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Pride

Old Friends Come Back

“Did you see her?”

“No, but Anne has.”

The girls are huddled together, whispering amongst themselves. Melissa doesn’t like eavesdropping but she can’t stop herself from listing in on their conversation as she walks by. It’s just that usually, she is the topic of conversation of her fellow students, so hearing them talk about someone else makes her curious.

“Do you mind,” one of the girls snarls at Melissa as she spots her watching her and her friends. “Go be your miserable self somewhere else.”

Not feeling like fighting today, Melissa quickly hurries away. Her shoulders hunched and feet dragging, she makes her way into the school.

As she passes the throngs of students, she notices they’re all talking about the girl who’s just arrived. It isn’t until she’s almost reached the classroom she is going to spend this morning in, that she catches the girl’s name.

Suzanne has graced the school with her presence.

Mellissa freezes, causing some students to bump into her. They whack the back of her head and curse at her before continuing on their way.

Fuck. Suzanne Jones is here. She’s in the fucking school, probably talking with Zayn about the good old times.
Because her luck has always been rotten, she’ll probably bump into them and she’s going to have to watch Zayn making moon eyes at her.

Suddenly, the volume of the whispers increases, making Melissa turn her head.

Zayn is walking down the corridor with the most beautiful woman in the world next to him. They’re talking to each other. Louis, Harry, and Liam are also in the group, but Suzanne and Zayn are the only people Melissa sees.

Heart breaking all over again, Melissa watches them walk in her direction. Even though it hurts, she can’t look away.
They look beautiful together, Zayn with his dark hair and her with her blonde locks. She’s taller than him, but only slightly. He looks better with her than he would ever look next to Melissa.

“Hello, Melissa,” someone suddenly shouts.

Surprised, Melissa tears her eyes away from the painful sight she’s been torturing herself with the past few minutes.

At first, she can’t spot whoever called out her name and for a moment she thinks she’s imagined it but then suddenly a grinning boy appears from behind a group of people. They look at him with disdain as he makes his way towards Melissa.

Mellissa doesn’t recognize the blonde boy immediately, but there’s something familiar about his piercing blue eyes and broad mouth. The rest of his body is broad as well, but his legs are skinny.

“Melissa, it’s me. Niall Horan,” the boy exclaims. He’s pointing at his own face as he shuffles on his feet. “We went to the same school for like three years. “

Suddenly, Melissa does recognize the excited boy. She remembers a boy filled with energy every hour of the day, slightly naïve and enthusiastic about almost everything. He was the child of Irish immigrants and has attended the same school as Melissa until his parents decided to go back to Ireland.

“Niall? What are you doing here?” Melissa asks as her lips pull into a grin.

For a moment, she forgets her broken heart, because this is Niall Horan, a friend from her past. There’s finally going to be someone at the school who’s nice to her.

“My parents made some investments that paid off and suddenly we’re rich,” Niall tells Melissa. He puts his hands on his hips and pretends to look haughtily at her. “I’m loaded now, love. Better get used to it.”

“So, you’re now going to St. Bernard?”

Niall lowers his hands and grabs Melissa’s hand. His touch is cold as his fingers wrap around her hands. “Yes. We’re back to being classmates again, Lizzie.”

The nickname makes Melissa’s heart swell. It reminds her of simpler times, back when her fellow students were like her and she didn’t have to always watch her back.

In the corner of her eye, she sees the F4 walking past them. The only one who spares them a glance is Louis. For some reason, he has a scowl on his face.

“Shit,” Melissa curses.

Louis probably doesn’t like someone talking to her. He doesn’t like Melissa to have friends who might help her. She just hopes he won’t give Niall a red notice.

“What’s the matter?” Niall asks, a frown of confusion on his face.

“You shouldn’t be talking to me. It’s a bad idea.” She takes a step back, putting distance between her and Niall. The look on the boy’s face morphs into one of anguish.

“But you’re the only one I know in this school,” he exclaims. “Why can’t I hang out with you.”

“Because some people at the school don’t like me and when they see we’re friends, they’re going to cause problems for you too,” Melissa tries to explain.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Just find other friends, okay,” Melissa begs Niall. She’s looking at him with pleading eyes. “You’re better off without me.”

“But…” Niall protests but Melissa doesn’t wait for him to go on. She turns around and runs away from the only person who could have been her friend in this godforsaken hell hole.

Melissa thought that was it, that she had saved her friend from torment. But when she makes her way to the fire escape and she sees Niall running towards her with a pack of people chasing him, she realizes she’s failed.

“Lizzie, please help me,” Niall cries out. He’s almost reached Melisa but the pack is gaining on him.

“Fuck,” Melissa curses. She going to need to help him before the other students can get their hands on him.

