I had spent the most relaxing Sunday with Jared, and now that Monday had finally rolled around, I was kind of sad that I wasn’t going to see him again until next Saturday. On the plus-side though I would probably be able to actually get some work done this week. When I had finally arrived home, my mum had expressed her concern at the amount of focus I had seemed to give Jared recently and that I shouldn’t let it get in the way of the work that I should be getting done.

I pulled into the school car-park earlier than usual and was one of the first there, as I had decided to grab a coffee in school this morning instead so that I could get to form class early and do some revision. I noticed as I parked in my usual spot that Louis’ car was here already as well. I smiled as I thought about how close Louis and I had become, especially after he had gotten on so well with Jared on Saturday night. I turned the engine off, grabbed my bag and got out of the car. The days were getting colder and I could see my breath as I walked toward the school, anxious for the cup of coffee to warm my hands. I made a mental note to bring gloves tomorrow as I waked into the dining hall.

“Selena?” I heard Louis’ voice from behind me and a second later he was at my side having got up from a table of his other friends. I was surprised that they didn’t seem to react to Harry and Louis hanging out with me anymore and rather it was just something that they accepted now, especially since Liam and Niall were now having to work with them in music.

“Hey Lou,” I said as I looked at his face. His blue eyes didn’t seem as bright today and I could see that his skin had a dullness to it that was unusual for him, realising what was wrong with him, I laughed quietly, “Drinking on a school night, ay? Hanging hard, are we?”

“Possibly still drunk, I regret nothing!” He said with a playful smirk. I shook my head as I laughed again and pressed the button on the machine in the corner of the room for coffee. Suddenly, his face seemed to go serious, “How’s Taylor holding up after last night?” I stopped laughing and looked at him confused.

“What do you mean? What happened last night?” I asked. His face dropped slightly as he hesitated.

“You haven’t spoken to her?” There was no hint of playfulness anymore and I suddenly felt worried for my friend as I shook my head and we sat down at a nearby table. He took a deep breath and then spoke again, “I’m not sure I should be telling you this, but her and Harry split up last night…”

“What? Why?” I was genuinely surprised that they had actually split up, I knew that they were having a few issues but I didn’t think things were that drastic. Louis sighed again, clearly unsure whether to tell me or not, “Come on Lou, please?”

“Harry came over yesterday afternoon and didn’t give many details but he said that they had had an argument about…” He paused and I urged him on with my eyes, “ Well I don’t know what about specifically but it ended when Taylor threw something at his head as he was leaving so Harry was pissed… and then when he left the pub last night-“ I interrupted him.

“He was drunk when he did it?” This gave me hope Harry had just made a spur of the moment angry decision that would be able to be fixed over the next week, but Louis shook his head.

“No, at most he was tipsy, but he left about half ten and went straight to hers and did it. He rang me last night when I got in and said he’d done it because he thought he’d moved on too quickly after Kendall, which I get, I mean they weren’t happy toward the end, but he and Kendall were together for six years and he did really love her at one point.” He said and I nodded. I guess I understood where Harry was coming from but my concern was Taylor right now. I wondered why she hadn’t rang me, but guessed it was probably because she was too upset to want to talk to anyone.

“Thanks Lou, I’ll see if she’s ok… might not see you guys much today I guess.” I said as I grabbed my coffee and stood up. Louis touched my arm understandingly before giving me a small nod as I walked away and up to the form room. When I got to the door I could see through the window that there were only a few people in the room and Taylor was one of them. I pushed the door open slowly and gave her a sympathetic smile, but cold blue eyes met mine in return. I hesitated, aware that something seemed off, before shaking it off and approaching her.

“Hey, Lou told me what-“ She didn’t let me finish before interrupting.

“Fuck off.” She snapped at me. I stood there speechless not understanding what was going on, why she would speak to me like that.

“Tay, come on, I know you’re upset but-“ she wasn’t having any of it. She stood up so that her five foot nine frame towered over my own, her lip curled and her eyes were fiery, I had never seen her so angry.

“I’m not fucking upset Selena, I’m fucking livid!” she hissed as she leant across the desk toward me, “It’s your fault he dumped me, and now he’s all yours! Couldn’t keep your hands on your own man, well now you have mine as well, so, piss off!” My mouth dropped open as a tear spilled over my lashes. I had never been spoken to like that by Taylor and now I was losing my friend over something that I hadn’t even done. I wiped my face and walked out of the room, not caring that I was going to be marked absent for registration, I just couldn’t be in the same room as her.

I walked down the stairs as another tear fell down my face and pushed my way into the empty study room. I sat at a desk in the corner and buried my head in my folded arms as I cried. How had this happened? Taylor had been my best friend for the last six years, why would she do this? I stayed like that for about twenty minutes until the bell went to signify first period, for which I was free anyway. A few people came in sporadically as I sat trying to look as though I was reading my book, small tears leaving my eyes every now and then.

