Practice

Chapter 9

The rest of the party was a blur. Tyler didn't remember much, and the fact that Eleanor disappeared with a random college guy left Tyler in the dark about almost everything that happened. 

"Seriously, Tyler, that guy was amazing," Eleanor raved, spooning another mouthful of cereal into her mouth. "He was mature, too," She added, bits of cereal plopping back into the bowl. 

Tyler nodded along as Eleanor spoke, her eyes on her phone. She wanted to text Harry - she needed to see if they spoke after that awkward kiss and the dismissal after. The girl didn't want him to think she wasn't interested - she most certainly was, and it would absolutely kill her if he moved on from her because she didn't reciprocate whatever it was he was feeling towards her.

"Are you even listening to me?" Eleanor whined, flicking through her phone. "Look," She gushed, holding it out to Tyler, "Look how hot we look together!" Tyler smiled, complimenting Eleanor half-heartily on her achievements. Eleanor locked her phone in defeat, setting it on the counter. "Speaking of hook ups, where did you disappear to, Ty?" Her eyebrows raised suggestively as she awaited a response.  

The girl shrugged, "No where, really.. Harry showed me his tree house, which was cool." Tyler wasn't sure if she should tell Eleanor about their encounter - it wasn't a big deal or anything, she doubted Eleanor would even care, but to her it was more than what it seemed. Not the action per se, but the meaning behind it. It actually meant something to her; it wasn't just a random make out at a party. 

"Is tree house the word kids are using these days for dick?" The girl laughed, covering her mouth. "That was a great one.." She sighed, complimenting her own joke like only Eleanor would. 

"You're an idiot," Tyler giggled, feeling her face flush in response to the joke. "We just talked, really.. No big deal."

"Boring," Eleanor sung, "You really need to do something interesting so people start talking about you."

Tyler shook her head at the ridiculous statement, "Why would I want people to talk about me?" You didn't need to do something outrageous to become more popular, right? She ran away from people talking about her, so why would she purposely do something that she could be ridiculed for?

"All publicity is good publicity, Ty," Eleanor smiled, tipping the contents of her bowl into the sink.

"We aren't celebrities," Tyler retorted, following suit. She wasn't hungry after last night, she just had a pounding headache and a craving for sleep. Plus, she wasn't one for eating breakfast at midday.  

"But we may as well be, I mean.. Tyler. I know you're new, but are you that naive? We're that group. The one that everyone wants to be - we're watched constantly.." Tyler was amazed at how pretentious Eleanor could be, her voice not faltering once as she explained her outlook, "We need to keep above everyone else or they'll soon realise that we aren't much different. They'll try to take over, and they can't."

Tyler nodded along, agreeing and smiling where appropriate. She didn't necessarily agree with what the girl was saying, but she couldn't really have an argument with her about it. "Well.. I guess me and Harry kinda made out in that tree house thing," She admitted, sick of the lecturing. 

"Harry?" Eleanor's eyes turned to slits, her phone instantly in her hands, typing furiously. 

"What? What are you doing? Don't tell anyone!"

"Oh calm down, Ty. You aren't the first girl to kiss a boy," She paused. "I'm just texting Harry. I wanna know why he didn't tell me."

**

Zayn didn't necessarily have a hangover, considering he didn't drink. Harry didn't need to know that, though, and so the boy agreed that greasy fast food would be the best way to cure their 'hangovers.' 

The party was interesting, to say the least. Zayn didn't hook up with anyone, though, which was a plus. Drunk hook ups usually meant dealing with texts and messages the next day, friend requests and all that shit. He wasn't one to follow through with all that stuff.

Harry, on the other hand, was completely infatuated with it. One tiny kiss meant everything to him - he was very selective. 

Considering that Tyler more than likely didn't remember her request to use Zayn for her sexual learning, he decided it was best to keep it a secret. Sometimes knowing the whole truth hurt a lot more than having something kept from you, and this was definitely a situation like that. If Harry knew, it would almost certainly destroy any feelings he had for Tyler, and create a particularly awkward tension between the boys. 

"So what, you think I should avoid Tyler?" Harry repeated, confusion written all over his face. 

"Well, yeah.. I mean, she's kinda pretentious," Zayn lied. He was grateful that he didn't have to face Harry otherwise his lies would have been picked up straight away. Tyler wasn't pretentious - she was down to earth, funny and incredibly friendly. 

"How?" He exclaimed. 

Zayn focused on the road. "Well, she's just.. She's bland. There's nothing special about her." Another lie. 

"Are you kidding mate?" Harry was almost sure that Zayn was joking. With the things coming out of Zayn's mouth, he almost convinced himself that he was joking. 

"I just get the vibe," He shrugged, pulling up in the carpark. He pulled his keys out of the ignition and got our before Harry could say anything more, changing the subject almost instantly. "Perrie was fucking annoying last night," Zayn grumbled as the pair walked towards the doors. 

"She's a bit of a stalker, isn't she?" Harry teased, "And for what reason? You guys made out at a party on time - she needs to let go."

So maybe Zayn kept that from Harry too. It wasn't like there was anything wrong with what he did, and he knew that Harry wouldn't care, but most of the things going on in Zayn's life were on a need to know basis. Meaning that unless it was urgently important, he wouldn't share. 

"I know, dude. Try dealing with her stoned calls. They're the worst. Her whiny fucking voice complaining about how I don't give her enough attention.." He trailed off, looking at the menu in front of him. 

"Guess who just texted me?" Harry mumbled, half concentrating on his phone. 

"Tyler," Zayn guessed, ordering his meal as Harry replied. 

"Eleanor, actually, but it was about Tyler. Apparently she's told the whole group that we hooked up." 

"You did, didn't you?" 

"No.. We only made out for like, three seconds. She pulled away and didn't come within a foot of me after it," Harry confessed. "It was hardly even making out."

Zayn stifled a laugh. How did he achieve close to nothing with her? They were in that stupid tree house for over an hour. "See! She's clearly fucked up. Why would she lie about that?"

"I 'unno.. Maybe that's how she remembers it." Harry ordered his food and turned his phone off. Once Eleanor got started, there was no stopping her.

He wondered why Tyler had exaggerated what actually happened in the tree house. Did she want that? Or was she just delusional? Whatever the reason, he was intrigued. 

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