Falling for the Foreign | HS

Labor Day

Chapter 5

After the day Harry and I had yesterday, I'm honestly so excited for this weekend. It's Labor Day weekend. The final stretch of my glorious summer. The last moments of freedom before I have to go back to hell on Tuesday.

Every Labor Day weekend my family does the same thing: quick stop at school to pick up me school schedule, and then drive up to our cabin on Clear Lake.

We go boating, swimming, grill out, and just hang out as a family. My brother is coming up from UCLA to spend the weekend with us, and i couldn't be more excited.

It's also Harry's first Labor Day, meaning he'll be getting the full American experience this weekend.

My whole family, plus Harry, already packed up the car, and are currently heading to school.

When we get there, my parents and brother wait in the car while Harry and I run inside. As we walk up the path to Lowell, I laugh at Harry, who looks extremely nervous, "Are you okay Styles?"

He breaks from his train of thought and looks at me wide eyed, "Yeah, I'm ok. Just nervous for some reason. I can't help but think about how much this place will change my life."

I smile at him, opening the door for us and walking into school. His eyes get big and I can tell Lowell High is very different from his English school.

I lead him through the halls to the cafeteria, where all the schedules are being held for pick up. I point Harry in the direction of the M-S senior last names, while I walk over to the A-E section.

I kindly ask for my schedule from Mr. Newton (my old physics teacher) when I hear a teacher gasp at Harry's accent. It's something I've already gotten used to, but clearly it's a little out of the ordinary.

I take my schedule and thank Mr. Newton, but when I turn around, I see a large crowd of people around Harry. He meets my eyes and gives me the 'help' look. I smile at him, very amused, before breaking up the circle of students.

"Thank you," Harry whispers as I grab his hand, pushing through all the people.

As we begin walking to the exit, I hear a familiar voice stop us right as we get to the front doors. I turn around to find Louis jogging over to us. I smile at the rugged boy and greet him, "Hey Louis! How are you?"

"I'm good Haze, but Harry, I actually need to talk to you about something." Harry looks confused but asks him what's up anyways. "So, I talked to the school's soccer coach, Coach Roberts, and he said even though tryouts were already held, he'd make an exception for you. If you come to practice on Tuesday, right after school, you can join the team. Well, if Coach likes what he sees, but I wouldn't be too worried." Louis smiles brightly at Harry, and I can tell he genuinely wants Harry to feel included.

A grin grows across Harry's face as well, and he quickly responds, "That would be brilliant mate! Thank you!"

Louis nods contently at us, "Great! See you Tuesday 'mate,'" Louis mimics, "Have fun at the cabin guys." I smile and wave him off, saying our final goodbyes.

Louis' been up to the cabin a few times with our other friends, but Labor Day is reserved for the family.

And now Harry.

When Harry and I get back to the car, I sit between him and my brother.

Finally, we start on the two hour drive to Clear Lake.

Harry and I compare our schedules, realizing we have four out of our eight hours together: AP World History, Chemistry, Study Hall, and Lunch.

Harry takes a different math and language arts than me, has gym a different hour, and takes choir instead of Advanced Photography.