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themselves.
    Stuart‟s one of the last ones out, arm around Shelley Harrison, and
    Louis gives him a small nod as he passes. Stuart blinks at him, unsure
    of how to respond, and then he‟s off down the hall and Louis is left
    standing in the doorway watching himself from nine years ago head off
    to lunch.

    32

    It took Harry about a day to figure out that Louis has a free period after
    lunch, and he‟s been coming around every day ever since. Sometimes
    he just sits quietly while Louis grades papers or works on lesson plans,
    but most of the time they‟re talking, constantly talking, curled up to this
    new warmth of each other‟s company.

    Louis learns that Harry is originally from Holmes Chapel, but he ended
    up alone in Manchester when one of his friends promised to let him
    move in but then got a work transfer at the last minute. He dropped out
    of uni when he was nineteen and tried his hand at a couple of different
    things—baking, law classes, singing in a band—but none of them ever
    quite worked out for him. In the end he kept coming back to
    photography, so he decided to make a go of it for real. He‟s in his last
    year of school now, taking photography classes at a university nearby
    in the mornings. He‟s got his eye on a couple of internships, one in
    London that he seems particularly interested in, but he talks about it
    like he doesn‟t think he really has a chance at it. The friend he was
    supposed to move in with in Manchester is friends with the head P.E.
    instructor, and he‟d felt so bad about leaving Harry without a place to
    stay that he‟d set him up with the coaching job to help him pay the rent.

    It's easy to tell that Harry loves photography; he's constantly snapping
    pictures of things, either with his phone or on the massive camera he
    carries around sometimes. Louis learns quickly to dodge out of the
    way, ducking out of frame when Harry lifts his camera to take a picture
    of him for no apparent reason. When Harry asks him why he just
    shrugs. "Doing you a favor, Harry. I'm so beautiful I'd shatter the lens.
    Should be thanking me," he says with a wink, and Harry leaves it at
    that, for the most part. Still, Louis stays vigilant, even as he starts
    collecting facts about Harry.

    He learns that Harry loves mushrooms but hates them on pizza, that
    he‟s completely serious about Love Actually being his favorite movie,
    that he‟s twenty-three years old and has somehow managed to make it
    this far in life without developing a casual distaste for everything and
    everyone around him like Louis has. He still likes to bake things when
    he‟s happy. He has a sister he loves and a mum he phones every day,
    and Louis is the first friend he‟s made since he moved to Manchester.

    33

    He has more than 20,000 songs in his iTunes, half of which are by
    bands Louis has never heard of. One afternoon, after Harry plays Louis
    five songs in a row that he claims are his “favorites” and Louis doesn‟t
    know a single one, he seems to reach the end of his rope.

    “That‟s it,” he says, slamming his iPod down with a forcefulness that
    has Louis concerned for its well-being. “When the festivals come
    around this year, we are going, and you are going to be educated
    whether you like it or not.”

    “I‟m really not sure that‟s necessary—” Louis starts, but Harry cuts
    him off.

    “Trust me. It‟s necessary. We are going to Leeds Fest, I am choosing
    what acts we watch, and you are going to listen to songs that don‟t have
    dubstep remixes or verses from Pitbull in them.”

    Louis chews on his pen. “I‟m pretty sure if you look hard enough on
    YouTube you can find dubstep remixes for pretty much anything.”

    “You know what I mean,” Harry says, laughing. “Don‟t try to get out
    of this on a technicality.”

    “I just don‟t see anything wrong with a bit of pop, sue me,” Louis says.
    He also doesn‟t get the appeal of listening to what sounds like several
    men and