𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐔𝐓𝐎𝐑! | harry styles

𝐈𝐗

"MAYBE they don't teach the English language in whatever godforsaken place she lived in before," Jocelyn ranted as she paced back and forth in front of the large mirror in the girls restroom of Lockridge Falls High. "I mean, what else could 'leave Harry alone' mean?"

"You told her to stay away from Harry?" Rebecca's head shot up. Up until that point, she had only been half-engaged in Jocelyn's tirade. It had been going on far too long.

"Yeah," Jocelyn almost laughed. "You should have seen her stupid little face. I scared the shit out of her."

Rebecca shook her head. "You think Harry likes her?"

"Hell no!" Jocelyn spoke too quickly to be convincing. "Why? Do you? Have you seen them together?"

"I saw him at her locker once, but it was a long time ago." Rebecca stated truthfully.

"I'm gonna kill that bitch. I swear, I'm just gonna walk up to her after history and-" Jocelyn slammed her fist into her other hand as a visual aid.

Rebecca laughed, but again shook her head. "Well, for your sake, I hope Harry doesn't like her on two accounts. First, if you beat her up, you'll be on his shit list. And second, you'll be missing out on a royal opportunity."

"What opportunity?"

"Well, if Harry does like Bree-"

"Ugh. Don't even say her name," Jocelyn hissed.

"Okay. If Harry does like that skank, then it would be much more effective to ruin it from the inside," Rebecca said smugly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Listen, Jocelyn, if you make Bree your enemy, you're shutting yourself off from a wealth of information and ammunition. But if you befriend Bree - "

"You must be out of your fuckin' mind. I'm not gonna be seen in public with that social disease."

"Your choice. But I'm just saying...imagine getting everything you need to ruin that relationship, straight from the horse's mouth? What if she cheats on Harry and you're the one she confides in? Then you tell Harry and comfort him through his breakup...don't you know that's how it works? Befriending the competition is the oldest trick in the book."

"Okay, first of all, that girl is never going to break Harry's heart, because he's never going to give it to her; and second, who in their right mind would cheat on Harry?"

"Britney cheated on Justin," Rebecca said, as if Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were the answer to all of life's conundrums.

Jocelyn thought Rebecca was denser than mud if she was thought for a second that Jocelyn would ever befriend Bree Hanson.

As Jocelyn sat during history, watching Bree, she found herself repulsed by every little thing the girl did. The way she absently pulled at strands of her long hair; her excessive blinking, as if she had something in her eye; the generic nature of her clothing - did she shop at a gas station? Why, oh why, on God's green earth would Harry want that? What was the draw? What was she like?

And suddenly she wanted to know. Stifling a sigh and rolling her eyes, Jocelyn shuddered to realize that she was going to listen to Rebecca...again.

* * *

Bree was walking along the uncovered hallway, lost in her own thoughts, when Daisy bounded up to her.

"I haven't seen you in forever!" Daisy said excitedly. "Where have you been hiding?"

"I haven't been hiding at all," Bree grimaced at Daisy's over-exuberance. "I've been around."

"Oh. I must have missed you," Daisy said quickly. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after school. A bunch of us are going over to the bowling alley to play laser tag. It'll be a lot of fun."