Letting Go (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter 6: Three Goals to Victory

Harry Styles

"So I heard you go to Harvard right?" 

Tori's question had immediately silenced most of the conversations around us as the counselors' eyes were suddenly focused on mine. 

"I went, yes." I corrected her, a smile on my lips as I took another bite of scrambled eggs. The food here wasn't too bad, but I knew I would get sick of it after a couple months. 

I chuckled at the confused expressions of many of the faces around me. "Wait, so you're not going in the fall?" Tori clarified, her perfectly plucked eyebrows scrunched together. She twirled her fingers around her long dark brown hair as she waited for my reply. 

Shrugging, I sipped on my orange juice and set it back down on the table. "Nope, it's not my thing." 

"Your thing?" This time it was Tamara who had spoken from about three seats over. I officially had the attention of the entire table. I rested my arms against it, smirking at the shocked faces of my peers. My guess is they couldn't even contemplate getting into Harvard, much less wanting to get out. They clearly didn't have a father like mine. 

"I didn't want to be there anymore so I just quit." 

Adam tilted his head towards me. "So you flunked out?" He asked, lifting a slice of bacon to his mouth. 

I rolled my eyes. "I did it on purpose. My dad is the one who made me go, I wanted no part of it." Eyes widened all around me. Most of the boys had looks of envy, especially Tyler and Tori's group. It seemed I wasn't the only one who felt forced into school by their parents, but apparently I was the only one with the balls to do something about it. 

"And your dad's okay with that?" 

I let out a sarcastic chuckle. Yeah, he was thrilled. "No, but there's nothing he can do about it." 

"Except send you here." A new voice muttered somewhere to my left. I leaned forward to see Natalie taking a sip of her milk, not even looking at me. 

"Got something to say there princess?" I asked lightly, though my tone was sharp. I hated it when people muttered comments instead of saying them to my face. And it bugged the hell out of me that she knew. She knew my dad sent me here. How? Did my dad tell her uncle why I was here? 

Natalie looked over, her bright blue eyes finally meeting mine with a blank expression. "Nope, not at all." She replied icily, before biting her bottom lip. 

She wasn't getting away that easily. "And where do you go to college Nattie?" I propped an elbow onto the table, leaning my chin into my hand and pretended to be deeply interested in her answer. She was the only one in her group who seemed to avoid the subject of college and I'm pretty sure I knew the reason why. Either she went to some small community college that no one cared about or she didn't go at all. My bet was on the second one. 

She immediately stood up, pushing her seat back. "I don't." She retorted and limped over to the drink machine. 

Ha, called it. 

Connor and James both gave me a disappointed look before getting up and heading over to her. What? She had a bad leg, not a terminal illness. I wasn't going to baby her for that. If she can't take it, she shouldn't dish it out. 

"What is her problem anyways?" I asked no one in particular. 

Tori shrugged, pushing around her eggs with a fork. "She only really ever talks to James and Connor now."

Tyler and some of the others nodded in agreement. There was something that they weren't saying but was written all over their faces. It seemed the more I tried to figure out about Natalie, the more questions I got instead of answers. When I asked her what happened to her leg yesterday, she had just shrugged it off. I took that to mean that it was just something she was born with and wasn't really a big deal to her. Whether that was true or not, I had no idea.