CHAPTER NINE
(Monday)
When I wake up, I'm already apprehensive. I have a bad feeling about how today is going to go. The past few days have been shitty, and I just don't know how I'm going to deal with anymore of that. I take my hair straightener our, plug it in, and suddenly I am hit with an urge that I didn't ever think I was going to have again. I change the settings to the highest temperature possible and watch as it slowly heats up. When it's done, I take the straightener and press the side to my bare stomach. It hurts like hell, after all I'm not used to it anymore, but that's what I wanted so I don't care.
Now that I remember what the pain used to feel like, it doesn't seem like such a bad thing to me anymore. An adrenaline rush hits me and I find myself wanting more so I move the straightener to a newly exposed part of my stomach. At this rate I can't imagine how I ever managed to stop last year.
When I finally unplug the straightener, I'm not sure what to do. There's no way I can tell Jenny or Alexes, they would be so disappointed. Without really thinking I shove the still semi-warm straightener into my school bag and quickly get out the door so I can start driving to school. I can feel the tension in the air as I walk down the hallway, but I'm not focusing on that. I need to find Jenny and Alexes, that way the three of us can stick this day out together. I sit down in the hallway with them and set my bag down next to Alexes. As soon as I do that, it comes unzipped and a little bit of the cord is visible. Alexes looks at me, and I can tell she knows exactly what I have with me. Thank god Jenny isn't here yet.
"River…"
"Um, I need to make a bathroom trip," I announce to no one, and make my way as fast as I can to the bathroom to hide. When I'm in there, another urge hits me and I find myself plugging the straightener into one of the outlets. As I do this, the door flies open behind me.
"Don't you dare, River. Don't you even dare." Alexes wrestles it out of my hands and puts it in her own bag; then she looks at me. "Since when?"
"Just this morning…I couldn't help it."
"Oh, River…I thought you had moved past this."
"So did I!" I exclaim in frustration. "I just…I need a release from all the emotional pain, I guess."
"You know this is never the answer. We got through it once, we can again. But for now, I get to keep your straightener. I won't be around all day to take it from you if something happens, and I don't want to take any chances."
We go back into the hallway and Jenny's there now, but she's not her usual self. She's wearing less makeup than normal, her iPod headphones are in, and she just looks exhausted.
"Jenny?" says Alexes, kneeling down, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, really," Jenny, says, flashing a smile. Everyone accepts this, but Alexes and I know better. Unfortunately, it's time for class so we won't be able to talk with her until later. I haven't seen the guys, oddly, but it's possible that they're either late or not in our class.
We sit in our seats, which are slightly close to each other but not close enough to talk. We sit through about twenty minutes of Engerran's never-ending chatter that seems irrelevant to anything we are covering. She says we are going to do a little group activity, and since it is the start of the semester she will allow us to choose our groups. We were to choose a group of three to four total people, and Jenny, Alexes, and I immediately gravitate towards one another.
I have no clue what we were even supposed to do, but I couldn't care less about this stupid assignment when my friends and I are suffering and falling apart. We got a few looks from people around us; these glares come from people we know are "directionaters." I looked at Jenny and I said in a hushed voice "You're not okay and you know it." But she was stubborn; this is what happens when she is in the denial phase.
"I'm seriously fine guys, you need to chill out." She says to us, but I can hear the uncertainty in her voice as she says it. I know for a fact that she is not okay in the slightest. I look at Alexes and she tries to talk some sense into Jenny and that's when Ms. Engerran walks over to our group and sees that we don't have a single thing written on the worksheet she passed around.
"Is there a problem ladies?" she asks, frustrated by our lack of progress. "No, we just got off topic by accident, I'm sorry it won't happen again" Alexes says trying to salvage the situation. I chuckle, and our cover is blown. "I don't know what this is nor do I care. We have so much more important things to be discussing than stupid books in a class that doesn't even matter" I say defiantly.
Ms. Engerran is fuming, and I know we are going to be sent to the office, or at least I am, and in all honesty, I don't care. "Miss Olewine you need to go to the office. You two may join her if you so please" She says angrily as she walks to her desk to call the principle to inform her I will be going to pay her a visit.
"You idiot!" Jenny whispers harshly. "You don't need this right now, none of us do. I guess we will go with you anyways. At least I am." Jenny starts to gather her stuff and Alexes sits there, considering what would be the best choice. She also begins to gather her stuff and the three of us walk out of the room together. When we reach the office, we are told to go right into Mrs. Schenberger's office and that she is waiting for us.
