New Life, New Love

"What are you doing?" My brother whispered into my ear.

I remained silent as he shook his head.
We arrived at the table he was sitting at, introducing me to the three guys.

"This is Luke, Mark, and Hosea."

"You have some balls." Hosea said.
I shrugged. "I wasn't really thinking..." I really wasn't. I felt fear starting to rise in me. I didn't want to get bullied.
"You better be careful. Everyone knows not to mess with Harry. He's used to getting what he wants, when he wants it." Mark added.
Jon put his head in his hands, letting out a groan.
"What's wrong with you, Belle? You know better than to egg some douche bag on!"
"Sorry..." I mumbled. I shifted in my seat, a little uncomfortable that my brother was criticizing me in front of strangers.
I heard hurried footsteps behind me.
Then someone plopped into the seat next time, as I caught a glimpse of red hair.
"What the hell just happened?" Melody asked me.
"Did you not hear us?" I asked. I really was hoping not everyone heard.
"Everyone heard." She said as if I was dumb. "I thought I told you to stay away from him!"
"I was! He came up to me! I didn't want him to think that he could just push people around, its not right, so I stood up to him."
The three guys shook their heads along with Melody.
"The thing is. Harry can push people around. He's Harry Styles. He can do whatever the hell he wants." Luke said bitterly.
Luke behind me, and I visibly could see him tense.
I turned around to see Niall and Zayn standing behind us.
"Hey Melody...Hey Belle." Niall laughed.
"Hi." Melody muttered angrily.
"Listen, we need to figure out how we are gonna work on our stupid project. You two can come over to my house tomorrow right after school. Got it?" Melody rolled her eyes before forcing herself to nod yes.
"Great. Here's my address." Niall handed her a white note.
"See ya then ladies." Zayn called as they both walked away smugly.

I let out a sigh before I turned to see Jon.
His eyebrow was lifted and his arms were crossed.
"Explain. Now."
"We were assigned to work on a group project together in chemistry. We have to work on it outside of school. It's worth a lot of our grade, we can't just flake, and our stupid teacher wouldn't let us switch partners. Trust me. We tried."
"What's dad gonna say?" Jon sneered.
My eyes widened.
"You cannot tell dad! Or mom! Please, Jon, please! I'm just gonna tell them I'm going over to Melody's. You have to understand."
"Fine, but you keep your phone with you and call me if something happens."
"And please, don't tell him about lunch. Make sure Grace doesn't tell him either. He would flip." I pleaded.
"Belle! Do you know how dangerous he is? Dad needs to know in case something happens!"
"Please, Jon! I'll fix it, I swear!" I didn't mean to start tearing up but I did. I didn't want my dad to freak out and then have us move back to Oregon. He probably wouldn't do that, but I couldn't take my chances. I could not go back to hell.
"Calm down, Belle. Seriously, I wont tell him." He tried to look pissed but I could tell he was concerned.
"Thank you. And don't forget to talk to Grace." My voice was meek. I got up and made my way to the bathroom.


---End of the school day---

"Ugh thank God that's over." Melody appeared by my side as we started to walk out the school.
"Hey Mel! Come on!" A girl in a red jeep drove up. She had short blonde hair, she wasn't super gorgeous but she wasn't ugly either.
"Sorry, Belle. That's my ride. It was so great hanging out with you today. You have my number so text me if ya need anything. Bye!" I smiled as she gave me a hug before she got into the car.
"And stay away from Curly!" She called out.

I laughed at her choice of words. She was repeating what I had called him during lunch. I sighed as I started to walk home.
I reached the end of the street.
Which way was I supposed to go? Left or right?
I think it was right.....



I started to walk, and made a few more turns. My surroundings looked completely off.
Great. I'm lost.

I decided to retrace my steps.
I was almost back at the school when I stopped.
I looked forward a couple houses down and saw Harry getting out of his car with some girl. Before they went in to what I assumed was his house, he slammed her up against the wall, his hands roaming everywhere.

