1 4 3

A few days after the pep rally, I was sprawled out on my bed with my laptop in front of me, watching a movie. I never really watched movies because I just never had the time to finish them, but now that summer was ending, and my first year at university was beginning in only a few short days, I decided to spend the day watching movies.

I had offered Daphne a spot on my bed to watch with me, and she'd accepted. She said she would watch the next one with me, and probably get someone else to come and watch too.

That was 2 hours ago, and I was expecting her back from running her errands soon, as she had told me she would be back in time for the beginning of the next one. We had a common room on the floor below us that had a TV and actual couches for us to sit on, but I liked the idea of laying down on my bed in my soft pajama pants better, as I wasn't quite comfortable about walking around the building in them yet.

I sighed as the end credits for the first Pirates of the Caribbean darted up the screen of my laptop. I stopped the DVD, and took it out of the computer. Just as I was doing so, the door to my dorm room opened, and a giggling Daphne walked in. I smiled back at her, but furrowed my eyebrows when I didn't see any grocery bags with her, as she had told me she had needed to pick up a few things - like pop, and snacks.

"Hey, where's the - " I stopped short, and blushed when I saw Harry Styles walk in behind her. There was no use in finishing the question now, as Harry was holding onto 3 grocery bags. What a gentleman (barf).

I scooted up from my laying down position on my bed, and coughed awkwardly. When I agreed to let Daphne invite someone else to join us for the movie, I had expected one of the girls from our floor - like Natalie or Christina who lived in the next room over - or even Matt at the very least, but not Harry Styles. I had almost forgotten that he'd managed to get Daphne's number the other night at the pep rally, and I hadn't really prepared myself for it possibly relating to me and my plans in any way.

I had actually hoped that the two of them would go on a date, she'd figure out just how big of a jackass he is, and then that'd be the end of it! I could only hope.

"Hey, Charlotte." He smiled, chuckling lightly along with Daphne's giggles.

I narrowed my eyes at him; the embarrassed blush long gone by now. I didn't respond to his greeting, I simply turned my attention back to Daphne as she took the bags from Harry's arms and set them down on her side of the room.

"Look who I found out in the hallway!" Daphne cheered, happily.

I forced a smile onto my face, "Great. Glad he could help you with your groceries." I only hoped that that was all he was here for. I really didn't want to believe that she had invited him to lay down on my bed with the two of us to watch a movie.

There was no way that it could turn out to be a good night.

"So, what movie are we watching?" Harry spoke up with a smirk in my direction.

Great. Now he knows that I don't want him here. How in the world did he find out now, when I've been giving him the stink eye ever since the 9th grade? Seriously, people, he's not that much of a genius. He's got no street smarts.

I sighed, and plopped back down on my bed, crawling under the covers once I noticed that I was wearing my hot pink pajama pants, and a black tank top. "I don't care," I mumbled, bringing the laptop closer to me on the bed, "the movies are in the top drawer. Go ahead and pick one, Styles."

I was done trying to hide the scorn in my voice as I spoke to him, and he raised his eyebrows at me; much like he did a few nights ago at the pep rally. He spent less than 5 seconds digging into the top drawer, before pulling out a DVD case triumphantly.

"How about this one?"

"Ooh! That's - like - my favorite movie." Daphne said, looking over her shoulder as she put some of her snacks and drinks away.

It was my favorite, too. Damn him.

I pursed my lips for a moment, but stuck out my hand to grab the DVD case from his hand. He placed it gently onto my awaiting hand, but pulled it away quickly when I tried to grab a hold of it. I looked up to his face, shocked by his actions.

He chuckled at my surprised reaction, and raised his stupid eyebrows at me again. "I asked you a question, Charlie."

I narrowed my eyes, snatching the DVD case from his hand before he could continue with this stupid game. "It's my favorite movie, too." I grumbled under my breath as I took the disc out and placed it into the computer's disc drive.

Clicking my way through the little pop-ups that came up whenever I put a new disc into the drive, I hardly noticed the dip in the bed beside me, but rather kept my eyes focused on the little ‘x' at the top right hand corner that just didn't seem to want to be clicked. I huffed in aggravation, and tried tapping on the mouse pad again to ‘click’ the ‘x’, but failed again.

