i sleep naked ➸ larry stylinson

seventy two

"you all are off to a bad start. have you forgotten the classroom rules? because some of you need those to be refreshed in your brains. do you need that?"

harry kept his eyes on his paper, gently tapping his pencil on the edge of his desk. his curls weren't long enough to fall in his face anymore, so he could see the teacher staring at him with an odd expression. don't look up, he thought. he'll look away after a while.

and to be honest, harry had no idea why he was looking at him when he was the only one in there following the rules. everyone around him was talking about their christmas break. for one, he didn't want to talk about his. and two, he had no one to talk about it with rather than zayn and niall, and they weren't in his math class, because they were both a level up.

his technique of avoiding mr. thomas' gaze did not work one bit, because now he was walking towards harry, his eyebrows furrowed. harry wished he could read people, but he was completely blanking on what interest mr. thomas had in him.

"mr. styles." his voice was low. harry's face burned when he realised all of his classmates' eyes were on him. he didn't respond though, just stared at the carpet and tried to keep his breathing even. all of this attention on him was causing his heart to race and his hands to shake.

"harry. answer me." this caused everyone in the room to laugh, some nervous, some amused. harry gripped his desk, before biting his lip and looking at mr. thomas, as if saying what?

"let me see your left hand."

harry immediately yanked his hand off the desk as if it burned him, and stuck it in the pocket of the sweatshirt he was wearing. "why?" he asked defensively. he didn't know why he didn't want to show off his ring to everyone. maybe it was because they would all start talking about him, and the one thing he hated the most was being in the center of attention.

"okay, if you're going to talk to me that way, i'm going to make you do more than show me your hand. stand up." he gestured with his hand for harry to get up, and harry knew that he was on the verge of tears, he could feel the lump in the back of his throat and the burning behind his eyes.

"now go to the front of the classroom." harry's cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of red, and he took small steps with his boots towards the front. the carpet was stained with highlighters and pens. the room around him got hotter and hotter as he walked up to the board, and he felt himself start to sweat nervously. louis, come here.

"now i want you to tell the class the story of how you got that ring. i wasn't going to make you do that, i just wanted to see your ring, but now that you're being disrespectful that isn't an option anymore."

harry was shaking with anger and embarrassment. he was being asked to do the hardest task he could do. 

"go on," mr. thomas nodded, which resulted in the snickers of his classmates. harry looked at the wall, unable to make eye contact with any of them.

"they proposed to me," he whispered, and mr. thomas cleared his throat before putting a hand behind his ear.

"they proposed to me!" harry yelled. 

instead of getting mad, mr. thomas just nodded and encouraged him to go on.

"and they kissed me. and now we're getting married."

"do we know your fiancé?"

"no." harry shook his head back and forth as fast as he could. 

"isn't it louis tomlinson?" somebody from the back of class, and harry stepped back, stung with betrayal, when he realised it was eleanor. she didn't seem to notice that he was upset with her, just smiled and waved at him. "i'm so happy for you two," she smiled.