We step into the office. Sitting there is the principal and the counselor, waiting for us with three empty chairs that we were obviously supposed to occupy. This isn't the first time I have had to talk to the principal for disciplinary means. In freshman year, there was an incident that involved another student accusing me of threatening his life with a pocket knife. In reality, I only had it because I was self-harming at the time but he took it the wrong way.
The two adults looked over at the three of us and sighed. "Now Kimberley, you are the one who caused this issue; so why are these two here with you?"
"By our own free choice," Jenny stated "Ms. Engerran said we had a choice so we came with her."
"So explain to me what happened in class, Miss Olewine" Ms. Cubbage, the school counselor, said to me.
I explained what I had said and why I said it, but they were not satisfied, so we were sent home for the rest of the day. They told us we could come back tomorrow when we were in less aggressive states. We walk out of the office and Alexes looks like she is going to burst into tears; she has obviously never been in trouble for mouthing off to an adult before.
"Look, you guys, I am so sorry. I never meant for this all to happen." I tell them as we walk out of the building, heading towards the parking lot.
"Well what the fuck did you think was going to happen, Kim?" Jenny snaps, her arms crossed around her chest. "You didn't think. Sometimes I love that, but I hate it too."
Tears start to spill from Alexes' eyes, painting a teary black line down her cheeks. Suddenly, an arm slips across her shoulders. "What is wrong, love?" asks Liam, his face worried.
"I was an idiot in class, and I got us all suspended for the day." I tell him. By this point, Jenny has stormed in front of us, visibly upset.
"Damn it! My parents are going to be fucking pissed!" she yells.
Liam turns to us, "She is cussing again." He is quite an observant fellow.
"Yeah, I think that is her way of telling us that she doesn't care about Harry anymore. We know better." Alexes says.
"I have to tell Harry. He brought her the teddy bear today. It is probably the wrong date and place to talk to her." Liam responds, turning behind us.
Alexes and I turn around to see the other four boys sitting at a table, watching us. "Hey! Aren't you supposed to be in class!" I yell at them.
"We decided today wasn't the best day to make our entrance into college." Louis yells back, joking.
I walk towards them all. "Well, we got suspended for the day, why not spend it together?"
"Sure, I guess so." Harry says, "How is Jenny?"
"Oh, she's dapper, as always." I say sarcastically.
"Oh, that good?" he replies, his eyes lowering to his twiddling thumbs, his brow furrowing in nervousness.
I sit next to Louis. The stinging from my stomach becomes overwhelming and I wince, too clearly, it seems. "What is wrong?" Louis ponders. Alexes looks at me, her facing telling me to tell him. I shake my head.
"Kim decided to harm herself today," Alexes tells him, knowing he could help her through it.
"What? Kim, you didn't." Louis says, his face scrunched with apprehension.
Alexes walks over and yanks her shirt out of her pants (it was tucked in), and shows him the burn marks. "Oh yes, she did. Here's proof," she says.
Louis looks at me, horror mixed with concern displayed on his face. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asks, sounding hurt.
"I haven't done it in so long. I just, I wasn't even planning on telling Alexes, but she figured it out." I shoot Alexes a glare for making me have to explain. Telling Louis why I relapsed is the hardest part.
"I really didn't expect to have gone back to it; I stopped at the end of last school year with the help of Jenny and Alexes." I paused, thinking about what to say next. I can't begin to think of how to explain the thought process to him, because I don't even understand it.
Alexes adds "She usually tells me when she thinks about it," giving me a stern look.
"But I didn't think! That's my common theme today I guess." I say to Alexes, frustration filling my voice.
"Kim, you can tell me when these things happen," Louis says quietly, trying to keep me calm.
"I just, I don't know how to tell people when I get the urges to harm. But Alexes took the straightener from me this morning so we don't have to worry about this happening for a long time." I say to him, sounding defeated.
"Well then, group hug!" he says enthusiastically to lighten the mood.
"Yes, lets" says Niall, still holding a hint of terror on his face.
The boys come together, with Zayn remaining next to Harry, who just sits at the table thinking. Zayn puts his arm around Harry, and playfully squeezes him. Harry turns to Zayn appreciatively and says, "I should call her now. She may appreciate me calling to see how she is."
