I'll Fight My Corner

I had known this was a bad idea from the start.

Last night, he had asked me to accompany him at a game after our tutoring session the next day, and I was hesitant but I said yes anyway because what did I have to lose?

I sat there, in the bleachers. He looked up at me and smiled occasionally, and I smiled back. It seemed like he enjoyed playing basketball and I enjoyed watching him play. I figured out that it wasn't an incredible talent for basketball that got him the title of captain, but his ability to stay positive during games and motivate his teammates.

I liked basketball. It was the only sport I really understood and enjoyed at the same time. I liked watching the way the players' feet danced around the court, moving with carefully calculated tenacity. I liked the way everyone almost moved together as a team, working to get the ball into the net. I liked seeing the players' faces when their team's shot made it in and how quiet the crowd got when someone had to shoot a free throw.

And I liked the way Harry almost clumsily ran across the court with the ball, never hogging it for himself but always passing it to another player to take the shot. He took shots himself, of course, and they usually made it, but he didn't like having the attention focused on him for too long.

And when there were time outs, the coach would say something and then Harry took over. The expression on his face was fascinating when he did so. He put his entire heart and soul into these games and he wanted his teammates to do the same. He had told me once that without passion, there was no game worth playing.

At the end of the second quarter, the buzzer went off and a group of girls behind me shouted, "Go Harry! We love you!"

I bit my lip and almost turned around, but stopped when I heard one of them say, "God, he's so hot."

"You know what they say, Amanda. Curls get the girls!" They laughed almost in unison and I chuckled to myself because I knew that was something he would say to me.

"I heard he has a girlfriend now," one girl said. I wanted to correct them and say no, I wasn't his girlfriend. We were just "two people that take care of each other," as he said. But that would sound stupid and strange if I had said to it anyone else but him.

"What?" The other girls sounded shocked.

"I know. I never thought I would see the day. I thought I would at least get the chance at a one night stand before he settled down."

"God knows he's famous for those."

"I mean, he's not that bad," one girl said, defending him. I wanted so much to hug her in that moment. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"He is, though. Like, I know there was a time when he would sleep with someone different almost every night. And it's so weird because I heard that he and his new girlfriend haven't even slept together yet."

My eyes widened slightly and my heart started to beat faster. This was what he was talking about at the party, when we were standing against the wall together. And that was why the girls looked at me with disdain when they saw we were holding hands.

I felt almost sick to my stomach and my leg started to bounce up and down. I stood up and started to make my way down the bleachers and the last thing I heard from the girls behind me was, "Oh my gosh, that's her. That's his girlfriend."

"Her? Why her? Out of all the people, why her? Isn't she his tutor or something?"

I asked myself the same thing.

Once I was outside, I looked at the hand stamp on the inside of my wrist and bit my lip. I didn't know if I would go back inside once the third quarter started.

I felt terrible, because he had asked me to come, but I didn't want to stay and listen to what those girls were saying. I didn't even know that people thought we were a couple.

I had so many questions for him that I was so scared to ask, and I hoped my hardest that the things those girls said weren't true. I knew that there was a lot that I didn't know about Harry, but I wasn't expecting that.

I found my way to one of the benches in the lunch area and lay my head on my crossed arms. I could feel my breathing start to get a little heavier so I tried to control it by being conscious of the breaths I took, but it was no use. Why would people be saying that we're dating? Why not any of the other girls Harry hangs out with? Why was that any of their business in the first place?

I heard the buzzer from inside and lifted my head. I needed to stop being so afraid all the time. I told Harry that I didn't want to be scared anymore, but here I was, running away again.

I weighed the options. Either I could keep being scared and wait here for the game to finish, or I could go back inside and face what those girls said about me and wear the title - or the title they thought I had - proudly. I was there for Harry because he asked me to be. So I went.

I showed the ticket lady the hand stamp that I almost rubbed off and I looked up at the bleachers, then at the scoreboard, then at Harry. People were going crazy, as we were winning and Harry had the ball. I waited until the two teams were on the other side of the court and made my way around it, taking a seat close to the one I had before. Once I walked up the stands, I could see that the girls from earlier were underclassmen. They seemed to be freshmen who stuck very close to each other. Instead of watching the game, they were eyeing the same people simultaneously and made attempts to whisper about them. I realized I probably didn't have anything to worry about, and instantly felt silly for panicking in the first place.

Just as they said, "She's back, oh my gosh," Harry's shot made it and the crowd went crazy. I loved the triumphant expression on his face and I smiled and cheered with the people around me. The girls cheered too, but went right back to their conversation that they thought I couldn't hear.

"Ask her what her name is."

"No, you do it."

"She's a senior. I don't want to do it."

"Just do it!"

"Why should I have to?"

Then I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around. I almost wanted to let out a laugh but held it in because they were being so nervous about talking to me when they shouldn't have been. I felt like a small bug that was more afraid of the human than the human was of them. One of the girls asked me for my name, and I recognized her voice as the one that defended Harry earlier.

"Emmalee. What's yours?"

She smiled at me in a way that wasn't at all artificial. "Faye."

