Niall entered the library to see Zayn sitting near the bookshelves thumbing through the pages of a fat book.
"How's it been, Zayn?", Niall asked as he dropped his bag and sat next to Zayn.
"Pretty good man, you?", Zayn didn't look up from his book.
"Eh, not so good." He leaned back in his chair. "My parents want me to bring a girl to this party that they are having."
Zayn looked up from his book. "A girl…like your girlfriend, girl?"
Niall nodded. "But you don't have a girlfriend, Niall."
Niall sighed. "You know all those times I got drunk with the boys?"
How could I forget, Zayn thought, me and Liam always happen to be the designated drivers. These things the boys do when they are drunk…
"Yeah", Zayn said, smiling.
Niall took no notice of the smile. "Well I always kinda lied to my parents, and told them I was our with a girl."
"A girl named vodka?", Zayn joked.
"Wouldn't that be the best?", Niall laughed.
"Anyways, now they want to meet this girl, and I don't know what I'm going to do.
"C'mon Niall. How hard would it be to get a girl, with your splendid good looks."
"Splendid good looks, you kidding?" Niall's smile faded. "Out of a ten, I'm probably a four."
Zayn looked up from his book and looked Niall straight in the eyes.
"Niall, you and me both know that you are better than that."
"Oh yeah? Then what would you rate me on a scale of 1-10 if you were a girl then, Zayn?" Niall questioned. He didn't notice the brunette staring at him from two tables away.
"I'd rate you a nine." Zayn grinned as the words came out of his mouth.
"Really?" Niall seemed unconvinced.
"Truly, Niall. I mean, what's not to like? You have that unruffled, blond hair, beautiful blue eyes, that Irish accent…" Zayn trailed off while looking directly in his eyes. He woke up suddenly and blinked at Niall. "Any girl would die for those." Zayn blushed at his obvious mistake.
If Niall noticed, he didn't say anything. He shrugged and began to tap the table with his pencil.
Zayn looked around self-consciously to see if anyone had been watching, and saw a brunette girl look away right as he saw her. He slowly pushed his chair back and went to go put his book away. When he looked back at her, her eyes were still fixed on the table. They were fixed on Niall.
Zayn walked back to the table casually and whispered in Niall's ear "speaking of girls…"
Niall looked back at the girl and snapped forward. "What do I do?", he begged Zayn.
"Remain calm. After a few minutes, walk over there and act like you saw her and you liked her. Don't mention that you saw her staring at you. She should think that you are oblivious to her feelings about you. Act a little possessive when you talk to her, enough to get her to know that you mean business, but in a flirty way. Be the man, Niall, be the man!", Zayn tried to coach Niall.
Niall nodded, but Zayn could tell the he wanted to piss his pants. Zayn motioned for him to go, so Niall stood up and robotically began walking to her table. He heard Zayn chuckle in back, but when he turned around, Zayn only encouraged him to go on, clearly suppressing a laugh. She looked up right has Niall reached her table.
"Ummm…Hi, there." Niall started. "I saw you look—I mean I watched you read—I mean you're really pretty, why wouldn't anyone watch you…" Niall couldn't stop mumbling.
By now, the whole table of girls were looking at Niall and talking in hushed tones. Niall shook his head, trying to clear his mind. His heart was beating out of his chest; his mouth was dry like sand. He gulped and just barely made out, "Hi. I'm Niall."
"Roxanna." She smiled, revealing a perfectly white smile that melted Niall's already weak heart.
"Have we met before?" said Niall, trying desperately to keep calm.
"I don't recall." Roxanna tilted her head, "Your Irish aren't you?"
"Like a leprechaun." Niall forced a smile.
She laughed. Suddenly, Niall felt at peace. His smile didn't seem forced anymore. "So I'll see you around another time?", he asked.
"Yeah, it was nice to meet you Niall." She grinned.
Niall nodded and pried his eyes away from her beauty, and walked away, raising his arms up like a champion when he was out of her sight.
Harry Styles was not gay. He couldn't be gay. It was impossible. The mere thought of being gay nauseated Harry to the point of near sickness. It's not that he had anything against gay people; one of his cousins was gay. But HE couldn't be gay. Being gay was too hard, Harry thought, with all the bullying and the hate. I wish I was one of those people who didn't care about what others thought, but I'm not. It kills me inside to know that they may hate me just because I love someone of the same sex, Harry thought, just because I like one boy. It's fucking not fair.
Harry felt a deep empathy for his cousin at that moment. He was just about to call him when he heard his mother shout at him to go to bed. "Of all the times…", Harry whispered as he fell down onto his bed, "I wish life could be easier." His phone buzzed on his side table, but Harry ignored it, thinking it was a text from Louis. Louis, the man Harry had his heart set on. It broke him up inside to think about Louis, and how he might not like Harry back. And for the countless time tonight, Harry cried himself to sleep.
"Dance is in a week, boys. And I got to say, I'm actually excited for this one." , Louis announced as he sat at the boys table during lunch the next day. Harry lowered his eyes right as Louis sat in front of him. "It will give me a chance to introduce you fine men to Sandra."
"A week? I haven't even gotten a date yet! Much less a tux…", Zayn said, bewildered. The school days seemed to pass by like lightning. Harry kept his eyes down and focused on his food.
"I got no problem with that boys, even got my tux. Light blue with blue shoes.", Niall smiled. It was his first time going to a dance with a date. The boys laughed at his choice.
"BLUE? You might as well wear pink to match with your girl!", Liam played around. "I'm going traditional brown with a long overcoat. Nothing sexier than a guy acting like he's big money. Maybe I should bring along a cigar to smoke throughout the dance."
"As a matter of fact Liam, she picked it out. I'm letting her go all out on this one, guys. I'm even letting her pick out the restaurant we eat at before we go dancing." , said Niall, inviting a few gasps from the boys.
"Niall, that's so unlike you, bud! What's gotten into you?" , Zayn smiled wide. Letting someone else pick out the restaurant for a food maniac like Niall was big privilege.
"I think I'm in love, boys. What can I say?" , said a very awestruck Niall as he thought about Roxanna.
" What about you Harry, who are you going with?" , Louis inquired.
'Umm…No one at the moment. But, I'll probably go just to humor everyone. These dances are stupid anyways." As if he'd want to meet Louis girlfriend.
"C'mon chap. Dances aren't that bad. Even if you don't have a date, you should still come. Just to enjoy it, that's all.", Liam felt bad for Harry. He seemed really out of it lately, and now he couldn't even manage a date to the dance.
"Alright, alright. But I'm going to go home drunk, that's all I know." Harry smiled for the first time that day. The boys laughed and made a plan of how to spike the punchbowls.
.
