The Saint's Lips

Chapter Eleven

"Ava! Ava wait up, you walk too fast for me." Liam chuckles under his breath and I turn to see him rushing after me in the pounding arena that has become our school hallways. He's wearing a white undershirt and has his plaid button down tied around his waist.

"Sorry, hey where were you yesterday? Kat wasn't here either, and I was stuck with Niall and Louis all lunch. Louis managed to make fun of my salad for a good forty minutes while somehow keeping Niall laughing the entire time." I give him a light laugh signaling that the fresh memory is still funny. Louis has always been one to joke around, and it doesn't seem to stop when he's outside of the classroom either.

"Uhh - not feeling well." He gives a light cough as if to prove he was sick, and I shrug my shoulders. I allow him to move into step beside me in the crowded halls, and he begins fidgeting with his books and moving his hands to wipe on his jeans. I look him up and down curiously, but my heart starts to beat nonetheless.

"Well, I hope you're feeling better today." I say, turning my head to glance at his rough cheek, dotted with specks of light brown facial hair.

"What? Oh yeah of course." He responds, seemingly unaware of the conversation at hand.

I have P.E. with Kat next, and I see her waiting at the edge of the gymnasium doors ahead of me. She notices Liam next to me, and then turns to go in to the gym, leaving Liam and I behind before we can catch up with her.

"I should probably get changed for class..." I say hesitantly, as if allowing Liam to say anything that he might want to get off his chest.

"Uhh, yeah sure. See you at lunch then." Liam smiles nervously then walks off in the opposite direction.

I find myself pondering Liam's strange actions for a moment before I head off in the direction of the girls' changing rooms.

I walk in to find Kat, among the rest of the girls in our P.E. class, changing her shirt to a white baggy tee and short nike shorts.

"Thanks for waiting up." I tell her through a small grin, and she looks at me with expectant blue eyes.

"Well excuse me for respecting your private talks with Liam." She tells me  sarcastically, her eyes reflecting the gleam of the pale light in the changing room.

"Ha-ha. Where were you yesterday, Liam wasn't here either, but from the sounds of it he wasn't actually sick." I fill her in on Liam's strange behaviour, and I notice a quick twitch in her shoulder before she relaxes again.

She slumps down on to the bench before answering me, bending to put on her white cotton socks.

"Oh, I had that doctor's appointment remember? I got my BCP sorted." She shifts nervously in her seat now, and I go to sit next to her to change my own shirt and shorts.

"What? You never told me about that. Who are you planning to use it for?" I ask her, intrigue clouding my mind.

"No one really. It just takes a month to really work, and... I don't know. I wanna be ready." She giggles and throws her shirt at me.

"Can't be too careful." Kat continues before ushering me to hurry up.

We make our way to the Phys Ed teacher once we're both changed, and wait patiently for the rest of the class to trickle in from behind the closed changing room doors. Our teacher, Mr. Riley, a young and admittedly good looking man, tells the class that we're going outside to run some laps. Great.

Once the class reaches the outdoor soccer/football field that takes up more space than possibly the high school itself, Mr. Riley sets the girls to running around it. Meanwhile, the female Phys Ed teacher takes care of the senior boys who begin their soccer unit. I notice Harry standing amongst the boys, in rather small shorts for a guy, with a white t-shirt covering his toned chest. I guess he does own something other than black. His hair is tied back in a short ponytail like he had it at the beach, and next to the rest of the senior boys, he seems to stand out like a sore thumb. I'm not sure if it's the fact that he's wearing white for once, or that he's the only guy sporting a ponytail, but either way his presence alone is enough to force him to stand out from much of any crowd.