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It didn't take me long to notice, as I walked into the class, that he wasn't there. 

I slowly made my way to Ella, sitting down on the desk next to hers and putting my notepad on it.

"I asked around about him" she said, making me turn to her with a confused look.

"Who?" I asked lightly, even though I had the feeling I knew who she was talking about.

She pointed at the door. "Him."

I looked in that direction, and I saw Harry walk in, a careless look on his face as he looked straight ahead, books in one hand. He was wearing black jeans and a white shirt, looking way better than anyone would be supposed to look wearing as simple clothes as he was. He brushed his dark hair out of his face and sat down on his desk in a swift move.

"Oh." I averted my gaze from him, my finger subconsciously playing with the paper corner of my notepad.

"There's no reason to even try with him" she added, ignoring my apparent disinterest, "He doesn't talk to people who aren't from his circle."

"Is that so? Why?" I asked curiously at the new information.

She shrugged. "Probably he doesn't consider us relevant enough to waste even a second on us. Kind of a bitch move, if you ask me."

"I see." I opened my notepad, the pen in my hand, and I started sketching some flowers on the corner absentmindedly.

She shifted in her seat. "Do you think they're together?" She asked all of a sudden.

"Who?" I replied, and she motioned to where Harry was sitting.

Next to him there was his blue eyes friend, without any book of course, his hand on his forearm as he told him something. He wasn't looking at him, but to the light coloured desk with an attentive stare.

I looked at Ella again. "Uh, I don't think he swings that way."

"You sure? They seem pretty intimate though" she said, and I frowned, looking again.

The blue eyed boy had moved closer to him, and he seemed to be whispering something into his ear. Harry turned his head to look at him, not intimidated by the closeness. His friend sat back on his chair, a winning smile on his lips at whatever they were talking about, Harry's face hidden from me as he was looking in the opposite direction from me.

"I have no idea" I replied, giving them one last tentative glance right as the teacher walked in.

• • •

At the end of the class I took my books, following Ella out of the room, a few feet away from her since that she had rushed out as soon as it had ended not to be late to the next one. Teacher's pet.

"I heard Luke from English wants to go out with you."

I rolled my eyes at the words of the boy behind me. If Luke from English wants to ask someone out, he could at least commit and do it himself.

"Is that so?" A deep, raspy voice replied, and my eyes widened as I recognised it.

"He's pretty hot, you should do it. And by "it" I mean "him" of course" his friend said. Did he have an Irish accent?

"What makes you think I'm even remotely interested in that?" Harry replied, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Because he's hot? Besides, do you really want to keep wasting time with that Janette girl?"

"I don't want to go out with someone just because they're good looking, Niall. Besides, you know I don't like this kind of thing. Tell your friend I'm not interested" Harry said, "Janette?"

"Blonde, tall, hot... does it ring a bell?"

"Oh, yeah. She's fun."

I fastened my step a little, but not enough not to be able to hear them anymore. Is it that bad to eavesdrop?

"She literally only wants to get into your pants Harry. That's been her mission since like, the second you stepped into this school."

"I'm aware of that. I don't oppose to a little bit of fun."

"Have fun with Luke, for fuck's sake! He's a good boy, probably won't walk around the school with your underwear held up proudly in his hand as a prize!"

"I hardly believe Janette would do such a thing" Harry said. He added something else, but I frowned as I realised that they had stopped walking, and his deep voice had been drowned in the myriad of others.

I kept walking, not daring to turn around or do any gesture that could've somehow proved that I had heard them, wondering about the conversation I had eavesdropped. It was certainly an unexpected talk, and I could hardly believe that it had really happened. Maybe his blue eyed friend, Niall was his name, was just joking. That was probably it. Well, I thought, Ella will be happy to know that he for sure isn't dating his friend. Given that I had just witnessed Niall literally trying to set him up with someone else.

I reached my art class and sat down on one of the seats in the middle. I had always liked art, and I was somewhat decent in drawing. I didn't really like to draw, it was more stressing than anything if I had to be honest, but seeing the sketch come to life right under my pencil as I shadowed it had always given me a sort of intrinsic happiness, which I had become almost addicted to. It's beautiful to create something.

My favourite thing to draw was people. Mostly because I sucked at drawing anything else. But I liked to capture a person in a moment in time, and I had slowly become pretty good at doing that. I liked to spend more than ten hours stressing over a drawing, only armed of a pencil and a bunch of charcoals, because, when it was indeed finished, I always realised that all the stress I had been through was actually worth it.

