Her Name is...

Chapter 23

"No" I said louder then I should have in public, but I couldn't care. "Are you joking right now?" I asked Niall. I could practically hear his smile through his voice,

"Nope, its on the down low though. We're meeting a potential producer there for the next album" he said, "Harry wanted to tell ya but he got sucked into a long meeting about god knows what, so I took it upon myself".

"Oh my god, I will totally find a way down there, just send me the dates as soon as possible" I demanded. I couldn't believe they were already working on a new album, they hadn't even started the tour for Up all Night yet. Although it had been a huge success. 

Bella gave me a questioning look from across the lunch table as if it ask 'who is that, i'm your only friend'. Suddenly aware of her presence I tensed up, 

"Alright, well i've gotta go. Tell... him that i'm really happy and not to be too mad at you for spilling the secret" 

She raised her eyebrow as I lowered my phone and tucked it into my jacket. "Friends from when I lived in Montreal invited me to stay up there for a few days before Christmas" I lied to her. 

"Oh, so fancy, you and your wordly friends. Do you have any British friends from your summers over there?" she asked me. I shook my head at first but then reconsidered, 

"This girl Sara I used to work with, and same with this guy Ethan I worked with last summer", I had gotten so good at lying it felt natural. Although, technically I still kept up with both of them so they were British friends. 

"I wish I had British friends, think i'd pick up an accent?" she asked adding the last part in a terrible one. I laughed tossing a stray bundled napkin her way as we tidied up to head to third block. 

"I reckon if you did that accent infront of anyone they'd run away" I informed her. 

"See reckon sounds so british, I wish I had grown up..." she continued complaining about Toronto while I checked my buzzing phone. 

H: I cant believe he told you. It was a 20 minute meeting, the lad couldn't hold it in

Shoving my phone back to the pocket I tried to contain my smile. I was going to see him in a few weeks. I linked my arm through Bella's as we travelled down the hallway to the class we had together. 

"Technically we have an accent, its just a North American one" I informed her as she lamented over our boring voices. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You'll be back on Christmas eve for dinner with Chris and Layla" my mother said as she pulled the car into the spot at the train station. 

"I wouldn't miss Christmas, or my ex-step dad and little sister" I reminded her, she grabbed my arm giving me that pointed look she always did when she decided to be a strict mom. 

"I know it feels odd to see them, but they're flying in from Manitoba just so we can see Layla. I'm as much her mother as I am yours" she said sternly. 

I automatically felt bad. It was hard as hell for her to live without her kids, it was easy to forget when it was just the two of us that she had two more spread across the country. After that relationship blew up in her face and we had to move out it had been hard enough for her raising 15 year old me penniless and made no sense to take Layla along. It killed her. And I missed the kid too, technically we shared half DNA. Kathy wasn't all mine, and Layla deserved a mom when she could get one. Her new step-mother ironically named Katy was good from what I had heard, but she was no Kathy.