MEAN BOYS (LARRY STYLISION

chapter 10

Louis tried calling Harry again.

He stood by the entrance of the cafeteria, leaning against his favourite wall with his mobile held to his ear with utmost casualness, carelessness, coolness. The ringing echoed loudly throughout his skull like a drill boring into metal in the middle of the night, waking every resident in the neighbourhood from their slumber – Harry wasn’t picking up.

Louis hadn’t heard from Harry since the party last weekend and today was already Wednesday. He didn’t know if Harry was well or not, if he was dead or turned zombie but Louis wouldn’t stoop as low as to ask Zayn if he had any info on the missing Plastic. He just couldn’t get his pride to cooperate with his brain and heart.

Instead he opted for pretending like he wasn’t concerned at all, like he didn’t have the craziest thoughts on his way home from Harry’s, like he wasn’t dying inside to see Harry’s face.

And suddenly Louis spotted those necklaces, that wavy hair, those green eyes, that neck and those lips of Harry’s in the mass of pupils pushing, rushing toward obtaining their lunch.

Louis was too popular to run up to Harry, sat too high on his throne to reach down to the level of the commoners and hug Harry - so he just waited for the younger lad to join him up on his royal, metaphorical balcony. He smiled accidentally at the passing strangers and they died inside, being graced with Louis’ brief attention.

He would question Harry about his hangover, if he had been grounded by his mother and how long it took to clean up the whole house. He would wait until Harry and his slow, sultry voice had told him of every insignificant detail and afterwards Louis would start babbling about every significant detail regarding the prom and then about some more prom-related stuff .

When Harry was only a few metres away, their eyes met and something was off - the way Harry’s eyes instantly hardened, the way his lips immediately pressed together was entirely wrong.

And suddenly Louis saw that Harry wasn’t wearing any pink – never before had Louis felt so embarrassed about wearing his sister’s rose tank top.

-

Harry was avoiding him very vigorously. It wasn’t even funny.

Everything that had transpired between the two of them seemed to have not transpired at all. The friendship between them seemed to have evaporated.

Louis was invisible to Harry. Louis was a mere shadow amongst shadows. Louis wasn’t even a nobody – he was a nothing.

Liam and Zayn were playing some retarded board game, annoying the fuck out of him. He hadn’t allowed them into his house to worsen his mood - their job was to make him feel like he owned the world, like they wouldn’t survive without him but they didn’t seem to need him in the slightest – they were basically sitting on top of each other, possibly snogging, completely ignoring him.

“Did the two of you even notice that Styles’ missing?”

Zayn turned around immediately – he looked like he had been struck by lightning.

“I knew something was –“

“Oh, shut up. You fucking dimwit.” Louis spat with little sass and too much ass.

“Hey, man. It’s not Zayn’s fault –“

“And it’s mine?! Are you implying that I made Harry go back to Fat-prechaun and Brow-monster?”

Liam shook his head and Zayn straightened his quiff.

“I thought – I thought that me and Harry had a – spark.” That he and Harry had a special spark, a special something. “I gave Harry everything!” Was his everything not good enough?