Dedicated to: Lavish-ing (for the first ever trailer for FTF!!! As seen above :) )

As soon as I nodded, letting the weight of my action sink in, along with Joshua's evident grin, a deafening screeching noise filled the air.

My head snapped to the side.

Harper didn't even bother to pick up the chair as he abruptly stood, letting it clatter to the ground in a ruckus. I watched in horror as he stood, not even remembering to take his jacket on the back of his seat- and took off, storming out of the classroom, eyes hard with anger.

The door slammed behind him, shattering the suffocating atmosphere.

All eyes in turn pivoted to look at me. Whether it be stares, glares, or even the uncommon 'whatever' look from Brandon Gonzalez, it all made me extremely uncomfortable. I was still getting the weird stares or harsh remarks concerning my social anxiety that Amanda had blurted out to the school- which I tried to ignore- and this added attention because Harper Andrews acted in a strange manner because of me, and that there is a new couple in school, because of me.

Everything was my fault, wasn't it?

I was interrupted by someone taking my hand in theirs reassuringly. I looked up to see Joshua looking down at me, a grin wide on his face. I was almost going to pull my hand away, but I remembered. We were dating now. I had to do this.

A loud cough sounded from the front of the room and the whole class, who I hadn't noticed was staring at us until that moment, turned in the direction of the noise, only to see the teacher standing there awkwardly.

"Um, okay, class," they continued. "Congratulations Ms Richards and Mr Lloyd, but I will have to continue now."

All through the class, Joshua held my hand, and not once did the smile disappear from his face. But me? I was a wreck from the inside. I felt uneasy being this close to Joshua, I was so, so, worried about our future as a couple and what other people would think, I didn't know if I regretted it because it was like I was throwing my childhood behind, and I couldn't stop glancing towards the door, praying that Harper would come back.

As soon as a few classes were done, I began to head towards the cafeteria. Whispers and stares followed me around, gossiping about Amanda's announcement, or news of my new relationship.

Why is only my relationship such a big deal?

Oh, that's right. Because you're the nerd who no one likes.

Of course it's surprising.

As soon as I stepped into the cafeteria, I was bombarded by Emma and Laura, rushing towards me.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" Laura shouted, grabbing hold of my shoulders and shaking me back and forth violently.

"Laura... " Emma said warningly from beside her.

"I MEAN, JOSHUA? REALLY?" Laura demanded again, not ceasing from shaking me. I tried to open my mouth to speak, but closed it quickly for the sake of not biting my tongue.

"Laura." Emma tried to pry her hands off of me.

"OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD- JOSHUA? THIS IS FUCKING RIDICUL- "

"Laura!" Emma finally yelled, managing to pull her hands off me. Then, lowering her voice, she hissed, "We're in public!"

I glanced around the room, and sure enough, most people were giving us weird looks. I blushed and pulled them  through the cafeteria and out the doors into the football field. As soon as we were out of ear-shot, they both turned on me.

"Why did you say yes?" Emma and Laura demanded at the same time. I winced at the harshness of their tones.

"You guys said I should try and move on, right? Well, that is exactly what I'm doing." I explained simply.

At the same time, eerily perfectly in sync, the both reached round to slap the back of my head sharply.

"Ow!" I exclaimed.

"Not like that!" Emma rolled her eyes. "You do realize that making this move is going to make things worse, right? Like Harper hates him so he's going to stay away from you- "

I want that.

"- he's an absolute jerk with no manners- "

That's questionable.

"- and you don't even like him like that! You're basically using him as a rebound."

"Hey," I narrowed my eyes a little. "I do like him like that."

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

Shut up. You're going to like him whether you like it or not.

"Sure," Laura rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand. "Let's get inside so we have time to eat lunch."

As soon as we reached the table, Joshua grinned widely at me and pulled me down to sit next to him on the bench.

"Hey, babe," he smiled, putting an arm around me. "How are you?"

I glanced around to see everyone on my table- Axel, Max, Bob, Laura and Emma gaping at me. Bethany was smirking a little.

"Um," I blushed, embarrassed to have Joshua's arm around me, desperately longing to shove it off. "I'm okay, I guess."

No!

No, Noelle!

He's your boyfriend now. You have to like him.

Force yourself to like him.

I gulped anxiously. "Um, how are you?"

