some orange juice. Yes, that is a great shirt.

We began writing the algorithms and Liam had to explain a lot of it to me. I was surprised at how well he knows his math; he explained his love for math and how he wants to be a math teacher one day. I wanted to ask him why the hell he wants to do that but he's just too nice to mess with.

"Are you okay Alyssa? You seemed upset when I got here."

"Yeah, fine. Marilyn and I were just fighting," I can only tell Harry my secrets and right now he's getting ready for a date. I dropped my pencil but didn't bother to pick it up, this week has sucked. Liam sat closer and put his hand on top of mine.

"I know you and Harry are really close and you've both been acting tense this week. I like you Alyssa, you can talk to me," I'm not sure if that was the 'I like you for real' or just 'I like you as a person' but I convinced myself it was more of 'like you as a person'. Regardless it makes me happy knowing not one, but two guys look at me the same way. I smiled and looked at Liam,

"thanks Liam, that means a lot." He has no idea how amazing I feel right now. Obviously I care for Harry deeply but Liam's looking at me like no one has before; besides Harry.

At 4:30 my mom got home and saw us working at the table. Instead of scolding me for having company over she smiled at Liam and offered him to stay over for pizza night. Pizza night is actually a night I really enjoy, my mom buys lots of ingredients and we make pizzas from scratch. Surprisingly my dad and Luke showed up and we all began making the pizzas together.

"What pizza do you want to work on Liam?" my dad asked almost in an interrogating way. The way he said it made me happy; like he truly believes I'm bringing a boy home that he needs to approve of first.

"I think I'll help Alyssa," Liam looked at me, "you don't eat meat, right?" I took in a small breath and smiled, how did he remember that?

I didn't know what else to do so I just nodded and we grabbed lots of veggies.

While we worked on the pizzas Liam and I made some nudges back and forth and somehow flour ended up on my forehead along with his nose. Every once and a while my mom or dad would connect eyes with me and smile. We're friends but they see Liam as a little bit more. I love that my parents actually believe a boy is interested in me.

"Hey guys," we all looked towards the front door to see Harry walking in. His tone completely changed as he watched Liam flirting with me.

"I thought you were going on a date tonight honey," my mom said like he was her other son.

"Umm, I am," his eyes glued onto Liam but he was only paying attention to the pizza at hand, "I just forgot my wallet. Can I talk to you for a minute Lys?"

For the second time tonight my jaw dropped; he knows I don't like when people call me that. Instead of making a scene I followed him into the dining room.

"What the hell is he doing here?"

"Who?" I said with an attitude. He's going on a date and he's mad at me?

"You know damn well who! I thought you said you and Liam are just friends," I like that he's jealous. I don't like Liam like that but it is really nice knowing that more than just Harry looks at me like I'm not invisible.

"We are friends. We were doing homework and mom asked him to stay for dinner. It's not my fault it's pizza night. And why are you so jealous? You're the one with a date," I pushed him away from me disgusted. How could he do that to me?

"You know the only reason I'm taking her out is so we don't look suspicious." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms almost identical to Harry's.

"You are unbelievable. Just go." He has yet to even bring up the most magical night of my life or anything else we've had over the past few months.

I took a step back and waited for him to leave but instead he took a step closer. A step too close.

"You know you're the only one I want," he took his thumb and wiped some flour from under my eyes, "I didn't mean to make you cry." I hate that he knows every emotion I hold onto.

"Stop Harry," I held my ground as I spoke sternly. He looked at me calmly and then into the kitchen. He really is worried about Liam. Before he left he kissed me on the forehead; claiming his territory.

Notes

Thanks for your patients guys. I've been so busy and I was really sick the other day :/

Questions:
What's up with Liam and Alyssa? Is this just a small bump in the road?
And what about Harry and Maddie?

Uh oh, I smell trouble. What about you?