He walks off to the side of the building, phone pressed to his ear, intently listening to the steady ringing of her phone. I follow behind, intending to listen in, to see how it goes. The first time, it goes to voicemail. "Hey Jenny," he pauses, sounding slightly defeated, "It's me, Harry. Kim told me you were suspended. I wanted to see how you were doing, see if I could help or be there for you. Aurora means nothing to me Jenny, nothing. Well, call me back, please. I really need to hear your voice. Not being with you the past couple of days have made things tough. OK, bye." I watch him begin to turn around, so I dash back to the table. Alexes and the boys look up to me, curious as to how it went, and I shake my head no. One by one, their heads fall. Behind me, Harry approaches, a sly but cautious smile on his face. Soon, it falls as he reaches the table. "No such luck" he says, looking at Louis as he speaks.
"Sorry mate. Well, try again in fifteen minutes?" Louis replies with a sympathetic smile.
"Yeah, yeah ok."
So he called, again and again. Seventeen times. She didn't answer. He left a voicemail every third call, her favorite number. Did he know that? Maybe he did it intentionally. Finally, on the eighteenth time, she picked up. Harry turned his phone to speaker.
"Hello Harry," she said, her voice lifeless.
"Jenny, you picked up!" he replied, so excited.
"Yes, what do you want?"
"I just, I just, I… I wanted to hear your voice."
"Well, hello. You have heard my voice. Anything else you want to say to me?"
"I… I… I miss you… And I am sorry. I should have told you about Aurora, I know. Just, it seems every time I like someone, they always leave me because of all of the drama that surrounds my life."
"Mmm, well I am glad you considered me just one of the many girls you like, Harry."
"No, no! I didn't mean it like that. I just, I want to see you, be with you, I mean. Aurora means nothing, absolutely nothing."
"That is good to know. Well, I have to go. Goodbye, Harry. See you at school." At the last part, her voice shifted from lifeless to close to tears.
Jenny hates people seeing her cry, let alone hearing her cry. I knew she was probably crying, somewhere. You could hear her car running in the background. God knows where she is, somewhere in her car, crying, and Alexes and I can't even be there for her.
Alexes looks at me, tears in her eyes. "I worry that we may have lost her forever, that we aren't friends anymore," cries Alexes.
"You can't think like that. Jenny loves you. She loves all of us. She will get over it," Zayn tells her.
By this point, lunch time had come and passed, and all of our tummies were simultaneous rumbling. "Ugh, fooood," Niall pleaded. "Let's get some food!"
So, together, we went to BJ's silent. That's pretty much how lunch went. Occasionally, a girl would come up, pen and paper in hand, wanting an autograph or a picture. The boys were all smiles then, so pleased to know that their fans were everywhere. I, on the other hand, feel nothing but irritation, wishing we could simply have some time to ourselves for some peace.
The next time one of these crazy-ass fan girls approaches, I snap. "Hey, can't you see we need our space?" I say. She looks rather taken aback.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude," she says quietly. Louis gives me a look.
"It's okay; they've all just had a rough day. I'll sign an autograph later if you would like me to," he says. The girl looks assuaged and leaves us in peace. Then Louis turns to me. "Kim, what was that about?" he asks me.
"I'm sorry. This day has just been so frustrating. I better go apologize to her," I respond, feeling guilty. I look around and find her table. I walk up and see that she is there with a few friends. "Excuse me," I say meekly, "I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you. I don't even know you; I just am really stressed out if you haven't watched TMZ recently my friends and I have been being stalked by the press."
She smiles at me and says "It's fine, I imagine it's stressful." I am appreciative of her understanding. "Here, come back with me and you can get pictures and autographs from everyone." Her face lights up immediately and she jumps out of her seat. I lead her back to the table and Louis smiles at us as we approach. "I see you have come back," Louis says to the fan. The fan walks over to each of the guys for autographs and pictures with her phone. When she starts to walk away she turns back to me and says "Thanks you" and then skips back to her friends.
"See, it wasn't that hard," Louis says to me jokingly. I playfully shove him and we both start laughing. We sit at the table a while longer. Alexes has calmed down and is laughing and joking with everyone again, well, everyone but Harry. She makes a point of ignoring him the entire time.
As we leave the restaurant, Alexes once more combs her fingers through her hair. "My parents are going to fucking kill me. I've never been in this much trouble before," she says.
"Did you just curse?" asks Harry. I groan; it looks like Alexes is doing her best to put a distance between her and Harry as well. "Yeah, I did. Everyone's always so surprised, but I can cuss if I want," she replies.
I place my hand on her shoulder to get her attention and she turns to me and says "Don't lecture me on being nice, I'm trying; and you of all people should understand how hard it is!" And she storms off.
