Chapter 6 ~ The Promise

[Louis]

Well, let's just say it turned out life really wanted me even more hurt than I already was. Not only did Harry have his locker just down the hallway, he also took the same English class as I did. It wasn't more than a few minutes into the lesson when the curly haired boy knocked on the door and entered the classroom.

Surprisingly, that Liam guy wasn't with him, but let's just say the entire room went quiet. Even Mr. Waltz seemed shocked by the arrival of his old student, even if he was probably informed that the popstar would attend this school again. Who interrupted the silence was Harry himself, giving the teacher a cheeky smile. He walked over to him and laid his hand on his shoulder. "Long time no see, Mr. Waltz. It's nice to meet you again."

The older man blushed a little by Harry's words, most likely because he remembered his name and who he was. I wanted to roll my eyes at the scene, but decided against it. Not that any of them would notice it if I did so, but it was best if I didn't.

Mr. Waltz adjusted his tie, clearing his throat as he reached his hand out for Harry to take. "Nice to see you again too, Mr. Styles. Make yourself feel at home."

Harry took his hand and shook it as he nodded his head. "Thank you."

An uncomfortable silence followed after that where the two people only looked at each other, the students in the classroom still being dead silent. "Alright, you can take a seat wherever you want. Like I said, make yourself feel at home."

The curly haired boy made a salute motion in reply before walking over to the closest seat he could find. It was next to a girl I recalled was named Brittany. She wasn't one of the popular girls at the school but she wasn't nerdy either. When Harry sat down beside her and looked at her with a smile, I could see her eyes widen in surprise. "Brittany, isn't it?" He asked, pinching his chin thoughtfully.

The girl nodded breathlessly, seeming to be in some kind of trance. The other students in the classroom seemed shocked by the fact that Harry Styles was in their classroom as well, if the silence was anything to go by. I, on the other hand, couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes this time. What even was this, and what stupid game was he trying to play?

He sent Brittany a reassuring smile while Mr. Waltz looked a little lost at the front. He probably didn't know how to handle the situation that had suddenly occurred in the classroom.

Thankfully, Brittany seemed to get back to her senses only a few seconds later, and so did the other students, so Mr. Waltz could finally continue the lesson. It wasn't like before Harry had entered the classroom, though. Everyone was quiet, too quiet for being this class, and even Mr. Waltz seemed on edge. It made me a little frustrated. I mean, why should a person who had gone to this school before make such a difference? He didn't even deserve this kind of attention.

Annoyed, I shook my head and looked down at my school work, trying to listen to what Mr. Waltz spoke about during the rest of the lesson. Though, I doubted anyone did at this point. They were too distracted by the popstar who wouldn't even sit still in his chair. He just kept squirming and looking out the window with a bored expression on his face. Not that I examined him or anything.

After what seemed like a life time, the bell finally rang and the students got up from their seats. Harry was the first one out. He just nodded to Mr. Waltz in acknowledgment before storming out the door as quickly as possible. I snorted at the way he was acting. I mean, he had been gone for two years. It wasn't like he had never gone to school before. He knew how it worked, yet he acted as if it was something so out of his world that he couldn't even act like all the other people. Either it was because he didn't really want to attend school or it was because he was trying to make a scene. It wouldn't surprise me it it was the latter.

Once I had gathered all my stuff, I left the classroom as well and walked back to my locker. On my way there, I could still feel eyes on me. It was weird. I mean, just because Harry was back, they were acknowledging me again? They were probably just curious about how we would react to each other's presence or something.

I unlocked my locker and shoved my school books into it with a sigh. I was just about to slam it shut again when someone grabbed a hold of the edge of it, holding the door in place. Confused, I looked around it and noticed that Zayn was standing there, an uneasy look on his face as he was biting his bottom lip.

"Something wrong, Zayn?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

He sighed, closing the locker for me and locking it. "No... Well, yes. Kind of. It's the fact that Harry's back. I've been talking to Niall and we're worried about you. We knew how devastated you were when he left and we're just afraid he's going to hurt you again, and even more. Can you promise me something?" He asked sincerely.

Nodding my head slowly, I bit my lip thoughtfully. I didn't know if it was the right decision to agree with something before I knew what it was, but it was Zayn we were talking about here. I was sure it wouldn't be that bad.

