Kat threw another dress across the room.

"I can't believe you're actually going." Nessa said as she watched Kat ravage through her closet for something cute to wear to the party Harry was throwing.

She'd never been invited to a Harry Styles party, and if she was gonna go, she was gonna have to look cute. She pushed through her plethora of cardigans, skirts, and dresses, none of which would make Harry do a double take when he saw her.

Not that she cared.

Who was she kidding? She cared so much about what he thought when his green eyes focused themselves on her. He had practically told her when she went over his house the other day. He thought she was cute but annoying, yet he wanted to get into her pants. Or did he? Was that him just being flirty like he was with other girls?

"Why do I not have anything cute to wear?" She seethed. "It's so annoying! Why don't I own anything dark? Or sexy?"

Nessa shrugged. "Why don't you just wear something casual? If there's a lot of people there they won't be focusing on your clothing choice."

"I don't care what they think, I care about what Harry thinks!"

"That's no way to live," Nessa told her. "Besides, Harry thinks that anything with a big butt in a tight dress is cute."

Kat's eyes widened. "I need something tight!"

Tatiana, Kat's friend since the eighth grade, opened the door, holding a piece of pepperoni pizza. "I hope you know that's pathetic."

"Says the girl eating her fifth slice of pizza." Kat said, pulling out a pink skater dress. She looked it over, a silly grin appearing over her face. She pulled out a jean jacket and looked it over. "How do you think this would look together?"

Tatiana shrugged, "Just dress like yourself. If Harry doesn't like it, then that's his problem."

"Harry does have a lot of problems." Nessa felt the need to point out.

Kat eyed her over. "Don't you have a soccer game to go to?"

"I do actually." Nessa said, standing up.

"When you're done pining over him, tell Marcel I said hi. You know, after he's done pining over Ari."

Nessa shook her head, momentarily confused as if Kat was explaining Lex Luthor's plan in Batman v Superman. "What are you talking about?" Nessa asked.

Kat giggled. "They're both on the soccer team. She's the only girl who pays him any mind---"
"I pay him mind." Nessa said a bit fiercely.

Kat cocked her head to the side. "He pays Ari mind too, much more than he does you---"
Nessa stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Kat couldn't help but feeling the guilt poor into her. She couldn't help it, sometimes she was mean. Nessa was one of her best friends, but sometimes her pining annoyed Kat. Besides, Marcel was so into Ari that it wouldn't have been more obvious if he had a tent poking from his pants every time he talked to her.

"Was that necessary?" Tatiana asked. "You hurt her feelings."

"I know. I'll apologize for it later." Kat said slowly, thinking about Harry's reaction when he saw her. Would he reel back in shock? Would he ignore her dressing up? Would he grab her up in his arms and kiss her until the end of time? She shook her head. The last one was the least likely thing to happen in all of existence. Then she felt guilty for forgetting about hurting Nessa.
But she couldn't help but think about it.

About him.


***
Kat walked up to the surprisingly tame house. She couldn't imagine seeing the neat and orderly house all messy and frantic, filled with horny teenagers, and it wasn't. She couldn't hear any music or the sound of talking. She rang the doorbell, and had to do it again twice before the door swung open, revealing Harry. His hair was pulled back into a bun, and he wore a sweater and black jeans. He was also barefoot and his green eyes lit up with amusement when they saw her.

"I thought you said it was gonna be a party." She said, a little bit annoyed that he hadn't done a double take or said anything about her outfit. She simply shrugged it off and followed him into the house into the living room.

She could faintly hear music playing from a stereo. A group of a few people sat on the floor. One girl was tall and slim with red hair and brown eyes. Kat recognized her as Nora, Harry's on and off girlfriend. She assumed they were off. She wore a crop top and tight jeans, and her hair was piled on top of her head in a bun.

"Is she lost?" She asked rudely.

Kat ignored the comment, sitting down near the fireplace. She looked at the other person in the room, which was a handsome boy with olive skin, black hair and intense dark brown eyes. He wore a denim shirt and black skinny jeans. He sat by the stereo, bobbing his head to the music.

"I'm Zayn." He said charmingly.

"Nice to meet you." She said. "I'm---"

"Perfection." He winked at her.

She heard a scoff and looked up at Harry, who quickly turned away and went to sit next to Nora. Next to her was a pale blonde with wide blue eyes. He had a slight stubble and he gave Kat a polite nod.

"Niall Horan." He introduced himself.

She smiled at him. "Kathryn. But you can call me Kat."

"Think I will." He gave her a wink.

Then they all heard the sound of footsteps, and turned their heads to see a tall and beautiful blonde with grey eyes enter the room. She wore a tight red dress, her hair was curled to perfection, and her make-up was on point.

"Cara." Harry purred. "Looking beautiful as always."

She leaned down to give him a lingering kiss on the cheek. When she straightened up, Kat could've sworn she winked at her before sitting down next to Niall. She looked at the people around her, and wondered if they had always been like this. Troublemakers, rebels without a cause.

