The next morning, my mother takes me to school since she needs the car for work. When we pull up to the front entrance, a few people glance my way but no one really pays any attention. I gather my things out of the backseat and step out of the car just in time to see
Kate waving at me from across the parking lot.

"Do you need me to pick you up?" Mom rolls down the window and asks me. I lean down to where we're at eye level and shake my head.

"I can walk." I say. I don't really want to walk home alone but I also don't want to interrupt her first day at work either.

"Okay," she smiles before rolling the window up. Just as she pulls forward, Kate and a girl I've never seen before walk up. The unfamiliar girl looks gorgeous in her floral dress whereas I have on dark jeans and a sweatshirt.

"Hey Jess." Kate waves. "This is Eleanor. Louis's girlfriend." She introduces her friend. We exchange a few hello's before walking into school together. Eleanor asks me how I'm liking it so far here as we walk to class and her contagious personality makes me say yes even though I haven't really settled in.

Eleanor says goodbye to the two of us as we get to first period and turns down the hallway. Louis greets her with a quick kiss on the cheek and intertwines their hands as they walk down the hallway. Something tugs at my heart and a feeling of jealousy makes it way to the surface. I push it down regardless, I shouldn't feel jealous of a happy couple.

"God," Kate makes gagging noises as she witnesses their little moment. I join in on her laughter and the pressure lightens slighty off of my chest.

When we walk into class, the desks are set into pairs with a microscope and different observation dishes. I go to sit next to Kate but someone whispers to her that we have assigned partners. Kate disappears up front to see who she's partnered with while I wander around the back of the classroom. Maybe they'll let me choose who my partner is since I'm the new girl. The only people I feel comfortable with in this class is Kate and Cody, who doesn't seem to even have showed up today.

A few seconds later, Kate walks up to me with a mixture of a smile and a frown on her face. She twirls her fingers on the desk, trying to delay time until I finally speak up and ask her what she's hiding.

"You got paired up with Harry." she says quietly. My eyes widen and I lean forward to make sure I heard her right. She couldn't have said Harry, my luck isn't that bad.

"Who?" I whisper harshly. As if on cue, Harry strolls into the classroom and automatically starts walking towards us. Kate raises her eyebrows and turns around to greet Harry.

"Hey," she says politely. He gives her a strange look as she steps around him and walks up the front.

"Good luck," she mouthes at me over her shoulder. I want to strangle her for leaving me but instead I just smooth my hair back and slide down into one of the chairs.

"Everyone take a seat, please." the teacher yells over the talking. Everyone does and Harry has no choice but to sit next to me. We're told to begin reading over our rubric and task for the project and wait until everyone's done. Our hands grasp the paper at the same time and he lets loose, pulling his hand back quickly like he's trying to pretend it wasn't there.
I read over it quietly then hand it to him but he dismisses it and sets it back on the desk. We sit in an awkward silence until the rest of the instructions are given and we're dismissed to start on our project. I take out all the supplies we need and neatly set them on the desk. Harry on the other hand sits there still as a board as I make sure that I have everything.

"Are you going to help me or what?" I finally ask him after five minutes of me working alone. He looks at me astonished like he's shocked I spoke to him. His surprised look is quickly masked by his usual smugness and he leans back in his chair.

"It looks like you have it under control." He motions to everything on the desk and smiles at me. I roll my eyes and hand him a stack of papers to read over. It's not really necessary for the assignment, I just want him to be useful.

"What's this?" He asks but takes the papers anyway.

"It's some notes that will help us for our project. Just read over them and then write down the important parts." I tell him a bit too demanding. I wait for an outburst of some sort but instead he obliges and begins reading the packet. Meanwhile, I get a rough draft done on what should be on the poster. It's a lot of work and I don't think I can finish it by myself when it's supposed to be due.

I look over at Harry who has finished reading and is writing something down in his notebook. I take a peek over his shoulder and gape at how nice his hand writing is, most boys have horrible script but his is even neater than mine. When he turns around and catches me staring at his paper, I turn my head and pretend I'm reading something.

"There," he sets the paper in front of me with satisfaction on his face, "Anything else?" He asks with a hint of sarcasm. I shake my head and begin putting everything into a folder while he picks at his fingernails.

"We can work on it this weekend," I offer.

"It's not due until next Friday. Why do you want to work on it now?" He leans forward, making me lean a bit back. His sudden closeness catches me off guard and I play it off like I'm stretching.

"If you're not working on it then neither am I. We can just both take a zero and never have to talk to each other again." I cross my arms like I'm talking to a five year old and stare directly into his eyes. There's no way that I'm not doing this project but he doesn't need to know that.

"Fine. We can meet at your house on Saturday night." He sighs and hands me a piece of scratch of paper. "Write down your address." I do and hand it back to him. Satisfied, he folds it into his pocket before returning to his grumpy position. We don't talk for the remainder of the period and when the bell rings, I'm the first one out of class. I spot Eleanor by the lockers and stand with her as we wait for Kate. We make small talk until I catch sight of Kate's brown hair walking towards us.

"How was working with Harry?" she asks me when she reaches us. I roll my eyes and tell her how we plan to meet this weekend to finish up as we walk to lunch. Just as I round the corner, I see Harry and Louis leaning against a pair of lockers talking. I find myself staring at how tight Harry's shirt fits him, how his tattoos snake out from underneath his sleeves. I try to shake my head loose of these thoughts but no matter how hard it is to admit it, I'm actually excited to be working with Harry on the weekend.

And it scares the hell out of me.

Notes

DOUBLE UPDATE. BOOM. ARE YOU IMPRESSED YET?

Lol, jk but guys it means a lot if you vote and comment. For me? <3