I do understand, and that's the worst part. I forgot how much she has had to deal with from Ryan because he and I don't get along and I'm still unable to be cordial with him. Now I feel stupid for expecting her to stay calm when this only happened recently whereas the Ryan issue has lasted since halfway through first semester last year.
"I better go talk to her," I say to the guys; but Liam stops me "Let me do it, I think a different person would be helpful seeing as though you are the one she is frustrated with." I nod and he walks over to where Alexes stands with her arms crossed, waiting for us to catch up so we can leave.
"It's not your fault" Louis says to me. I guess my exhaustion is displayed on my face because he hugs me and says, "Why don't we get you guys home so you can rest." I nod and mumble a response that I doubt he could even understand. We all walked to the car where Liam was talking to Alexes. Louis unlocks the car from a slight distance so they are warned that we have indeed walked over.
They get into the back seat of the car while we finish walking over and Louis guides me to the passenger side and opens my door. "Thanks," I say to him as I climb inside. He closes the door and walks around to the driver's side and hops in. "Buckle up everyone! "He says rather enthusiastically and turning to me he continues "Including you." I chuckle because I knew I was just sitting there not doing anything, so I buckle and he starts the car. We get to the exit of the parking garage and, in the short time it took us to get from the restaurant to the car, a large group of fans and reporters had accumulated outside of the parking garage. "They're a little late if they were hoping to talk to anyone" I say laughing, partly because of how exhausted I was.
The fans surround the car as we try to drive away so Louis has to drive less than five miles per hour. Once we get back to school, Alexes and I hop out to get to our cars and go home. "Look, don't worry. You go back to school tomorrow and everything will be great" Louis tells me. He suddenly smiles and winks. Next thing I know, they drive away and I stay there watching them leave. I swivel towards Alexes, who is heading towards her car.
"Look Alexes, I am sorry about what happened today. You are right, I do know how it feels to have to put up with someone you really don't like. That said, I am sorry about the stress I have put you under with Ryan."
"Look Kim, it is fine. Harry and I will deal. It will get better if Jenny forgives him. She forgives him, I forgive him. Until then, I just don't like to be around him. You will have to hang out with them without me."
We head our separate ways. At home, I am yelled at for an hour straight. Apparently, the school called to let them know what happened. I can only imagine what Jenny and Alexes are going through right now. After my parents' scream-fest, I went straight to bed.
The next morning, I felt a deep impulse within me to burn myself. Fighting it was tough, but Alexes still had my straightener which helped a ton. I stared at myself in the mirror, wanting this day to be over. At the same time, I was excited. I was excited to see the boys, see Jenny and Alexes, and see people's reaction when I hang out with the five of them.
Maybe today will be the day Jenny forgives him, I think to myself. Just maybe we can all go back to being friends again.
I finish getting ready and dash off to school slightly late. When I walk into my chemistry class, the boys are all sitting there, their desks clumped together. "Hey, Kim. Come on in." my teacher, Miss Siner says.
"Sorry for being late. Traffic, you know." I say to her as I rush to a free seat. All of the girls in my class had taken the chairs that surround One Direction. It is surreal, One Direction... at my school... in my classroom... as my friends. When I look over at them, Zayn sticks his tongue out at me, so I stick mine out at him. Shifting to Harry, I notice the teddy bear resting on his backpack. It is one of those nice bears, really full of stuffing, with a huge red bow around its well-crafted neck.
"Alright guys, time to pick lab partners" Miss Siner tells the class. "Choose wise, and may the odds be ever in your favor." We all giggle at that and I look over towards the boys. Harry went with Liam, Zayn with Niall, leaving Louis all alone. All the girls around them begin begging him to be their lab partner. "Louis, be my lab partner." "No, mine. I will do all the work." "Louis, I have one of the best GPAs in the entire school." He gets up from them, smiling. He walks over to me, bends down, and whispers, "I think we should be lab partners."
"Gee, you think?" I think I am making all of those girls jealous. Realizing that he is going to be my partner and not theirs, the girls all partner up amongst themselves, all the while glaring at me. Oh, joy, more people that hate me.
Class goes by quickly and soon, it is the break between first and second period. "What is your next class, guys?" I question.
"Louis and I have math." chimes Liam.
"Zayn and I have virtual enterprise." Niall says, smiling at Zayn.
"I have Honors US History." Harry mumbles.
Uh-oh, not Honors US History ... anything but Honors History. Jenny and Alexes take the honors classes. Because Jenny is also on the student council, she has to take morning track. Alexes decided to take morning track to be with her. What does that mean? Harry is in trouble. He is going to be in class with them. I head off to math with Liam and Louis, when suddenly my phone buzzes in my pocket. It's a text from Jenny. 'Harry's in my class! WTF?'
