Foreign Exchange

Anjelicas POV
“I thought that Nikki texted you” Nick whispered to me after Harry snapped at him.

“What?” I whispered back and gave him a confused side glance. Nick furrowed his eyebrows.

“You mean that she didn’t text you?” he whispered

“Let’s just go” Harry grumbled and started taking off his skates. I nodded to the seat next to me and sat down with Nick.

“No, she didn’t text me” I said, appearing to just be tying my skates.

“That’s strange” Nick said, not whispering any more as he took off one of his skates.

“What’s strange is that she’s three hours late” I said, taking off one of my skates as well. Yes, I’m protective, but I’m trying not to worry about Nikki so much. She’s growing up and I’m sure she’s fine. Or at least I hope.

“Harry’s really mad. He really wanted to skate with Nikki” Nick said and I nodded in agreement. Niall sat down next to me after he finished taking off his skates while the other four went to go get their shoes. I gave Niall a small smile which he gladly returned.

“What the hell is he doing here!?” Harry yelled and the three of us snapped our heads in Harrys direction. We saw Harry stomp over to where Nikki and-

“Gage” both Nick and I said at the same time. But I said Gages name with curiosity while Nick said it with utter distaste.

“Isn’t that Nikki’s tennis partner?” Niall asked and I nodded. I quickly took off my other skate and Niall kindly took the skates from me. We scrambled over to where everyone else was.

“H-Harry!” Nikki gasped. I looked at Gage and Nikkis appearance. They both were in their tennis clothes.

“What is he doing here?!” Harry yelled, pointing his skates behind Nikki to Gage.

“Woah woah” Liam said, taking the skates away from Harry. The skates were dangerously close to Nikkis face, which slightly freaked me out. Ice skates are sharp and I don’t need anyone getting hurt, especially Nicole.

“Look” Nikki breathed. “I can explain-”

“Heck yes you can!” Harry screamed, causing a lot of unwanted attention.

“I think you need to calm down” Gage said and I heard Nick huff in frustration.

“Calm down!?” Harry yelled and I bit my lip, trying to shrug off peoples stares.

“I think we should take this outside, yeah?” Liam said, putting his hand on Harrys shoulder.

“I think so too..” Nikki mumbled, but Harry made no move.

“Harry?” Liam asked.

“I’m not moving until I get some answers” he stubbornly replied.

“I was about to explai-” Nikki started to say, but was cut off.

“Yes?” Harry asked, glaring at Gage.

“She’s trying to explain” Gage said, and I could tell that he was getting equally frustrated. “Why don’t you let her talk?” Gage said, narrowing his eyes at Harry.

“This is getting ugly...” Zayn whispered.

“Everyone just calm down” I said.

Nikkis POV
I felt extremely guilty. This is probably the guiltiest I’ve felt in a long time, actually, ever. I knew that Harry would be mad, he even said it himself. But I didn’t think that he would be this mad. When I explain he surely will understand. I didn’t plan on being 3 hours late.

“How can I when Nikki decides to join us late and with him!” Harry said, targeting Gage.

“Can I just explain?” I asked with a defeated sigh. After a few seconds of silence, I went on to explain, deciding to not get to details. “I had promised Gage last week that I would practice tennis with him today.” I said. I left out the part about going to my teacher classroom, there was no need to say anything about that. Harry kept his face hard as he processed this information.

“And you couldn’t have just canceled?” he said with annoyance. My mouth opened in shock.

“No, I couldn’t have” I said. I would of at least thought that Harry would understand.

“It’s my birthday Nikki” Harry said, glaring down at me. “Not only that but you brought him with you.”

“Excuse me but, I have a name” Gage snapped and I could feel his chest pressed up against my shoulder. I slightly leaned back into him to force him back, but I had no such luck. Gage side stepped in front of me.

“We all know your name” Nick said, rolling his eyes.

“I’m gonna say this again, everyone just calm down” Anjelica said, looking at Harry especially.

“What’s so wrong about me being here?” Gage asked, staring straight into Harrys eyes. Both had green eyes that were practically shooting lasers at each other. Also, both were the same height, so both had a sense of dominance that would clash together. Harry fumed and struggled to reply. “What are you? Jealous? Curly you need to-”

“Don’t you dare call me that!” Harry yelled in his face and I grabbed Gages arm.