Joshua grinned cheesily down at me. "Great now that you're here, babe."

I think I'm going to throw up.

I smiled weakly at him and turned to face everyone else. Max gave me an incredulous look.

"Noelle, Joshua," he began. "When did you start... " he trailed off.

"This morning, actually," Joshua grinned. "I put up a giant canvas of a heart for her and asked her to be my girlfriend. She said yes."

"Well, isn't that absolutely adorable!" Bethany gushed. With her words, I averted my undivided attention towards her for the first time the whole day. She was smiling widely, but any sane person could see the glimmer of unrestrained smug happiness residing in her chocolate brown eyes.

I wanted to punch her.

Instead, I settled for glaring.

If looks could kill, she'd be stabbed three times over and tossed to the Grievers.

I tried to ignore her. "Where is Harper?" I close to demanded.

For the first time today, she actually frowned- a real, genuine one, too. "I don't know... " she glanced down at her phone. "He hasn't even texted or called me." As if suddenly noticing that she was showing actual, real, human emotions, she shook her head and forced a smug smile onto her face. "I mean, obviously he will. He's madly in love with me and stuff, so... "

I stopped still.

"Oh, really?" Emma raised an eyebrow. "Has he said that to you?"

"Well," She huffed. "Not yet. But I know it's coming soon."

Thank god.

I shot Emma a grateful smile, just as Bethany began ranting about how cute she and Harper were. I rolled my eyes and stood up from the table, jealous, I admit, but also extremely annoyed.

Jealous?

Oh my gods, Noelle.

You can't just say that. You have a boyfriend. I don't care how long it takes you to like him, but it better happen.

To try and help myself a bit, I turned to Joshua, gathering my lunch container from the table. "Um- " I stuttered. "I'll see you later, b- babe." With that, I planted a forced, embarrassed kiss on his cheek and rushed out of the cafeteria.

In the midst of my rushing, I bumped into someone.

"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed, looking up slightly to see one of the Home Economics teachers- Ms Young. Despite her name, she was fifty-four years old and unmarried, although she was nice enough.

"That's quite alright," she said to me with a smile. "I was just looking for you."

"Um, okay?" I responded.

"I looked in the school directory, and you live near Harper Andrews, am I correct?"

I nodded anxiously.

"Well, he did not attend my class today and I have some very important homework due very soon that he did not receive. Do you mind passing these along to him?"

Um, yes, I do mind. I'd rather not see Harper.

"Of course," I replied.

"Brilliant," she smiled. "Thank you."

With that, she walked away with a flourish, leaving me with my own thoughts.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Here goes.

My hand paused above the doorbell.

What if Maggie hates me?

I mean, I'm in an argument with Mom, who is her friend, and her son really doesn't seem to like me right now.

Well, she can't hate me that much, right?

Reluctantly, I rang the doorbell. I heard it echo through the air for a long two minutes before she opened it.

"Why, hello, Noelle! It's been so long, how are you?" She grinned widely at me and I couldn't help but smile.

"I'm great, thanks. How are you and Jenna?" I asked, careful not to mention Harper.

"Oh, we're good." She looked at me cautiously. "I don't know about Harper, though. He's been acting strange since he started dating Milly Rosewood's daughter."

Bethany.

"Oh, really?" I tried to subtly ask. She nodded.

"Started going out more, more parties, and at home he's either in his room, curtains shut, or in Jenna's room. God knows what they talk about up there." I noticed the slight tinge of hurt in her voice.

Poor Maggie. She's just really worried about her son.

"And you know what? Today, still in the morning of the school day, he came barging into the house, gritting his teeth, his hands clenched into fists. It was ridiculous- I don't know what made him that angry." She sighed and shook her head. "Something's gone wrong. I just want whatever is hurting him so deeply- I just want it to stop."

I pursed my lips together. She was right- something probably was hurting him- I predicted Bethany- and although he hurt me, I wanted him to go back to normal, for Maggie's sake.

"I'm sorry," Maggie shook her head. "What happened?"

I forced a smile, tapping my backpack quickly. "I have to drop off some notes for Harper from Home Economics."

"Well," she patted me on the back. "He refuses to let anyone into his room but Jenna. So you can try."

"Thanks," I replied anxiously.

Why are you so nervous?

Calm down.

What's the worst that could happen?