"I hate when computers are being stubborn." Harry chuckled over my shoulder, as he reached towards the computer to press the left mouse key below the mouse pad instead, which solved my little problem.

I hummed awkwardly in agreement, waiting for his breath to stop blowing out onto my bare shoulder. I hadn't exactly considered this happening. ‘This’ being Harry and Daphne sitting on either side of me while I sat the laptop down on my lap for us all to see. I had fully prepared myself to have Daphne sit in between Harry and I, but since she was so slow at putting a few bags of chips away into a cupboard, Harry took his place next to me before Daphne even thought of sitting down.

Once we were all settled comfortably with our backs against the wall that my bed was pushed up against, I pressed play. I still felt awkward sitting in between Harry and Daphne, but I brushed the feeling off. I didn't understand why they wouldn't just sit beside each other. Isn't that the point of inviting a boy to watch a movie with you? To cuddle with him? Whatever. I've been living with Daphne for a few days now, and I don't understand her logic yet. I highly doubt I ever will.

We were about a half hour into the movie when I decided I couldn't stand it anymore. Daphne had definitely lied when she said that this was her favorite movie because she wasn't even paying attention. I guess I'd understand if there was a guy here to take her attention away from the screen (we've all seen that at the movie theaters), but Harry was on the other side of me still, with his full attention on the laptop screen.

I was trying to watch Emilio Estevez serving his detention, but Daphne's phone was going off every 2 seconds. She's been texting away for the past 30 minutes, and I was growing annoyed. I'd get over it, but I was still uncomfortable with the fact that the one person I despise is currently sitting next to me. On top of that, he was - to put it in terms that would be understood - all up in my grill.

There was at least 6 inches between Daphne and I, but Harry was less than one. I felt awkward, and I knew I was just overreacting because it didn't seem to faze him at all. His right leg was touching my left, and our shoulders were touching. I could hear every breath he took, and whenever he chuckled at a scene in the movie, I could feel it because his chuckling body would shake against my side.

I rolled my eyes when another small noise came from Daphne's phone that was sitting in her lap. I grasped onto the laptop with both hands, ready to sit up and go look for something else to do, but stopped when Daphne stood up off the bed and turned around looking at us.

"Well...I have to go." She said, with her infectious smile on her face.

I raised my eyebrows at her, and paused the movie. "Um...what?"

"I made dinner plans with Erik, and it's already six. I told him I'd meet him upstairs at his dorm." She explained, while pulling on her ballet flats that she had worn out to run errands earlier.

I watched her move around the room, looking hastily for her purse, in shock. "Y-you're leaving me?" Harry sat up straighter beside me, and I looked at him a moment before correcting myself, "Uhh...us? You're leaving us?"

"Yeah. Go ahead and finish the movie, it wasn't the movie I thought it was anyway." She said nonchalantly, still in search for her purse.

"It's in the closet." I finally told her. She smiled in return and bounded over to the closet to retrieve the purse. "Don't you think it's a little rude to run out on one date to go out with another?"

She snorted a laugh, confusing me even further. I looked back to Harry's face, and he simply scratched the back of his neck nervously with a nervous smile to match.

"Harry and I aren't dating," she giggled, "I mean, he's a nice guy and all, but he said -"

"I'm just not - not that Daphne isn't! - but I just..." Harry interrupted her, catching my attention, but keeping his fixed on my comforter.

"It wouldn't have worked out." Daphne shrugged.

I raised my eyebrows at both of them, and darted my gaze between the two of them for a few moments. This was all very confusing to me. And awkward. Damn it.

The awkwardness lasted a few more seconds until Daphne let out a happy sigh, and headed over to the door. I watched with my jaw slightly slack as she opened the door, and turned back to grin at the two of us.

"See you guys!"

And then she left me...with him.

I sighed, but refused to turn around and face Harry. I was pretty positive he knew I wasn't overly happy with the new situation, but if he wasn't, he was an even bigger idiot than I had originally thought. He sat silently behind me, not having moved at all since actually plopping down in that spot in the first place. I tugged on my blonde locks in frustration. I was frustrated with Daphne having invited him over in the first place, but now that she's left him with me in an incredibly awkward situation, I was considering simply running from the room, even though it was my room.