“Stop” I said and tugged Gages arm. Gage was at least smart enough to let me pull him back behind me. I didn’t think that they were going to get physical, but I did know that both guys weren’t afraid to get into each others face. I knew that Harry was waiting for me to say something more and I sighed. It was hard looking at Harry. He was practically burning me alive with his fiery green eyes. Well that, and sadly to admit, hes hot when he’s mad.

Which just made me suddenly frustrated and angry.

“Look, I’m sorry okay? But I couldn’t just blow off Gage” I said, looking Harry square in the eye. Harry took a step forward, towering over me. I knew that he wouldn’t hit me, so I didn’t flinch when I noticed his fist clench.

“You knew that I wanted to tell you something important” he said through clenched teeth.

“What Nikki told me about you was right” I heard Gage say and I froze. Harry flinched and his stanch somehow seemed to tower even more over me. Yeah, on the way here I spilled the beans about Harry. I couldn’t help it. I told him how much I really like him and how stubborn he is, but also sweet. I also told him a bit about the things we’ve been through, like at Taylors party and my birthday. Suddenly feeling to close to Harry, I took a step back, but I continued to stay somewhat strong.

“You what?” Harry said, unclenching then clenching his hands again.

“Yeah, she told me how stubborn you are” Gage countered and I glared at him over my shoulder.

“Shut up” I whispered to him and quietly squeaked when Harry grabbed my upper arm.

“So, when did you start telling Gage everything? HUH?” Harry seethed and Louis set a hand on Harrys shoulder.

“Mate, stop” Louis said.

“Does he know about Louis? Huh? What about Zayn!?” Harry said. My eyes widened in shock and all I could do was stare at him. Why is he so mad? There’s no need to be so upset.

“Harry let go of my sister” Anjelica stepped in and squeezed his arm.

“Does he know about Niall and Anjelica dating!? Does he know that Liam liked you!?” Harry kept going on and on, making everyone step in.

“Harry stop” Zayn said.

“Enough man” Niall also inputted.

“Does he even know that you’re adopted!?” Harry screamed and everything seemed to stop. Everyone gasped and Harry finally let go of my arm. My eyes widened even more and my mouth went slack. Unwanted tears began to feel my eyes and I was quick to prevent them by roughly rubbing my eyes.

“Nikki..?” Anjelica said and I just shook my head followed by a loud gulp in my throat. I felt Gage wrap his arms around my shoulders from behind and I let my head fall on his arms.

“Gage, just go” I heard Nick say.

“I have the right to be here for her” Gage snapped back. I just hated this. I should have never been late. I should have told Harry about practicing with Gage earlier. I should have never been late to class.

I shouldn’t be feeling so low right now about being adopted.

“You’re the one who caused this” Nick said and I looked up with pleading eyes.

“I’m not the one” Gage growled “he is.” Harry seemed to snap out of whatever saddened faze he was in and became angry again.

“I didn’t-” Harry began to yell.

“What? Didn’t mean it!?” Gage yelled and let go of me.

“Gage why don’t you just-”

“You’re not making anything better!” Gage yelled back, interrupting Nick. Gage took a step towards Nick while I took a step back away from everyone. I suddenly felt to closed in and I felt like all eyes were on my, when really, it was only Harrys. Louis was lecturing Harry while Zayn was holding Nick back and Liam was trying to calm down Gage.

“Stop!” Anjelica screamed in her demeaning voice and everyone flinched. All except me.“Just stop”she said a little quieter, but it still held dominance. My lip quivered and I started scolding myself in my head.

Don’t cry. There’s no need to cry. C’mon, be a big girl. Don’t be a baby.

But the truth was he hurt me. Harry hurt me. Not to the point where my heart is breaking in two, but he was pretty close to it. I didn’t think that he would even say things like that. It was just something you don’t talk about unless the person who is adopted is okay talking about it. In this case, the adopted person is me and I’m not okay talking about it. I don’t want to think about it. But I do, and I have a lot of unanswered questions and I’m not even sure if I want to have them answered.

