Monday morning. Ugh. Time to finally go back to school. I drag myself out of bed and take a shower, hoping it calms me down a bit. No such luck. I go to my closet to try to find something to wear. I almost decide to just wear black jeans with my mom's cambridge sweater, but looking like a slob is only going to attract more unwanted attention. I choose some ripped skinny jeans and a red sweater, pulling out some black combat boots for my shoes. I love combat boots; I have at least five different pairs. I head back to the bathroom and put on a tiny bit of eye liner and some mascara, water proof just in case. After brushing my teeth I slide all of my school stuff into my backpack and slide a black beanie over my natural waves. I respond to Tyler's text and slide my phone into my pocket as I walk towards the kitchen. Anne and Harry are both in there. I didn't see Harry at all yesterday; I mostly sat in my room drawing.

"Good morning!" Anne chirps. "Do you want some breakfast?"

"I'll just have a banana," I tell her with a smile, taking a banana from the bowl of fruit on the island. Harry is eating one as well, sitting at the breakfast bar looking at something on his phone.

"Ready for your first day?" Anne asks.

I shrug. "I guess. It'll probably be weird. I'm going to be really behind."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Call me if you need anything." She grabs her traveler's mug and heads to the door. "I have to go to work. Harry will drive you to school, Adie. Have a nice day, you two!" With that she leaves the house, leaving me alone with Harry. That didn't go very well last time.

I stand there awkwardly leaning against the island and facing the stove instead of him while I eat my banana. He finishes and remains quiet while he continues to fiddle with his phone. He suddenly stands and walks round the island, stopping directly in front of me. He stops and looks at me for a minute.

"What?" I ask self consciously.

"Compost is in that cupboard," he replies simply, pointing to my legs.

"Oh, right. Sorry," I mumble, sidestepping so he can get to what he wants. I throw my peel in there as well while he walks to the door.

"I'm going to get my bag then we can go. Are you ready?"

"Yeah." I slide my boots on and get my coat out of the front closet. Harry rounds the hallway corner and takes some keys off a hook on the wall.

"Let's go."

I follow him out to a black car. It looks expensive. I'm surprised he even fits in it. I don't know anything about cars, so I'm not sure what kind it is. I get in the passenger side and he drives off without a word. After about five minutes he breaks our awkward silence.

"Listen, I'm uh...I'm sorry about your mum. She was...she was nice."

I shift uncomfortably in my seat and twirl my ring around on my finger. "Thanks."

Harry's comment makes the car ride even more uncomfortable, and we both practically jump out of the car when we finally pull up to school. We walk sort of together but sort of not while we make our way to the front doors. I start to walk to my locker, but he grabs my arm and stops me.

"What?" I ask rudely, pulling my arm away. He looks a little surprised at my outburst, but it quickly fades to his usual expression: boredom.

"I have fitness after school for football. It's over at five. You can wait here for me if you want or you can find another way home."

"I'll get a ride." He nods and we both go our separate ways. Our football team is a pretty big deal; the season isn't until the spring, but they train all year for it. They're really good. When I get to my locker Ty and Caroline are waiting for me. I greet them with a quiet 'hi' and put in my locker combination. I really don't want to be here. Walking through the halls I feel like I have a third eye or something; everyone just stares at me. I lost my mom, I didn't sprout a second head.

"You ready?" Car asks. We have first hour together, thank goodness. Ty gives me a quick hug and heads for his class while we go to ours: English. I'm just excited for final hour; I get to go to art class. It's my favourite by far.

Harry's POV

"Hey guys," I greet, bumping fists with Lou when I get to him. Our lockers are all near each other, but for some reason everyone gathers around mine.

"Harry!" a shrill voice calls from down the hall. Fuck not again. Courtney is so annoying. We hooked up once. Two months ago. Get over it. I turn and look at her without smiling or anything, then go back to my locker. When I have my books I start to close it, but she slams it shut for me by putting her body between me and the metal. Worst mistake of my life. This bitch is crazy.

"Hello, Courtney."

"Who the fuck were you walking in here with today?" she asks. "That girl whose mom died? Is that her?"

Why is she giving me the third degree? I can walk with whoever I want. "Yeah. Why?"

"Well why were you with her?" she asks, like she's talking to an idiot.

"She lives at my house," I reply simply, stepping away and standing beside Lou. All of my friends stare at me. "What?"

"Madison is living with you?" Lou clarifies.

