She | h.s

twenty-two

"So, he likes you?" Sarah asks, arching her brow as she slams her locker shut.

"That's exactly the problem! I was in such fucking shock that I forgot to ask him! I don't know if he meant that he got over his crush on me, or if he still likes me? Or if that crush was just a fleeting moment then completely went away when we started to talk more? Or maybe he blocked me because he realized I was weird and didn't want to talk to me anymore and then those feelings went away?"

Suddenly, I feel her small and pale hand collide with my cheek, shutting me up. We stand in front of each other, both in shock and we start to laugh.

"I'm so sorry, but you need to get a grip love!" She giggles, bringing her same hand back up to my cheek and stroking it. The coolness of her hand soothes the sting.

"Jesus, your hand hurts," I comment, making us both laugh once again.

"Again, I am sorry for slapping you, but if you keep worrying like that you'll send yourself into a panic attack. Besides, why does it matter to you if Harry still had a crush on you?" she says, arching her brow at me playfully.

"I dunno," I try to play it off and Sarah laughs, rolling her eyes.

"Uh huh,"

"I'm serious,"

"Oh please! You like him too, don't you? Like, really like him. I can see it on your face all the time, you're in love," She says, her matter-of-fact tone taunting me.

"I'm not in love, we're just good friends."

"Yeah okay,"

"Sarah!" I whine, following her around like a lost puppy dog as she walks though the halls with books in hand as we make our way to the courtyard.

"Well if you guys are such good friends then it wouldn't hurt to clarify with him, no?" she asks, making me cringe as she finds a quaint spot on the grass.

"That's the thing, it's been four days. If I ask to clarify what he meant then he'd know Id been thinking about it a lot, and then he's gonna think that I'm really weird, then he's gonna know something up, then it's going to get awkward." I protest.

"Can you even hear yourself right now? My goodness Daisy, you're so in love." she shakes her head, cackling at me.

I shift slightly on the mat, pondering on how the conversation would go if I asked him to clarify what he'd meant. Would asking him get rid of most of the anxious thoughts swimming around in my head? Most definitely, yes. But am I too much of a chicken to actually ask? Also most definitely, yes.

"What do I do?" I sigh hopelessly, Niall coming into my line of view. He waved at me, grin only widening on both our faces.

"What'd I miss?" He asks, taking a seat next to us, a lot chipper than usual.

"Maybe I should be asking you that Ni, what's got you all rosy?" I tease, taking into account his flushed cheeks.

"Oh nothing," he waves it off jokingly, "Only that Kacey invited me come with her to the football game tonight..." His tone is bashful as Sarah and I gasp, squealing immediately.

"No fucking way! Seriously? Seriously?!" I say excitedly, Niall nodding at us as Sarah laughs.

"Oh my god! You said yes? What? Is this like a date-date? Wait, you don't even like football. How on earth did this happen, you need to tell us absolutely everything."

"I don't have to like football to hang around with Kacey," He defends himself. "Anyway, I was just on my way to you guys and I said hi to her in the hall and she stopped to ask if I could keep her company, since Liam's gonna be playing and she didn't really have any other people she wanted to be around while watching him— I honestly don't think she likes any of Liam's other friends. It was hilarious, She called them hyperactive," He beams, cheeks turning red once again.

"Someone's blushing, anyway go on!" I tease.

"Right! She asked me if I was free tonight and if I could sit with her, told me that I didn't have to pay attention to the game or anything. She said she just didn't want to feel alone, so I said yes, obviously."

"Ni' that is absolutely adorable! Who knew you were going to be this sweet!" I joke, "All seriousness, this is fucking awesome. You're going on a daaaate!"

"I'm going on a date!" He grins bashfully, "Oh! And by the way, she said that Liam's gonna treat a bunch of people to grab a bite to eat after the game, so she told me to invite you guys."

Sarah sucks in a breath at the same time that I cringe, and we both give Niall a painfully awkward stare. Before I get the chance to think of and make up an excuse as to why I can't go, Sarah beats me to it.

"Sorry love, but I was actually thinking of showing Mitch around this one bar we went to before and get drinks with him. We've been making plans for weeks now so I won't be available..."

I groan at her words, my mind blanking as I try to find an excuse not to be somewhere late at night with Liam, his friends, and Niall making googly eyes at Kacey all night.

Maybe I could say that I made plans with Harry?

"So I guess that leaves us two, Dais. Not sure if Louis would wanna go with us, he's very vocal about his disliking towards Liam and his whole... posse, so it's just us." Niall says, making me frown.

"I don't want to go! What if Liam tries something with me?!" I whine like a child at them, Sarah smirking up at me.

"Then you can report back to Harry, and maybe he'll fly out here from Manchester to knock Liam's teeth out," she jokes, making only Niall laugh.

"It's a possibility!" Niall defends himself as I shoot him a glare, "Though you haven't updated me on your whole Harry situation,"

"There is no situation, he just admitted he had a crush on me and me being me, I forgot to ask him if his feelings are still present or if they've gone away. I don't really know why I wanna know, we're just—"

"Good friends?" Sarah finished my sentence teasingly.

Niall scoffs, rolling his eyes at me for a moment. "Stage one; denial."

"Okay, stop it. Let's change the topic, I'll go to that thing with Liam and his friends, only if you promise me that I won't have to pay for a single thing." I say sternly and Niall nods, holding his pinky up at me.

"I promise! Besides, you probably have Liam wrapped around your finger anyway," He teases.

"Oh but don't tell Harry that!" Sarah adds onto the teasing, making me groan as I lie back down.

"You guys are the absolute worst,"