The Parallels (Larry Stylinson+Niall Horan)

Chapter 8

HARRY

School was almost over. I was sitting in my last class, totally absent minded. I hardly ever paid attention in classes except for the art period. I liked drawing and sketching portraits. It was one of those very few things that kept me calm. I always considered myself as one of those who needed distractions because I have extreme social anxiety and I cry very easily. I felt like an alien walking around the school. I just kept glancing at the watch on my wrist which was a birthday gift from my sister, Gemma. I always kept it near me, even when I'm not wearing it, because it reminded me of her and that kept me strong. Even though she is a December born, she already went off to college this summer as our mum admitted her in pre school sooner. I miss her all the time as she was the one who protected me and loved me the most. The only place other than my house where I felt safe, was with my best friends. They were the most amazing people I had met and I felt lucky to have them. They always put up with me, no matter how annoying and strange I acted. They were a blessing in disguise.

With the buzzing sound of an electronic bell, the daily horror ended. I got up from my seat in my slow and relaxed manner and walked towards the door. There I saw two of my best friends standing as if they were waiting for a king to arrive. Both of them stood uptight and silent.

"Hey Harry. How was your day?" Zayn jumped and took my bag from my shoulder for some reason. I just thought it was weird.

"Alright." I replied, as usual. I always tried to keep the reality to myself. The truth is, every day at school is a challenge for me. Everyone around me either looks at me with strange expressions or calls me weird names. I could even feel my teachers growing tired of my silence. Why wouldn't they? I barely spoke, I stuttered whenever I tried to answer and I was almost failing at maths. Days were only getting tougher. I didn't like being in high school. Not that the children in middle school were any better, but at least my grades were.

"What are you thinking about, Harry?" Niall said in his Irish accent and put his arm around my shoulder.

"Nothing. Where are we going today?" I wanted to change the topic in order to hide the heavy feeling in my chest that I was starting to have.

"Well, I told the girls that they could decide."

"Is Liam coming?" Zayn asked.

"Yes yes, he is. So is Louis." I immediately understood why Zayn was acting so nice. Once again, he would try to get me to talk to Louis. He always did that. Whenever he knew that Louis was gonna be around, he started to try and flatter me in order to make me talk. I never understood why Zayn was so determined. I have had a crush on Louis for over two years now. He came here in his freshman year. Liam and him were both Juniors now. Liam has been my best friend from when we were very young, just like the other two boys, but Louis did not like hanging out with a lot of people. He was a fierce person and that is what scared me even more. I have always been scared of talking to anyone, let alone a person like him. I was pretty sure that if I said something, he'd shout at me and I'd start crying which was definitely the last thing I wanted.

"You guys better not try to get me to talk to him." I said, trying to sound firm.

"Harold, you're so poor at scaring us. It's not like we're going to listen to you, anyway." Zayn replied.

"I won't!"

"You will. And I will make sure of it"

I didn't say anything to that. It was no use trying to argue with Zayn. He was good at giving witty replies and making me give up. I always did with him. His actions never hurt me, though. All three of the boys always tried to keep me safe and sometimes, it almost felt as if I was made of glass.

One of the girls' mother had agreed to drive them over and Liam was coming with Louis in his car so, it was just we three in Niall's. Zayn was sitting in the backseat of the car while I sat in the front along with Niall, who was driving.

"Hey H! Are you ready?" Zayn laughed.

"I'm not talking to anyone. Besides, why don't you make Niall talk? He likes E-" I screamed when Niall smacked me extremely hard on my leg. It was the worst that Niall had ever hit me. I'm pretty sure that happened only because he was driving so he couldn't really control the intensity of his blow.

"Oh my god, H! I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry. I didn't mean to hit you that hard. My focus was on the road ahead and I... it just happened. I'm so sorry, Harry. I really didn't mean to do that." I could feel the regret in his voice. He kept looking back and forth between me and the road. His head was turning at a speed higher than the car. Even though I knew he was sorry, I felt bad. I couldn't help it.

So, I finally said in a very low voice. "It's fine."

"Harry, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like that."

I did not reply to it. I did not feel like I could. I don't like when people touch me especially, in such a manner. I suddenly started to have painful glimpses. I could feel my swollen eye with tears in it, my bruised cheek which hurt every single time that I tried to move my jaw and my helpless state. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't protect myself. I was weak and devoid of power. All that I could do, was scream and cry as I was being pushed against the wall and being beaten up. I started digging my nails into my palms to avoid crying in the car. I felt a shudder go down my spine and I could tell that Niall noticed it. He didn't speak anything, though. It was probably because he knew how sensitive this could get for me. We drove the rest of the way in complete silence.

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