Note To Self (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter Twenty Seven.

Lunch time became Aubry's time to hunt Harry down and spend time with him while he ate his lunch. Throughout the week, she managed to find where Liam and Harry sat and she'd invite herself to join the two even when they talked about things that didn't particularly interest her. Friday was a little different.

Liam and Harry's usual table was taken when they got out of the lunch line, leaving them no choice but to bring their trays somewhere else to find a place to sit. In the end, they wound up taking the last two spots at a table with a couple of distant friends. It was a bit uncomfortable for Harry, he felt out of place. Especially when Liam delved right into their conversation with ease, and Harry struggled to force himself to join. He focused more on taking small bites of the chicken nuggets on his plate.

He was pulled from his awkward attempt at remaining invisible when he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned in his seat to see a familiar face from History class. Her name was Sophie, blonde haired, blue eyed, freckle faced cutie. Sweet natured, soft spoken, and someone who had taken a liking to Harry long, long ago. She'd been finding reasons to talk to him since middle school, always tried getting his attention in any way she could, but he took it as nothing more than kindness. He flashed her a friendly smile, "Hi."

"Hi," she grinned. "Do you have the notes we took yesterday? I lost mine."

"Um, yeah," he confirmed. "They're in my locker, though."

"Do you think I could borrow them?" she asked hopefully, the smile on her face never faltering.

His never did either. "Yeah, I'll give them to you at the start of class."

"Okay, thank you," she spoke, flashing him a grateful smile. She always smiled when he talked to her, she couldn't help it.

The conversation ended when Harry said, "No problem," but Sophie still lingered. There was an awkward few seconds where she shifted her weight from foot to foot, bashfully maintaining eye contact with Harry that both of them dropped when it got uncomfortable. She wanted to talk to him more, but there wasn't much else to say. She was a lot like Harry. Shy, sweet, and sensitive. That made it difficult for her to talk to him unless it pertained to school.

Their moment of coyly smiling at each other was cut off when Aubry's voice interrupted, bursting their little flirtatious bubble. "You can leave now."

Harry turned, finding Aubry to be standing right behind him next to his chair. Her eyes were on Sophie, eyeing her challengingly. "Aubry," Harry muttered in a half surprised, half scolding tone.

Sophie stood like a deer in headlights, feeling intimidated under Aubry's harsh glare. She didn't move, and that agitated Aubry further. Aubry's hand slid over Harry's shoulder, turning to look down at him with her own smile. It was one that was used in a sort of mockery of the girl who stood a just feet away, one you would use to gloat to others about what you had and others did not. Harry stared up at her, but her eyes soon left him and went back to the freckle faced blonde. "Bye," she dismissed, an edge to her tone that practically dared her to argue.

Sophie didn't. She backed right off and left to head back to her own table, giving Aubry the victory she wanted. Aubry's hand slid from one of his shoulders around to the other as she crossed over to stand on his opposite side. He watched with a frown, "That was mean."

"She'll live," she spoke, disinterested. She perched herself on his lap in complete disregard for everyone around, wanting to show off more than anything just in case Sophie should have wandering eyes. She was territorial, and she'd already claimed Harry as hers and had no plans in letting anyone get in the way of that. Even Sophie, she was innocent, but Aubry wasn't stupid. She wasn't as oblivious as Harry was and everyone could plainly see Sophie liked him, and even though Sophie was hardly a threat, Aubry wouldn't take her chances. Harry was taken off guard with how she so openly sat on his thigh and looped her arm around the back of his neck as she leaned into him. "I hate her anyway."