Damaged Goods. (A Harry Styles Fanic)

Chapter Eleven

It was a Tuesday evening and Lola was spending it curled up infront of the TV, John watching Deal Or No Deal and Jake doing some homework. Christina wasn’t home from work yet, which she should have been by now so Lola was getting annoyed. Her Mum was supposed to be bringing food for dinner home from the supermarket after work, and they were getting hungry.

Lola decided to use this opportunity to finish her English essay. She sat down at the table in the front room, her paper and pens sprawled across it. Jake hopped up beside her, asking for help with his Maths sums. Lola wished she still had homework this simple, frankly tired of the constant workload being put on her shoulders.

“You just see how many 3’s you can fit into 12”

“But it says dee….vid” Jake read slowly, making Lola chuckle

“That’s what dividing means. So count….3…6…9…12. How many’s that?”

“Four”

“There you go write that down” she said, and Jake, still slightly confused scribbled the number down.

Lola’s phone buzzed harshly on the wooden surface, the screen lighting up with a new text. Another one

- ‘wanna do smth bbe? come over? Z xx’

That must have been the fourth time he’d text her tonight, asking what she was doing, her plans for tomorrow, if she wanted to do something together. She was flattered by the sudden wave of attention he was giving her, but there was only so much she could bear.

Nothing much happened after they’d left the party, they just did as he suggested and went for a walk alone. Lola was slightly nervous but after a chat, some laughs and jokes, Zayn seemed to take a strong liking to her quickly, and now he wouldn’t stop pestering her. She liked him, and enjoyed the feeling of someone liking her, but Lola was an independent person and didn’t like being flustered all the time.

“That’s it, i’m starving. Who wants toasties?” John asked standing up, earning a loud “Me!” from Jake. Lola nodded gratefully and went back to her work without replying to the text.

“Who was that?” Jake asked, twiddling his pencil.

“Doesn’t matter” she muttered

“Why aren’t you texting back?”

“I will…later”

At the back of her mind, she believed Zayn was caught up in the moment when he said he’d dump Emma. He thought something better had come along, and broke it off with her by text on the night of the party. But Lola secretly thought that he was starting to regret it, and miss her better company. So he began to shower Lola in attention as a rebound and only wanted her for a temporary distraction.

She didn’t know if it was true, or whether he genuinely liked her, but she decided to expect the worst to avoid getting hurt. She didn’t want to lead him on either, until she was sure if she really liked him or not.

Another thing was the matter of Jackie, who’d had a crush on Zayn for a few months now. Lola decided to come clean as to why she’d left the party early, and told her best friend that she went out alone with Zayn.

Jackie was initially huffy with her, and gave a long speech about how betraying that is, and how little Lola must care for her. Lola defended herself, apologising multiple times but didn’t manage to gain any forgiveness. Jackie was still in a bit of a mood with her, but they hadn’t exactly fallen out over it.

As for Harry, he was relishing the feeling of acomplishment when Emma crawled back to him after the party. She was gutted that nothing more was going to happen with Zayn, and seeked comfort in Harry. He tried to hide the smug look as he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her damp cheeks and telling her she has him instead. Emma believed he was truly sympathetic and wanted her to be happy, when really he just wanted her for himself. For now…