Tracks (A One Direction Fan Fiction)

Chapter Seven

I woke up to my alarm blaring in my ear. I must have forgotten to turn it off. A few days had gone by since me and Taylors blow out and today was finally Saturday. I hadn’t seen Taylor since Monday and while she was trying her hardest to ignore me, her clones would come by to get an outfit or two for Taylor every day, and one day the brunette one, Courtney, even tried to talk to me. She had told me Taylor was trying to move out but was having trouble with housing, and would probably be back by Monday night. Harry and me hadn’t talked since the incident, and whenever we had Body Functions and Muscle Development, he sat in the front with the jocks. I never even bothered to try to talk to him.

I rolled out of bed and stretched. I was planning on looking and applying for a job today since I had nothing better to do. I hadn’t really gotten into the party scene yet and didn’t actually plan to. Too much drama as far as I could see.

I took an especially long shower, letting my body try to relax before someone knocked on the door.

“Just a second!” I hadn’t realized how long I was in here and quickly turned off the shower, hopping out and wrapping my towel around me. When I opened the door, Candice’s new roommate Jeanette was waiting patiently in the hallway, picking at her newly manicured nails. She actually reminded me of a more girly, less friendly, Candice. They both spent a nauseating amount of time at the gym, both  had the same Nursing major, and even kind of looked alike if you paid enough attention.

“Sorry for the wait.” I shuffled passed her and she just kind of looked at me before closing the bathroom door. She wasn’t rude, just quiet. But I would be lying if I said her and Candice weren’t a roommate match in heaven. Like I said, they were strangely alike and as soon as she got here, her and Candice instantly clicked. They walked everywhere together, ate together, studied together, worked out together, the works. The first few days Candice would invite me along for dinner and what have you, but I could tell my presence was an awkward one. So I told Candice it was okay that she wanted to hang out with Jeanette, and that we could still be close.

We haven’t talked in two days.

I shrugged the thought from my mind as I dressed myself in black skinny jeans, white converse, a vintage Beatles t shirt, with my hair in a high messy bun. I didn’t have enough energy to really care about appearances. I didn’t even bother with makeup expect for light mascara.

I grabbed my bag and walked out of the dorm, making my way towards the McDonalds right outside campus for breakfast. When I walked in, I saw Harry and three other guys sitting at one of the tables. Harry was next to one with shorter cut hair and what looked like up to three textbooks in front of him. In front of Harry was a guy with black ruffled hair, next to him was a guy with brown hair.

I ordered my food and tried to not get noticed by him. I figured staying away was my best bet. When the called my order, I stepped into a wet spot on the floor and nearly fell, dropping my purse while all its stuff fell out.

“Fucking super.” As I bent over to get my stuff, I saw Harry looking straight at me. I tried to ignore him as I collected the rest of my stuff and grabbed my bag of food. When I stood up, Harry was walking towards me.

“Ali! Wait hold on.” I spun around and tried to leave before he grabbed my arm and gently pulled me back.

“Ali please hold on.”

I turned around and looked at him, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat.

“Ummm.. uh yeah?” He shifted uncomfortably the same time I did.

“Why have you been ignoring me? What happened with Taylor? Just talk to me.” He tried to caress my arm but I pulled away, feeling instantly guilty.

“How have I been ignoring you?”

“Well, I guess you really haven’t. I don’t know.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at me with those damn green eyes.

“Look, your girlfriend doesn’t appreciate us hanging out, and after I beat the shit out of her, I kind of understood why. I mean look at me. And then look at you.” My voice cracked on the last word and I tried to cover it up by coughing.

“I am looking at you Ali. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong.” He raised his hand to my face but this time I didn’t flinch away. I let him touch my cheek and felt something inside of me spark. I tried to ignore the feeling. “I just want my snowflake back. The one that made me laugh.” His mouth stretched into a deep grin, showing his dimples.

“And I want my curly back.” Something about Harry made me feel safe and wanted, so at that moment I decided that even if everything blew up in my face, this friendship would be worth it. And Taylor could go suck a dick.

“Good. Cause I have someone I want you to see.” He grabbed my hand and led me back to the table with the three other guys. They all looked up but one face I recognized immediately.

“Zayn!” I dropped Harrys hand and hugged Zayn hard as soon as he stood up. Something about being around someone from back home made me feel good.

“Hey Ali!” He hugged me back tight and lifted me off the ground. I giggled and collected myself after he put me down.

“Harry told me you lived here! What a small world.” I said as I really looked at him. I hadn’t see Heart Throb Malik since before graduation and he even looked taller, with more muscle, and tattoos.

“Look at you man. I think I’m shrinking.” Me and Zayn had been close in high school. We hung out with the same crowd and even flirted once in a while even though it never went anywhere.

“Yeah he told me he thought he met someone from home. It is a small world. And your hair… It’s white.” I instantly became self-conscious. “I love it. It suits you.” And just as quickly as the doubt came, it was gone. I couldn’t help smiling. I actually had friends.

“And this is Liam.” Harry cut in, seeming a little irritated. He pointed to the boy with the stack of books and freshly ironed shirt on. When he stood, he carried himself almost like a dad, but his tired eyes made him look like another worn out college student.

“Hello there Liam.” He gave me a weary smile before grabbing his books.

“I gotta go, gonna be late for class.” And with that he was walked out.

“He’s studying to be a doctor. But he’s usually not this brain dead. His break up with his ex has been rough on him.” The other brown haired boy said as he stood from the table and extended a fist to me. “I’m Louis.”

I pounded him back and looked back to Harry. “Well I have to go apply for a job. So I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah I guess.” He said shortly and turned on his heels, walking out of the door.

“Nice to meet you Ali.” Louis said as he waved and followed Harry.

“Well I don’t know what’s up with Harry, but it was great seeing you. We’ll catch up soon, okay?” Zayn asked as he wrapped his long arms around me in a tight embrace.

“Yeah of course. It was great seeing you.” I hugged him back. He walked out and gave me a last smile through the glass.