Melissa runs towards Niall and when she’s reached him, she grabs him by his hand and dives back into the direction she just came from. They need to get out of the school, reach the forest so they can lose the pack in the woods. It’s their only chance of escape.

“Why are they attack me?” Niall cries when he and Melissa have reached the fire escape on the other side of the corridor. They’re going to escape down the stairs.

“Because they’re arseholes who can’t think for themselves,” Melisa replies between pants. “Come on. We need to get down the stairs, escape to the forest.”

The thundering of tens of feet running down the stairs is loud in Melissa’s ears as she and Niall flee. She allows the sound to urge her on, pump more adrenaline through her veins.

Melisa’s heart jumps for joy when her feet land on the wet grass. She tightens her hold on Niall’s wrist and tells him. “We’re almost there. Just hold on.”

A whoosh is the only warning when suddenly things fall on Melissa’s head and shoulders. It’s half eaten sandwiches, milk cartoons, candy wrappings and dust, that slide down her uniform, staining it.

Melissa freeze and Niall yelps as he almost loses his balance because of his friend’s sudden immobility. She lets out a sob. Stains are covering her clothes and the smell is awful. This is going to break her mother’s heart. She’d almost cried the last time she came home with a dirty uniform.

Having always lived as someone with a low income, she’s always been a woman who is careful with the things she possesses. This was especially the case with clothing. She never knew when she could replace them.

And now Melissa is going to come home with a uniform that is dirty once again. But her mother isn’t going to get mad at her. No, instead she’s going to look heartbroken and then stay up all night to restore her clothing back to their former glory.

“Lizzie,” Niall wines as he looks up at the fire escape, his eyes widening when he sees the mob has almost gained on them. “We need to go.”

The panic in her friend’s voice wakes Melissa from her stupor. She forces her legs to move and then she’s running again, dragging Niall behind her and the other students hot on their heels.

At first, Melissa thinks they’ll reach the forest before the pack will be able to catch up but then suddenly she’s tugged backward and she falls on the ground. Her back aches as she lands, next to Niall who’s lying face down, a baseball lying next to his head.

“Niall,” Melissa cries out. She scrambles to her knees, heart beating rapidly in her chest. She grabs his head and checks with flitting eyes where her friend was hit on the head. No bruises are visible on the side of his head, which means he was hit from behind. With trembling fingers, Melissa starts her quest to find a bump hidden from her sight by Niall’s blonde hair.

Suddenly, Melissa can sense a presence next to her. She grabs the baseball and turns around, a scowl on her face, ready to thumb whoever has the nerve to try to attack her.

But it’s Zayn.

He kneels down next to her, a look of worry on her face. “Are you and your friend alright.”

“No,” Melissa whimpers. “Niall was hit by this stupid baseball.” She trusts her hand forward to direct his attention to the offending object.

There’s a clamor behind them. The pack has finally caught up with her. Their presence makes Melissa’s blood boil. One of them is the one who threw the baseball.

She jumps to her feet and turns around, rage hot in her eyes and hands balled into fists.

“Who’s the nut job who threw the baseball,” she screams, glaring at the group of people who look at her with a hunger for her and Niall’s blood in their eyes.

One of the guys in the pack takes a step forwards but instead of admitting his guilt, he addresses Zayn. “Malik, can you please hand them over to us? We’re not finished with them yet.”

“I’m not handing anyone over,” Zayn says calmly.

He lays a hand on Melissa’s shoulder. She has to suppress a shiver at his touch. Zayn’s voice is soft as he says her name, making her turn around. His eyes are kind when he says, “You should probably get your friend to the infirmary.”

“What the fuck are you doing, Malik,” Louis’s voice suddenly shouts, making both Melissa and Zayn turn their heads.
He’s standing only a few feet away and keeping him company are the rest of the F4 and Suzanne. Everybody but Louis look surprised; he looks pissed. “Why are you standing up for these insects.”

What the hell is wrong with Louis? Yesterday, he stood up for her when she was bullied but now he’s getting mad at Zayn for doing the same.

“This has gone on long enough,” Zayn announces.

He lets go of Melissa’s shoulder – she misses the touch as soon as it’s gone – and turns towards Niall. The blonde boy must have regained consciousness when Melissa’s back was turned because he’s lying on his back, eyes open and moaning in pain with a hand pressed to the back of his head.

“Suz, can you clean Melissa up while I take her friend to the infirmary,” Zayn asks his friend.

Melissa opens her mouth to protests that she can take Niall herself, but then Zayn lifts him bridal style and it falls closed. It’s an odd sight, Zayn with his wiry frame holding broad chested Niall.

“Just go with Suzanne, yeah?” Zayn tells Melissa as he walks past her.

The crowd of students parts for him as he walks towards the school. Melissa watches them with a heart hurting with worry.

“Let’s get you cleaned-up,” a soft voice says next to Melissa’s ear.