Maggie sent me up the stairs, and I found myself getting increasingly worried. 

I mean, what if I mess something up again?

Shut up. You are just here to drop off notes. In and out, okay?

I took a deep breath when I stopped outside his door, fiddling with the ends of my hair nervously.

What if he doesn't even let me in?

Just do it.

I rapped on the door quickly with the back of my hand. In intense silence, I heard some shuffling behind the walls, before Harper's low voice called out.

"Mom, please, I already told you- I really don't want to leave my room- "

"It's Noelle," I interrupted.

Everything went quiet.

Oh my gods, he's not going to open the door.

Why did I even consider doing this?

Before I could doubt myself any further, the familiar creaking of a doorknob being turned sounded in the air, and the door slowly eased open. My heart pounding in my chest, I looked up at Harper, his jaw clenched and his eyes unusually tired. It looked like he had been running his hands through his hair in frustration a lot during the day, because his jet-black strands were standing up in the weirdest of angles, and he was wearing his sleeveless basketball shirt with sweatpants.

"U- um," I stuttered anxiously. "Hi."

He didn't say a word, staring at me intensely with those green eyes of his, so many emotions in his eyes that I couldn't make a single one out. In utter silence, he stepped aside, letting me into the room. Cautiously, I stepped into the room, looking up at his gorgeous features.

"What are you doing here?" He close to demanded. He sat back on his bed, surveying me with hard eyes as I awkwardly stood in front of him. I narrowed my own eyes a little.

"If you're trying to scare me, it's not working." I shortly replied.

Lies.

He stared me down, and I admit, I may have crumbled a little bit, but finally he averted his eyes from mine. Coughing awkwardly, I reached round to my bag, pulling out the Home Economics sheet and thrusting it out towards him.

"Ms Young wanted you to have this," I paused. "You know, because you ditched school and all."

Harper took the sheet and narrowed his eyes at me. "Don't pretend you haven't ditched school."

"Well, that's only because you made me," I shot back. Harper ran a hand through his hair and sighed. The room was then, once again, enveloped in an awkward silence.

I knew I should have left, but I just didn't want to. I don't know, it's just that being in his room helped me kind of restore that mental connection I used to have with Harper- even if it was utterly pretend.

At least there was something.

I sniffed a little, pressing the heels of my hands to my eyes, hating myself for the tears brimming in my eyes. For the first time, I was realising that losing Harper wasn't just losing someone that I was in love with.

Losing Harper was also like losing a best friend.

Someone to just talk to, someone I could go to to get away from drama- I was losing all of that too.

I took my hands away from my eyes quickly so it looked like there was just something in my eyes and I was just trying to remove it. That didn't fool Harper, though. His eyes softened immediately, and he stood up to reach me, even beginning to walk towards me. "Noelle- " he began. Before he could break me apart all over again, I spoke.

"How are you and Bethany going?" I asked quickly. He stopped short, his hand just inches away from my own. Hesitantly, he let it fall back to his side and his jaw clenched tightly again.

"Fine," came his short reply. "Great, actually. She's everything I could look for in a girlfriend."

You mean cruel, rude, and a female dog?

"Good." I answered quickly, trying to mask my hurt and obvious irritation. "I mean, she's your first girlfriend, right? May as well make it good. I mean, you don't want it to end up like Harry and Cho- that went downhill real fast." I rambled before stopping myself. Harper turned his head away, but not before I caught an amused glance adorning his features.

Wait.

Harry end up with Ginny.

Ginny is a redhead.

Could this be fate?

Shut up.

When I looked back up at Harper, his sour face had come back.

Sour wolf.

"How are you and Joshua?" He asked stiffly. I blushed immensely in response.

"S- so he asked me out today. Um, who am I kidding, you were there. Well, you technically walked out- wait, why?"

He didn't reply. I coughed awkwardly.

"Well," I began. "He's really sweet and nice and he really cares about me. I know he would never ever hurt me. He's really funny too, he makes me laugh and he's just great to me and really likes me- "

"I don't give a fuck about what he feels for you," Harper growled. "What do you feel for him?"

My face grew even redder. "Um- I like Joshua. A lot, actually."

Liar.

"I think I liked him for a really long time before we started dating and I was so relieved when he asked me out, and- "

"Did you like him when you kissed me?" Harper cut in stonily, nevertheless his eyes holding a strange sort of glow.