About fifteen minutes before the bell was due to go for second period, the door opened again and Louis and Harry walked in. Harry looked around the room, locked eyes with me for a few seconds, hesitated and then turned to Louis, muttered something and left. I watched as Louis poked his head out after him, I presume he was trying to make him come back but a second later he had come back in alone, rolled his eyes to himself and made his way over to me.

“Hey.” He said gently as he sat down next to me. I leaned my head on his shoulder and began sobbing quietly again. He put his strong arm around me and stroked my arm with his thumb as I recounted my story in between choky breaths.

“… and then to make it worse, Harry isn’t speaking to me either! I didn’t do anything! I don’t like Harry! Jared told me he loved me on Saturday night…” Louis muttered soothing words as I finished my story.

“Harry isn’t mad at you, he’s kind of mad at himself today and that means he’s going to take it out on the rest of the world, because that’s what Harry does.” He whispered into my hair to comfort me, “And I’m sure Taylor just needs time, she’s your best friend, I’m sure she’ll come around…” I had stopped crying but was still breathing in deep gasps. Louis squeezed me gently and continued, “Come on S, cheer up, we have music next and you’re getting your new partner, today right? You don’t want them to think you’re shit because you’ve been crying over wankers who project their problems onto everyone else, do you?” I laughed quietly as I shook my head and he smiled at me before pulling me in for a proper hug. As we pulled out he kissed my forehead gently in a brotherly way and I was thankful for the second time this morning that I had Louis around.

---

“Ok Selena, thanks for being patient as we had to rearrange a few things around Charlie’s desire to be difficult, you’re now partnered with Miss. Calder.” Mr. Ford pointed over to the other side of the room where a pretty brunette was sitting at a desk, looking through a pile of papers. I thanked him and approached her with a smile, hoping that my face didn’t look as though I had just been crying hysterically for the last hour.

“Hey, I’m Selena, I don’t think we’ve really had the chance to meet before?” I said as I stood next to her. She looked up at me with a smile and gestured for me to sit in the chair next to her.

“I’m Eleanor, nice to meet you!” She smiled brightly and extended a hand, “I’ve heard you sing, I’m buzzing that we’re partners you know!” I laughed and shook her hand, feeling like the ice was quickly broken.

“Are these all your ideas?” I asked picking up one of the pieces of sheet music. She nodded and handed me a few to look at. She had some fairly good ideas.

“Yeah, I mean obviously if you don’t want to do any of them we can look…” she trailed off and I looked up at her with a reassuring smile.

“No, I think we could do great things with some of these.” She smiled at me in return and we got our heads down over the sheet music, pushing all thoughts of Harry and Taylor from my mind.

---

I walked to my car alone after school. The carpark was quiet since school had ended twenty minutes ago and I had stayed behind to grab some books from the library. The emptiness meant that I could see the figure leaning against my car from the end of the path. I paused, before approaching him defiantly.

“Please don’t be mad at me, S…” He said quietly as I got closer and he could see the stony expression I had plastered on my face, I ignored him as I opened my back door and put my bag on the backseat. He sighed and came around to me with a sad expression on his face as he continued, “Come on, please, talk to me…” I slammed the door and turned to face him.

“Oh, now you want me to talk to you? But today when I was crying because my best friend hates me, thanks to you, no, then you just weren’t interested were you?” I snapped. He closed his eyes and looked at the ground. I was taken aback, I had expected him to argue with me, not look so defeated.

“I know, I’m sorry Selena, I thought if Taylor saw us together it would only upset her more… but Louis told me what she said…” he hesitated and looked up at me, “You know you’re one of my best friends, you know it killed me to see you crying and feel like I shouldn’t say anything… I love being your shoulder to cry on...” a small smile danced on his lip

“It’s ok.” I said quietly, finding it hard to stay mad at him when he had clearly only done what he thought was best, “I know it’s nothing to do with me, and I’m sure that we’ll be fine when she’s calmed down and I tell her what happened with Jared on Saturday night.” Harry’s face flashed some unreadable emotion before he gave me a small smile.

“What happened with Jared?” He asked and I grinned widely as my cheeks flushed slightly at the memory.

“He said he loved me!” I said happily. Harry’s face was unreadable for a few seconds before he smiled, it didn’t seem to quite reach his eyes though.

“Wow, that’s great!” he said, but I couldn’t help but think the tone of his voice didn’t really match his words before he carried on, “So, are we ok now?”

“Yeah, of course.” I smiled and extended my arms for a hug. He mirrored my motion and pulled me into a warm, sweet smelling embrace.

“Yeah, nothing going on. Never talk to me again. Either of you.” Taylor’s voice came out of nowhere and I instantly pulled out of the hug, looking around for her. She was stood at the back of my car glaring at us both. I instinctively pushed past Harry to get to her but she had already reached her car and was getting in, moments later she was gone. I turned back to Harry with tears in my eyes, except this time he pulled me in for another hug and stroked my hair as I cried into his chest, mourning the loss of my oldest friendship.

Notes

Hope you like it :)

Lola xo