Suzanne smiles warmly at Melissa when she turns around to look at her. The blonde gently takes a hold of Melissa’s upper arm and starts ushering her towards the school.

They don’t say anything until they’ve reached the loos. Suzanne asks the girls still lingering in a soft voice if they could be so kind to give them some privacy. Nobody can say no to such a friendly request issued by a beautiful woman, so within seconds, Melissa and Suzanne are the only ones in the white-tiled room.

Suzanne switches on a faucet and tells Melissa to sit next to the sinks. With a rapidly beating heart, she does what she’s told.

Even in the awful lighting of the loo, Suzanne looks extremely pretty. She may look amazing in her ads, she looks even better in real-life. Maybe it’s because of the softness of her eyes or maybe it’s because pictures can’t capture charisma.

Her eyes seem to dance with amusement as he turns to Melissa with a wet face whip in her hand. The water is no longer running, the faucet switched off again because it’s served its purpose.

Suzann leans into Melissa and starts whipping off the dirt on Melissa’s face. Like everything about her, her strokes are soft and gentle.

Why the hell does she have to be sweet as well as pretty? It’s really unfair. If she was conceited, Melissa would maybe – with the emphasize on maybe - still have a chance with Zayn. But no, she’s seems as wonderful on the inside as she is on the outside.

“Zayn seems to like you,” Suzanne tells Melissa, taking the young girl complete by surprise.

Suzanne must have felt Melissa’s cheeks heat up under her touch because she stops her hand and smiles at her. “He’s never stood up for a girl before. He must care for you.”

And like that, even though Melissa knows it’s foolish, hope has returned to her, settling inside her chest.

“You can stop trembling. You’re safe now,” Suzanne tells Melissa. Her hand goes to where Melissa’s hands are lying on her lap and squeezes them. “I’m just going to clean your face and then you can check how your friend is doing.”

Melissa takes a deep breath and nods her head. As Suzanne continues to clean her face, Melissa tries her best to calm herself down; slow her heart rate and relax her muscles. Suzanne is right. She is safe. For now.

“I’d hoped they stopped handing out red notices,” Suzanne admits with a sigh. “Thought maybe they’d grown out of it. But I guess boys will be boys.”

“Have you ever tried to stop them?” Melissa asks. She can’t believe someone is sweet as Suzanne would abide the cruelty a red notice causes.

“No, which I do regret.” Suzanne stills her head and looks Melissa in the eyes. “You have to understand things were never this extreme. When I was still at school, students would just pull a few pranks, talk bad about the recipient of the notice and that usually caused them to drop out. I’ve never seen them resort to violence before.”

“That’s all they did at first,” Melissa murmurs. “But then a week ago someone tried to rape me and now they’ve hurt Niall.”

Melissa doesn’t know why she’s telling Suzanne about what those boys almost did to her but it doesn’t seem to be a mistake because there is no judgment in Suzanne’s eyes. Instead, there is pity.

“I’m sorry this is happening to you. You seem like such a sweet girl.” Suzanne throws her arms around Melissa and pulls her into a hug. “Please, don’t think Louis told them to rape you. He may have a temper and he is selfish, but he’s not cruel. He would never stoop that low.”

Melissa really hopes Suzanne is right. A lowlife trying to force himself on her, she can handle, but someone as powerful as Louis willing to go to such lengths to make her quit would be too much, even for her.

Pulling out of the embrace, Suzanne smiles at Melissa. The pity has gone from her eyes and instead there’s admiration shining in them. “Your face is all clean now. There’s nothing I can do about your uniform so you should probably look for a spare on at the Lost And Found.”

“Thanks.”

Melissa hops off of where she was sitting next to the sinks and turns to smile at Suzanne. “Thank you for everything. I can’t believe such a sweet woman like you is friends with the F4.”

Suzanne snickers at Melissa bluntness, her eyes becoming slits. “They’re not so bad when you get to know them better.”

Melissa doubts there’s truth behind that statement, but she chooses not to voice it. She says goodbye to Suzanna and with a last glance in her direction, leaves the bathroom.

Notes

Niall is finally here, you guys. I really hope you will like his character. As usual, let me know what you thought.

Comments

I cannot wait to read about their date! It’s gonna be sooo good! I wonder how Niall is gonna feel about it though...

Couchpotato Couchpotato
5/10/19

LOVE THIS STORY! but i weirdly just want louis and melissa together even after what hes done! he just wants to be loved :(((

Allforbrits Allforbrits
4/17/19

@Allforbrits
Thank you so much for your enthousiasm. I'm going to post the next chapter this Saturday.

sellway sellway
4/4/19

please update!!

Allforbrits Allforbrits
4/4/19

Yay!!

Syden17Jade Syden17Jade
10/24/18