The New Guy

Chapter 9

He drags me by the hand and I reluctantly climb into the passenger seat. He shuts the door for me and walks around to his side. When he gets into the car he looks at me with a smile, but I refuse to look at him. He starts the engine and pulls away from the coffee shop, heading in a foreign direction.

"Niall... Wh- where are you going?!"
"Oh... Well I thought we could go to the park for a while or something"

"What! Niall no, take me home!" I yell, gripping the dashboard.
He turns to look at me with a frown.
"Why?"
"Because! I'm annoyed at you and I didn't even want to talk to you right now, just take me home! How can you be so... Full of yourself?"

"What...? You know what, never mind." He says flatly, then turns the car round so we're driving towards my house.
We sit in steely silence, both staring straight ahead, the tension in the air thick like mortar. Suddenly a thought comes into my head.
"My parents!" I exclaim.
"What about them?" Niall asks angrily.
"Well, I don't know if they'll be home yet. Oh man, I hope they're not, they will not react well to me being out with a boy."
"Juliet, you're 17."
"I am aware, thank you. Yeah no, my parents won't be pleased... I really hope they're still out."

Niall opens his mouth, as if to say something, but stops. We resume the silence until we pull up outside my house, and I see my fathers car in the drive.
"No no no..." I say under my breath, hoping that they won't have heard the engine.
I hop out of the car just as my mother trots out the front door in some ridiculously high heels.

"Hi..." I say shyly.
My mum looks straight past me to Niall's car. Why is he not leaving?
"Who is he?!" My mum asks, frowning and pointing a finger at the offending vehicle.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking." I reply crossing my arms.
"Excuse me, I don't need your cheek. Who is that boy?"
"That is Niall."
"Why were you in his car?"
"Because we went out." I reply, emotionless. I wish Niall would leave, but instead he stays and watches this all happen.
"Juliet you know how I feel about you and boys."
At this point my father joins us.
"Who is he?" He echoes my mother, glaring at me with judging eyes.
"That's Niall." I say with the same tone as before. Niall waves at my parents with a smirk, offending them further.
"Well I don't want you to go out with him again!" My mother yells, wagging a finger at me.
"I can hang out with who I want!" I reply, getting frustrated. They've been away for days, and this is the 'hello' I get?
"Where is this attitude coming from?" My father says loudly enough for the neighbours to hear. "You'd better sort it out young lady!"
"Why are you so quick to judge all the time. You don't even know him!" I shout back. So now I'm defending Niall...
"Listen, if you're going to act like that you are not welcome in this home." My mother says agitatedly.
"Fine. I'll leave." I say calmly. I stalk past them, ignoring their shouts and go up to my room, quickly shoving clothes and necessities into a duffle bag. That escalated so quickly I didn't even know what was happening, and now I am homeless. I wipe away the tears that seem to have accumulated and head back downstairs, and walk past my parents without saying a word. I am relieved to see Niall still sitting in the drive.

I climb into the passenger seat and shove my bag in the back. My parents are red-faced with anger, and my mother stomps up to the car.
"You listen closely. If he hurts you, you better not come running to me, because I can assure you, you will not be getting any sympathy from me."
"You wouldn't have given it to me anyway." I say simply, and slam the door shut.

Niall quickly reverses out and drives away from that horrible home. It isn't until we're away from the house that I feel a burning desire to cry.

"Are you okay?" Niall asks quietly.
"I'm fine." I say, my voice catching.
"It's ok if you're not. You don't have to act strong."
"I'm fine Niall, okay?!" I yell.
"Sorry..." He responds quietly.
I sigh deeply, willing that the tears won't fall.
"No I'm sorry. But Niall I'm scared! What do I do? Where do I go? I have nowhere to go. I have nowhere to go." I start repeating it like a mantra, over and over.

Niall sits beside me chewing his lip.
"You can come to my place if you need to."
"Really?" I say, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"Yeah."

Maybe this will be ok after all...

------ Niall's POV -------

"I have nowhere to go... I have nowhere to go... I have nowhere to go..."

She repeats it over and over again, rocking back and forth in her chair. She doesn't stop and I'm scared she'll have another 'anxiety attack', or whatever they're called. Before I think it through it's out of my mouth.

"You can come to my place if you need to."
She stops and looks at me with fearful eyes.
"Really?" She enquires with a quivering voice.
I clear my throat, hoping to form a coherent thought, but the sight of her upset....
"Yeah."

She visually relaxes after that, letting out a sigh and reclining in her chair. I steal a sidewards glance at her. She has her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. I don't even notice I'm grinning at her until I turn away. How does she affect me like this? I've tried to steer clear of emotion as much as possible since my childhood, but she drags something new out of the depths of my heart. I just need to figure out what this emotion is.

It's not a negative emotion. I know them well enough to know that this is different. It's like a strange mix of excitement and joy, (not that I'm very well aquatinted with these feelings) and I can't seem to control it.
I shake my head, hoping somehow to shake the very thoughts from my mind.

Suddenly the realisation hits me.

"We- uh, change of plan. Juliet?"
"Mm." She moans, as if I've woken her up from a deep sleep.
"Is it ok if I just take you to a hotel or something? My house isn't... It's, um..." I scramble for words.
"It's just not suitable for you to come around right now."

She sits up, now intrigued.
"In what way?" She asks.

My house barely passes as a house. It's a run down shack, is the only way to describe it. It's stickable- I cope fine. But if she sees it she'll start to piece things together about me, and I'd rather avoid any confrontation.
I spent a lot of my money on this nice car, trying to put on a facade for everyone, I was too scared to splash out on a home.
"It's not clean, and there aren't enough bedrooms."
"I don't mind, I can sleep on the sofa."
"No! Okay? You can't stay!" I snap.

I see her bite her lip and look out the window, probably trying not to show any sign of weakness to me after I've hurt her; yet again.
"Ok." She says quietly. "That's fine.

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