Two Roads ≫ l.s

3

I'm meeting them all today, Diary.
I'm scared.
And kinda tired, too, actually.
I wonder what they all look like? Zayn's struck a few more names off of the list, which is... relieving. I don't know. I hope they're into the same stuff as me. It would be kind of awkward trying to make conversation with a stranger more interested in what's in the charts than they are in having a conversation with me! Though, I'd still put it past Zayn to invite anyone who went anywhere near Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke. I hope so, anyway.
My hand's tired from writing now. I need to stop songwriting by hand at 3 in the morning. That explains the tiredness, too.

I shut my diary, giving my right hand a well-deserved break as I slotted the little decorative book into my drawer, disguised under boring looking papers and my songwriting folder. I was running late, anyway, with only about 10 minutes to spare until I had to meet Zayn and Niall at the wondrously original Starbucks.

I didn't even like Starbucks coffee that much. I mean, it was okay. I'd drink it. But there are probably certain drinks I'd enjoy buying a lot more while pretending to look sociable with my two friends. It didn't even really taste of coffee, anyway. More of some kind of warm, gingerbread-y liquid in fancy mugs. But, you know, social priorities.

I grabbed my jacket, the khaki green 'Topman' one, called up a few generic 'Goodbye' greetings to my mother, and shut the door behind me, immediately pushing in my headphones and drowning out the dauntingly busy outside world with the best of Vampire Weekend.

I turned the brightness right down on my phone, preserving what little percentage of battery I had left while I could. It was already showing the nearly-empty red battery icon at the top-right corner of my screen, whilst flashing "20% battery remaining" every 5 minutes I had it locked. In all honesty, it probably wasted more battery by unnecessarily reminding me of something I was perfectly aware of.

Once I'd reached the small Starbucks on the corner of the street, what we'd refer to as 'our' Starbucks, I smoothed down my fringe and self-consciously adjusted my beanie, wanting to look at least half socially acceptable.

"Harry! Come here!" Niall called out from a larger table round the corner of the café. I quickly ordered whatever latte I saw first, which hardly took any time at all seeing as the café was never busy enough for a queue, grabbed the cardboard take-away cup and hurried over to where they were seated.

At first glance at them sitting around the table, I was suddenly caught off-guard by the sight of two more additions; of whom I had no idea who they were. They halted their conversations as soon as they saw me, their small talk about seeing the 1975 in concert slowly fading out into awkwardly unfamiliar smiles in my direction, which I returned.

"Harry, sit." Zayn ordered, pointing at the leather seat next to him. I sat, gingerly placing the coffee on the table and my Hype backpack down beside me. "I want to introduce you to these two. Heaven, Kendall, meet Harry. Harry, meet Heaven, and Kendall."

The girl sitting nearest me, who I assumed was Kendall, flicked a strand of bright red hair over her pale shoulder and gave me a little nod of recognition.

"Hey." She greeted politely, although I could feel her emerald-coloured eyes staring into me, judging me.

"Hiya, Harry." Heaven grinned from next to Kendall. She looked almost the opposite, her black hair waving way past her shoulders and her dark brown eyes looking slightly friendlier as I glanced into them, returning the greeting.

Well, at least I hadn't been brutally murdered yet. I thought to myself as I took a deep breath and stared expectantly at the door over on the other side of the café, waiting for everyone else to arrive. Although I wasn't exactly awaiting iit, in the sense that I particularly wanted to be surrounded by a crowd of people to a similar age to me, all a whole lot more confident, cooler, and better looking than me.