Toxic (Harry Styles)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

You don't realize how true some things are until you experience it yourself; there is a story to be told behind everything. You only have to take the time to look. Maybe I never would know, and maybe that was the way it was suppose to be.

I call a goodbye to Lilly as Jess honks the horn of her white Mercedes. I pull my jacket closer around my body and scurry to the passenger side door to escape the cold, harsh wind. I'm grateful that Jess has the heater on high when I slam the door shut.

"Hey Babe," she greets me when I settled.

"Hi. Thanks for picking me up."

She laughs, "It's no problem. I'm glad it's me instead of Harry."

"Agreed."

Jess starts the engine and heads in the opposite direction that my house is in. I call her out on this mistake, but she assures me she knows what she is doing.

"Brit and Brandy are at my house, so I thought we could have a girl's night. Just us like old times. It'll also get your mind off of everything," she explains.

"Yeah, that would be nice."

I really appreciate the consideration Jess put into making me feel better about all the drama. But during the ride, my thoughts change from the scenery, to Harry and Evan's confrontation this morning. After I tried to slap Harry, he left, reminding me that Jess was picking me up, and a kiss on the cheek. I never saw Evan when his class was finished. I can only assume that he left following the rough whispers Harry said to him. Harry never did tell me where he was going─ then again I didn't care ─but I would've thought he'd want to pick me up, instead of Jess.

He's words still loom inside my head, bouncing around, trying to make sense of them. I did nothing...yet. They haunt me with all the options they bring. I ask myself the question I've asked one hundred times already that day: would Harry really hurt Evan? I don't know if I can bring myself to believe that he won't because I know that if he says he will, he will.

Jess finally pulls up to her house, and parks the car. We swiftly speed up the walk way to the front door and Jess unlocks the door, allowing us to enter. The soft glow of the T.V illuminates the living room along with the faint voices of the twins.

They stop speaking when Jess and I remove out jackets and shoes.

"Hey girls!" They both fake their cheery tone. They must've been talking about something serious if they didn't want us to hear about it. They also avoid my gaze, so it must be about me too.

"What's up?" Jess notices my assessment too.

"Nothing," their voices become high pitched, an obvious lie. 

Brandy coughed like she was struggling to cover something up. "So, how was your day?"

I knew she was talking to me. What got to me is that she's trying to act like nothing has happened, that she didn't let my one haven be Harry free. I have to force away a grimace, but I still ignore her. I plop down next to Brit legs on the floor, my back resting against the sofa, and my head by her knee.

"Hey," Brit nudged my shoulder. "What's wrong?"

My head lulled back against the cushioned seat. I sighed heavily before answering, "Oh, you know, the usual. Getting harassed by Harry at work, and almost witnessing a fist fight." My voice was sarcastically calm.

Gasps were heard from all three of my friends. Questions were thrown at me, asking who it was, what happened, if was I in the middle of it. I quickly shushed them all before I acquired a headache. I answered all three questions in one simple sentence.