Keeping Up Hope (Harry Styles Fanfic)

Keeping Up Hope (Chapter 1)

It was the ending of July. My summer had been going smoothly. Lots of girls. Lots of parties. Typical summer for an incoming high school senior. 

We had just arrived at a far off section of the beach. I had tagged along on a beach camping trip with my best friend, Louis. The trip was thought up by Niall, who was another one of Louis' close friends. Niall and I were cool, but ever since what happened with me "stealing" his girlfriend, as he called it, we weren't that close. But lucky for me, he was more than happy to have me tagging along.

I stepped out of the car. Louis was getting our things out of the back seat as I observed the scenery.

"Do you think that maybe, possibly, I could get a little help here?" he said in his usual sassy tone as he held a cluster of things in his arms.

I took my bag, and a few cases of beer that we had brought. He carried his bag, along with our tent.

"Now, I hope you know these tents aren't sound proof." He reminded me. "That means, no sex."

"Ew, Lou, we're sharing a tent. I wouldn't do that with someone while you were that close." I said, slightly sarcastic.

 "Still. You can do your usual picking up chicks routine. But please, I beg of you. No sex." He pleaded.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it."

I helped him carry our things over to where everyone else had seemed to be settling. I took a look at everyone around. It was a small group of about ten, maybe fifteen people. The mojority being guys.. Great. 

I helped Louis set up our tent, checking out each girl that was there in the process. None of them seemed to catch my eye.

"Ugh." I was frustrated.

"What's wrong now?" Louis asked me. His  tone was mildly annoyed.

"No hot girls here."

"Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but most girls that are all girly, and pretty, aren't going to be the camping type."

He had a good point.

"True." I agreed.

Just as I said that, I saw a black car in the distance. Speeding, then haulting to a stop. Three girls hopped out. They were far away, so I couldn't pick up on too much detail. They gathered their things and walked over to join the group.

As they got closer, I could tell that one of them was Anna Sellers. A girl that Niall had been hitting on for quite awhile. She was with two other girls. I didn't know either of them. 

Anna walked over, giving Niall a hug, and introducing her two friends, who were still mysteries to me. I listened closely as I tried to make out their names, but, I couldn't.

However, my eyes seemed to be fixed on one of those two girls. She was tall and skinny, with nice curves. She was wearing a plain white, low cut tank top. Perfectly complimented by her light blue ripped shorts. The outfit was definitely sexy, but by no means made her look like a tramp. Her hair was dark brown to the point where it was almost black. It was long, a few inches past her shoulders, and she wore it straight. I don't think I'd ever seem someone so beautiful in my life. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

"Harry!" Louis yelled.

I jumped, clearly startled by his sudden outburst. 

"What!?"

"Hold this!" he said, holding up a piece of the tent.

"...Right."

I walked over and held it up while he worked around it, and my eyes immediately went back to the girl. I almost felt creepy staring at her the way I was..but I couldn't look away.

"Lou, do you know that girl?" I asked.

"Huh?" he said, confused. "The one in the white tank top?" he asked. I nodded. "No. Why?"

"She's really pretty..." I told him.

"Less staring at girls, more helping me put up this damn tent."

I ignored his statement. "I have to talk to her."

"Later." he insisted. "I need help."

I didn't want to wait any longer. I took control of the situation, taking each piece of the tent and setting it up properly, just like my father had taught me when I was young. Louis had a blank stare on his face.

"Well, why couldn't you have done that sooner?" He said as he crossed his arms.

"I was too busy trying to think of what to say." 

"How about 'hi'?"

"Its not that simple!"

I couldn't believe it. I was actually nervous. Nervous to talk to a girl. I'm Harry Styles. I don't get nervous. Especially when it comes to girls. But something inside me told me that she was different.

She was standing by Niall, Anna, and the other girl. Niall had apparently cracked a joke, because they all started to laugh.

That's when I saw her smile.

Her eyes lit up as the edged of her mouth curled into a stunning smile. Her teeth were white, and perfectly straight. She let out a small laugh. The sound of her laugh was probably one of the sweetest sounds I'd heard in my life.

"...Lou, help me." I was desperate.

"With what?" 

"I NEED to talk to her!"

"Yeah, you said that already."

"I don't know what to say!"

"Well that's unfortunate." He said, clearly trying to be a smartass.

I was freaking out inside. So many thoughts were running through my head. I pushed them all aside, and looked at Louis again.

"Does this outfit make me look like an idiot? Is my hair okay? Does my breath smell bad?"

I started shooting out questions. I didn't even realize how crazy I was going. Then Louis suddenly smacked my cheek. Not hard, but hard enough to make me snap out of it. I stood there silent for a minute. Staring blankly into space. Then I came back to reality.

"Just go." he urged, giving me a slight push toward her.

I was finally able to man up. I took a deep breath, and slowly walked over to her.