Fearless

For the next week, I went to Dunkin’ Donuts every day before class, and Niall was always working there. His face would light up when he saw me, and he’d fill my order without asking. He still couldn’t remember my name, but I didn’t much mind being called Mocha by him.

It was when Harry adopted it that it started getting annoying.

“Hey, Mocha,” he greeted as he sat down next to me in Accounting. Another irritating thing about Harry was that, since that first day, he figured that we were bestest best friends and he could sit next to me every day. Such was not the case. I still liked my solitude. Friends and attachments simply weren’t things that I did very well.

“It’s Jazmine,” I told him simply, my eyes peeking up from under my eyelashes to look at the numbers on the board again. “Not Mocha.”

“You don’t mind when Niall calls you Mocha,” he pointed out cheekily.

“That’s because I don’t dislike Niall,” I teased. “And Niall doesn’t make it his life goal to wedge himself into my elite inner circle.”

“From what I can see, you don’t have an inner circle. Or a circle at all.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, kind of surprised. Most people didn’t have the balls to say something like that, but there he was. I kind of admired how much Harry really didn’t give a shit about anything, including personal space or normal social conventions.

“Anyway, I have a proposition for you.”

I sighed dramatically and put down my pencil, turning to face him, trying to convey on my face how much he was distracting me from doing something that was actually important. “No, I won’t sleep with you.”

He burst out laughing. “No, no. I knew you wouldn’t. Not that I wouldn’t want it. But I just figured you were the kind of girl that-”

“Harry, you’re boring me.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Sorry. Going a little off track. But anyway, you should go out with Niall and me tonight. A few of other guys are coming, and I think you’d get along with them.”

“Oh, lovely,” I replied sarcastically, turning back to the board and my paper. “A gang bang.”

“There will be no banging,” he assured me. “Unless, you know, you want to.”

“Back off, whore,” I laughed. “So who’s going?”

“Well, Niall and me,” he started. He stopped when he saw me glaring at him with a ‘No, really?’ face. “And our friends Louis, Liam, and Zayn. And all their girlfriends.”

“Sounds like a huge crowd,” I commented. “Sure you want me to tag along?”

“Of course we do,” he answered like it was obvious. “Otherwise, it’s going to look like a quadruple date, where Niall and I are the fourth couple. And I dunno about Nialler, but I definitely don’t want to give off the impression of being gay when we go out.”

I let out a soft snicker. “Where would we go?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. Louis typically plans where we go, and Eleanor approves it to make sure he stays in check. So we’ll all be surprised tonight.”

I thought about it for a minute as I finished up the problem in front of me. On one hand, I really didn’t want to go because I wasn’t really good at the whole “friend” thing. I didn’t know etiquette of hanging out with other people, what was expected of me. Plus, what if Rachel reverted back to her alcoholic ways while I was out, and I wasn’t there to help her? She could get seriously hurt.

Then again, I was a teenager. I should be able to have a little bit of fun without worrying about another person. It wasn’t like I was a mother. Maybe Rachel could take care of herself for one night. And the only way I was going to learn how to act around other people was to be around other people.

“I think I can come for a couple hours,” I finally answered. “Depending on what we do.”

“I’ll let you know,” he assured me in a whisper as the professor started the lesson.

I turned way from the curly-haired boy and back to the front of the room, hoping to God that I didn’t make the wrong decision.

* * *

“Hey there, Mocha,” Niall smiled when he saw me walk into Dunkin’ Donuts, Harry following close behind. “Oh, and hi, Archibald.”

“Niall,” Harry growled, “not funny.”

“Hm. I dunno about that,” he kidded. “I don’t think it’ll ever get old.”

I snickered and leaned up against the counter, using my elbow to hold my body weight. As Niall readied the coffee, Harry filled him in on the info that I would be going with them that evening.

“That so?” Niall responded, grinning at me widely, showing off his adorably jacked-up teeth. “Deadly.”

“What?” I questioned, my eyebrows pulling together in confusion, but Harry just shook his head.

“Don’t worry about his little Irish slang. You’ll never be able to follow it. Just smile and nod. That’s what we all do.”

“Nice to know,” Niall expressed, shaking his head. “I wondered why I was the only one that hadn’t gotten into an argument with any of you.”

“Oh, that has nothing to do with it,” Harry assured him. “We just all kind of think you’re our little Irish potato, and you’re too happy-go-lucky to get into arguments with.”

“Well, then,” he concluded the conversation. “I can live with that.”

“When are you going to find out what’s going on tonight?” I asked Harry, stepping out of the way so the next customer in line could order while we waited for Harry’s Oreo Coolatta to finish.

Once the customer was taken care of, Niall took his apron off over his head, revealing a polo shirt and a pair of dark-wash jeans. “I’m taking a break,” he called to his co-worker.

“Ten minutes,” the little snot replied in a nasally voice before pushing her glasses up her nose.

“I know,” Niall responded, maintaining his cool, before walking around the counter to join us. Without further conversation, we walked outside into the cool late-fall air.

Within a minute, we found a wooden bench. It looked a little rickety, but it’d be good enough to sit on.

The second his butt hit the seat, Harry yelled, “I HAVE AN IDEA.”

“There’s a first,” Niall mumbled under his breath.

I chuckled, but Harry didn’t seem to find it so amusing, elbowing his blonde friend in the side.

There was a short silence before Harry sighed. “Does no one care what my plan is?”

“Not really,” Niall answered.

“Yeah, not much at all,” I deadpanned.

“Whatever. I’m going to tell you anyway. And when I do, you guys are going to say, ‘Wow, Harry! Under that luscious curly brown hair and the smile that could make any girl melt, you definitely have the brain of Einstein!’”

“I have a strong feeling I will not be saying that,” I told him seriously.

Niall laughed loudly and reached around Harry to high-five me. We smacked our hands together just as Harry turned to glare at me.

“Hey, Mocha, you’re still on probation for entering our friend group.”

“No, she’s not,” Niall protested as I snapped, “For God’s sake, Harry, it’s Jazmine.”

He blinked a couple of times, clearly confused, since we talked at the same time. “Okay, whatever. But here’s my idea. Ready?”

Niall and I stared at him without comment.

“BOWLING.” When neither of us jumped for joy or praised his Einstein-like brain, he urged, “Perfect, yeah?”

“Actually, it is a pretty good idea,” Niall approved with an impressed nod.

“What about you, Mocha?” Harry questioned.

I would have slapped him, but Niall was watching, and he came off to me as the non-violent type. I didn’t want him to think that I was a crazy psycho bitch. Even if I kind of was. “I don’t know,” I answered finally. “I’ve never been bowling.”

“Holy shit,” Harry gasped, slapping a hand over his mouth. “I guess that just seals the deal then. We’re bowling.”

“What if I suck, though?” I voiced, a genuine concern that I expressed with a light tone, to make it sound like I was kidding.

“All the better reason to laugh at you,” Harry responded quickly.

I had no idea if he was kidding or not.