"It's Adison. And yes. My mum is like her legal guardian or some shit like that." No one knows that I used to be friends with her. I haven't spoken to her in ages. Lou gives me a satisfied pat on the back in response.

"Congrats, mate. She's fit. I wouldn't mind having her under my roof."

I get a weird feeling in my stomach when he makes that comment, but quickly shake it off. "It's not like that, Lou."

"Not yet," Niall butts in.

"Whatever, I'm going to English." I like my friends, but sometimes they're so annoying. I got this reputation as a bad boy and a player and now they all assume that all I want to do is drink and have sex. Not true. Any time I say the words 'hook up' I mean make out. Maybe sometimes it goes a little further than that, I could never actually have sex with a random girl. That's weird. Liam jogs up beside me and matches my pace.

"You alright?" he asks. Liam. Always the dad.

"Yeah, fine. Just annoyed with Courtney."

He laughs and nods in agreement. "I bet that's one you wish you could take back."

"You have no idea."

Adison's POV

As the teacher starts introducing the new book we're reading in English, Harry and one of his friends walk in. Late, as usual. They take their seats in the back of the room, one row over and behind Caroline and me. I think the other one is Liam...

"You'll be working with a partner for the duration of the novel, picking out themes and doing combined essays and assignments. I already have the partners assigned." He turns around while the whole class groans in disapproval. He lists of the names and I only pay attention when I hear my own.

"Adison Jones and Liam Payne."

Great. One of Harry's friends. The teacher instructs us to sit together and Caroline gives me a thumbs up before heading to her own partner, Collin. I turn and look at Liam, who is getting up from his seat. He walks over and takes the one Caroline was just in.

"Hi. I'm Liam." He sticks his hand out and I shake it, stifling a laugh.

"Adison." He nods and the teacher starts handing out the novels. Mine is of course completely torn up and the binding is about to come apart.

"Here, let's switch," he says, taking my book and putting his in my hands. "I don't mind to have the shitty one."

Wow, he's nice. "Thanks. Have you read The Great Gatsby before?"

"Nope. I watched the movie, though." Great, one of those. "But don't worry, I will read the book. You won't be stuck with all the work. So, do you want to meet up after school to get started? We an read the first chapter and do the first assignment right away. It's just..." he picks up the sheet of the schedule of our assignments and due dates for the novel study. "It's a combined brainstorm about opening thoughts, impressions, and ideas. Easy enough, right?"

"I guess so." I really wasn't expecting him to want to do this. "Where do you want to meet?"

"Harry said you're living with him now?" He told them? I nod, yes. "I can come over there. If you want."

"Sure."

"You're not a talker, are you," he says, nudging me with his elbow. I laugh and shake my head.

"I'm not usually like this. It's just...been a rough week."

His eyes get sad and he nods his head. "Right. I'm really sorry about all that. I can't imagine.."

"Thanks," I say quickly, stopping him before he elaborates. The teacher tells us to start reading and we both turn to our books. I look towards the front right side of the room and catch Harry watching me. He quickly turns back around and starts reading. Weird. When class is over Liam walks out with me.

"I've got history down this way," he says, pointing down the hall the opposite way I have to go. "I'll see you after school? Harry has football, do you want me to drive you?"

"Umm..yeah. Yeah, that would be great." I smile and wave while turning to head to my next class. Well that wasn't so bad. Maybe Harry's friends aren't as bad as I thought they were. I get more lingering judgemental and sympathetic stares while I walk through the halls to my next class, law. I sit down with a girl that I know, Annabelle. We've been friends for years, but we aren't that close. We just hang out at school. She, like everyone else, gives her condolences. I say a polite thank you and thank the heavens when the teacher cuts her off from saying anything else.

Five hours to go.

---

"Well done, Adison. I'd like to see these colours blended a little more."

I nod and continue my painting. Art is definitely my favourite class. I'm only behind one assignment thankfully. I'd like to stay and work on it, but I have to meet with Liam. My teachers went pretty easy on me today, saying that I can take my time in catching up on my work. I'll probably be caught up by the end of this week, though; I hate the feeling of not having things done. It'll just stress me out.

As everyone cleans up their supplies I see Tyler waiting for me outside my classroom. He always gets let out of his last class early for some reason. When the teacher dismisses us He stands up from his spot leaning against the wall.

"Hey. How was your first day?" he asks, walking with me towards my locker.