"Please don't let him in on you again. Neither Niall or I want to see you like that, and if he's hurt you once, he could easily do it twice, alright? You promise?" He looked at me with big, brown, puppy eyes and I could never say no to them even if I wanted to. In this case, however, I agreed with him hundred percent anyway, so it wasn't hard to answer him.

"I promise," I said. "I don't want anything to do with him. He's a jerk, and he doesn't deserve me anymore. He left me, and I'm never going to forgive him for what he did no matter if he tries to apologize."

Zayn closed his eyes, nodding his head even though he didn't seem convinced. "What is it?" I asked.

He let out a sigh, opening his eyes again to look at me. "I'm just worried that you're going to change your mind. If Harry somehow tries to apologize, I know you're going to be weak. I mean, let's face it; you still have feelings for him. It's not going to be easy for you."

I opened my mouth to disagree with him, but he cut me off by placing a finger over my mouth. "Don't deny it, Louis. Just promise me to think twice before making any decision, alright? Both Niall and I care about you too much to see you like that again, okay?"

Sighing, I nodded my head. Maybe I did have a soft spot for Harry, but that was before he became a jackass who only cared about fame and money. He wasn't the same person anymore, so I doubted either Zayn or Niall had to worry. It was still nice to hear that they cared about me though. It just meant that they were true friends who you could trust, unlike Harry.

"I promise you I'm not letting Harry in on me. Now, can we go to the cafeteria because my stomach has been grumbling since the beginning of Math class?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

A small smile crept to his lips as he nodded his head. He grabbed my wrist and started pulling me in the direction of the lunch room. Fortunately, it wasn't located far from my locker, so it didn't take more than a minute until we arrived at the destination. It was pretty crowded. It was lunch time though, so it shouldn't surprise me, but somehow it felt as if there were more people here than it usually was at this time.

It didn't take more than a few seconds until I noticed why that was. One table in the room was surrounded by girls and I didn't have to think twice to know why. Of course Harry had lunch now and that was the reason for all the people.

Once Zayn noticed it as well, his grip tightened around my wrist and he pulled me to the line faster. We bought our food in silence and joined Niall and a few girls at a table. That Eleanor girl I remembered from the other day was there, and the moment I sat down beside Niall, I noticed she was gazing towards the crowded table. She snorted at the scene, and I couldn't help but smile at the action. It seemed like I wasn't the only one who disliked Harry here, apart from Niall and Zayn of course.

Her eyes met mine once she noticed I was watching her and she nodded her head towards Harry. "Actually, I think you should be happy that loser over there stopped interacting with you. Dude, he's changed. A lot."

I scratched the back of my head as I felt Niall and Zayn's eyes on me. "Yeah, definitely. I'm happy I'm not together with someone like that anymore," I muttered.

It was strange. Even though I didn't like Harry's behavior, it still felt weird to talk shit about him. I mean, it was Harry after all. My best friend since birth and ex-boyfriend. I knew him from the inside and out, and two years ago I would have snapped at her for talking shit about him, but now I wasn't really sure how to react. It was very strange. I kind of agreed with her, yet my heart didn't.

She nodded her head before turning her attention to her food instead. She probably noticed that I wasn't very keen on talking about him, and she didn't push me to do it, which I appreciated.

"Alright, so how's your day been so far?" Niall asked me, changing the topic.

I shrugged, taking a bite of my cheese sandwich. "It's been alright, I guess."

Niall instantly noticed that something was off, but I didn't want to tell him right now that I felt weird about everything. It just wouldn't go through my head that Harry was back and attending school again. It was just so surreal, and especially the fact that he was acting like an entirely different person. He wasn't my Harry anymore. The one I used to love and care about, and I wanted to cry just because of that.

Right then, I looked over to the table where the curly haired guy was sitting and noticed that the girls had created a gap so I was able to see him through them. That Liam guy was sitting beside him, on his phone while Harry was talking to the girls with a big smile on his face.

I didn't know if someone mentioned my name or if he felt my eyes on him, but his gaze met mine for a second, and I instantly felt a tug in my heart. For the first time since he came back, I saw something in them. I could be mistaken, but I swore that I saw sadness flash through his green eyes. I did a doubletake at the sight, my eyes widening. The next second, however, his gaze turned to a girl at the table instead, and I was probably long gone from his mind.

With a sigh, I looked down at my food, suddenly not feeling so hungry anymore. Niall patted my shoulder, and I wondered if he had seen what had happened. I didn't really care though, I just kept fumbling with a piece of my sandwich in silence.

