Forever Roses {Harry Styles AU}

Chapter 6: Norman

Chapter 6: Norman – October 26, 2011

The final bell shrieks, letting us out of all the classes for the day. Everybody rushes out with a newfound energy that had suspiciously left them during the school day when work was being done. 

As I walk out of my class and head to the exit, I see something that bothers me. It seems off. 

April is talking to Emma by a potted plant that has plenty of sunshine. But that's not the weird thing: Norman is walking up to them with that stupid swagger in his step, his eyes set on his target. April. 

After that insensitive dumbass Toby asked out the "love of my life," as Graham sarcastically calls her, it seemed that boys were courting her by the dozen. And everybody found out about the April Game, leaving April completely in the spotlight of the entire school. Of course I stuck by her side the entire time. And of course Caitlin and Emma and a couple other pretty close friends did too. And like the whole population of girls who were actually bonded over that one thing – and that was that boys are idiotic and pretty dickish, if dickish is even a word. Moving on, though, all of the boys who felt the need to prove themselves as immature douches made conspicuous scenes over asking April out. This did make April and I kind of closer, I guess, but to be quite honest, I would rather her not be such good friends with me if that meant this fiasco never happened. Because that would spare her a lot of trouble for sure. 

So now as Norman is walking over to April like he's the king of the school and she's the queen – and like he can squash her any second he wants to  – I quickly drop what I'm doing and run over because right now, this is the only thing that matters. 

"April. Just the girl I wanted to see." Norman Chase flings his arm over her shoulder. Their intimacy makes my anger rise and boil.

April hardens. She knows he came up with the April Game. She loathes him, and she doesn't loathe anyone. 

Mentally I cheer for April. She can get him to back off. She is the queen, but she can't be demolished by him. 

I still don't have a very good feeling right now. He was like the beginning of this game, and I feel like he'll be the end of it too. I mean, it would be great if the April Game ended, but I just...I don't know. I've got a feeling that's screaming from deep inside me, really loudly. 

"Hi, Norman," she says slowly, carefully, dangerously. 

"There are some rumors going around about this 'April Game' in school," Norman begins. 

Yeah, and those rumors did fail to mention who started the April Game. But April knows anyway. But Norman doesn't know that April knows.

His arm is still tight around April's shoulders, which are completely still. She is a statue right now from head to toe, including her mouth because she refuses to speak a word yet. 

"It sucks, right? Yeah well, I'm for real here, not like those other guys. I like you, April," Norman tells her, trying to be meaningful. He even looks around just to make sure he's putting on some sort of show here and that people are giving giving him the attention he doesn't deserve.

Very slightly, April is trembling. Shaking is a better word. She reminds me of a bomb ready to explode as Norman looks around at the bystanders who are trying to look like they aren't watching. April only looks straight ahead with a death stare like she has been the entire time. 

Emma is standing beside April, completely unsure of what to do. Help! is written across her forehead, but I'm frozen. I don't know what to do. But Caitlin, who is walking out from a class still, sees Norman draping his arm over a motionless, silently fuming April, and Caitlin knows what to do. She matches right up to the center of attention with a fierce look on her face. With those three best friends, they all act like mama pumas, always ready to attack other predators. And usually, there are no predators.