Taylor became so easily absorbed in conversations. When she felt strongly about the subject or she was just enjoying herself and enjoying the company of who she was talking to, she would completely zone out from the rest of her surroundings and focus on the conversation. With Niall, she was exactly like this. She wasn’t sure if they had been talking for minutes or hours, but she felt so comfortable around him.
She was still quite cautious of him, though. He may have been acting like a perfect gentleman to Taylor, but he was still friends with Lara. And as far as she was concerned, she didn’t trust her. And Taylor was too nice for her own good sometimes, and this was a perfect example. She never should have even considered Lara as a potential friend; the thought of that made Taylor cringe a little now.
Niall had offered to take her home not long later and she had politely accepted; she would have had to walk anyway so at least this way she could ensure she would get home safely. It had to be in the early hours of the morning when she arrived home and snuggled up into her warm bed, falling asleep almost instantly. At least she didn’t have time to sit and dwell on the night she had just experienced and how people would react to her presence at school on Monday. Surprisingly she didn’t have much of a hangover the next morning; but she still didn’t really want to think about going back to school. She dreaded it, constantly wishing she had someone to talk to; someone who understood what she was going through. It was much too soon to call Niall someone she could talk to. She needed to be certain that he had no ulterior motives when it came to befriending her.
So instead, Taylor spent the weekend busying herself with homework and music. Music was a passion of hers that few knew about; she chose to keep it to herself out of fear of not being good enough. And before she knew it, Monday had come around again and it was time to face the loneliness all over again.
Taylor was always early to class and this morning was no exception as she got to her English class and took a seat at the side of the room, not too far from the front but not at the back. She was surprised when she saw Niall and Harry enter the room with everyone else; she had noticed they were prone to arriving late but I guess that wasn’t always the case. Niall spotted her instantly and flashed her a smile, heading straight towards Taylor as Harry followed not far behind, a look of curiosity and slight anger on his face.
“Hey Taylor! Mind if we sit next to you?” Taylor definitely wasn’t expecting that; it came as a surprise to her and she politely accepted, nodding her head as she smiled sweetly.
“Sure, go ahead!” Niall sat in the seat next to Taylor, striking up a casual conversation instantly as if they had been friends for years. While conversing with Niall, Taylor noticed Harry was hesitant to sit next to them. She wasn’t surprised; after their conversation at the party she was sure Harry would have wanted to avoid her at all costs. She still couldn’t quite figure out what his issue was with her. But she wasn’t going to let it get to her; it was clear to her that she would never have a relationship of any kind with Harry.
While Harry finally sat down, another girl sat next to him immediately, as he groaned. It was obvious once Cara entered the room that she wanted to sit next to him, but now instead she sat behind him. Somehow they still ended up getting in a few kisses as Taylor screwed up her nose before continuing her conversation with Niall.
“I’m surprised you’re talking to me with Harry around. I mean, I like that you’re talking to me. I guess it’s just unexpected.” Taylor wasn’t afraid of saying how she felt. It was true; she hadn’t expected Niall to talk to her in front of his friends, especially after the party.
He just sighed, shaking his head instantly. “It’s not like they can tell me who I can and can’t talk to, Taylor.”
“I know… I just, I know how these kinds of groups work. Cara has it out for me and I don’t want you to be on the receiving end of any of her awfulness.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can take care of myself.” Taylor just nodded at Niall’s answer, before putting on her reading glasses. She shuffled through her notes from the last lessons, hoping she had studied them enough to remember everything. It was all a lot to take in being her final year, and she soon became too absorbed in her studying to notice the teacher had started the lesson. It wasn’t until Niall nudged her softly that she was brought out of her distraction, her head shooting up as she listened in.
“Before I go into the term assessment, you all may have noticed the desks have been rearranged today into rows of four. The other three people in your row will be your group members for this terms assignment. No swapping whatsoever, the groups are final. This assignment will allow you to step outside of your comfort zone and maybe learn things about yourselves and your group members that you never knew.” That’s about all Taylor heard before she become completely distracted with the idea that she would have to work on this assignment with Harry. Of course she was happy that Niall was in her group, but Harry? This was going to be a long term. And by the look on Harry’s face, he wasn’t too impressed either.
Everyone in the class cleared out of the room with their groups, spreading out over the school to start work. Taylor’s group headed to a quiet, grassy spot on the oval. She managed to find a spot that was in the shade of a tree as she sat down, opening up her English notebook as she prepared herself. Niall sat next to her while Harry and the other girl sat opposite. Taylor rolled her eyes at Harry’s expression of boredom that was written all over his face.
She noticed his eyes move to look at her arm; she had left it without a bandage today, and it still stung but the cut had started to heal. She was just glad it hadn’t been deep enough to need stitches. “How’s your arm?” Taylor could have sworn Harry really wasn’t interested in talking to her, but his question proved otherwise.
She shrugged, thinking about it seemed to make it sting slightly more. “I’ll be fine. It’s just a few cuts. Thanks for asking.” All she got from Harry was a nod. He took his phone out of his pocket and soon became distracted with that.
“Rude.” Taylor huffed under her breath, but not quietly enough. Harry obviously heard her and set his phone down, glaring right at Taylor. “Have you got something you want to say?” He asked quite impolitely. There was something about Harry that made Taylor irritated with whatever came out of his mouth.
“I just think it was a little impolite that you pulled your phone out in the middle of our conversation.”
“We were done, weren’t we?” Harry snapped. Taylor was getting extremely frustrated and Harry was too. They clearly weren’t going to get along, the both of them as stubborn as each other.
“So do we have any ideas we can start with?” Niall broke the awkwardness, and Taylor couldn’t have been more relieved.
