Taylor knew she couldn’t show the fact that she was disappointed about Niall cancelling on her. She didn’t want to look weak; she had been that girl before and it only made her feel worse about herself and the situation. Niall may have a perfectly understandable explanation, but Taylor still felt that maybe she was being played. She thought she knew Niall; but Harry’s words kept echoing in her head and she couldn’t help but get caught up in his games.
Taylor walked into school the next day with her head held high, as if nothing had happened as she met Selena at the gate. Selena was talking to another guy, Zayn she was almost certain his name was, and felt like she may have been interrupting something.
"Taylor, hi! This is Zayn!” Taylor just smiled, trying to hide her confusion as she greeted Zayn.
"Nice to see you, Taylor. I’ll see you around Selena?" Selena nodded her head excitedly; Taylor found it obvious that Selena had a thing for Zayn just by the way she was acting around him. She was no stranger to the way girls acted when they liked someone. The innocent flirting, the cute hair flips and the giggles. Once Zayn walked away, Selena turned to Taylor, jumping up and down a couple of times excitedly.
"You dating Niall has opened up all sorts of doors for us! I mean… you…"
"Selena…" Taylor had a look of worry on her face.
"Okay I really meant us but c’mon, Tay! You have no idea how long I’ve liked Zayn for and finally he’s acknowledged me!" Selena looked genuinely happy and Taylor was happy for her. But she couldn’t help but worry that Zayn might be bad news. If he was anything like Harry, Selena definitely shouldn’t be hanging around him.
"Just be careful, okay? And since when am I dating Niall? We were going on a date, that’s all…" Taylor took a couple of seconds to realize she actually hadn’t told anyone other than Harry that she had something with Niall. "And how do you know about that, anyway??" Taylor’s voice turned into a whisper. She wasn’t sure why she was being hush about the situation all of a sudden, considering everyone already apparently knew.
"Everybody knows." Taylor looked around to find almost every set of eyes on her. She didn’t want to start pointing fingers or placing the blame on anyone, but she couldn’t help but assume one particular person was responsible for this.
Confronting Harry was out of the question. He would only deny it and it would cause one big argument which usually led to absolutely nothing being solved. Maybe talking to Niall would be her best option here.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to date Niall, nor did she not want people to know. It just felt weird to even consider herself Niall’s girlfriend when they hadn’t even been on a single date. She didn’t want to be the girl to jump into a relationship from the get go. She felt as though to really be in a relationship with someone, you have to know them as a friend first. You have to really get to know them before you even consider the label of boyfriend and girlfriend.
Taylor was in her own daydream when she noticed Selena looking behind her. “Well speak of the devil. I’ll leave you two alone…” She winked at Taylor and Taylor only got more confused until she found Niall in front of her. He looked exhausted; whatever he had been doing last night clearly wasn’t a quiet night in. So many assumptions started to run through Taylor’s head; the main one being that maybe he had been with someone else… It made her feel sick to her stomach. She was clearly torn when it came to her feelings about Niall.
"Hi." Taylor’s once perfect smile was now almost a frown as she wondered what else to say to him. She couldn’t act like nothing happened.
"Hey… I’m really sorry about last night I erm… family stuff." The shrug of his shoulders made it seem like he didn’t find it a big deal. It made Taylor wonder whether she was overreacting.
"It’s fine." She said through a smile. She couldn’t hold a grudge even if her life depended on it, especially after he mentioned the family part. "There’ll be other dates, right?"
"Right! Of course."
"You do realize the whole school thinks we’re dating…?" There were still people staring at them, obviously waiting for something to happen, but Taylor wasn’t about to give them a show.
Niall just shrugged again. “Let ‘em. They don’t know about us.” Taylor had always been used to being judged and ridiculed but it was something she had grown to deal with, but knowing Niall wasn’t worried added to the positivity that maybe they could work as a couple. Maybe…
"You know who would have spread the rumor…" Niall just shook his head profusely, immediately knowing who Taylor meant. He had noticed the tension between them and it made him a little uncomfortable. Harry and Niall were close friends and had known each other for years, and Niall trusted him.
"Harry didn’t do it. I know him…"
"You didn’t seem quite so friendly towards each other yesterday." Taylor pointed out.
"We have our differences and issues… But overall Harry’s got my back and I’ve got his." Taylor just couldn’t argue about it anymore, and neither could Niall. They just headed to their next classes, which also happened to be the class they shared with Harry. When the class started and he still wasn’t there, Taylor wasn’t too concerned. This was Harry, who knew what he was up to. But Taylor clearly noticed that on the other hand, Niall was looking towards the door every couple of minutes. It was obvious he was worried about Harry, and Taylor couldn’t quite put her finger on why. She didn’t understand their relationship; they seemed to be either best friends or at each other’s throats.
As soon as the class was over Niall rushed towards the car park, muttering something to Taylor that sounded like he would be back later. And honestly, Taylor was a little over being lied to. She knew that she hadn’t known Niall for long, but she thought she deserved some sort of explanation. So grabbing her car keys out of her bag, her curiosity got the best of her, hoping to find out why Niall kept on bailing on her and whether it related to Harry not being at school today…
