The Other Half || Jerrie

Chapter Fourteen

After Harry’s death, Perrie fell into Zayn’s bed and let herself fall deeply in love with him. She ignored the signs that he was hiding something from her.

She internalized his death. Because his death was her fault. She avoided blaming herself though; instead she placed the blame on her mother. It was her Debbie who killed Perrie’s father. It was Debbie who put the wedge between Perrie and Harry. And if she hadn’t placed that wedge there, then maybe Harry wouldn’t have been visiting Perrie that weekend. Because if Harry had remained Perrie’s friend throughout high school, then maybe she never would have gone through her troubles in high school. She may have done better in school and ended up at the same college as Harry. And he never would have had to board that bus.

Perrie let herself move on. She let herself blame Debbie and let herself enjoy her freshman year of college and her first relationship.

It wasn’t until the first week of her Sophomore year, that Perrie’s bubble was burst.

She was returning to her dorm after the first day of classes when she saw a Hispanic girl with a long ponytail looking around, clearly lost.

“Do you need help?” Perrie asked the girl.

“Yeah, I’m looking for Sunshine Dorm,” the girl responded. “I just transferred here and wanted to surprise my boyfriend.”

“That’s so sweet!” Perrie cooed. “Well, you’re in the right place. This is Sunshine.”

“Oh thank god,” the girl responded with a huff of her breath. “I thought I was going to have to wander around the campus all day.”

“It’s kind of confusing inside, I can help you find your boyfriend’s room if you want,” Perrie offered.

“That would be great,” the girl grinned. “I’m Ariana by the way.” She extended her hand and Perrie shook it.

“Perrie,” the blonde responded as she led Ariana inside. “What room is he?”

“Uhh, I think he said 105?”

“Cool,” Perrie nodded. “My boyfriend is somewhere around there, so I know the way.” They wandered around the building until they reached room 105.

“Well it seems like your boyfriend doesn’t live in 105, because that’s where my boyfriend lives, but we can ask if he knows where yours lives.” She knocked on the door. “What did you say your boyfriend’s name was?”

“Zayn Malik,” Ariana responded at the same moment the guy in question opened the door. Perrie immediately looked to Ariana, then to the boy who opened the door.

“Oh s**t,” Zayn muttered as soon as he took in the sight of both his girlfriends, together, at his door. He quickly shut the door.

It didn’t take the two girls more than a few seconds to realize that Ariana’s high school sweetheart had been cheating on her for nearly a year with Perrie, and that Perrie had been none the wiser.

When Perrie drunk dialed Jesy that night to tell her what had happened, Jesy asked what she was doing about the other b***h. What Jesy didn’t realize at the time, was that Perrie had the phone on speaker and that the reason why she was getting drunk, was because she and Ariana had decided to make up a drinking game.

They drank each time they could think of a reason why Zayn was a f**k boy.

Needless to say they got drunk very quickly. It wouldn’t be for another few weeks before Perrie called Ariana her best friend. But that was the first night of their friendship.