Once the bell rang, I got up from my seat and followed my two friends to my locker, tossing the rest of the sandwich in a bin on my way out of the cafeteria. When we arrived at my locker, I opened it before letting out a sigh, turning to my friends. "Guys, you don't have to be like this. I can take care of myself. You don't have to watch my every move," I said, letting my eyes flick between them.

Niall pulled his eyebrows together. "We're not keeping an eye on you. We just... We're just trying to be here for you. It's not hard to tell that you're going through a tough time right now with Harry and all, and we just wanna be by your side, alright? Don't see it like we are some kind of bodyguards or something, because we aren't. We're your friends, Louis."

I nodded, looking down at my shoes. "I'm sorry, I just... I guess I just want to go home and let myself drown in my own thoughts, if you know what I mean? If I just get away from here, I'll be happy."

Zayn placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "Just try not to think about him, Louis. Try to think about something else instead, like something or someone that makes you happy. Take Hannah for example. She makes you happy, right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Looking up at him, I bit my bottom lip. Well, yes, Hannah did make me happy, but the dumbest thing was that I had always thought of the curly haired lad when I was with her. When we kissed, I always compared her lips to Harry's and sometimes when we hugged, I imagined it was him I was hugging instead of her. It was stupid and really wrong of me, but I couldn't help it. That was why it was so hard for me not to think of the curly haired lad. He was just everywhere.

"She makes me happy, yes," I said truthfully. It was the only thing I could say without lying.

"Good. Then try thinking of her instead and go find her or something. Do whatever that takes your mind off Harry."

I wanted to roll my eyes at him because he didn't know how impossible that was for me. Instead, I kept quiet and just shut my locker behind me. "I'll try my best, thank you," I sighed, taking my stuff with me as I started making my way to the next class.

Behind me, I could feel both Niall and Zayn's gazes on me, but I didn't turn to meet them. The only thing I did was to look down at the ground as I walked to the classroom, ignoring people's stares and hugging my books to my chest.

It was only day two of Harry's attendant and I was already sick and tired of it. I wondered how it would all end.

-

Once school was finished, I walked out of the building to meet up with Hannah. I met her at 'our' tree outside school where she was leaning against it, her bag slung over her shoulder as she was reading something on her phone. When I walked up behind her and snuck my arms around her waist, she almost jumped in surprise, letting out a squeal.

I chuckled at her reaction, squeezing her hips. "Didn't know you were that easily scared," I laughed in her ear.

She turned around with a scowl on her face, crossing her arms over her chest, still with my arms around her body. "Hey, that wasn't nice. You scared me," she pouted, making me roll my eyes.

"That was kind of my point, love," I winked.

She hit my arm lightly, causing my mouth to fall open. "Ow, that hurt."

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "You deserved it."

"I did not."

"Yes, you did."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did no--"

Right then, someone bashed into my shoulder, making me stumble a little and my arms fell from around Hannah's waist.

"Oops, sorry."

That voice. I knew that voice. I would recognize it anywhere, at any time. Instead of letting myself go weak though, I felt anger boil up inside me. It wasn't just anger towards his previous action, it was anger towards everything he had put me through during the past two years. I was so fed up with his behavior that I swore I could punch him. And I would have if it weren't for Hannah who held me back when I made a move towards his walking figure. He was walking towards the gates, his arm wrapped around Liam's shoulders, and I swear, I could have killed him. Right there, right then.

"Louis, calm down for God's sake. He isn't worth it," Hannah hissed, frantically trying to hold me back while I was trying to wriggle myself out of her hold.

I struggled against her for a few more seconds, until the curly haired lad was out of sight and I stilled in her arms, turning around to face her. I let out a deep breath as she let go of me. "I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I just... I'm so pissed at him for so many things. It's really getting to me, you know?"

She nodded her head, looking a bit sad. "I know, Louis, and you have the right to be. However, I don't think you attacking him like that is going to solve anything. Just... Just ignore him. He's not worth your attention, alright?"

A sigh escaped my lips as I wrapped my arms around her body again, only this time, I went in for a hug. She reciprocated it, slinging her arms around my neck and burrowing her face in my shoulder. "You're right. I'm sorry," I repeated.

"It's okay," she promised as she let go of me, giving me a small smile.

"As long as you don't do anything stupid, it's alright."

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Another chapter! And it's has been that long since I last updated, right? Well, I hope you liked it and are looking forward to the next one. Thank you for reading.

Pauline .xx