Nobody said anything and it was just the embarrassing whispers of onlookers as they walked part us. I tried to say something, but I was lost. I wanted to say I’m sorry, because I really was. I didn’t mean for this to happen. Maybe...I guess...it was meant to happen. It just showed me a new side of Harry. And I still liked him unbearably much. So much that I already now right now that I forgive him. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not hurting.

I looked around me for any sign of safety and when I found what I was looking for, I took off. People moved out of my way and I pretended not to see the look of pity on their faces. I could feel the heat rush to my face, something that happens before I really start to cry. And not just a few tears. I mean cry as in like ugly crying. The kind that has girls with mascara smeared on their cheeks, puffy eyes, red nose and matted eyelashes that stood out on their swollen eyes.

“Nikki!” I heard multiple voice call after me. I still ran though, not looking back. Suddenly, I was stopped when a hand caught my right arm. I looked behind me and saw Harry looking down at me.

“Let me go!” I immediately shouted and squirmed in his grasp. I could feel the tears building and I struggled to hold them back.

“Nikki please!” Harry pleaded and pulled me close. I pushed on his chest screaming for him to let me go.

“No! Let go!” I yelled and when Louis pulled Harry off of me I stumbled into the Girls Bathroom. I tripped over my own feet and hit the cold, tile floor. Some girls already in the bathroom screamed and some ran out, just making me feel even more embarrassed. Only three girls stayed in the bathroom and looked down at me. Two of the girls were twins looked around my age and one of them was about eight. I looked up at them, not moving.

“Are you okay?” the little girl spoke up and tilted her head to the side.

“I’m fine” I said, blinking back tears and scooting away from them on the floor. I rested my back against the bathroom wall. The twin with multicolored hair slightly laughed and shook her head.

“Girl, we all know how a girl is when they are ‘fine’” she said and squatted down next to me.

“Let me guess, boy problems?” the one with brown hair said and sat down next to me. I was slightly shocked that these girls would talk to me and care. The little girl sat right in between my spread out legs and I blushed since I was in a tennis skirt. It had spandex, but still...

“You could say that..” I mumbled and wondered why I was talking to these complete strangers.

“You know, it’s okay to cry. Our mummy told us that” the little girl said, which shocked me and saddened me.

“There’s no need to cry..” I said, avoiding their eyes.

“Well, it’s always good to talk about it” the girl with multicolored hair said. Once again, I was shocked by how much these girls seemed to care. I bit my lip, unsure of what to say or what to do. I gasped when I heard someone calling my name and I was scared that it might be Harry again.

“Is someone looking for you, um...Nikki is it?” the girl with brown hair said and I nodded.

“Were they mean to you?” the little girl asked innocently and I nodded again. Suddenly the bathroom door swung open and without thinking, I clung onto the twin with brown hair.

“Nikki..?” Liam said as he slowly walked in.

“Hey! This is the girls bathroom!” the little girl said, jumping up. I sighed in relief and let go of the girl.

“Nikki..” Liam said, ignoring the little girl.

“Is this the one who was mean to you?” the little girl asked and I shook my head as I shakily stood up. I immediately jumped into Liams arms and cried.

“I know, I know..” Liam said, stroking my hair. I clutched onto the back of Liams shirt, not caring how I looked. I heard Liam whisper a ‘thank you’ and I heard the door open and close again. I choked a bit as I tried to calm down, but I couldn’t. I just felt so many feelings that I was not ready for. I wouldn’t be hurting and making such a big deal about this if I didn’t care a lot about being adopted, and if I didn’t care about Harry so much.

I don’t just have a little crush on Harry.

“I want my mom...” I sniffed.


Nicks POV
Anjelica, Harry and Louis ran after Nikki, while I just stood there glaring at Gage.

“What?” Gage snapped.

“Stop. Did you not hear what Anjelica said?” Zayn said, narrowing his eyes at Gage/

“I’ll stop when he stops” Gage said, looking at me and I took a step towards him.

“You got a problem with me?” I growled.

“Yeah, I do” Gage said and Zayn put his arm out in front of me.

