Teeth [Harry Styles Fanfiction]

Chapter Twenty Three

Harry’s Point of View:              

Once I got home, I couldn’t even handle the unsettle pit in my stomach. I felt so guilty and worried about leaving Jaycee behind like that. Yes, I knew she was worried about her mum but I was worried about her. Maybe I was just over thinking things; maybe everything was okay after all. When I arrived up to my flat, I walked inside and threw my coat on the couch. I was still home alone, luckily, and I tried to relax on my bed. Jaycee’s shivering body lay here only a few hours ago. Now that I thought about it, a lot of insecurities started to play in my head. What if she looked at this place and saw it as a dump of some sort? What if it didn’t add up to what she expected? I don’t know why this bothered me so much because truthfully, it never bothered me before. I’m naturally a clean person, but there were times where I just said ‘fuck it’ and invited girls over when my room looked like shit. That’s only because if I didn’t care about the girl, I wouldn’t care about cleaning up but this was Jay – it was different.

With a huff, I reached for my phone and decided to text her, just to make sure she was okay.

Sent: Harry ; Is everything okay? I just wanted to make sure you were fine – Harry

Waiting patiently, I tossed on my side and looked at my scribbles all over my wall. My mind sort of just started drifting away in its own thoughts and eventually, I began to reminisce my past. April 23, 2013 – the anniversary of that day was coming quicker than anticipated. I thought about that night, the night of the fire and my eyes winced close.

~ Flashback ~

“Just take one, take one hit!” Daniel poked my side, trying to force his cig in my hand. Immediately, I shook my head. Smoking wasn’t my problem – it was the place we were smoking in that made me feel uneasy. For Christ sakes, it was in our school building. “No, man. Don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Don’t be a pussy, Styles.” Michael, my other friend jabbed my shoulder. With a huff, I ruffled my small curls out of my face and gave him a sour look. All he did was simply exchange one of his infamous smirks at me. “I’d watch who I’d call a pussy, Michael. Remember last time?” I mused out loud, a hint of my own sinister tone lingered in my words. Once I said that, his expression on his face had gone blank and now, the rest of the guys were laughing at him. “Whatever, at least I’m not afraid of a little smoke.”

“Come on, Harry, just one puff. It’s not like you don’t smoke. What’s the difference if you take a swig in here?” Michael was now being persistent, considering he jabbed the lit up cigarette in my hand. “For fuck sakes, fine.” Giving in, I inhaled the smoke and impressed the guys by the clouds of rings that I exhaled. No one else I knew could do that – that was only because I was the master at it. They all watched, almost in amazement, and I smirked as I smoked away. It was times like this where I felt invincible. No one could tell me anything I didn’t want to hear simply because they were afraid of me. I got to be dominant over every situation and I practically had the whole school in the palms of my hands. It wasn’t challenging to work the system around me, but that was because I’m a cheeky bastard.

And then – it happened too quickly. “Oh shit, Donovan is coming!” Michael called out as his eyes were glued down the hall. Donovan was our school’s security guy who always gave us shit for being late for class. If he caught me smoking, I didn’t even want to know the consequences. “Fuck!” The boys panicked, as they burned out their cigarettes. Thinking I had burned out mine, I subconsciously threw it on the floor. I didn’t even realize what I had just done…

“Harry! What the hell!”

I heard shouting and screaming but my mind went blank. Everyone around me was becoming a blur and all I could pay attention to was the immediate line of fire that had just started in the hallway. A fire that I started.  My eyes seemed glued to the attraction and I hadn’t even realized that I was being pulled away by Michael’s tug at my arm. “Have you gone mad?! We have to go!”