Keep Holding On (Harry Styles Fanfic)

Chapter 7

Valerie POV

Spontaneous eye contact with Harry Styles has only happened a few times at lunch. Usually, I'll just sneak glances at him. Sometimes I can feel him looking at me. Or I'll see him looking at me out of the corner of my eye, but I'll pretend that I don't.

Attempting eye contact at lunch always involves a huge degree of risk. If I'm trying to look at Harry without looking like I'm actually looking and I accidentally look at someone else, there could be a problem. They could take it as an invitation to launch a verbal attack.

When I got to the cafeteria, I tried to anticipate where Matt and those guys would sit. Then I picked a table far from there. Most kids sit at the same table every day, but with Warner, i'ts like this incessant game of musical tables we're playing where he's the only one having fun. Of course Matt sits at the table behind mine. His friends immediately swoop in after him.

"What's for lunch?" Matt asks from behind me. I don't turn around., I know his question is meant for me. I'm reading to keep people to leave me alone. I keep pretend reading.

"Lettuce sandwich again?" Matt inquires. "Ooh, or maybe you got the mayonnaise and mustard on this time! Aren't those the best?"

Maybe her mom wiped her butt and put that in a sandwich," his friend says. Matt's whole table cracks up. I hear the slap of a high five. I can't deal with this today. I'm just relieved that Harry's sitting like five tables away. If he heard what Matt and his friends said to me, I would die. I peek at Harry. He isn't looking. A group of girls are seated in front of my table, just laughing like school is such a comfortable place. I know all those girls we used to be friends, but then it became all bad.

Lying isn't something I ever wanted to do. I lied because I had to. When mother stopped taking care of me, I made up this story about how she was in the hospital. Which somehow evolved into this whole big thing about how she might die. I was only trying to justify my humiliating clothes and lunches. The plan was to tell everyone she got better after a few weeks, but my friends found out I lied. One of them saw mother at the post office and told everyone. Emily was the only one who didn't hate me. People started calling me a liar. Matt started making fun of how I eat. Carly started bullying me, and they never stopped. I don't entirely regret that I lied. Id rather have the whole school hate me than everyone know my truth.

Pretending I'm looking at the clock, I peek at Harry. He's looking right at me. I look back at him. He doesn't look away. He smiles at me. I smile back, and then a gob of something smacks into the back of my head. The girls at the next table stare. Matt's table is roaring with laughter.

No one comes over to help me. More people turn to look. I do not want to know whats in my hair. I have to know whats in my hair. I reach back and tentatively touch the gob. Its smashed potatoes. Matt finds this to be hilarious, but that's not even the worst part. The worst part is that Harry saw the whole thing. He was looking right at me when it happened.

Harry Styles just saw me get smacked in the head with a gob of mashed potatoes.

There's only one option. I stand up, grab my things, and head for the door. Some mashed potatoes slide down my hair and hit the floor. People are giving me wide eyes and covering their smirks as I pass them.

I slam against the door to push it open. The teacher is yelling at me that I cant leave. I want to yell back that he should do his job. Where was he when the mashed potatoes were flying? But I don't yell. I don't say anything. I just leave. I'm never going back.

Harry POV

I glanced at Valerie most of the day. I agreed to keep a close eye on her. It was lunch and I was seated five tables away from Valerie. The boys where also aside with me.

"So, what plans do we have today?" I ask Liam. Louis sat next to me, Zayn next to him, then Liam, and Niall in the other side of me

"Let me check" He looks through his phone.

"Nothing. We have today off" He says after finishing up from looking at his phone.

"Whoo!" we all repeat. Louis and I high-five each other and the rest of the boys smile and cheer.

"So can I ask why where here today?" Zayn turns to me while the rest of the boys do the same.

"Yeah, we always go to Starbucks at lunch" Louis says defensively.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure Valerie is alright" I turn to look at her and see her reading. I turn back to find the boys with smirks glued on to their faces.

"What?" I say defensively.

"C'mon curly, you really think she still gets bullied" Zayn response with a reasoning look on his face.

"Yeah that was over a month ago, she can't possibly still get bullied" the Irish lad says with an assuring voice.

"I hope. But why didn't her boyfriend do something. He clearly knew they were saying those things to her"

"Maybe she was to embarrassed to tell him" Liam replies. We all look at him as I try to think. There's something missing.

"Or maybe, there not as close as Haz thinks they are" Louis  directly says to Liam as the rest of the boys nod in agreement.

"Are you even sure she has a boyfriend, lad?" Niall says putting one arm over my shoulder.

 "Yeah. Now that im thinking Ive never seen her with anyone holding hands or doing what a normal couple does" Zayn says while the other boys agree with him.

"I saw her kissing a guy before class the other day, but that's the only time Ive seen them together."

"Or our little Haz is jealous" Louis uttered. I give him a scowl and stay silent. The boys begin to shriek in laughter and I avoid to put a smile on my face. As they laugh I turn to look at Valerie, she catches me and I smile. She smiles back. Before I wave 'hi' to her  a huge ball of mashed potatoes hits the back of her head. She avoids to look at me, then touches the back of her head. I look at the direction where the mashed potatoes flew from, but see nothing. I stand up, the boys seem to get my attention and look at Valerie. They stay silent. I walked over to her, but before I got there she gets up and leave.

Why didn't I do something and rushed by her side? I just stood there frozen solid? 

I knew I couldn't leave and cause myself trouble or I would get in even bigger trouble with Simon. I turned to look at Liam to give him a look if I could leave. He shrugged in disappointment and I knew that was a 'No'. I stayed locked at the door she went running through, she needed me. I went back to the table the boys where at.

"I'm sorry mate" Liam said, I didn't bother to look at them.

"If I let you go, Simon will find out and he will make us move to a stricter school. Then you wouldn't be able to see Valerie again" I knew he was right, I just wanted to stay mad at something. I was mad at myself because I couldn't do anything.

Valerie POV

I couldn't bare the emberassement any longer I had to get out of there. I went to the bathroom at the back of the stall and cried my eyes out on the floor. I had dropped everything. They got to me. I was now on the floor crying on my knees. I wanted this day to be over soon.

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