'Just keep calm, you won't really have to talk to him much in class so be civil, remember'
'Yeah, yeah, I told you that, I know. See you at lunch.' I enter my classroom and sit down in a random seat. The teachers at this school aren't too big on assigned seating and I'm one of the few people that take advantage of that. Luckily, Louis and Liam have the sense to follow me and sit next to me rather than just wherever.
It's geometry class, probably the most boring class right up there with advisory. "Hey Louis, Liam, let me see your schedules. I want to see how many of my classes you guys are in." They hand me the slips of paper that have their classes printed on them. I look over their schedules and I notice that both of them are in all of my classes, cool!
"I have all the same classes you two have, lucky me to be stuck with you two clowns," I say jokingly. "Glad to know you care," Louis jokes and Ms. Seimens begins the lesson. Throughout the period, I'm in my own little universe. It's not until Louis flicks me that I realize everyone is packing up because class is over. "Damn, I was spaced out for a really long ass time" I mutter.
We walk out the back door and around to the Coffee Kiosk for lunch, where we meet up with Alexes, Jenny, and the rest of the guys. We are sitting in the corner at the long oval table, because both of the groups of arm chairs are occupied. Before Jenny takes a seat, Harry asks her "Hey Jenny?" he pauses waiting for her to look at him. When she does, he continues saying "Could I talk to you off to the side for a moment? It will be quick, I promise." At first, Jenny is reluctant, but when Alexes and I both give her reassuring nods, she agrees "Fine, make it quick."
Jenny leads him outside so she can get over with this. She treats it as though talking to him or even looking at him will be pure torture. She and Harry are outside talking when he presents her with the teddy bear. From where we are sitting, we can see her smile and accept the bear, but that's all we can notice before a tall figure invades our line of vision.
I know who it is instantly: Ryan. "What do you want?" I snap. Great, already off to a bad start with this encounter. "Nothing to do with you, Kimberley. I want to talk to Alexes." Alexes stands up and turns to face him. "Alright, I'll talk to you. But I'd rather do it in private, if you don't mind," she says, remaining surprisingly calm. They walk outside, but I'm too paranoid to let them be alone so I follow at a safe distance with Liam in tow.
"I'm listening, Ryan," she says, sounding defeated. I hardly ever hear her call him by his first name, so I'm immediately cautious.
"I don't think we should be over. But you owe me for this weekend."
"Look, that wasn't my fault Ryan. I have no control over the stupid-ass reporters."
"You could have told me you were hanging out with them!" I can hear the anger flooding his voice and close my eyes in bitter anticipation of what might come next.
From my peek hole, I see Alexes lunge at him. "I didn't do anything wrong! You just decided to be a dumbass and believe the lies that were being spread!" she yells.
"Liam, that's our cue. Now, before she gets herself suspended again," I say. Liam walks out and steps between the two to act as a sort of human barrier. Ryan looks him over.
"Pretty boy. You're the problem," he states with contempt.
"Excuse me, but I believe that statement applies to you. Look how much you upset her," Liam says, motioning to Alexes. She's sitting on a bench shaking and tears are streaming down her face. She looks at where I'm hidden, and as if she knows I'm there, gives me a faint smile.
"None of this would have happened if you had left her alone."
"I think you should leave," says Liam, wrapping an arm protectively around Alexes.
Ryan looks at Alexes, purposely ignoring Liam's request. "Is that what you want?"
"Yes. Please, just go," she says, her voice breaking.
Ryan looks into the sky in frustration, letting out a large sigh. He turns at his heels and storms off back toward Coffee Kiosk.
Liam remains, his arm staying firm around Alexes' shoulders. Gently, he lifts her chin towards him. "He is just some stupid teenage boy. You are better off without him." he tells her.
Suddenly, I find myself inching closer and closer to her, wanting to hold her myself. She turns around and notices me there. Slowly, she smiles and wipes the tears that streak her face.
"We will stay here as long as you need us to." I say to Alexes, my eyes focused on Liam. He has been such a great friend to her, such a beautiful person. "Look, I know what it is like to feel small. I know what it is like to be bullied." he says to her, "What if after school I take you to my gym. I will teach you kickboxing. It is really good at helping get out aggression and frustration. It can help you feel stronger." "Yes, that sounds great. Thanks," she says to him, sinking into his arms. I smile at them; he was just the medicine she needed.
"Well, I think I am going to go eat my lunch." I say to them. "Do you feel alright?"