I stuck out my hand and hoped that it wasn't shaking. Even though they were freshmen, I wasn't sure if I knew how they felt about me or if they were silently creating judgements about the way I spoke or looked. "It's nice to meet you, Faye."

Her smile grew and before I turned around, she said, "You and Harry are like Haley and Nathan from One Tree Hill! I ship it. You're really pretty."

I could feel blood rushing towards my cheeks and now it was my turn to smile back just as wide. "Thank you very much."

Another girl to the side of her interjected. "You're so lucky that you're dating Harry!"

The other girls looked at her as if she had just broken an unspoken rule and it was getting harder to hold in the laughter that was bubbling behind my lips. They were so timid and I couldn't help but find them cute.

"I'm not dating Harry. We're just friends."

Her eyes widened and she replied, "That's not what I heard."

My smile faltered and my eyes went wide as well. Her friends all said, "Oh my gosh, Amanda, stop."

Faye apologized and I told her it was okay before telling them that it was nice to meet them all. They mostly smiled at me but Amanda huffed, which I figured came from the fact that her friends wouldn't let her finish speaking to me and hoped it wasn't directed at me.

When I finally had the chance to turn around, I put my hand to my mouth and let out the giggle that I was holding in. I looked for Harry and found that he was sitting on the bench, drinking Gatorade out of a bottle. He turned around and looked for me until our eyes met and he smiled wide and waved. I did the same and he turned back around, talking to the boy next to him.

Faye and her friends all sighed simultaneously and I let out another small laugh. I felt as lucky as Amanda had said. Out of all the people, Harry had chosen me to spend time with. And while that was off putting at times, in this moment, it made me feel like I had something that no one else did. Something special and coveted.

Our team ended up winning the game and once the final shot was scored, I stood up with everyone in the stands and cheered as loud as I could. Harry and his teammates were ecstatic and the look on his face was one of pure joy. His smile was contagious and I could feel myself mirroring it as everything came to a close.

When he came out of the locker room, I ran up to him and his arms were wide open for a hug. I wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could and congratulated him over and over. He rubbed his hand up and down my back and I could feel his chuckle rumbling deep in his chest.

"I'm glad you came."

"I'm glad I came, too."

He adjusted the duffel bag that was slung over his shoulder and grabbed the strap with one hand as he grabbed mine with the other and we started towards the parking lot. I almost let go, just as I did the first time, but it made me happy. And it seemed like it made him happy, too. We were almost back to his car when one of his teammates approached us, smiling. "Hey, good job today, Styles."

"You too, Tyler," he replied with a grin.

We stopped in the middle of the lot and Tyler looked at me. I made eye contact with him and then looked down at the gravel beneath my feet.

"I didn't know that Styles had a girlfriend."

I looked back up and once again felt my cheeks getting red. I stated, "I'm not his girlfriend."

At the same time, Harry told him, "This is Emmalee."

Tyler smiled and shifted his eyes between us both, saying "Hi, Emmalee." His voice was gentle and I smiled at him, but kept on looking at the gravel beneath me. He and Harry talked a little bit about the game and I could feel Harry's thumb moving up and down mine, so I smiled. Suddenly, I heard, "Emmalee, Keep him happy. He does better at games when he's happy and I can't remember the last time Styles had a girlfriend." I started to tell him again that I wasn't Harry's girlfriend, but he just started walking to his car.

Harry chuckled and shook his head, leading us towards his car. He unlocked it, putting his duffel in the back seat as I got in on the passenger side. Once he was sat in the driver's seat, I turned towards him.

I almost hesitated but figured it was better that I asked him now instead of waiting until later.

"Is it true that you're famous for one night stands?"

He looked at me, eyebrows raised and eyes wide. "What?"

I closed my eyes momentarily and opened them again, breathing in and out deliberately. "These girls behind me at the game were talking about you, and how you're dating me now - which you're not - and how they were sad because now you wouldn't be able to have one night stands with girls anymore." Everything came out in a rush and I wasn't sure if he had heard me correctly, but he sighed and shook his head.

Before he said anything, I rushed to add, "And they said that there was a time when you slept with a different girl every night."

"It's not what you think it is. I mean, it is, but -"

Now it was my turn to say, "What?"

"I partied a lot. I still do, but it was very bad a few months before I met you. I would go to parties every night and drink until I lost my senses. Then I would get calls from my father and instead of coming home, I found girls to sleep with and went home with them instead. I didn't want to face him."

My jaw dropped slightly and all I could say was, "Harry, I -"

He ran a hand through his hair. "People think all these things about me and they all talk the same shit but they don't know the half of it, Em."

"Why do you deal with it?"

He shrugged. "They can talk all they want but I know who I am and you know who I am. My friends know who I am, too. Or as much as they need to know. That's all that matters. It's not really worth having a strop about if I'll be out of here in a few months."

I sat back in my seat and sighed. He put the key into the ignition and backed out of the parking space and out of the lot.

I remembered what Amanda said from earlier and I looked at him once more. "I'm so lucky to have you in my life."

And it was true. Since I met him, I felt much less lonely and just a little more confident about going out into the world every day because there were nice people like him. He made me feel safe and he cared about me. Harry was the best friend I had ever had.

At a red light, he looked at me, grinning. "I'm twice as lucky to have you in mine."