"Do you want to finish the movie?" he spoke lowly, catching me off guard.

I turned around quickly to face him, but calmed myself down instantly so that it didn't seem like he had frightened me. I sighed, but then shrugged, not finding the desire to watch movies anymore, even if it was The Breakfast Club.

"Nah. I don't really feel like it anymore." I said, laying back on the bed. I stretched out on it, but pulled my legs back when I accidentally put them on top of his which were spread across in the opposite direction. I bent them on the bed instead. "Sorry." I mumbled.

He sighed, as he pulled my laptop onto his lap. He spent a few moments clicking around on it before closing it, and setting it on the floor. His eyes landed on me, and I blushed under his gaze. Not because of any ‘feelings’ or any shit like that, but because I could feel the awkwardness beginning to shower over us once again.

I averted my gaze, looking up to the ceiling instead of watching his face. I didn't want to look at his perfect brown curls, or his flawless complexion anymore. I hated him enough as it was, I didn't need to hate him because of his looks too.

"Wow. I've known you for 4 years, yet I feel like I just met you." He spoke, still keeping his voice low, which surprised me since he had been laughing loudly and speaking animatedly with Daphne when they had walked in together.

I nodded just for the sake of doing something, but then sat up on my elbows to look at him. "Well, it's not like we were best friends in high school or anything." I pointed out bluntly.

I wondered if he was going to bring up the fact that I hated him. I was curious about whether or not he was curious as to why I hated him. I was curious about him being curious.

"True." He chuckled lightly. I scrunched up my face at the sound of his laugh. That wasn't really the reaction I was hoping to get out of him from my statement. "We had so many classes together, too."

I nodded, scrunching up my nose in disgust at the memories of walking into my classes everyday, having to see him in almost every one of them. Why couldn't he be like all of the other guys in our high school, who stuck to taking gym, and all the other easy credits, instead of taking the maths and sciences like I did?

"Why didn't we talk more?" he wondered aloud. I was hoping he was asking himself, and not me directly because I don't think my answer would make him very happy. "So you're here to get a degree in business...what else should I know about you?"

Nothing, I wanted to say. He doesn't need to know anything about me. He lost that privilege back in the ninth grade when he used his mom's computer to look at my marks. Honestly, what a bitch move. I didn't respond to him, but laid back down on the bed and shrugged my shoulders half-heartedly.

"How do you even know that?" I wondered aloud, twirling a strand of my blonde hair in boredom. If I recall - as I've mentioned earlier - I've never really had a conversation with Harry since the ninth grade, so how in the world did he know that I was here to get a degree in business?

He smirked down at me, and shrugged his shoulders much like I had done moments earlier. What a smart ass.

"Wasn't very hard to find out." He said nonchalantly.

I sat up again, and looked at him in shock. Oh my God! Was he stalking me?

He laughed at the face I made, but shook his head. "Daphne is an open book."

I rolled my eyes at him, but let a small smile slip out onto my lips, amused. I should have known Daphne would divulge anything and everything that Harry wanted to know about me - well - as much as she could divulge anyway.

"Well, whatever. So what if you know what my major is?" I said, as I sat all the way up, and crossed my legs in front of me. "Is it sad that Daphne - a girl I've known for about 4 days - knows more about me than you - someone I've known for 4 years?"

He bit his lip, but kept his gaze on me.

I narrowed my eyes at him in skepticism, but kept my eyes on him as well. He raised an eyebrow at me in amusement, and then tried mirroring my face as he narrowed his own eyes on me, and pouted out his lip to attempt to look somewhat angry. I did not look like that.

"Ugh!" I groaned in annoyance, as I rolled my eyes at his childish antics. "Why are you still here anyway? Don't you have some roommate to keep you company?"

He chuckled. "Why would I leave? Then you'd be all alone." At the look of disdain on my face from his comment, he raised up his hands in defense. "I don't have a roommate anyways, I got a single room."

