"Ok guys, if your surname falls between name A and H, you're going to be recording a clip for me today so make sure you keep an ear out for your name while you practice and don't go wandering off. If your surname is after H then just go and practice, maybe ask someone else to listen and give you some pointers?" Mr. Ford suggested to the class before beckoning to Adele to come into the performance room.

"You nervous, S?" Taylor asked as we walked to try and find an empty place to practice. My surname being Gomez meant that I was one of the unlucky few who would be singing today. I shrugged, I had butterflies, but I was confident in my singing voice and knew that I should be ok. We found an empty room and were just about to begin practicing when the door opened, and Harry was standing there with Louis at his flank.

"Do you mind? Everywhere else is full?" he asked, looking at me apologetically before letting his eyes linger on Taylor as he pulled up two chairs to make a sort of circle. I noticed that he seemed to position his chair quite close to hers and that pang of nausea that I was getting used to having throughout the day came back again when he began pointing at something on her music sheet and talking quietly to her. Louis hesitated before sitting awkwardly in the chair next to me.

I sorted through my own sheets as I heard Taylor giggle at something Harry had said, I decided to try and just ignore them and figure out what song I would sing.

"Have you picked something?" Louis asked awkwardly after a minute or two. I hesitated before handing him the two songs that I was torn between, both originals that had never really been seen by anyone. He handed one of them to Harry and one back to me. Harry, who had been in deep conversation, seemed confused at first but then read over the music and looked up and smiled.

"Did you write this?" he asked, his forest green eyes had a sparkle in them and seemed to be dancing before me. I flushed red and nodded before he continued, "Do you want me to play for you, to practice?" Before I could even answer he has left the room and came back a minute later with a guitar, and after fiddling with the pegs, he begins to follow the music and playing expecting me to sing.

"I wouldn't want to be anybody else!... Hey!... You made me insecure..." I begin, and he instantly looks up with a grin. I carry on and I can tell that both he and Louis are surprised, I'm better than they expected, while Taylor sways and nods her head to the song that she's heard a million times. I keep my eyes fixed on Taylor for a minute because I'm suddenly aware how nervous Harry's eyes are making me feel, she smiles at me encouragingly and I'm enjoying the music. My eyes glance from Taylor to Louis, who is tapping his feet and staring at me impressed, and then from Louis to Harry. Harry is looking at the fretboard of the guitar, moving in rhythm to the music, music that I had written. I watched him as he played, impressed at how quickly he had picked up a song he had never seen before, and then my heart sank, for some reason, as he looked away from the fretboard and over at Taylor's smiling face and reflected his own smile back at her. I spent the last minute of the song feeling disappointed and I didn't even know why.

"That was amazing, S! I still think Who Says is one of my favourites that you've written!" I smile at her half-heartedly just as Perrie popped her head round the door, she took a moment to look confused by the odd combination of people in the room but then told me that Mr. Ford wanted me for my turn.

"Good luck! We'll just wait here for you!" Taylor smiled before giving Harry one of her own pieces of sheet music for him to play. I instinctively rolled my eyes and instantly felt bad. What was wrong with me today? I took my sheet music from the chair next to Harry who was too involved in Taylor's instructions to look up. Louis stood up and paused before awkwardly reaching out and patting me on the shoulder, in what I can only presume was meant to be an encouraging way before we both left the room, leaving Taylor and Harry to their own practice.

---

After my performance, the day passed by in pretty much the same way. Taylor seemed to be really getting on my nerves today, so I found myself glad when she said she had a Geography study group after school, leaving Harry and I alone to walk to the carpark. We walked to the cars in what had turned into comfortable silence at some point during the day, until he spoke.

"Well, I think it worked." I must have looked confused because he clarified without me saying anything, "Me staying with you all day." I nodded and suddenly a realisation hit me.

"I didn't even see Kendall today though, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see... I don't think she's going to appreciate her boyfriend-" He cut me off before I could finish.

"We broke up last night, that's why she wasn't in, but it's not really any of her business now anyway." He said quietly. I studied his face and but he had a stony expression hiding any emotion if he felt any about the situation. I found myself wanting to know how he felt about Kendall right now though, whether it was him or her who did the dumping and if it was just a heat of the moment thing? It's funny if I had been told this three days ago I wouldn't have cared, but I still couldn't pinpoint what it was that had changed.

"So anyway," he said changing the subject, "You're not the only one who has benefitted from me staying near you today!" He grinned and I saw his eyes sparkle as he thought about something and continued, "Your friend, Taylor, she's so sweet, I really enjoyed meeting her, she's like this little ball of sunshine! You guys seem so different it surprises me that you're so close!" I could tell by his tone that there was no intent behind what he said, but hearing him talk about Taylor seemed to spark annoyance within me and I found myself baiting him.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I asked. He looked taken aback and tried to backtrack and say he hadn't meant anything by it, but it was too late, annoyance had been bubbling in me all day and it seemed to have a mind of its own, "No, go on, tell me! Taylor's so lovely and we're so different, so what does that make me?"

"Spunky, she's sweet but she's not got as much spark as you do." He said with a smirk as we reached the cars and stopped. That caught me off guard and he knew it, "Kendall could see you were feisty from the beginning which is why she didn't leave you alone and why we are where we are now." The anger slowly subsided and I felt myself blushing, I had never considered myself as feisty before.

"Thanks, I guess." I mumbled, trying to avoid looking at his face from embarrassment, "So I'll see you tomorrow then." I said, opening the boot and throwing my bag in, expecting him to do the same for his own car. But instead he nodded and started walking back toward the school.

"You're not going home?" I found myself calling after him. He turned to face me with a smile and shook his head.

"Taylor said she wanted to tell you herself so I guess don't tell her I told you, but I asked her if she fancied catching a film later." I forced myself to smile back at him and nod as I felt my heart sink and realisation finally hit me.

"Oh, thanks for walking me to my car then." I had to swallow the lump in my throat and keep up the appearance that everything was fine for just a few more seconds.

"I said I would." He winked at me and turned around to continue walking back to the school. I watched him for a few seconds before getting into my car. I didn't turn the car on though. I just sat, staring at the wheel in disbelief as I felt fat, hot tears dribbling down my face. I didn't know how it happened but my day was suddenly starting to all make sense. The pangs of nausea, getting so annoyed at Taylor, feeling my heart sink every time I saw her eyes meet his and not being able to stop staring at his incredibly cute eyes, it was clear to me now. I had somehow developed a crush on Harry Styles, the same guy that everyone in the god-damn fucking school had a crush on, the guy my best friend, the girl who has practically been my sister since nursery, is about to go on a fucking date with. Life literally couldn't get any worse.

Notes

Thank you for reading <3 Please Rate, Comment and Subscribe for more <3


Lola xo