"So Liam couldn't come?" Cara asked.

Harry shook his head. "His parents have him on lockdown after his run in with the cops."

"What'd he do?" Kat asked.

They all looked at her before Zayn said, "Drunk driving, and under age drinking. Man, the cops fucking suck."

"Serves him right." Kat muttered under her breath.

Harry leaned towards her. "What was that, biscuit?"

"Biscuit?" Nora asked furiously.

Kat repeated herself, louder this time. "Serves him right. He ought to know better than to drunk drive. What if he had gotten himself killed? Or someone else killed?"

"You don't even know Liam." Harry debated. "Why would you care what happens to him?"

Kat raised an eyebrow. "Didn't know I needed a reason."

"Everybody does." Harry pushed.

"Well I don't." Kat said. "You shouldn't need a reason to care about the wellbeing of others."

"Could you drop the good girl act?" Nora snapped.

Kat glared at her. "Could you get over yourself?"

"Ladies, ladies, ladies." Harry said smoothly. "If you're gonna fight, take your clothes off." Seeing Kat's scowl, he grinned. "Oh, and let me get the hose."

"Is everything funny to you?" Kat snapped.

Harry nodded. "Just about."

"Things are getting tense." Zayn said, trying to lighten the already tense mood. "How about we just listen to music?" When nobody argued with him, he turned up the radio, and You Don't Own Me by Grace and G Eazy began to play.

Zayn stood and offered his hand to Kat, who took it reluctantly. He pulled her to his feet and began slow dancing with her. She let out a laugh. This guy knew how to lay it on thick. But it was sort of cute.

"Shouldn't you be at the game?" He asked.

"Yes." She said, remembering the shocked look on Ari's face when she told her that she was gonna have to skip out on the first game of the year to go to Harry Styles' party. Ari simply nodded, looking betrayed, before walking off. "But...I...."

He smiled. "A Harry Styles party seemed more fun. But then you come here to discover that it's just us. Nothing special. He only does those when he's really bored."

"He seems like he's all shits and giggles all the time."

Zayn shook his head. "He pretends to be."

"And why does he pretend?"

Zayn thought carefully about his answer. "Sometimes in order not to feel, you have to tell yourself that you don't. And sometimes the only way to do that is to make sure others do it for you."

"So you act like an uncaring asshole?"

"Precisely." said Harry, walking up to them. He didn't seem concerned with the fact that they had just been talking negatively about him. "Mind if I cut in?" He asked.

"A lot." Kat said, but she still found herself dancing with Harry.

She was aware of Nora watching them with eyes burning like fire. She then looked at Zayn, who was talking to Niall and Cara. She then looked at Harry, who was looking right back at her. He suddenly dipped her just as the song changed to Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift.

"I hate her." He grumbled.

Kat smirked as he pulled her back up. "I love her."

"Of course you do." He said.

"Nora doesn't like me very much."

He shrugged, "Who cares what she thinks?"

Nora, having heard, looked away with a hurt expression.

Kat looked at Harry. "Hey, that hurt her feelings." Suddenly what happened between her and Nessa flashed in her mind. Tatiana had scolded her for the same reason. Who was she to judge Harry for being insensitive when she had did the same thing? Maybe somewhere in her subconscious, this was her making up for how she treated Nessa.

"So?"

"She seems to really like you."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care about her feelings if she hates you?"

"Because she's still a human being." Kat argued, wondering if she had sounded this rude when talking to Nessa earlier.

"God," He rolled his eyes. "Again with this bullshit."

She sighed, "You don't have to be a jerk." Well Kat, She thought bitterly. Neither did you.

"It's what I'm best at."

"Don't you have any other hobbies?" She asked. "You know, like knitting?"

"It's what I'm best at."

"Don't you have any other hobbies?" She asked. "You know, like knitting?"

He grinned, almost maliciously. "I do hold the highest record of sleeping with every girl in town."

"You haven't slept with me." She pointed out. "Or Ari, or Nessa, or Tatiana, or my mom---"

"Yet." He cut her off.

She jerked away from him. "That's not funny, and I'm leaving."

"Kat," He sighed. "Hang on for a second."

She ignored him. "I don't even know why I even came. I already know what your painting will be about. A cruel heartless monster with demon horns eating the hearts of children."

His smirk wavered. "A great image, but don't forget my abs."

She stormed towards the door, hearing Nora say "Good riddance."

As she opened the door, she was greeted with rain pouring down. She considered calling her mother, but after seeing a flash of lightning in the distance, and thunder loud enough to make her temporarily deaf, she didn't want to make her mother drive through that.

Suddenly the door was closed and a hand grabbed her arm, yanking her back. She looked up at Harry, who grinned smugly.

"Look at that," He said. "Looks like you and this cruel heartless monster will be spending some well deserved time together."

In the background, Kat heard Nora scoff.

Notes