Chapter 14

                                    

                                          
A//N: Here's another chapter for 1D_Heartbreak  😂🌚

                          
SATURDAY, MARCH 23
15 days left
                          
We arrive at the zoo after about two hours of driving. The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, everyone was pretty quiet, we spent most of the time listening to Kendall hum along with the radio. Occasionally, Louis would ask her a question and she'd answer him in her animated-Kendall way.
She interrogated Harry and he handled it pretty well. She all but asked him if we were dating and he managed to keep her guessing. Having met his mom, I'd bet he's had a lot of practice at answering rapid-fire questions.
Louis parks the car and the four of us make our way to the entrance. We wait in line to buy tickets. There's an awkward moment when I can tell Louis is considering buying Kendall's ticket for her, but then he'd feel obligated to buy mine, and let's face it: Louis Tomlinson doesn't want to waste his money on me.
Harry shoulders past me and hands the woman working at the counter a wad of cash. "Four student tickets, please."
"Harry," Kendall says in fake outrage. "You don't have to do that."
"Seriously, dude," Louis says. "I can pay for my own ticket. It's no problem."
"Don't worry about it." Harry flashes me a smile. The woman at the counter counts out his change and hands it back to him. I notice that her hands look much older than her face. I look down at my own and don't know if I feel happy or sad that I'll never see them wrinkled.
Once we're inside the zoo, I whisper to Harry, "What was that?"
He shrugs. "You can't take your money with you."
Louis raises his eyebrows when he sees me leaning in to Harry's ear. "I didn't know you were turning our science project into your personal date."
Kendall loops her arm through Louis'. "That's why I came along, Louis, Now, you won't feel so left out."
He pets Kendall's arm as he turns his attention to me. "The zoo was your idea, Taylor. Where should we go?"
"Why don't we go to the nocturnal house? We can photograph the bats. They hang upside down. Potential energy."
"Right. Bats are like living hangmen," Louis says, an edge to his voice. Harry and Kendall give Louis questioning looks, and I do my best to also act confused. Which turns out to be pretty easy since bats are nothing like living hangmen, but now doesn't seem like the appropriate time to push the subject with Louis.
"It's this way," I say, and dart ahead of the group. I basically have the Louisville Zoo memorized. When I was younger, Mom used to take me here on the weekends a lot. She thought it was good for me to have alone time with her. She gave up on that when I was about eight since Kendall was getting older and Rob was a handful of a toddler. She'd never admit it, but she was busy building her new family and happy to leave me to my father. It took him finally snapping for her to really notice me again. And no one wants to be noticed because of something like that; it's like being an invasive species that no one pays any attention to until you've strangled and ruined all the beautiful native plants.
                          
The inside of the nocturnal house is how I remember it. It's dark and smells like rotting fruits and vegetables. I hear Kendall giggling behind me, which must mean the group managed to keep up with my quick pace. I rush past the cages of opossums and raccoons and find the vampire bats. When I reach the exhibit, I see the bats hanging from the ceiling, their black, leathery wings wrapped around their bodies.
Harry comes up behind me and puts his hand on my shoulder. I jump.
"It's just me," he says.
"I know." And that's exactly why I'm skittish. I pull the camera out of the purse.
"Thanks for asking if you could borrow my purse," Kendall says.
"You should really keep your voice down," I say. "You don't want to scare the animals."
Kendall glares at me and she curls her upper lip, her white teeth glinting in the dark room. "That's funny. You telling someone else not to be scary."
                          
"Kendall," Louis hisses at her.
"What?" she says as she tosses her head back. Her barb lingers in the air like smoke from a bonfire.
"Uh," Harry says, shifting his weight from his right foot to his left. "How about we just let Taylor take the photo?"
"Fine," Kendall says. "Let's leave her to it. Wanna go see the armadillos? They're so cute!"
"Sure. Whatever you want," Harry says, and they head down the hall.
I turn the camera on and look through the viewfinder. I snap a few photos and then scroll through the images. "Here," I say, holding the camera out to Louis. "I think this is a good one."
"Yeah, I think Mr. Scott will like it," Louis answers.
Too bad I won't be around to see his reaction. I shove the camera back into my purse. "So should we go meet them by the armadillos?"
"She just wants to be your friend, you know," Louis says.
I close the purse with so much force that I almost break the zipper. "Um. I don't think so."
"Yes, she does. That's why she came today."
"Right."
"It's pretty obvious." I give him a blank stare and he continues, "She's always trying to get your attention, trying to make you laugh. She's not so bad, you know?"
As we walk down the dark hallway in search of the armadillos, I consider what Louis said about Kendall wanting to be my friend. I'm pretty sure it's complete bullshit. Kendall came to try to cozy up to Louis. Dating Louis Tomlinson would skyrocket her social standing: freshman cheerleader dates junior basketball player. It's like an awful teen movie. "I think you're wrong about the reason she came today," I say. "It's not me. It's you."
As we approach the armadillos, I see Kendall and Harry standing right next to each other, pressed up against the glass. They're peering at the animals and laughing like they're old friends.
"I'm not so sure I'm the one she's interested in." Louis gives my shoulder a nudge.
I roll my eyes at him. "She can have Harry." I don't say, But good luck with that because he'll be dead in a few weeks.
Harry grins when he sees us. "Where to next?"
"The lions?" I suggest. "I think they feed them around noon. If we hurry, I can get a shot of them eating."
"I'm really thirsty," Kendall says. She turns to Harry. "Want to go with me to get a lemonade?"
Harry looks at me and I shrug. "You can meet us by the lions." "I'm actually thirsty," Louis says. "I'll go with you."
Kendall slightly frowns. "Oh, okay."
"Then I'll go with Taylor," says Harry, and he walks over to stand beside me. "We'll catch up with you guys soon."
Once Kendall and Louis are gone, I say, "Aw, you missed your chance to make out with Kendall by the concession stand!"
"I thought you promised you were going to stop making stupid jokes."
I give him my you-caught-me face. We leave the nocturnal house and head toward the lions. When we get outside, I notice that the sky has darkened and the sun is hiding behind some scary-looking rain clouds. I tuck my hands into the pockets of my jacket and run my fingers over the fleece lining. "That wasn't a joke. I'm pretty sure she wants to eat your face."