After Winter - Harry Styles [Wattys 2013]

Chapter Eighteen

~Emily~ 

"Emily".

Poke.

"Ems."

Poke.

"Earth to Emily." Jill's sickly sweet voice broke me from my reverie, my eyes snapping to her dull and blank expression plastered on her face. I smiled a small smile at her, muttering a 'sorry' before playing with my salad.

She heaved a deep sigh, feeling her stare burning holes into the side of my face, "Are you okay, Ems? You've been acting weird the past two weeks." She asked, concern etched onto her face as her brown irises stared on my lighter brown ones.

I smiled at her, nodding curtly before digging on my salad again. "You're not, Ems. Now, tell me what's happening if you don't want me to call Harry about this." She threatened, causing me to snap my gaze at her and gaped.

"Don't! Don't tell Harry about this! Anyone but him!" I pleaded, my cries of desparation slowly letting Jill give in as she sighed even more dramatically.

"Okay, then. But you must tell me what's gotten you this odd. Like, really. In our first week at Knox you were all active and hyper and mostly laughing at something Jared would say. But not even Jared's jokes seem to make you smile the least bit." She observed, a frown creasing on her face as she examined me carefully.

I looked at her, grunting as I muttered an 'alright'. She chirped happily, pulling the wooden chair of the common room towards mine so her attention was solely on me, "But you need to promise you won't tell anyone. Not. A single. Soul." I cleared. I had to make sure Jill wasn't going to tell anyone about this.

If she told anyone, it would surely spread on until it reached Harry. And God knows how much I don't want him to know a single detail about this. So, she nodded and raised her right hand in a form of a promise before I breathed deeply, preparing to unravel the secret I've been hiding for years.

"Has Harry, by any chance, mentioned to you a girl named Amber?" I asked slowly, watching her reaction carefully. Her eyebrow quirked up, as if to remember if he did, in fact, mention Amber.

Her eyes lit up, as if a memory just sparked in her head, "Oh, yeah! Amber Tresdale! Harry's ex-girlfriend, right?" She asked, a curious look forming in her face. I nodded, chewing on my bottom lip as my heart pounded slightly.

Her eyebrows furrowed, looking at me with utter confusion etched on her features, "What about her, Ems?" She asks slowly, looking at every detail evident on my face. I grew conscious, looking down my lap and twiddling with my thumbs as I proceeded to tell her the truth.

"She's um, kind of, um, back here in Illinois. And, um, I've known she was here in America for about two years but I never told Harry about it." I said, looking back up and facing Jill, she pursed her lips in a thin line, eyes widening.

That was the thing about Jill, though. Instead of gaping at me in shock, she'd be pursing her lips in a thin line as a manner of preventing to shout. "You what?!" She shrieked, her mouth finally gaping at me.

"Shh!" I silenced her quickly, clamping my hand on top of her lips as she tried to utter a word. She bit my hand, causing me to yank it away and yelp.

"What was that for, Claymore!?" I cried, shaking my hand like it was an act of decreasing the stinging pain building up internally. She glared at me, folding her arms up on her chest, her forehead creasing.

"For shutting me up with your clammy hand." She sniggered, taking a bit of her nutella sandwich. I rolled my eyes at her, "Look, I'm sorry about that. But can we at least resume to what we were originally talking about?" I pleaded, getting a curt nod in response.