Bring It Back

this is where it starts

Harry Styles LEAVES Modest Management - Is This the End of One Direction?
october 12th, 2016

"I don't know why all of this has gotten you so upset. It's not that big of a deal."

Norah rolls her eyes at Lucas, because it's so clear that he doesn't understand anything about this at all. Granted, she's not too sure if she even understands why she's gotten so worked up about this whole Harry leaving his management thing. It shouldn't matter to her, because it isn't supposed to affect her in any sort of way–but yet, for some reason, it does.

Lucas somehow seems to have caught her eye roll, which she doesn't get either, because she had thought that it was quite subtle. Then he asks her, "Seriously, Norah. Why does it matter?"

For some reason, his question irritates her more than it should, and she snaps, "Why do you care?" But a minute barely even has the time to pass before she quickly says, "I'm sorry. That was mean."

"It wasn't mean," Lucas says slowly, and although he doesn't look hurt, she can sense something brewing up beneath the surface, though she has no idea what it is. "But to answer your question, I don't care."

The two of them are both silent for a second, allowing time for his three final words to soak in. They cling tightly to Norah's skin like a tick, and she wants to flick them off, but they're rooted deep now. Lucas seems to have noticed that he's said something wrong, and so after a moment, he asks her, in a somewhat kinder voice this time–or, at least as kind as Lucas can sound–"Did he ever mention it to you in any way?"

"No," she says stiffly. "He didn't." Even if he somehow doesn't manage to hear the irritation seeping through her tone, there's no way that he won't be able to notice the sudden shift in her body language towards him. Even though Norah has never liked to think of herself as easy to read, she's well aware that she is.

But perhaps Lucas hasn't ever learned how to read her; or maybe, he just doesn't know her. (She has no idea whether or not this is supposed to bother her, but for some reason, it does.) Because without a beat, he tells her, with a hint of bitterness in his voice, "Maybe you two aren't as close as you thought then."

"When did I ever say that we were close?" Norah demands. Her usually soft spoken voice is beginning to rise ever so slightly, which mostly only ever happens whenever she's beginning to get really annoyed. But Lucas doesn't seem to know this about her either, which for some reason, only causes her irritation with him to escalate even further.

"Never mind," he shakes his head at her. He looks like he wants to say something else, but he seems to have talked himself out of it a moment later when he says, "I have to get to class. What do you have?"

"Public Speaking," Norah tells him, and she watches with both curiosity and irritation as Lucas' face shifts ever so slightly.

"Oh," he says, trying a bit too hard to sound casual. "Well. Have fun with Harry, then."

"Yeah, maybe I will have fun with him, my new best friend," she says dryly. The words sound strange coming out of her mouth, because she's never really preferred to resort to sarcasm before, but Lucas seems to be crawling onto all of her nerves today. It's almost like he wants to annoy her. Maybe he does–she wouldn't be surprised if it was true.

The minute that Norah has made her way out of the computer lab, she is approached by someone who has barely even given her a second glance since the start of term–Cece. Her eyelashes are glittery and her teeth look extra white today, but Norah can tell that it's not completely genuine. She can tell that she wants something–she's just not sure what.