Artwork [h.s]

twenty-eight

I looked up from my notebook in the second someone that certainly wasn't Ella sat next to me at the start of my first class of the day. It didn't take me long to realise who it was, and I furrowed my eyebrows when I met a pair of green eyes.

I looked in the direction of where he usually sat, discovering that he'd left Niall to sit alone. I turned my head again towards the person next to me, even more confused than before. "Why?" I asked him quietly, giving a fast glance at the front of the class to make sure the teacher wasn't paying attention.

Harry shrugged, lightly tapping a pencil on the desk. "Between blondie and the bestie you run away from, I can say you hang out with bad company. I hope you won't mind" he replied, his voice equally as low as mine.

I just stared at him, an impassible look on my face while I tried to decide if I should've been upset by his words or not. Resolving that he wasn't that far away from the truth, I decided that I would've let that one pass. "Are you good company?" I asked him as a voice in the background told me the teacher had already started explaining the topic of the day.

He gave me a little shrug, leaning his back against the wall on his side. "I'm better company for sure" he simply replied.

I was about to reply, but was interrupted by someone clearing their throat while standing in front of us. I looked up, my eyes widening my eyes when I discovered that the maths teacher was glaring at us. More specifically, at me.

"Mr Styles, I'll have you know that if you weren't one of the best in my class I would've already kicked you out at the start of the lesson" he said, not even sparing him half a glance. "Miss Regan, shut up and pay attention" he added before turning around and going back to his desk.

I let my gaze fall back to the notepad on my desk, thinking of what the teacher had just said with a confused look on my face. I'd never really thought of how Harry was at school, but I would've never expected him to be one of the best. For some reason, it seemed weird to just think about. I'd always thought he was the kind of person that did t really care about school, and discovering that truly made me understand once again how little I knew about him. It was almost as if everything new I found out about him demolished a preconception I'd built beforehand.

Harry sat up straighter again, and from then until the end of the class a deep silence fell over us as we both listened to the lesson - or minded our own business.

When the class ended I stood up and started walking out, only to stop in my tracks when I realised that Harry was coming with me. I gave him a weird look, not expecting him to do something like that, but also being kind of glad to be with him instead of alone, or with Ella or, even worse, with Aiden.

"Let's go" Harry said, his hand grazing my lower back as he directed me in the direction of the cafeteria for our free period.

I gladly followed him, not feeling like hanging out with Ella. Normally I would've gone outside, but the air of mid November had started to become a little too cold for my liking, so my options had been drastically reduced. Besides, I would've never admitted it openly, but I liked the idea of spending a little more time with Harry. Since Saturday, he'd been all I could think about, and it didn't matter how hard I tried, I just didn't seem to be able to get him out of my head. What had happened on Saturday was so new to me that I struggled to believe it had actually happened, and it didn't just come from my imagination. His presence had always made me feel fresh, but I'd never escaped a situation like I had with him, and the realisation that I would've never done something like that if it hadn't been for him, for some reason, made it even more exciting. It had been so different, but at the same time so familiar, to hang out with him at a place that wasn't my school or my house. And for some reason, the small conversation we'd had under the stars had felt more important than all the things we'd talked about before. His presence had made me feel as if I was a new person, and I'd loved every second of it.