Bring It Back

we're not friends

The tabloids seem to believe that Harry Styles is not enjoying his time at uni, and for once, Norah can't help but agree with them. From the little she's seen of him on campus and the way she's taken to observing him in Public Speaking class, he definitely doesn't look like he's happy. Her and Liz had been analyzing it earlier in the week after some magazine published a string of photos of him, and they immediately noted how miserable he looked. Like he would rather be anywhere but on campus.

"I just don't understand why he's here, if it clearly looks like he doesn't want to be," Liz had told her over coffee while the two of them had been "studying" in the back of their favorite cafe. "I mean, not that I'm complaining. But still. I'm not sure if I've ever seen anyone look so miserable."

Norah rolled her eyes, because Liz had always been a bit of a drama queen, and then told her, "He's a celebrity–or at least he used to be. It's practically his job to look miserable. I think that he's just lonely. I guess that I kind of feel bad for him, in a way."

"Why would you feel bad for him?" Liz snorted. "He's won hottest celebrity bachelor for the past three years in a row, and he's rich. What more could he possibly want?" When she noticed the scowl that Norah was sending her way though, she hastily added, "I'm just kidding, you know that."

Norah did know that. Liz could act a little bit superficial at times, but she knew that she felt bad for Harry too. It was hard not to, they thought, especially not after the year he'd had.

"Wasn't he a dick to you, though?" Liz asked after a second. "In class the other day? I remember you briefly mentioning that to Layla and I. What happened to that?"

Norah shrugged, her throat slightly burning from the amount of coffee she'd just consumed, and then said, "Yeah, a little bit. But I mean, it's like what they say, right? You never really know what's going on with a person until you climb in their skin and walk around in it."

Liz stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded, before she finally asked, "Did you seriously just quote To Kill a Mockingbird?"

Norah snorted. "To be honest, I'm surprised you even read that book. I'm surprised you even read in general."

"Of course I read it; I had to back in secondary school, we all did." Because of course that was the only way that Liz would ever consume a famous piece of literature.

"When was the last time you picked up a book for pleasure, before or after that?"

Liz made a face at her and ignored her question. Probably because she really didn't have any idea of the last time she had read a book that wasn't for school purposes. Instead, she reminded her, "It's not like you even read so much yourself, Miss Pretentious. You're always too busy on your computer."

Norah rolled her eyes at her. "You make me sound like I'm some addicted teenage boy instead of a computer science major."

Liz shrugged, but second after, a wicked smirk had quickly crawled its way up her face. "How's it going this year so far, by the way? Are you still spending all your time with Luuucas?"

She was a child–Norah was best friends with a child. Ever since Norah had met Lucas in their second term last year, Liz had been convinced that he had a crush on her. Which was completely ridiculous, because he was Lucas and didn't like anything or anyone, especially not Norah. In fact, it had taken him a full three months to finally accept the fact that the two of them were friends. But having Lucas like her romantically? It would never happen. And she was certain that she never wanted it to.

"Yes," Norah told her finally. "I am still spending most of my time with him, because he's in almost all of my classes, and we help each other, if you must know."