Something else learned about this asshole: he gets whatever he wants. Full-ride scholarship? No problem. Guaranteed spot on the varsity baseball team? Obviously. A room all to himself? Of course.

"Of course you do." I mumbled, shifting my eyes down to my fingers that were playing with a loose string on my comforter.

He laughed out loud, having heard what I had mumbled, and I looked up to him to give him a glare. I didn't understand this kid, and I honestly didn't want to. There were so many people in our high school who thought he was some sort of god, or something, and I knew some of the kids here at school thought so too because of his scholarship, grades, and baseball talent, but I'd passed that point a long time ago.

All the girls in school who thought he was attractive were obviously crazy. The only way I'd seen him for the past 4 years was with the word ‘hate’ spelled out in deep, dark red all across his face. He could keep his silky curls, and his piercing green eyes. They were doing nothing for him in the looks department. Even that stupid smirk and dimples he shows off to me every once in awhile proves to be ineffective.

But maybe that's just me.

"Why do you hate me so much?" he asked through his light chuckles.

I almost smiled at him. He'd surprised me with that one. I had to give him a little credit because I honestly thought he'd been that stupid to not know that I hated him with a passion, but he still proved to be an idiot because he couldn't tell why I hated him so much.

"It's kind of accumulated over the years." I responded with a simple shrug of my shoulders.

He smirked, "What has? The reasons for hating me?"

I shrugged again, "Yeah that, and the hate in general."

He shook his head in disbelief, keeping the stupid smirk on his face. "I've never had a real conversation with you!"

I thought back to a few days earlier when my mom had pointed out the same thing. "Well maybe that's the problem." I snapped, but immediately regretted my poor choice of words. I hadn't meant to say that. I hadn't meant to imply anything that I just had. I brought my right hand up to my forehead to show him that I hadn't meant to say that, but he just let out another series of his light chuckles.

After his chuckles died down, and he let out a long sigh he looked back up to me smiling. "Well, Charlie, I've established that you're majoring in business, and your favorite movie is ‘The Breakfast Club'.

I pursed my lips, but nodded in agreement.

"I've also established that Tyler is very desperate for your attention - judging by all of the texts he's sending you - and I now know what your cell number is." He continued, looking up to me slyly, while showing me that he had my cell phone in his hand.

I groaned, and reached for the phone in his hands. How could I have left that laying around in his presence? I snatched it from his hand, not wanting to look up to the cocky smirk that I was sure was plastered across his face.

"Oh, and one more thing," he said as he fidgeted with his own cell phone, before looking back to me showing off his triumphant grin, "you're absolutely in love with me."

I let out a short, sarcastic laugh at his statement. I knew he was being sarcastic, but I still found it amusing. I felt my phone vibrate in my hand, and I looked down to see a text from an unrecognized number. I knew it was from Harry, and when I saw what he had written, I rolled my eyes and looked up to him unimpressed.

-----Message----- it's ok, charlie. 1 4 3 too, but probably not nearly as much -----End-----

"One four three? What the hell does that mean?" I asked, scrunching up my nose at the unfamiliar numbers.

He stood up from my bed, and tucked his phone into his back pocket before speaking, "It's supposed to stand for ‘I love you’...you know, first word: 1 letter, second word: 4 letters, third word: 3 letters." He attempted to explain, "But in our case, that middle, 4-letter word isn't love."

"Alright." I said, understanding. I saved his number into my phone before hitting reply, and then waited for him to pull out his phone to read it.

It was my turn to smirk, as he furrowed his eyebrows at the text in front of him.

"One four three four one seven seven?" he read aloud, "Now what the hell does that mean?"

"I hate you with a fucking passion." I stated matter-of-factly, wearing a grin of my own.

He bit his lip again, and left his eyes on mine. It was growing to be another awkward situation in my mind. Usually it was words - or rather silences - that made me feel so unsettling inside, but Harry staring at me was proving to be something so simple that could make me feel this way.

He let out a breath, and let a small smile cover his lips as he made his way to the door to leave. He stopped before opening it, and looked back at me. "One four three, Charlie." He said with a wave.

I waved back at him, and let an amused laugh erupt from my lips. "One four three, Harry."

Notes