Safe With Me

Chapter 02 - Cool Kids

"Niall, I don't want to go to that party." I whined into the phone, hoping that for once, Niall would take pity on me and leave me alone for a night. I wanted to stay home, watch some Netflix, and cuddle with my cat, Olivia (Ok, she's more my sister's cat, but she loves me. Most of the time. Only when I give her treats, really, but whatever.) But instead, I found myself arguing with my best friend about some house party that was being hosted by people that I didn't really care about...or even know, for that matter.

"Come oooon. I know you want to, Harry. Parties are fun. We never do anything fun. And considering your summer this year was anything but fun, you need to go with me and let loose a bit."

I knew a lost battle when I saw one, and if I was being honest, it was impossible to argue with Niall. When he was serious about something, he annoyed the hell out of you until you gave in, and sometimes he didn't even wait for you to agree. He wanted to learn Golf, so he forced me to learn it with him. He wanted to check out a new fast food restaurant (half an hour from the city), he forced me to go with him and try it out. The list just goes on and on.

So I agreed to go with him, knowing that I would probably regret it later. I guessed Netflix and Olivia could do a day without me.

"Cool beans. I love you!! Oh, just so you know, Louis is coming with us, and he's kinda weird, so I think it will be safer if there are two of us with him." I heard Niall laughing as he hung up the phone. I sighed, throwing my phone onto my bed. Great. Just my fucking luck. The one person I had tried to avoid for the past week and who, apparently, hated me, was going to be there.

This was going to be a great night.

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When Niall told me that Louis was also going to be there, I asked my sister to drop me off at the house party. I didn't want to be in his presence any longer than I needed to. This night was going to be a disaster anyway, so I preferred to keep it as normal as possible until I was forced into Louis' presence, and that meant not riding in a car with him and Niall in uncomfortable silence.

Turns out the party was taking place at Liam's house. I didn't know if I was doomed or if life just liked to laugh at me. Maybe I should really murder Niall.

"Should I pick you up later, or are you going to ride with Niall?" my sister asked me, touching up her lip gloss in the mirror.

"Umm... I don't know. I'll send you a text, yeah?" I answered, giving her my usual kiss on the forehead. She took off, leaving me alone on the sidewalk. A lot of students were already piling up at the house, and you could hear the music blasting from outside. Liam's parents had a nice house...okay, it was more like a mansion than a house, but still. It had a huge front yard, a wrap around porch, and I could hear splashing from out back, which was probably a giant pool. There were people everywhere, and a quick glance around told me that I didn't know a single person within fifty feet of me. For a second, I thought about bailing and just going home, but then my sister would chew me out and preach to me about how I should socialize and get out more. I'm not antisocial, I'm really not. I have friends, but sometimes I rather spend my days at home, doing nothing and having time to myself. I didn't like being forced to go to parties where everyone was drunk, especially if I had to encounter the 'cool kids'.

Also, Louis was going to be there, and I still had mixed feelings about him. Most of the time I was angry at him for being so mean to me, but I also found myself feeling sorry for him. Maybe he just didn't know how to behave in a new place with new people.But that still didn't give him the right to act like a right twat.

Before I could change my mind and go home, however, Niall spotted me and waved me over to him. I sighed and made my way across the front yard. Guess my decision was just made for me...I was staying.