Panic Attack - H.S. AU

Chapter Seventeen

-Valerie-

"He's not going to find out," I told Niall for what felt like the hundredth time.

He'd been lecturing me over the phone for over an hour as I did my makeup Zayn's big celebration. I put him on speaker after the first ten minutes of his speech, knowing that he was prepared to chat my ears off.

As for the party, there was no way of getting out of it without Harry finding out I'd been lying to him. I'd been keeping Zayn a secret from him for a long time so it didn't make much sense to go back now.

"I've already told him, Valerie. Game over," he tried to warn me.

"This isn't a game to me Niall," I reminded him, "at all."

"Then please don't go tonight," he begged me.

I sighed. "I'n sorry, but I kind of have to."

Niall grew quiet, taking a bit of time to put two and two together. "This isn't about Harry, is it? This is about Zayn."

I paused in the middle of applying a dark shade of lip stick. I didn't reply to him, knowing that I couldn't admit the truth.

"Valerie? Are you still there?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm still here." I said quietly.

"So I guess that means I'm right."

"It's not what you think. I just want to see how he's holding up after everything that went down between us. He once meant a lot to me, you know." I told him.

I wasn't even sure why I was confiding in Niall. He was Harry's best friend, not mine. However, Angie had been M.I.A lately and even though most of the time he was lecturing me about how I constantly made bad decisions, lately Niall was the closest thing I had to a friend.

"And that's all?" He questioned.

"We were friends before we started dating...briefly, but there was some sort of bond between Zayn and me before things escalated."

"Every day I ask myself if encouraging Harry to go after you was a good thing."

"And?"

"And I still don't know the answer to that question," he said without hesitation.

"See you tonight," I said to him before hanging up.

I looked at the girl sat across from me. I stared at her serious, short brown hair and skinny face. I gazed into her innocent eyes and angry brows. I looked at her bold lips as they pressed into a thin line. She looked like the type of person that would stab you in the back and then ask you why you're crying. She appeared manipulative---a champion compulsive liar. Worst of all,  looked exactly like me.

Niall was right. Harry had to know the truth—all of it.

Just as I reached for my phone, I heard someone knock on my door. I walked over and peeked into the peep hole to find Harry dressed in a black suit. I smiled to myself and let him inside.

"Wow, you sure clean up nice." I smiled at him.

"And you look--like you're still in your robe," he teased me.

"Thank you. I'm going for a new look." I twirled around a bit and burst into laughter. "Sorry I guess lost track of time. I'll put my dress on in a minute."

I then rushed out of my living room and headed into my room. I searched for my special red dress that I'd only worn one other time in my life, to a yacht party that Zayn had invited me to. He bought it specially for me and I knew that this was probably the worst night for me to wear it, but it was honestly the prettiest thing I owned.