"Okay, actually. Not as bad as I thought it would be." He leans on his arm against the locker beside mine while I get my backpack and most of my books. "I have a lot of work to do this week. Can you help me with math?" Math is the only harder class I'm taking; I'm more of an arts/social sciences kind of person. I don't do science or math; the only reason I'm taking it is because it's required. Another reason I don't have a ton to catch up on.

"Sure. Do you want me to come over after football?"

"I can't. I actually have-"

"Adison!" We both turn our heads in the direction of Liam's voice. He walks up beside Tyler and I and holds his hand out to Tyler. "What's up, Ty?"

They do their weird guy high five/hand shake thing and I eye Tyler curiously. Does he seriously know everybody?

"Not much. You guys know each other?" he asks, pointing between Liam and I. I shrug and Liam answers for me as I shut my locker.

"We're partners for a thing in English. You still good to work on it?" he asks me.

"Yep. Let's go. I'll text you later, Ty." I wave to him and walk away with Liam. When we turn the corner I see Harry dressed for football and standing with his friend. I think it's Louis. He's the other one that plays on the team.

"Hey guys," Liam says. He stops briefly to talk to them about something.

"What uh...what are you guys doing together?" Harry asks. Well that was rude.

"We're partners for English, remember?" Liam says. Harry nods and gives me a weird look. After a minute Liam says his goodbyes and we head to his car. I'm used to being completely ignored by Harry and his friends. Not that I ever minded; I don't exactly crave attention like most girls. I like being in the background I guess. Now I'm hanging out with Liam and living with Harry. Who, by the way, still hasn't given any indication of how he feels about that. At least he's not being mean to me. That would suck.

Liam fills the car ride by asking me questions about school and my friends. He's very...observant. So much for not being noticed; he knows more about me than I thought he would. He seems like a really nice guy. Maybe we could be friends. When we get to the house he takes the key from under the mat and walks right in. He must hang out here a lot.

"I have a key, you know." I jingle mine as he slides his shoes off.

"Of course you do," he laughs. "Sorry. Force of habit."

We go to the kitchen to get something to eat. He knows his way around the kitchen a lot better than I do, so I just sit at the peninsula and watch him work. He sets a box of oreos in front of me and gets two glasses, then some milk. Before he sits down her reaches into a cupboard and pulls out the peanut butter. He sits next to me and unscrews the lid.

"Have you ever had oreos and peanut butter?" he asks, opening the package of cookies. I shake my head, no, and he offers me one. "You haven't lived." He dips his cookie in the peanut butter and I follow his lead. He watches me while I take a bite.

"It's really good," I tell him once I've finished. He pours us both a glass of milk and we eat in silence for a few minutes.

"So, how do you like it here?" he asks, taking his fourth cookie. I stopped after my second.

"It's okay. The house is amazing and Anne is really nice."

"Isn't she? She's like my second mother. How did you end up here anyway?"

"Well umm...my mom died," I say quietly. Doesn't he already know that? He gives me an apologetic look and shakes his head.

"I mean how do you know the Styles? Why are you here and not with your family or something?"

"Oh. Our moms were friends. I don't have any family around here."

"So how long have you known Harry?"

I shrug and take the last sip of my milk. Do I really want people to know that I've known him my whole life? Would he want people to know that?

"I guess a while. I don't really know him, though." He nods and looks like he's about to ask more, but I stop him. "We should get started." He nods again and we clean up our mess before setting our English stuff on the dining room table. He starts reading right away, as do I. I've read Gatsby so many times already; it was one of my moms favourite and when she thought I was old enough to handle the 'mature content' she gave me one of her vintage copies as a gift. After a while Liam sets down his book, which tells me he's finished. I do the same.

"So, what did you think?" he asks. "I think we're supposed to write down what we think will happen and like first impressions and stuff like that."

"I've actually read the book already," I tell him. He laughs and hands me his notebook.

"Then you can write down what I think." He starts rambling off random things, occasionally making me laugh. He's a really nice guy and truth be told, he's really cute. After we've got a page and a half of stuff, he finally stops. "Do you think that's enough?"

"Yeah, that will be fine." I give him the notebook back and he sets it down in front of him. He seems like he actually wants to do well in school. "So, do you like school?"

"I guess. I don't dislike it. There's definitely other things I'd rather be doing."

"Like what?"

He shrugs. "Sports, music. Lots of things. What do you do when you're not in school?"

Besides cry about my dead mother? "Umm...I like to draw. It's a hobby of mine."

"Oh really? Zayn loves to draw," he says. Zayn? He reads my confused expression. "He's one of my friends at school. Dark hair, looks really serious all the time. Tattoos."

