Mixed Up // Harry Styles

Five

Picture of Nathan on the side.

                                                 CHAPTER FIVE

     “How evil does he look?” I exclaim looking at one of the boxing competitors out of the corner of my eye, making sure my voice is silenced as we pass by.

     “You’d want to see some of the others too,” Felicity replies, directing me to our seats along the front.

     “How many… is there exactly?” I raise an eyebrow and place my bag at my feet.

     “These things go on for hours, I hope you knew that before you agreed,” She says, turning to face me.

     I fake a smile. “Of course I knew that,” I lie.

     Felicity puffs out a small laugh and rolls her eyes, “Obviously you did.”

     “I don’t appreciate your unnecessary sarcasm, thank you.” I fold my arms and sink back into my seat, pulling the hood of my jacket over the top of my head and stare blankly at the boxing ring.

     “Shh Hol. They’re going to announce something!” She cheers, excitement bubbling from her as she taps me repeatedly on my arm. Why she gets so excited over the thought of men punching one another, one of those men being her boyfriend of six years, is beyond me, personally I wouldn’t like the thought of it.

     “I’m not the one talking,” I mutter and sit up again, tugging my hood from my head and giving the announcement seeping through the speakers my full attention whilst cheers erupt around the arena.

                                                               *

     “Go on Nath!” Fliss screams at her loudest, climbing onto her chair, thrusting one arm in the air every time she shouts while her other hand grips tightly to my shoulder to steady herself.

     “Loosen your grip, Fliss!” I hiss at her and detangle her fingers that are digging into my shoulder from me.

     “Sorry.” She apologies without looking at me, resting her hand back onto my shoulder but more gently this time.

     I let my eyes scan over the faces of the crowd, most of them being older men with big muscles and stubble above their top lip and a small beard beginning to show, each of them all showing a slight similarity to one another and looking more as though they should be the ones in the ring instead of supporting. My eyes continue their journey, my eyes connecting with a boy around my age. His pink lips quirk into a smile once he captures my eyes with his, I smile back with politeness and detach my eyes from his to look down at the floor, heat beginning to crawl to my cheeks. After a while I build enough courage to look back up in the direction of the young boy yet he’s nowhere to be found. With disappointment and my eyes frantically searching and longing to see his face again already, I finally give up and return my gaze to the match continuing to unfold in front of me.

     “Oh, he took a hit to the face.” Felicity calls out to me, her grip tightening on my shoulder once more. “That’s going to hurt in the morning.”

     “So is my shoulder,” I mumble and shake it from her grip, taking a step to the side to prevent any more damage to my already bruising shoulder blade.

     “Hi.” A voice chirps close to my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

     I turn my head just a little to the side and look out the corner of my eye to see the boy from earlier looking back at me with a smirk etched onto his face like the first time I saw him, a slight dimple forming on his left cheek.

     “Hello,” I reply cautiously and turn my whole body to now face him, bending down to pick up my bag and lifting it over my shoulder, clutching it tight.

     “Aaron.” He introduces himself, wasting no time and holding out his hand for me to shake.

     “Holly,” I respond and hold his hand firmly in mine to shake it, a childish grin creeping to my face.

     “So who are you here to support today?” He asks making small talk.

     “Nathan.” I reply and let my eyes flutter back to the match for a second before returning to Aaron again.

     “Oh, he’s a good boxer,” He compliments, moving his eyes over to the boxing ring to study Nathan for a bit, his eyes landing back on me again with a reassuring smile.

     The bell sounds to signal the end of the match and Felicity jumps off of her chair, tapping me on the shoulder and then peeping around my side to look at Nathan.

     “Well hello,” She says calmly. “Felicity,” She states, holding out her hand for him to shake.

     “Aaron,” He replies and shakes her hand.

     Felicity coughs awkwardly, tugging on my hand so that I turn and face her. “Are you coming to see Nath?” She uses her head to gesture in Nathan’s direction by the fire exit.

     “I’ll catch you up,” I tell her and quickly swivel round on my feet to meet with Aaron’s eyes again.

     “Are you going to the party after this?” He questions, a smirk playing on his plump lips again.

     “There’s a party?” My eyebrows furrow together and I question myself as to why Felicity never informed me about it, or if she’s even going herself.

     “Yeah, it’s just like a celebration party for the winners, nothing major, so you going?” He questions again.

     “I’ll have to see wha-“

     “Oh, come on. It’ll be a laugh.” He begs his brown eyes boring into mine as they plead.

     “Um, alright,” I give in easily, too easily for my liking.

     “Well, I’ve got to meet up with my team now. I’ll catch you later… Holly?” He tilts his head to the side as he says my name, questioning whether he got it right or wrong.

     I nod my head, “See you later then.”

     I watch the top of his head as he strolls through the crowd, taking short glances behind him and smiling cheekily at me before disappearing completely out of my sight.