caught I h.s

Chapter 2

I don't see this mystery Harry Styles at all the next day. My fist clenched the pink USB tightly the entire day, just in case I spotted him, but to no avail.

"Second day go okay?" Mum asks when I arrive home. She is busy rushing around the kitchen, baking an abundance of cookies.

"Yeah, all right. I had a free period today so that was good." I reply. I unpack my bag and attempt to start my statistics homework before giving up, sighing. Our small dog Molly nips at my leg, persuading me to take her for a walk. Deciding that it would be a better way to procrastinate doing my homework than sitting at the table with my face in my hands, I happily oblige.

The rest of the evening goes by in a flash and before I know it my 6:30am alarm is once again scaring the living shit out of me. Every single time.

I groan and stretch my arms, yawning widely. Third day of school in Cheshire, England. I force myself out of bed and walk over to the window, peeking outside of the curtains. Unsurprisingly, the weather is dismal and grey; another typical day.

---

"So, have you seen any guys you like around yet?" Riley asks eagerly.

"That Ansel guy is pretty nice," I say. "Do you know him?"

Riley nods. "Oh, yeah. He is fine, I agree with you there. I have a bit of a crush on this guy James, to be honest. I don't know if you know him?"

"James? I think I know who you're talking about, yeah. I sit next to him in English."

"Really? Oh my god, you have to like talk to him about me or something, although I don't even know if he knows I exist. But still, please?"

I laugh at her eagerness, raising my eyebrows. "Of course, just don't get your hopes up," I say. Riley shrugs.

"I mean, it'd just be nice to see if he reacts to me, you know." She says. "Thanks in advance, Scarlett."

"All goods, I don't have English today but tomorrow I do so I will try to get around to it."

Riley looks flustered as she thanks me profusely over and over again. "You're the bomb. The bomb diggity."

"I might explode soon if you don't stop thanking me. I haven't even done anything yet," I laugh. "Also, we better get to Bio, don't you think?"

"Of course, yes. Let's go."

---

"Would you be so kind as to move your bag?" A male voice, slow and raspy, commands.

Without looking up, I reply hastily, "Sorry, yes, here you go."

"Thank you." I hear him shift his weight into the chair and arrange his textbooks on the desk. I don't even want to look at him, for fear of embarrassing myself further.

"So you're my new Bio partner?" He questions, his tone speeding up. "Are you new? I haven't seen you around. I've never sat beside anyone in this class before, as I tend to be moved because of my 'little shit delinquent attitude' but apparently you're brave enough to put up with it. Or there were no spare seats. That's probably it, actually. Can you look at me while I'm talking, please? It's rude not too."

I grimace slightly, and realize I'm just digging myself further and further into a hole that is probably already half way to China. He must've noticed, as he says, "Look, you're gonna have to talk to me eventually, so we may as well have a good time while we're at it. Bio isn't my favourite subject even though I find it a tad interesting. Only a tad, though, I mean - what are you holding?"

I freeze, completely forgetting that I was clutching the pink USB in my hand. "Um, it's just a USB that I found on my first day," I say slowly.

"Are you kidding me? That's mine! I've been looking for it for ages! Why didn't you come find me? I've been seriously worried about it," he says angrily.