"Yeah, Kim. I feel a lot better. I feel like a weight was lifted off my shoulders." Alexes said to me, obviously content in Liam's arms.
He looked up at me with an expression that read, "I got this, you can go." So, I headed back to Coffee Kiosk, where everyone was sitting. At the head of the table was Zayn, looking happy to see me smiling. Jenny sat next to him, with Harry to her left. Across from her was Niall, who sat next to Louis. Louis rose to meet me. "How is she?" he pondered. "She is fine. Liam is helping her deal with it. Stupid Ryan wanted to get back with her and just suck her dry even more. He just makes her so lifeless. He always has. Ever since they've started dating she's just been so…dead. I am starting to see that life come back to her. Thank God Liam was there to stand up against him." I reported to them.
"Wow, go Liam!" Niall exclaimed. We all laugh at that.
Zayn ended up calling up a Chinese delivery service to bring us food. When the food arrived, Niall immediately dashed towards the chow mein, getting to it before anyone even had the chance to snag a noodle. Jenny scooped some orange chicken, beef and broccoli, and fried rice on her plate. Harry snagged some of the kung pao chicken and dumped a heap of it on his plate, along with a scoop of rice. Zayn ate mostly beef with broccoli, finally stealing the chow mein from Niall's clutches and passing it around the table. Harry playfully took some of Jenny's food, staring her straight in the eye as he did it as if to tell her, "Yeah, I just stole your food. What are you going to do about it?" Jenny just sat there, giggling at him. I can tell she is starting to forgive him. She just isn't fully there yet. Our surprise will definitely win her over. Louis and I shared some orange chicken and chow mein. We all sat there for a few minutes, when finally Liam and Alexes walk in. Alexes lost her puffy red eyes and looked downright normal. Liam seemed pleased with himself. It felt good to see my friends getting along again.
We finish our food and have about fifteen minutes until lunch is over. Lucky for us, we all have an open third period today so we stay in kiosk when everyone else gets up to leave for class. "I'm still hungry," Niall says to the group.
"Of course you are," I say, "why not buy a muffin or something?" Niall starts to laugh and I'm not exactly sure why. "I love muffins!" he says, "They're just like ugly cupcakes."
Niall is one of the funniest of all the guys; his random comments never fail to make me laugh. Niall jumps up and practically skips up to the counter. "Muffin please!" He says cheerily. The cashier smiles and asks, "what kind would you like?" Niall thinks for a moment and decides "Bran! They are unappreciated." The cashier laughs and says "One bran muffin coming right up."
Zayn pipes in "No mate, get a stud muffin! Get it?"
"No get blueberry. They are classically delicious." Liam says.
"No, even better! Get a chocolate chip muffin, they are magically delicious." Harry blurts.
"Nah mates, it is all about the poppy seed, sweet and speckled." Louis says, beaming with pride.
"Here is your bran muffin," the worker lady says, winking as she hands Niall the muffin.
He returns with the muffin, plopping into his chair with a smile on his face. As he dives into the bran muffin's goodness, Harry approaches me. I watch as Jenny's eyes shift to me. I could just picture what she was thinking: "What could he possibly want to talk to her for?" I had no idea.
"Kim, I need to ask you something… privately," he said to me, giving me a serious look under his immense layering of curls.
"Ok?" I replied confused. I followed him to the corner of Coffee Kiosk.
"Is everything set with her family? Did they give us the OK?"
"Oh, yeah. They said that as long as we make sure to get all of her schoolwork for her and arrange everything with her teachers, we are good to go."
"Perfect, and you will get her clothes and passport and everything?"
"Harry, you worry too much. I got this."
He nodded, looking at his shoes. We walked back to the table as Jenny remarks, "Everything alright?" Her voice was filled with frustrated curiosity.
"Everything is peachy." I told her, Harry still staring at his lap. His eyes shifted to Jenny, and he smiled, as though she genuinely made him feel better. He put his arm around her and rested his head on her shoulder. In response, she turned to him, shaking her head. "Harry, not yet. I am not ready for this yet."
"Oh. Ok." He said, sounding disappointed and moved his head off her shoulder.
Suddenly, Zayn realized that he had to dash off to his next class, sociology.
"I have trigonometry at 1:50," says Alexes.
"Funny, I have calculus at the same time!" said Jenny, gloating.
"Harry and I have psychology in a bit," says Niall.
"Who is your teacher?" asks Jenny.
"Let me check," Harry responds, "We have Mahan."