“We need to focus on Nikki right now” Liam said, looking back and forth between me and Gage. I sighed and slumped my shoulders. He was right.

“Go get your shoes on while I go get Nikkis things from Gage” Liam said in his fatherly behavior and I obediently nodded. Zayn walked close to me as we went to get our shoes.

“I hope Nikkis okay” Zayn mumbled and I became sad. I was so focused on cussing Gage out that I completely blew off Nikki running away.

“Harry’s an idiot” I blurt out in frustration. How could he say stuff like that to Nikki. “There really was no reason for him to get so mad” I said just before reaching the counter.

“Skates?” the man asked and that’s when I realised that I put my skates down.

“I’ll get them” Zayn said and jogged to go get them. He quickly returned and handed both his and my skates to the man. The man momentarily disappeared and returned with our shoes.

“What do we do now..?” I asked as we sat down on a nearby bench.

“Well, Harry needs to apologize for being such a dick” Zayn said, putting on one of his shoes.

“Why do you think that he got so mad?” I asked, trying to hold back the anger building up inside of me. Thoughts of cursing the hell out of Harry came to mind as I put on my shoes.

“He’s still jealous of Gage and apparently, he had something to tell her” Zayn said and got up to stand right in front of me. He got got down on one knee and started tying my shoes, making me blush. I was still mad, but Zayns simple act of kindness calmed me down a bit.

“What he said was wrong” I said, and took Zayns hand that he offered to me.

“That was pretty low of him to say” Zayn said calmly. I looked at him in slight confusion.

“Why are you so calm?” I asked as we stood there, my hand still in Zayns.

“Because when we get home, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind” Zayn said with a shrug and I smiled at him. “That, and I’m trying to learn how to control myself” Zayn added.

“Control yourself?” I asked and gazed up at him with care. Zayn sighed and ran his hand through his perfect, dark quiff.

“Yeah” he said, and I could tell that he didn’t want to talk about it. I want to know what he meant, but I decided against it as he tugged me along, looking for the others. We spotted Liam walking out of the bathroom with a very teary eyes Nikki. Everything in me softened at the sight of her and I felt the need to comfort my friend. For once, I was the one to pull my hand away from Zayns. I walked ahead of Zayn and watched Nikki latch herself onto her sister. I frowned and went to Liam.

“Liam..?” I said when I noticed just how bad he looked too. He looked like he wanted to cry. “Are you okay?” I said, feeling myself starting to feel for not only Nikki, but for Liam too. The look on his face gave away that he still liked her.

“She...she said that she wanted her mum...” Liam said in a shaky voice. It made me think about my mom for a brief second. “I don’t like seeing her like this..I don’t ever want to see her like this..” Liam said and I hugged him.

“I don’t either..” I said as I squeezed his waist.

“I want mom...” I faintly heard Nikki say, making me hug Liam tighter. I could practically feel the hurt radiating off from Liam and Nikki. Once I let go of Liam, Zayn pulled me next to him.

“Let’s go” Anjelica said, hugging her sister close to her side. We didn’t say anything, not even nod. It was like a silent agreement and I walked behind Anjelica, Nikki and Liam.

“You’re a good friend, you know that?” Zayn whispered, his lips brushing my ear and making another feeling arise other than hurt. “And I’m glad that you’re my best friend. I’m sorry about what I said the other day.about leaving. I’m going to miss you like crazy” Zayn added. The whole time he was saying this, I could slowly feel my stomach do flip flops and almost stumble over my own feet. His words were incredibly endearing.

“I’ve already forgiven you..” I whispered back.

Notes

Hello babes!
Sorry about the long wait! I hope you still love me just as much as I love you!! :) I would like to thank the who are still following me and who continually keep commenting! You all are awesome! One direction kisses for all of you! Ah, if only.
I hope to update soon, you know, since I got a new computer that works ten times awesomer than this laptop xD
But I'm not making any promises since I recently have gotten a cold that isn't getting better :(
On a different note, how are you enjoying Midnight Memories?
What do you think of Harry now?
What is next to come?
Will Zick ever be official!?!?! Stay tuned my beautiful babes :)
Comment-Vote- and hey subscribe maybe?