"W- what?" I asked, my heart racing, completely off guard. It was like Harper had torn down all my walls with those few words.

"You heard me."

"Well- " I began, before stopping suspiciously. I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes. "Wait- what are you talking about? I didn't kiss you. You kissed me."

"Seriously?" Harper asked incredulously, throwing his hand in the air. "You're the one who asked me to kiss you!"

"Well, you didn't have to do it! Besides, both the other times, you were the one who kissed me!"

"That's because I- " Harper caught himself in his tracks before shaking his head and flopping back on his bed, burying his head in his hands. Somehow, he was unable to continue, rendering him speechless. The silence was intoxicating, except for the slow up and down of his breaths.

Unsure what to do, I slowly edged myself towards the bed and sat myself at the edge of it.

Would it be okay to-

Would it be okay to hold his hand?

Is that cheating on Joshua?

Well- no, because it's like shaking hands, right?

Before I could doubt myself anymore, I reached my hand out to intertwine it with his. As soon as our skin touched, Harper shot his hand back, pulling away from me immediately.

"Please- " Harper glanced at me quickly. "Please go, Noelle."

"Oh," I replied, pulling away, hurt. "Um, okay."

I left the room as fast as I came.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I fiddled with the bracelet around my wrist. It was the bracelet Harper had given me at Christmas- although it seemed like a lifetime ago. I decided to put it on- just for the memories.

Joshua had asked me to meet him by his locker over text, so I was. I had been waiting for approximately fifteen minutes and he still hadn't arrived.

So many things were worrying me. Projects, graduation, university- but the primary thing that held my mind was my mom. I still hadn't spoken to her since the 'incident' and Lana was starting to notice. Yes, I regretted saying what I said to her- very deeply- but I was too afraid to apologise. Apologising meant facing her, and facing her meant listening to her lecture me on how bad Joshua was and how he would throw me away in the blink of an eye.

I sighed and glanced down at the silver metal on my wrist, fiddling with the little fandom sign charms he had put on the bracelet.

Has he given something like this to Bethany?

Before I could investigate into my thoughts further, I was interrupted my some knocks near my head. I looked up to see Joshua knocking on the locker next to his to grab my attention. "Hey, babe," he greeted. "You good?"

"Yeah," I smiled, watching warily as he put both hands on either side of my head, trapping me against the lockers. "I'm good."

"Great," he murmured, moving slightly closer to me. I tried not to move. "What do you say we go on a date this Friday? Hm?"

"Oh," I stuttered. "That would be great."

Oh my gods, Noelle. You are so bad at being a girlfriend. Stop acting so nervous.

In an attempt to break out of my comfort zone, I twined my arms around his neck, pulling him in slightly, so that his face was just in front of my own.

"I mean- I would love to go on a date, Joshua." I said with more confidence. He smirked.

"I'll pick you up at six?"

I nodded. His smirk grew wider, and he slowly leant down to capture my lips with his own.

No.

I stood there, shocked for a second.

Do something. You. Are. Dating.

Remember?

Hesitantly, I kissed him back. I didn't have a lot to compare to, but Joshua wasn't as good of a kisser as Harper. I mean- he wasn't terrible, but I didn't really feel anything. It just felt like I was simply pressing my lips onto someone else's- it didn't feel like a kiss.

But I went along with it.

Finally, he pulled away, resting his forehead against mine for a second, his smirk wide, and I couldn't help but remember Harper's grin after our first kiss.

No! You don't think of another guy when you just kiss your boyfriend!

Joshua winked and whirled away from me.

"So it's a date."

...

I KNOW, I KNOW, IM SORRY ITS BEEN A MONTH

A FREAKING MONTH

IM SOOOOOO SORRY... its just school, stuff, life- it all got in the way.

BUT I DID SEE 1989 IN SINGAPORE NIGHT 1 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WHOOP WHOOP

TAYLOR LOOKED AT ME

AND ANDREA HELD MY HAND

BUYWEFUTBGQ&FUEWGB&

Seriously the highlights of my life.

Sorry this chapter was boring... the next one will be a little more eventful ;)

Goals: 800 votes? oh my gods that is ambitious

Dedication: If the character's were a colour, what colour would each one be?

THANK YOU GUYS ILY

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