Under the Willow Tree

Chapter 3 Elizabeth

12 years later

"Hurry, we're gonna be late!"

I screamed at Harry as the school bus pulled into the curb. He always took so long to get ready even when he got up before I did. To be fair though his luscious curls did look better when he took the time to make sure each one was perfectly angled. It was the first day of our senior year and I had spent the night at Harry's House. It had become a tradition of ours, to spend the very last night of summer vacation together. Over the last 12 years, we had become best friends and knew practically everything about each other.

"I'm coming," said Harry as he ran down the front porch stairs.

I stood there waiting at the door of the bus as Harry ran down the street trying to make it onto the bus before it left. He finally got on and we walked to the middle of the bus where we always sat. I let Harry get the window seat before I slid in next to him. We rode in silence as I watched him pick at the skin around his thumbnail. The first day was always the hardest for him as it made him extremely anxious. He was very sensitive and was afraid of being made fun of even though nobody ever did anymore. Not ever since we were in 7th grade and Ben was in 8th. Ben and I had made it very clear that if anyone were to pick on him, they would be extremely sorry. It sounds brutish, but after years of it I was tired of it and so was Ben. Harry was definitely not a fighter and was too scared to stand up for himself which isn't a bad thing, but it was also not beneficial to him. I on the other hand was not afraid to put people in their place. After kindergarten, I had been labeled as a biter, which I didn't mind because it meant that nobody would call me other meaner names, but it always made Harry upset. Years later everyone stopped being afraid of me, but I think they found some sort of twisted respect which I did not mind at all.

The bus screeched as the driver pulled on the brake. We were already at the front of our high school. I waited for everyone to get off before I stood up and let Harry out first. He stood nervously walking slowly down the bus aisle to not accidentally trip and make a fool of himself as he often said. When we both finally made it off, I grabbed onto his arm, and we walked to the front doors of modern-day hell. High school so far hadn't been too bad but this year we had a new principal and from what I heard; they were super strict. We weren't rebellious kids, but we were known to skip a class or two. Harry was less than I, but he still enjoyed getting out and walking towards the strip mall down the street. Harry was also in a band. He had a beautiful voice and paired well with the other four guys who made up the band. Two of them, Niall Horan and Liam Payne were in the same grade as us, and the other two Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik had graduated with Ben last year. Ben had actually been the one to introduce them all and was arguably their biggest fan, after me of course.

"Hey, there go Niall and Liam." I pointed them out as I saw Niall's blond hair bobbing up and down from a distance.

The hallways were filled with a bunch of kids and the buzz of their conversations. Niall was easily recognizable by his hair and Liam was surprisingly taller than everyone else. They stood out like a hole in a painting. They were both dressed head to toe in black while everyone else was wearing the school's uniform. They were like the ones you see in Harry Potter but less whimsical and minus the robe. Harry looked up and I saw his eyes light up slightly as he also spotted Niall. We walked towards them and before we could approach them the bell rang signaling the five minutes we had to get to class before we would be officially late.

"We should meet up with them later, I don't want to be late to class."

Harry said as he pulled my arm towards our math class, the first class of the day.

Last year before summer break I made sure that we had the same classes as we would only be taking four classes because they were the last credits we needed to graduate. For the last half of the day, I got to be office aid and Harry had chosen to help out in the library.