Fire (A Harry Styles Fan Fiction)

Chapter 1

The lunch hall was pretty quiet, enough to grab a sandwich and sit down on my own. This was what I hated about new schools, having to do everything alone. Eat, walk around, have classes. I'd always had someone to share that with, a friend or something. I suppose I didn't mind being uprooted, I just didn't like feeling so alone all the time.

I sat down on a table in the middle of the cafeteria, I felt silly, but I had nowhere else to go. I knew the first day was going to be a struggle, I'd anticipated it in all my new schools. Moving from city to city, country to country annoyed me, but it was a part of my life I suppose, like caring for a pet, you had to feed it and walk it, and I had to move. I was used to it by now.

I was glad to be back in London, I'd always thought of it as my home, even though I'd only lived there for a year. In a way, I resented my father...I know it was harsh but I couldn't help but feel anger towards his decisions; choosing work over my happiness.

The whole room was filled with people all nattering to one another, catching up on the gossip, talking about who had done what in the holidays. I had no idea who a single one of these people were, their faces all appearing foreign and intimidating. I remained calm and sedate in the middle of the room, hoping nobody would stare. Of course my wishes were far-fetched, who doesn't stare at the new kid? I'd always gotten a lot of attention from boys. I don't know what it was about me; they were always just attracted.

The queue for the cafeteria was getting longer as more people poured in, released late from their lessons, more eyes ferociously judging me. I took that opportunity to leave to cut short their scrutiny.

I stood up from the table and walked out of the room, grabbing my sandwich as I went. I'd just eat it somewhere else I suppose. I couldn't handle being the centre of attention, having everyone peering at me, even though they probably weren't. I knew it was most likely my imagination telling me that I was being judged.

I squeezed through the crowd of people blocking the exit and pushed my way to the courtyard. It was fairly empty, most people being inside in the queues. There was, however, a group of people stood round the corner, nattering to each other, giggling. They didn't look like the popular crowd, they seemed fairly average, but they appeared happier than any of the others in the school. They were gathered together in a miss-shaped circle, happily holding conversations between them. They seemed kind and less judgemental than the rest of the population, even though I had no prior contact with them whatsoever.

I walked past them in a bid to reach the maths block and eat alone, however one of the girls in the group walked up behind me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Hi," She started, I whipped around to look at her, she was fairly small and had shoulder-length brown hair, she wore glasses and had a brace, but she was pretty nonetheless. "I'm Paige, you're new right?" She enquired. Her face held a smile and her voice a gentle tone. Her group was standing behind her, some of them still talking amongst themselves, the others looking at us.

"Yeah, I'm Violet." I replied, trying to reciprocate her beaming smile. She let out a small laugh and reached for my hand, shaking it as she did.

"You're very pretty Violet, you can hang out with us until you get popular if you want?" Her voice still holding a cheery quality, smile still plastered on her face. I took her statement in jest but I sensed a part of her was sincere. I laughed a little at her account but nodded my head in appreciation. She pulled me over, with the hand that she still grasped, to her group who all welcomed me with broad smiles.

Paige was telling me all of their names in quick succession, I got a few of them but the others slipped my mind. There was a mix of boys and girls, about 10 of them altogether, none of them dazzling but most maintaining a sense of self-pride. I shook all their hands, my smile never faltering, and I thought to myself, maybe this time it'll be different. These people seemed so nice and caring, not worrying about social stature or acceptance, but being happy with what they were given. I prayed that maybe it would stay this way, that maybe we could be friends.