Surrender

August 16, 2013

6:45am

I walk into first period and Louis is seated in the back of the room in all of his sassy glory. How I didn't notice those hot pink shoes and the boy they're attached to before lunch yesterday boggles my mind.

"Hey, gorgeous," I say as I slide into an empty seat next to him. I take the cup of coffee out of his hands and take a sip. He lets me, because he doesn't know me well enough yet to object. Or maybe he lets me because he knows the ramifications of intercepting a self-proclaimed caffeine addict.

"I learned a lot about you last night," he says. "It's too bad your mother won't let you have internet. It's an amazing place to discover facts about yourself that you never even knew." I laugh.

"Do I even want to know?" I tilt my head back and finish off his coffee, then hand him back the cup. He looks down at the empty cup and places it back on my desk.

"Well," he says. "According to some probing on Facebook, you had someone named Daniel Wesley over on Friday night and that resulted in a pregnancy scare. Saturday you had sex with someone named Liam and then kicked him out. Yesterday..." he drums his fingers on his chin. "Yesterday you were seen running with a guy named Harry Styles after school. That concerns me a bit because, rumor has it...he doesn't like Mormons." Sometimes I'm thankful I don't have access to the internet like everyone else.

"Let's see," I say, running through the list of rumors. "I don't even know who Daniel Wesley is. Saturday, Liam did come over, but he barely got to cop a feel before I kicked his drunk ass out. And yes, I was running with a guy named Harry yesterday, but I have no idea who he is. We just happened to be running at the same time and he doesn't live far from me, so..." I immediately feel guilty for downplaying the run with Harry. I just haven't figured him out and I'm not sure I'm ready for someone to infiltrate mine and Louis' twenty-hour old alliance just yet.

"If it makes you feel better, I found out from some chick named Ainsley that I'm a product of old money and I'm filthy rich," he says. I laugh.

"Good. Then you won't have a problem bringing me coffee every morning." The classroom door opens and we both look up, just as Harry walks in dressed in a casual white t-shirt and dark denim skinny jeans, his hair freshly washed since our run this morning. As soon as I see him, the stomach virus/hot flashes/butterflies return.

"Shit," I mutter. Harry walks to Mr. Mulligan's desk and lays a form on it, then walks toward the back of the room fiddling with his phone the whole time. He takes a seat in the desk directly in front of Louis and never even notices me. He turns the volume down on his phone, then puts it in his pocket.

I'm too in shock that he showed up to even speak to him. Did I somehow change his mind about re-enrolling? Am I happy about the fact that I may have changed his mind? Because I sort of feel nothing but regret. Mr. Mulligan walks in and sets his things on the desk, then turns toward the blackboard and writes his name, followed by the date. I'm not sure if he honestly thinks we forgot who he was since yesterday, or if he just wants to remind us that he thinks we're ignorant.

"Styles," he says, still facing the blackboard. He spins around and eyes Harry. "Welcome back, albeit a day late. I take it you won't be giving us any trouble this semester?" My mouth drops at his condescending remark right off the bat. If this is the kind of shit Harry has to put up with when he's here, no wonder he didn't want to come back. At least I just get shit from other students. I don't care who the student is, teachers should never be condescending. That should be the first rule in the teacher handbook. The second rule should be that teachers aren't allowed to write their names on blackboards beyond third grade. Harry shifts in his seat and replies to Mr. Mulligan's comment with just as much bite.