It grossed me out watching them suck each others' faces off.
I shook my head before skirting around, trying to avoid their eyesight.
After a while, I finally found my house and walked in.
"Hey honey!" My mom called. "How was the first day? Make any friends? How are the teachers?" She rushed over and gave me a hug.
"Mom! I'm fine." I laughed at her constant stream of questions.
She looked concerned. "Was anyone mean to you? What took you so long to get home?"
"No. No-one was mean to me. I just got lost." Well at least half of that was true.
My mom looked relieved. Strange...
She nodded, before muttering a quiet "good".

I started to head up the stairs when my mom called me.
"Yeah?" I called back.
She appeared at the bottom of the staircase.
Our neighbors invited us over to their house for dinner. Dad will be home any minute. Go and get dressed into something a little nicer, just don't over do it.
I laughed.
When do I ever over do it with my clothes?

It took a while but I decided on this black and grey sweater dress, teamed with black leggings, purple flats and purple jewlery.
I looked at my choice of clothes in the mirror and shrugged. I didn't have terrible fashion sense but I could have better. Most girls wore skimpier clothes, but I never did. I liked to dress in a way that people could pay attention to my face, my words, my personality and not just my body.
I decided not to bother with my hair, leaving it in my high messy ponytail. I reached in my backpack and grabbed my chapstick, smacking my lips together.
"Belle! Honey, dad's here, we're gonna go!"
I grabbed my purse, placing my chapstick and phone in it before making my way down.
My dad and mom were patiently waiting by the door.
"Where are Jon and Grace?"
"Oh they aren't coming. There was some sort of mishap at Grace's drama practice so she needs to stay a little longer. Jon went to go get her some fast food and he is taking her home so she doesn't have to walk alone in the dark. It's just us three tonight." My mom explained.
I nodded as we walked outside. "Where exactly are the neighbors?"
My pointed straight across the street. Oh.
We walked to the door and my dad rang the door bell.
"Gemma, could you get that?" I heard a ladies voice say.
The door swung open. There was a young girl, probably around twenty, grinning at us.
"You must be the Woods! Hi, my name is Gemma!" She brushed her blonder hair off her shoulder as she shook our hands.
A woman came up behind Gemma. "Well, hello there! I'm Anne, come on in."
She ushered us into the house.
"Anne, this is my husband Bret." They shook hands.
"And this is my daughter, Belle."
"Wow, you are beautiful!" She shook my hand before turning to my parents. "I don't come across natural beauties like her often." I blushed at her compliment.
Her smile turned into a frown, "I thought there were two others?"
"They couldn't make it. Hopefully, another time." My dad said. Anne nodded.
"Yes, well my son is upstairs in his room. Finishing up, I believe. He'll be down any minute. He goes to your school! Maybe you've already met him..." She trailed off before nervously biting on her lip.
"Gemma, give this young lady a tour of the house. Bret and Jen, I'll show you the kitchen. I made spaghetti!"

Gemma led me around showing me the living room and dining room before we headed up the stairs.
She showed me her room. It was nice. I walked in and looked at her bookshelf.
"You read a lot?" I tried to make conversation.
"Yup."
"Cool." I glanced at my feet. It was getting awkward so I thought of the most used excuse. "Um, where's the bathroom?"
"There's one in the hall. It's a door on the left. Make sure it's the first one, the second one leads to my brother's room. God knows you don't want to walk in there..." She laughed lightly.
I smiled as I made my way out, opening the first door on the left and then locking it behind me. I stared at myself in the mirror, hoping to pass time to make it seem like I actually needed to relieve myself.
After decent amount of time. I flushed and turned on the faucet, pretending to wash my hands.
I heard a door open up. Gemma began talking to who I assumed was her brother in the hall.
I then heard them go down the stairs. I walked out and found my way to the dining room where Anne had called us to.

"How was the tour?" Anne smiled.
"Good." I returned the smiled.
Her eyes shifted to someone behind me. That seemed to happen a lot today.
"Harry! There you are!" Her grin grew wide
Harry? I closed my eyes, and silently prayed it was a different Harry. It had to be. I saw Harry getting into another house.
Then it dawned on me. I mentally face palmed myself. Ugh. That was probably the girl's house. The one I saw him making out with earlier.

I turned around hoping to NOT be met by a pair of green eyes.

Notes