Two Truths & A Lie

Chapter 11

Well, if anyone knew how to make me feel like shit about myself, it was Harry Styles. For the rest of the day, and the day after that, and even the day after that, I was tormented by the fact that I really had treated him like he was a complete asshole. To be fair, for a while, he was. It took him forever to warm up to me, but as soon as he did, I became the asshole. But I was only being cautious because he was an asshole before. Gosh, everyone was an asshole.

It didn't matter how I went about explaining it to myself - I officially felt horrible. He was attempting (in a very odd way) to make friends. The least I could do was find him a decent date for Homecoming, and with just two days left before the dance, I needed to move fast. Oh, don't hate me. It was part of my personality - helping people all the freakin' time. Instead of trying to suck girls into a "Harry Styles" themed conversation and determine how worthy they were to be Styles' date, I resorted to just flat-out asking who had a date and who didn't. When a girl told me she had yet to be asked to the dance, my next question was, "Have you ever started a rumor about dating Harry Styles?"

Elise Smith turned so red that I knew the answer was "yes" without her having to say anything. "What? Why does that matter?" She stuttered, tossing her red curls over her shoulder. I wasn't about to send Harry to Homecoming with someone who was crazy enough about him to start a rumor.

JoAnn Wells snorted when I asked. "Of course I started a rumor about us dating. He's a total babe. In my mind, we were dating, but when I tried to hold his hand in the hallway he looked at me like he was about to murder me."

Daya Holloway laughed when I asked her. "I don't have a date and I haven't started a rumor about him. Those girls are stupid."

Was she a potential date? "Why are they stupid?" I asked.

She snarled and shook her head. "He's not even attractive. Why would someone want to date that?" So, she had no potential to be his date. "Why does it matter anyway? Aren't you two dating?" She asked.

My cheeks burned as my face flushed. "No. We aren't."

At lunch on Friday, I was stressing more than I should have been. Niall and Miranda were off "studying" and Louis didn't sit at the table since he knew I was there, leaving me with just Zayn, which I didn't mind. The afternoon after Harry got pissed at me, I invited Zayn over to my house and told him everything that was going on and everything that Harry said.

"Still haven't found him a date?" Zayn asked me as I put my head down on the table and sighed. It was Friday afternoon and I knew if I didn't find a date by the end of the school day, I was S.O.L.

"Nope," I said, popping the "p."

"Why are you doing this again?" He asked.

I lifted my head to balance on my elbow and stared at Zayn. "I told you, I feel bad. I was kind of a bitch to him and I just want him to go to Homecoming and at least have a little bit of fun." I glanced around the lunchroom and looked at the different girls and guys all coordinating for the next night. Liam and Raven were even cozied together and I could see on the screen of her phone that they were looking at three different dresses. "I'm so tired of this back-and-forth with Harry, though. I'm just going to find him a date and that's going to be the end of our relations."

"Just end relations now," Zayn suggested.

I buried my face in my arms. "You know I can't do that. I promised him a date. I can't just back out of that and leave him empty-handed tomorrow night."

"Sounds like the usual, problem-solving, all-up-in-your-business Emalia Hastings," Zayn said, nudging me playfully. "So who are you going with?"

I shrugged, ignoring his joke. "I was thinking you, but I heard yesterday that you asked Ally Cardenu. Truth or rumor?"