50 Rules to Stay Single { Harry fanfic }

Two

⠀⠀My phone has been beeping for an hour straight already. If this weren't an iPhone, I would have thrown it away the moment I receive a message from Harry.

⠀⠀Silent mode wasn't so helpful at all especially since I was actually listening to songs on Spotify while studying.

⠀After the 30th message he sent me, I finally switched my phone off instead. No music, no problem. No Harry too - which was much better.

⠀I concentrated on my schoolwork for tonight, an article on staying single. Of all the kids in school, I was the one who was tasked to write about it. This was my stepping stone to the Editorial Board. I've spent two years as a contributor. I assumed it's my time to level up.

⠀⠀Meager, the current Managing Editor told me that due to rampant cases of teenage pregnancy and depression caused by heart break, he thought of (what he considered as a good idea) ways on how to encourage teens that being single was all right - there's nothing to be ashamed of about it.

⠀⠀To be honest, he deserved to write about it. He had no girlfriend since probably, the existence of dinosaurs. Why am I even judging him? We're just massively the same. I never had an experience of being on a real relationship - the one that makes your heart pitter-patter. The kind of relationship that could put Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran's songs on replay.

⠀⠀I had been staring blankly on my laptop placed on my lap. Writer's block was on point. Maybe, I needed an inspiration. Pull yourself together Steph.

⠀⠀While thinking out loud on my bed with my back resting on headboard, I suddenly looked over my phone. Out of nowhere, a realization hit me, and it has something to do with Harry Styles' eagerness to have a conversation with me.

⠀⠀What if, I just write a set of rules in order to stay single? Rules that kids in my school could follow instead of writing about the disadvantages of being in a relationship. A set of rules which can be viewed as a preventive note or an advice written in a light and probably humorous tone.

⠀⠀I started my article with a title that says: Rules to Stay Single. I needed a specific number of rules though. A number that's not too big nor too small, so after several minutes of reasoning, I have decided that it would be fifty.

⠀⠀The only problem now would be - what would consist those 50 rules?

⠀⠀As much I do not want Harry to be involved in this article, I found myself writing about my own experience. He was the only guy who approached me like that - bullying me at Seattle's Best and afterwards, asking for my number from my dad. He was odd, but, undeniably good-looking. He's not my type though. Maybe he grew up with a mental disorder. Poor boy with a curly hair.

⠀⠀I mentally slapped myself because at some point, I kind of questioned: Does he like me? Or Does he just love to piss me off? Despite knowing that the latter sounded much worse than the first, I would have still preferred if he's just simply playing tricks on me.

⠀⠀To be honest, I could not handle being in love. I could not even handle saying hi to my crush without stuttering that one word greeting or turning red like a fire truck. Besides, it seemed impossible because normally, my crushes don't like me back.

⠀⠀I sighed, then typed the following:

⠀⠀Rule no. 1: Don't let anyone give your number to random strangers or even neighbors - especially boys.

⠀⠀Rule no. 2: Switch your phone into silent mode or turn it off in case any hot boy sends you a message, or worse, call.

⠀⠀I stopped in number two because so far, that's the craziest thing Harry had done to me. I never thought of using him as an experiment, a specimen just so I could continue the rules. After fifty, I probably would not let him talk to me anymore. I just have to be patient.

⠀⠀I begun to wonder what Harry was up to next. Pushing my laptop aside, I took my phone from my desk-drawer and turned it on. The moment the screen appeared, it surprised me. Fifty messages from Harry Styles. What a coincidence. I could not wait to read them all.
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