The teacher sat on her chair as the class was slowly filled by the multitude of students, who sat down tiredly on their desks. Tapping away with my pen on the desk, I waited patiently for the class to start.

All of a sudden the teacher put away her phone and went to close the door. "Good morning class" she said shortly, a way too severe behaviour for an art teacher. "To start this new year well, I decided to do a project that is a bit different from the usual."

The class got completely silent, listening to her curiously.

"In case you forgot, yesterday I told you we would've concentrated for a bit on drawing people, since that many of you lack majorly in that." She started walking between us, a little smile on her face. "Now, you won't start complaining about the project, and will work really hard as well. Needless to say, this project will be fundamental for your final grade, so there won't be any slacking in this class. I'm telling you in advance, because I know it will happen." She walked back to her desk, leaning against it. "And now, let's get to the point. I picked twenty students for you to draw."

Many whispers arose on different sides of the class.

She walked to the door and opened it in one fast move. "Come inside."

She walked back to her desk, leaning against it as a bunch of people entered the room. I gave them a glance, not really caring about who they were, and also because I wouldn't have recognised them anyway, since I didn't know a lot of people in the school.

"Just stand in a line behind my desk, here" she told them, and there was some talking as they did.

I looked up again, and my breath hitched in my throat as I recognised the person on the far right. He was standing a little distant from the others, as if he didn't want to get mixed with them, his green eyes staring right in front of him into the class as the teacher spoke, not seeming to be looking at anyone in particular. The small distance between him and everyone else was for sure unnecessary, as he would've probably stood up among all the others if there had been none, as he always did after all.

"That's fucking Harry Styles" someone whispered behind me confirming my thoughts, and I almost turned around to look at them. "Imagine drawing Harry Styles" they continued, their comment being similar to others being made all around the class. I wondered if he could hear them as well. If he did, he wasn't showing it at all. But maybe he was just used to it.

"Class!" The teacher said, silencing everyone. "Every single one of you will draw one of these students. I want you to spend time with them, and think about the best possible way to draw them. Of course, I suggest you to snap a picture of them and draw that, and this is my way of saying I won't have any cheap drawings on this project. You are expected to spend quite a lot of time on it." She looked around the class, noticing the frequent glances sent by almost the whole class to a certain boy behind her. "One more thing. You aren't allowed to choose your partner. I won't have you pick your friends or things like that. I will pair you up now." After that, she started calling out names in couples, and I started sketching little leaves on the corner of my notepad, letting the sound of her voice be drowned by the whispers behind me.

"Sierra, you go with Harry Styles."

I raised up my head at the words, giving my teacher an incredulous glance. "Do I really have to?" Was the only thing I managed to say.

The teacher gave me an annoyed look. "Did you not understand? You go with Harry Styles."

I turned my head to look at him. At the mention of his name he glanced up, and if his green eyes hadn't frozen me in place already, the unimpressed look he gave me would've done it right away.

I gulped and looked down trying to go back to my little drawing, but I found myself staring at the ink on the page, too nervous to even consider continuing it. I heard the sound of chairs being moved as some people stood up to reach their partners.

"Sierra" someone said above me, and my head shot up instantly, allowing me to recognise my teacher. "You complained about being partnered up with Harry Styles."

I gave her a little nod, hoping that she would allow me to switch with someone else.

"I want to tell you that the couples weren't made casually. You're the best in this class, I expect your drawing to be nothing less than perfect" she said before going away, not giving me time to say anything.

My eyes drifted to her right meeting his green ones, that were looking right back at me, his stare as cold as ever. Something inside me had always wanted to catch his attention, wondering what it would've felt like, but now that I knew, for some reason, I found myself wishing I hadn't at all.

I closed the notepad, gripping it hard as I slowly made my way towards him, his gaze never leaving me. I reached him and awkwardly stood in front of him for a few seconds, searching for something to say. Behind me, I could hear the faint chatter of everyone else in the room. Was I the only one having a hard time?

"Uh, would you be okay with going to the courtyard at lunchtime?" I asked him shyly as he raised an eyebrow at seeing me actually daring to speak to him, "So you know, I can take a couple pictures and it will be done. Uh, there's a nice light and yeah." I mentally slapped myself for sounding so awkward.

The unimpressed look not leaving his face at my unflattering chatting skills, he gave me a brief nod before turning around and leaving the room just as the bell rang.

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