Break the Unbreakable

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

I was leaning against my locker, waiting for Niall to come out of the loo. He was changing into his football jersey, and we had to do our pre-game ritual. 

It sounds weird, but Niall scored his very first goal on the school football team in year nine. And before that first game, he and I each took a sip from his water bottle. And then, I gave him my lucky bracelet. We kissed it for good luck, and he scored the goal.

We’ve been doing it ever since then, for every game, and he’s scored a goal at every single one. 

I glanced at my watch, waiting for him. He had to hurry, or else I would be late for my meeting with Janet. And that would be another thing for Janet to make a snide remark on. 

“I’m here,” Niall said, running towards me, out of breath. 

I smiled, facing him. He had his red water bottle in his hand, and he passed it over to me. 

“You go first,” he told me. 

I took a sip from his bottle, feeling the cool and refreshing liquid touch my lips. I passed it to him. 

“You’re turn,” I said. 

He took a long gulp. Then, he looked at me expectantly, and then down at my wrist. I unsnapped the bracelet from my wrist. I brought it up to my lips and kissed it, and then gave it to him. He kissed it as well. 

“You’ve got to put it on me,” he said, extending his wrist. 

“Niall, I’ve done this millions of times,” I reminded him. He chuckled. He always told me what to do, even though the routine was the same. 

I put it on his wrist, making sure it was on correctly. 

“There,” I said, satisfied. “You are officially ready to play your football game. Good luck out there. Wish I could come and watch it.”

“I think Harry wishes the same thing,” he teased. “Although, I wouldn’t mind seeing you in that cheerleading outfit…”

I smacked him on the arm, and he looked at me with surprise. 

“Ow…” he said, rubbing the sore spot. “That is not part of our ritual!”

“Well, there’s always a first time for everything,” I replied, jokingly. “Anyways…I have to get going. I’ve got a meeting with Janet.”

“The wicked witch of the west,” he said, scowling. “Or…is it east? Which one’s the bad one?” 

“I think they’re both bad,” I replied. “Anything with ‘wicked’ in the title of your name tends to suggest you’re evil.”

“Then, who’s the good witch?”

“Glinda the good witch?” I laughed, and he joined in. “Alright, I’ll see you later. Good luck!”

He waved goodbye, as we both set off in different directions. 

*

“You’re late.” Janet had her arms crossed over her chest.

“You’re perceptive,” I replied sarcastically.

“Did you bring your article?” she asked in her clipped voice. 

I nodded, taking the piece of paper out of my bag. 

“Janet, are you actually going to make me chuck it away? I spent ages on it,” I reminded her. She wouldn’t care. She had no sympathy for me. 

She scanned the article over before looking up at me. 

“You know what I think of it?” she asked. 

She started ripping it to shreds. She tore off piece by piece until they were made into small little paper confetti. She threw them up in the air so the paper would sprinkle on me. 

I was appalled by this. She usually just published my article, despite her hatred for me. 

“Why did you do that?” I asked, anger rising in my chest. “It was a good article!” 

“Please,” she scoffed. “My dog could write better than that crap.”

“Seeing as your dog doesn’t have opposable thumbs, I would like to see that happen,” I responded, crossing my arms across my chest. 

“Cut that out,” she demanded. “I called you in here so you could spend time on an assignment that will make front-page news. It’ll be a huge headline, and I want you to write it.”

“Wow. A huge headline. Front page news.” I let this sink in. “There’s something wrong with this. What’s the catch?”

“Nothing.” 

I watched her carefully, and I could tell she was bluffing. I could tell there was something that I wouldn’t like. 

“Well if it’s such a big article, then why don’t you write it?” 

“Because.” 

I rolled my eyes. That wasn’t a very clear answer. 

“Blake you better cooperate, or you can kiss any chance of becoming a journalist goodbye. I write your reference letters to magazines you want to work at this summer. Don’t make me angry - or I’ll write you a very bad letter of how you wouldn’t complete your job effectively.”

She was being awful today - more awful than usual.

“What is wrong with you?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. “It’s like you’ve turned meaner since you started dating Harry.”

“Don’t you dare say that name around me,” she said, tersely. 

“What? Harry? But he’s your -“

“He’s a bloody arse and an idiot. I can’t even stand to look at him.”

“Well that’s a first,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “He dumped you, huh?”

“You don’t even know the half of it, Blake. So, fuck off,” she growled. She really wasn’t in the mood to tamper with. I shut up instantly. She looked like she wanted to cry, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. 

Even Janet Harris didn’t deserve Harry’s love potion of death.

“Okay, what’s my assignment?” I asked, moving on. 

“You’ll be working on in it for the next six weeks,” she said, and I gasped. That was the longest time I’d ever worked on an article. “So, I really want you to experience this topic first-hand. You’ll be required to hook a guy that never wants to commit, get him to fall in love with you, and then when he’s at his most vulnerable stage, you’ll break his heart.”

“Whoa,” I said, stepping back. “Break someone’s heart? Why do we have to hurt someone in the process?”

“Blake, don’t tell me you like any of those guys who play girls every single moment,” she sneered. “They deserve what they get.”

“So, you know what we call boys who don’t commit, right?”

“Unbreakables,” I answer.

“Right,” she responded. “So, you’ll write about your experiences of breaking his heart in a huge article that will run on the front-page.”

“Wait, how do you expect me to get an uncommitted guy to fall in love with me? It’ll be impossible! What if I can’t do it?” I asked with panic.

“Then, I guess you won’t become a journalist in the future,” she said, coldly. “You can’t fail - it’s that simple.”

I remained silent, trying to get all this information to sink in.

“Okay…” I started. “So who’s the guy?”

She stared at me, before a smirk spread across her face. 

“He’s the number one Unbreakable at our school. Take a wild guess.”

Oh God. Oh no. That meant it was…

Harry Styles.