Leave {z.m.}

Forty Nine

"Can you believe that sophomore year of college is over already?" Niall exclaimed with a contagious grin filling up his face. Tiny specks of dark hair were poking out from above his upper lip and on the end of his chin. The plain, white v-neck t-shirt that he wore revealed chest hair of the same color. I had overheard him bragging about it the other day after school with Harry; much to Harry's disappointment, he hadn't grown any chest hair yet. A mustache was starting to grow in though. Why I listened, I didn't know.

"I can't. Everything just flew by so quickly. I feel like I was just a freshman not too long ago," I admitted as I tied my long, wavy hair into a bun on top of my head. A few weeks ago, Niall and I had made up from whatever weirdness had been going on previously. We were alright now, better than alright, but my sibling relationship with Harry had taken a turn for the worse. It was Friday, and exactly a week ago, he had begun to behave strangely.

I chose to ignore it for the most part, figuring that he was just going through something. He wasn't possessed or anything. He was pretty normal, too normal, but leaving him alone was the best option. I didn't want to upset him and screw up everything; teenage boys are more fragile than you would think, especially when it came to their anger.

I turned the ignition of my car off and stepped out of the driver's seat while Niall climbed out of the passenger seat. I made sure to lock the car up before skipping up to my front door. "Like I told you yesterday, I have to work tonight but I'll be back by 7:30. You and Harry can find something to do to entertain yourselves."

Niall groaned in protest as I reminded him of my 5 hour shift at the somewhat-new Victoria's Secret store at a mall here in Manchester called "Trafford Centre". It was one of my favorite places to be, and I was so glad when I found out that they had made Victoria's Secret stores here in the UK.

Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to be an underwear model to work there; you just have to be on time and on task. It's pretty simple actually. I have an obsession with the perfumes there as well as the clothes and the bras and underwear, of course. "Your brother hates me; the only reason he'll talk to me will be to tell me to shut up or go away," Niall complained.

"That's better than nothing," I noted as I unlocked the door and stepped inside. "I wouldn't know what guys do. Do whatever guys do, as long as there's no strippers or prostitutes involved," I warned him. "Just take all of the fun out of life, why don't you," Niall teased as he took out a wad of cash. "What do you think you're doing with that money?" I questioned suspiciously.

"I can just go to the mall with you and then walk around while you're working," he suggested. He rested on the bottom step of the stairs near the front door and played with his blonde hair. "Niall, I have to work without worrying about your whereabouts. Just stay here. Find something to do with Harry. Watch a movie. Stalk girls. Play truth or dare. I don't know." Maybe going out was what Harry needed. Fresh air.

I threw my bag onto the floor beneath me and kicked it into a nearby closet. I still had to change into my work attire and leave while only having 30 minutes to get there. "Fine," Niall huffed and muttered something rude under his breath. "Watch your mouth, Mr," I scolded jokingly before running up the stairs to my room.

"We're fine, mum," I heard Harry's raspy voice coming from the ajar door of his room. I snuck near it, and although I knew I was running late, this seemed more important. "I promise that we are; we'll visit you soon, okay?" He was obviously talking to Anne, and guilt flooded through me as I realized that I hadn't spoken to her in about a month. Harry was clearly the better child.

It went silent for a moment until Harry startled me. "I can hear you breathing," he declared, swinging the door wide open and staring me down. "At least you know I'm still alive," I grinned and gave him an awkward thumbs up before scurrying into my room to change. I listened as Harry's door slammed and I sighed while pulling my uniform of a pink t-shirt and black slacks off of its hangers.