School the next day felt lonely again. I wasn't depressed. I wasn't going to become suicidal or resort to drugs to keep me happy. I wasn't like that. I was just lonely.
When Harry noticed me by myself at lunch, he left his popular friends to join me. It almost made me cry.
Why was Harry so good to me? What had I done to deserve him?
Then I remembered one of my favorite quotes from my all time favorite book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
"We accept the love we think we deserve," I said aloud .Harry nodded even though I could tell he had no idea what I was talking about.
"Why are you so good to me?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders and didn't say anything. Harry was furrowing his eyebrows and obviously pondering over what I was saying.
Harry's POV
Everything Nicole was saying made me think about my own life. She had told me that we accepted the love we thought we deserved. The quote sounded familiar.
Had she been talking about Zayn? And if she was, then she deserved so much more.
I wanted to make her feel as special as she was but I didn't know how. I saw my friends staring at me from across the lunch room.
"Why are you talking to her?" Jake mouthed. I pretended not to notice him. It wasn't like I was just going to leave her. What did he want me to do about it?
Then I saw Zayn closing in on the table, ready to protect Nicole in whatever way I had to.
"Woah dude, calm down," he said, putting a hand on my chest. I refused to listen to him though and he just shook his head.
Nicole shifted uncomfortably in her chair and her eyes darted around nervously.
"I came to apologize," Zayn spat at me. Then he turned to Nicole and his clenched jaw softened.
"Nicole, I'm sorry. I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to. It's my fault," he said, sounding sincere. Nicole just looked up awkwardly at me. I hated Zayn for trying to pressure her. She tried to please him, but she was so innocent.
"It's okay," Nicole said under her breath. "I forgive you."
I wanted to yell at her, "What are you doing?"
"I hope we can be together," Zayn said, his voice dropping and his head lowering. I was still standing and people were looking at us.
I watched angrily as Nicole peered up at Zayn, her eyes full of affection and adoration. Zayn's eyes were bloodshot from smoking and lack of sleep. They looked like black holes.
I wanted to say, "He doesn't care about you!"
I had to bite my tongue, because I knew if I said something Nicole would be crushed and I couldn't bear to see that. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I was the reason for Nicole's pain.
Little did I know that I was just causing her even more pain.
Nicole's POV
I wanted Harry to punch Zayn. I wanted him to tell him to never talk to me again. I wanted him to stick up for me like he had in the Niall situation. I looked at him for support as Zayn hovered over me, but he kept quiet.
"I forgive you," I said, after realizing Harry wasn't going to do anything. Zayn whispered some sort of fake apology. I hated myself for being weak. Why was I still attracted to him? I could feel his cool minty breath on my cheek as he spoke and all I wanted to do was kiss him.
Why? Why? Why? Why did Zayn have to be so beautiful?
"So will you come to my house this afternoon? I promise I won't try anything."
Harry's body grew rigid beside me. He was about to lash out, but he contained himself. I didn't want him to contain himself though. Tears were brimming in my eyes and I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath.
"Okay," I said.
"Kay see you later beautiful," Zayn said, giving me a tight squeeze before sauntering away, his hand in his back pocket. I couldn't help but notice how breathtaking and care free he was. It made me envy him. Then I remembered that I didn't want to have anything to do with him.
The bell rang.
"Okay, well I guess I'll be seeing you around, I hope," Harry said, leaving me. He brushed some loose curls from his face and smiled. That's when I became aware that he was just as angelic as Zayn, but in a different way. A better way.
But why would he ever be interested in me?
As I walked up the stairs, Harry was in front of me, chatting with one of our class mates, Emily. She was throwing her head back as she laughed. Their eyes locked for a second and a giggle escaped her lips.
I wished Harry looked at me like that.
