a world alone // harry styles

One

(Seven Months Earlier)

"But why, mom? Homeschooling was such a good option."

My voice faded near the end of my sentence as I picked up on the whiny proximity of my word choice.

"Laina, every adult in this country had to go through high-school at one point. You'll survive."

My mother sighed, leaning forward to press her forehead against the steering wheel.

I was being a pest again. That's all I was, anymore. These past few months had been exceptionally difficult for my family and I, the stress beginning when my little sister found our father in his office with his assistant.

My sister was too young to know exactly what was happening, but from her description, we grasped the gist of it.

Every night he had worked late, every weekend spent in another town on business, every elongated meeting was a lie. Angela, a 20-something-year-old fresh out of college, had split our family apart.

"Yeah, whatever." I spat, not being able to come up with a new backlash. I slammed the door behind me, quickly trotting up the concrete slope of a sidewalk and under the awning to escape the chilling rain.

This day had been in my nightmares for the past few weeks. It was junior year for me, and school had never been easy. I knew this year would be terrible, considering my family had fallen apart within a matter of hours.

Maybe getting out of the house would be a good thing, I could get my mind off of the previous month and be a normal, cheerful girl again.

I began walking down the hallway to my first period, English. I was excited for this because I had always been amazing at ELA, and I planned on being a writer when I graduated.

The classroom was halfway full when I entered, so I walked to the middle of the room and picked a desk that was a bit secluded from the other students. I wasn't in the mood to make friends, not that I ever had many anyway.

A few more people filed in before the bell rang, and then a woman dressed in a pant suit with short, blonde hair walked in, shutting the door behind her.

Everyone around me silenced their conversations while she stood there patiently, and soon she gave a warm smile and cleared her throat.

"Good morning, everyone. I'm Ms. Cardellini and I'll be your English teacher for this year. Now I'm a bit new to teaching, so if you could each raise your hand as I call the role, it will help me identify you better and then we can get started." She said excitedly and I cringed.

She seemed very chirpy and loud, overly excited for the first day of school. Something about her name stuck out to me, but I couldn't fathom why.

Cardellini. I spoke the name quietly to myself, letting it roll across my tongue. Cardellini. Why was this name so familiar? And then it hit me as she began writing her name on the white-board with a purple expo marker.

Angela Cardellini. The very woman who had ripped my family apart merely two months ago. Here she was, my year-long English teacher. My breathing hitched a bit and my chest tightened as I fought back all of the emotions I had bottled up. I couldn't have a break down in the middle of first block on the first day, everyone would think I was insane.

Angela continued calling out names until she spoke mine in a light, airy voice. "Laina Stribley?" She asked gently, scanning the room with a large smile. My arm shook as I raised it, swallowing hard and trying to take a steady breath.

"Ah, there you are." She smiled to herself, moving on to the next name on the list.

Didn't she recognize me? I was a spitting image of my father, brown-haired and green-eyed with high cheekbones.

"Harry Styles?" She called but nobody responded. "Harry?" She asked again just as the door swung open, revealing a tall boy with dark curls and dark eyes standing by the frame.

"I'm Harry." He spoke in a deep, uninviting voice, lingering with a thick accent.

"Do you have a pass?" she asked and he ignored her, walking to an empty desk beside me and sitting down.

"Mr. Styles, if you could please take a seat beside the lovely lady to your right, it would be a tremendous help." She said in a strained voice. She obviously wasn't ready for the ruder students like this Harry kid, and I almost felt bad for her.

He looked over at me with two piercing green eyes and scanned my body up and down before getting up and sitting behind me. I tried to focus on the syllabus as she read over it, but all I could picture was my mother crying while my father looked down guiltily.

Soon the bell rang and relief flushed over me as I leapt up from my desk, quickly making a beeline for the door, But before I made it, someone's foot wrapped around my ankle and I tumbled down, my binder slipping from my hands and sliding across the floor.

I turned to the laughing face of some random guy, obviously he had tripped me on purpose. "What the fuck is your problem?" A deep voice hissed and Harry shoved the boy back.

"I just thought it'd be funny..." He said defensively, looking down at me.

"Yeah, tripping a defenseless girl. Real funny, you prick. Apologize to her before I kick your ass." Harry growled and the boy looked at me, muttering a "sorry" before leaving the room. Harry bent down and picked up my binder, handing it to me with a worried look in his dark eyes.

"T-thanks..." I stuttered quietly, still in disbelief of what he did.

"Don't mention it." He said roughly and grabbed my hand, yanking me up to my feet before I could even react. He left without another word, swiftly leaving the room and leaving me speechless. Who the hell was this guy? And why would he want to defend me?