Neighborhood ➳ h.s. au

Sixteen

authors note: changed chapter fifteen on neighborhood! please read! I didn't like how I rushed them into a relationship, so please give me feedback!

thank you!!

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Ann sat on the ground, her head between her knees as her fingernails dug into the sides of her legs. She had been so stupid. So, so stupid, and now there was no turning back. He had known the way she felt, and now she didn't even know how she was ever going to face him.

She was terrified.

She knew that word would get around, that maybe he would tell Marie, or his friends, and they would all make fun of her by pointing and laughing as she walked past them in the hallway. She didn't want to take the chance, but it wasn't like she could just skip school over some dumb boy. She needed to go. She needed to face her fears.

Jewel poked her head in the room just in time to see Ann lift her head and stare ahead at the wall. "I heard about what happened." She walked over to her daughter and sat down, her arm resting on her shoulders. "Harry's mother told me."

"Did she?" Ann mumbled, her hands covering her face.

"He's just as torn up about this as you are." Jewel sighed, her head resting on her daughter's shoulder. "Ann, even if he doesn't feel the same way, you two need to work this out. You two are best friends."

Ann shook her head. "We haven't even known each other for long." She uncovered her face and looked at her mother. "I'm just the clingy girl next door that has a crush on him."

"It's not just a crush, my love." Jewel held Ann's hand and grinned sadly. "You love this boy, and he's your best friend. All your other friends here are not as close to you as he is." She gave her hand a tight squeeze and looked at the struggling girl. "I know love is hard, I was a teenager too at one point, and I had crushes on boys as well."

Ann turned her head to look at Jewel, who was looking at the wall ahead of them. On the wall was a picture of the two, mother and daughter laughing and smiling. They had been through hell and back together, and Jewel couldn't be anymore thankful for the girl that had grown up to be so beautiful in her eyes.

"So, you know what you have to do, Ann?"

Ann looked up at her, her nose running slightly. "What?"

"Let him see how better off you're doing now that it's off your chest." She ran her fingers through her light hair and smiled. "Walk around and smile, laugh with your friends, let him see that this didn't phase you."

Ann felt tears form in her eyes and she shook her head. "But it did."

"He doesn't have to know that." Jewel planted a light kiss on the side of her daughter's head, her hand giving hers one last squeeze before standing up. "Now, come on, let's go make pancakes and lay in bed."

-

Ann took a deep breath as she stared at the large school building ahead of her. It was grey, dull and boring, and she'd rather be at home than be at school where she could either be humiliated or loved. Either way, it was a hit or miss, and there was no turning back.

Ann's black flats clacked against the school's white tile as she walked through the door, and the moment she had, she instantly regretted it. Harry was standing at his locker, his fingers tapping away at the screen of his phone as he was facing the door. Ann knew that at any moment he could look up and see her standing and staring at him, and she needed to get out of there.

Let him see how better off you're doing now that it's off your chest, Jewel's words echoed in her mind. No, she couldn't be weak. She needed to be strong for her mother. She needed to make him see that she was doing okay.

And that she did.

She walked past him, her head held high as she did so, and she knew that his bright emerald eyes were watching her as she did, because the warm contact of his hand caught her wrist just in time before she rounded the corner.

"Ann," he stated quietly, his eyes begging for her to hear him out. And, for whatever reason, every ounce of strength she had in her body disappeared, and she stood looking at him, her heart breaking every second that his lips parted to form the words that she no longer wanted to hear from him. "I'm sorry," he said as he took a step closer. "I'm sorry I ran from you. I'm sorry that I didn't say those words back." She felt his hand go limp in hers and she let go, her eyes closing as she took a step back. "I wasn't expecting you to-"

"It's okay," she interjected. "I wasn't expecting you to say it back." She falsely grinned and nodded. "It's okay."

"Ann, please-"

"Harry," she held up a hand and shook her head. "I'm going to be late."

And as she turned away from him, she let the tears fall silently down her cheeks. She felt so stupid, so fragile, and she didn't want anything to do with herself anymore, or these emotions she had for the boy next door.

But, she knew that would never be possible, because every time he said her name it was as if the waves on the beach had gone silent, as if every bone inside her body had stopped aching for him, as if he was saying those three words just in one word itself,

and she knew that he would never, ever, feel like just a friend to her again.

author's note: hi everyone!! please comment about how you think this story is going so far, maybe? I would like to know what you guys would like to see in terms of Harry and Ann finally being together sometime in the future! please comment and vote! thank you for all your support!