It clicks. "Right, yeah."

He chuckles to himself. "People usually know who my friends are. Do you know who Louis and Niall are?"

"They play football, right?"

"That's right. Do you like football?"

"Goodness, no. I don't play sports. My friend Tyler is on the team."

"Right, I forgot you guys are friends. You guys close?"

I nod and start doodling on my notebook. "He's my best friend."

"That's cool. He's a good guy, everyone loves him."

I laugh and nod my head in agreement. "Yeah he's definitely a people person."

My head snaps up when the front door opens and Harry walks in with two other boys. I think that's Louis and Niall. He takes off his shoes and stares at me and Liam for a second before snapping out of it and walking into the kitchen.

"Practice over already?" Liam asks.

"It's 5:30 mate," Harry says, tossing the other two bottles of water. Liam looks at his watch and looks surprised.

"I didn't realize. I should get going, mum wants me home for dinner. I'll see you in English," he says to me. I nod and start collecting my things. Liam talks to the boys for a minute and says bye to them before heading out of the house. Louis and Niall joke about some 'hot girl' and when I look over Harry is watching me again. When our eyes meet he looks back at his friends, but still doesn't join the conversation.

I walk back to my room without a word, but before I can disappear into the hallway one of them calls my name. I slowly turn around and Louis waves me over. I walk back to the kitchen feeling self conscious with them all staring at me.

"So, you're Madison?" Louis asks.

"Adison," I correct. I see Harry roll his eyes. What? That's my name!

"Right. Adison. I'm Louis. That's Niall." He points to the blonde one. "I'm sure you knew that, though. So you're dating Liam?"

My face goes red and Niall starts laughing. Harry's look of indifference shifts a little at Louis' question.

"What? No, we're partners in English," I sputter, hugging my books closer to my chest.

"Right, right," Louis says, like he doesn't believe me. "Whatever you say."

"I have to go," I mumble, eager to escape their weird stares. I half run to my room, shutting the door and collapsing onto my bed. Well that was...weird. I take out my sketchbook and start drawing, letting the pencil move until I see something start to appear. To my surprise it starts to look like my mom. I slam the book shut and decide to read instead. After an hour there's a nock on my door.

"Come in," I call, expecting it to be Anne. Instead Harry's curls make an appearance. They look wet; he must have just showered. He steps half into my room, wearing a tank and some jogging shorts.

"Dinner is ready," he says simply. I nod and he walks back out. I follow him to the dining table and sit in the chair across from him while Anne sits at the end between us. Why do they have a six-person table when there's only three of them?

"Hello, Adie. How was school?"

"It was fine."

"Good. Potatoes?" I nod and she scoops some onto my plate, then passes me a plate with pork on it. We eat in silence for a few minutes before Anne starts asking Harry questions about his day. The depth of his answers surprises me; he doesn't look bored for once. He must be really close with Anne. There's excitement in his eyes when she asks about his music class. Eventually she turns her focus to me.

"So, Adie. What's your favourite class?" They both watch and wait for me to answer.

"Umm...art I guess."

"You're an artist?" she asks as Harry takes more food. He eats a lot.

"I don't know about that. I like to draw," I tell her, putting a small piece of meat in my mouth. I'm so full but I fell bad to leave it.

"Darling, if you're full don't stuff yourself," Anne says, laughing slightly. I smile in thanks and set my fork down. Harry continues eating. "Do you two have any classes together?"

Harry meets my eyes for a split second before looking back down at his food. "A few."

"Which ones?"

I answer this time. "English and Math."

"And history," Harry adds. Wow, I didn't even realize he was in my history class.

"Well that's good! You can help each other with your homework," Anne says. Harry nods without looking up and I just smile at her. He probably doesn't want my help. After dinner we all clean up together. Harry retreats to his bedroom and I do the same and decide to call Tyler.

"Hey diz." I smile at the nickname; I don't know how he came up with it but he did. He only uses it when we talk on the phone, though. "What's up?"

"I don't think Harry likes me very much," I blurt.

He laughs. "Why would you think that?"

"I don't know he just seems so...irritated by me or something."

"Well I wouldn't worry about it. Harry's just like that. He asked me about you at practice today, so I don't think he hates you."

"He did?" That's quite surprising.

"Yeah. Listen, I gotta go. I'll text you later."

"Okay. See you at school." We both hang up and I lay back to star up at the ceiling. He asked Tyler about me? I wonder why.

Notes

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