"Oh joy! I hated her as a teacher, but loved her as a person!" Jenny remarked smiling at him.
At about 1:15, those of us in high school classes headed off to the AOC building. Louis, Liam and I walk out of the University Center talking about the bizarre things people have come up to them and asked. Louis said "This one girl, she looked to be about a year nine, asked me if I was really who I claimed to be and who I looked like because she doubted that, and I quote, that I was normal enough to go to school."
Liam and I started laughing because I could just imagine someone asking one of the guys that.
"How did you respond to that?" I asked, still laughing.
"I kind of just laughed it off and told her that I wouldn't lie about something like that" he replied.
We continued talking as we walked into myth with Mr. Wilhelm slightly before the rest of the class. I rather enjoy Greek Mythology because it is just so unusual but still rather intriguing. Louis looked bored while class dragged on for him. On the other hand, Liam looked to be just as into this subject as I was.
As class gets out, I become more excited with the idea of leaving for London with Jenny, Alexes, and the boys. We walk out the back door and around the building and I have to contain my excitement so that Jenny doesn't become suspicious. When I talked to Jenny's parents yesterday, I also packed a bag of clothes and toiletries to last about a week. All of a sudden my phone goes off. I pull it out so see that it is from Alexes. When I read the text it said 'Meet me by my car before you leave.' I reply with a plain response of 'Kay' and I walk in the direction of her car.
When I get to her car I say "Whatcha need?"
She reaches into her purse and pulls out the straightener that she has probably left there since she confiscated it from me on Monday.
"I'm allowing you to have this back only once you promise me it will only be used for hair." She tells me, holding the straightener towards me, obviously reluctant to hand it back.
I look at her, dead in the eyes and tell her, "I promise you, I will only use it for my hair, if I use it at all." I reach for the straightener but she pulls back; I don't think she really wants to return it. I give her a reassuring look . "I promise" I repeat, noticing the concerned expression on her face. I once more grasp the straightener, but Alexes still doesn't want to let go. I have to yank it of her hand. "Listen, I promised. You don't have to worry, and I'll tell you if I think about it this time." Hesitantly, she nods and I turn towards the direction of my car.
Suddenly, Jenny calls me, "So should I meet you at your car?"
"Yeah, I will drive you back to my house. Alexes is coming too."
"Oh, ok. Cool."
When we hang up, Alexes and I hurry to get all of our carry-ons, luggage, and other crap into my trunk before Jenny arrives.
I nod towards Harry and Louis across the parking lot to let them know that the plan was still on and that I would meet them at the hangar.
Soon, Jenny arrives and we load into my car. The first thing that popped onto the radio was One Direction. As Alexes and I jammed out, Jenny seems purely uncomfortable, until she finally turned the radio to a new station that didn't play their songs. Suddenly, Jenny figures out that we weren't heading towards my house. "Uh, Kim, you missed your turn!" she said alarmed.
"I know," I remark coolly, so that she wouldn't catch any of my excitement. Alexes' phone buzzed. At a red light, she hands me the phone and on it was a text from Liam saying "Plan is set."
"Come on, you guys. What the hell is going on? You know I don't like secrets." Jenny pleaded, obviously curious.
Alexes giggled from the backseat. The whole way to the airport, we sit in silence, listening to the radio. Finally, when we turned onto the street of the airport, Alexes reaches and wraps a blindfold across Jenny's eyes. Immediately, Jenny begins screaming. "What the heck are you doing? What is going on?"
I pulled up to the security station outside the airport. First, the security guard notices the flipping out girl in the passenger seat, who also happened to be blindfolded. He must know what is going on, because he immediately says, "Go down to Number Three and it will be open. You can park your car there."
"Thank you." I responded. Meanwhile, Jenny continued freaking out, yelling "What is Number Three? Number Three what?"
As I drive down the runway, I giggle under my breath from excitement and nerves. Hopefully, this plan works. I found the third hangar and pulled in. I wave at the boys standing in front of a small personal jet. The massive hangar left plenty of space around the jet for me to pull in and have enough room for the boys.
When I park, Alexes finally removes Jenny's blindfold. After a few moments, Jenny gasped at what was happening. "What is going on here?" she asks. Alexes and I immediately get out of Milla, so Jenny follows. She notices Harry, and I fear that she would turn the other direction and start running. Instead, she inches closer to him. It is then that I realize it was going to work.
"Jenny, this is for you." Harry began.
"I keep playing inside my head all that you said to me. I lay awake just to convince myself this wasn't just a dream." The boys begin to sing their song "I Should've Kissed You" with a slower tempo and a capella. "Cuz you were right there, and I should've taken the chance." They continued through the full song, sounding more beautiful than I had ever heard them sound. Gradually, throughout the song, Harry approaches Jenny and grabs her hand, pulls her closer, and wraps his arms around her waist. Surprisingly, Jenny just smiles, as if she understood the whole thing.
"I should have kissed you." The song ends, and Harry pulls her close and kisses her gently. "I should have kissed you all along. I should have skipped the bull and been with you. I should have done a lot of things differently," Harry rambles, but Jenny reaches up her finger to his mouth.
"It's alright, Harry. I forgive you," she says smiling. Behind her, the boys cheer, high-fiving. Jenny and Harry turn around, still holding each other close, laughing at the crazy guys.
"Well, we have a show to get to!" cries Louis.
"Wait, what?" Jenny asks Harry.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, we are leaving for London right now for a couple concerts and you and your friends are coming with us. Kim has your stuff in her car, and we need to load up now so we can get there in time!" he says to her, kissing her on the cheek when he finishes.
Holding hands, he guides her onto the plane, and I turn to Louis, pointing my index finger in my mouth, gagging. He laughs at me, wraps his arm around my shoulders, and guides me onto the plane. When I turn around, I notice Paul and some other bodyguards carrying our luggage aboard the plane. As my eyes shift back in front of me, I notice the posh leather seats, mini fridges, and small tables.
As we sit on the plane, I look to Jenny who is cuddling with Harry; then I look to Alexes and remember our plans for the pool party. "Alexes!" I nearly shout, surprising everyone on the plane with us.
"What do you want River?" She whines.
"Come here" I say, beckoning for her to get up and walk towards me.
She looks at me, saying with her eyes, 'Are you shitting me?' but she still decides to get up and walk over to me. "What now?" she asks.
I motion for her to move closer so I can whisper in her ear and I say, "We need to tell them about our pool party plan."
"And you had to make me get up to tell me this why?"
"Because…" I say, "I wanted to whisper it to you" I finish, laughing to myself.
Alexes waltzes back to her seat next to Liam. So then I turn to Louis and ask "What are we going to be doing while we are in London? Well, other than the given concert dealio."
"Uh… we should probably figure that out, huh? Boys, come here," Louis calls to them.
"Nah!" they all whine. "What do you want, Louis?" calls Harry, Jenny still under his arm.
"We need to figure out what these girls are going to do while in the UK with us," Louis responds.
"Well, we are taking them to the concert. We need to find them a hotel to stay at." Zayn contributed.
"Whoa, let me stop you there. I am not having my girlfriend staying at some hotel in London! They will stay at my stepdad's bungalow. I already asked him; he doesn't mind." Harry told the group.
When Harry commented about her being his girlfriend, Jenny turned bright red and smiled. She kicked her legs upon the couch they were sitting on and she snuggled, tired from a crazy day.
"We could show them around London." Niall said.
"Yes, we should go sightseeing." Liam adds.
"Let's take them clubbing. They can do that there." Zayn says, winking at Harry.
"We can't forget that we have the other concert. I don't believe management will let us bring them for a second show." Liam says, being realistic.
"Aw, boo." Jenny whines playfully, sticking out a tiny pout. At that, Harry gets up and leaves the conversation, resting her head in his lap as they watch a movie on the television in front of them.
"Well, Harry is out," Louis laughs, "Anyway, we will just leave them to their own devices. We can probably bring them to our signings and radio appearances but not to our interviews. We do not need UK to know all about them."
"They may already know, Lou. We do have news in the UK." Zayn says laughing at him.
"Doesn't matter, we still shouldn't have them come." Liam says, "We have to protect them."
"I am with Zayn on this one, boys. I don't think bringing them to interviews will be too crazy." Harry adds, apparently still listening in on the conversation.
"Well Niall, you are the tie-breaker this time." All eyes shift to Niall, who looks around sheepishly.
"I side with… Liam and Louis," he finally spits out.
"Gee, thanks guys. We girls will just have to entertain ourselves." I tell them.
"No, we don't want you to be alone all the time, we just want to make sure that you guys are safe. One less worry, you know?" Niall tells me.
"I know, I know. Just giving you guys a hard time." I say, laughing.
"Well, nothing says we have to plan everything out right now. We can always just go with the flow and live in the moment." Zayn remarks.
"Yes, let's do that." Liam says, getting up and walking into Alexes' direction.
We were all exhausted, so we all crawled onto our little couches or makeshift beds and slept.