Paper Birds

Chapter Twenty-Nine ; Questioning Sanity

"It's been a long time coming since I've seen your face

I've been everywhere and back trying to replace

Everything that I had 'til my feet went numb

Praying like a fool that's been on the run."

"Harry, what are you singing?" I asked sleepily, running a hairbrush through the knots in my hair. He was kind of mumbling a familiar tone, picking out his clothes for today.

"Feel Again. OneRepublic."

"That's what I thought it was."

He turned around and smiled at me, pulling a white t-shirt over his torso. "I think it describes us perfectly."

I thought over the lyrics silently in my head.

I'm feeling better ever since you know me

I was a lonely soul but that's the old me

It's been a long time coming since I've seen your face

I've been everywhere and back trying to replace

Everything that I broke 'til my feet went numb

Praying like a fool just shy of a gun.

It actually did, in a way. I was a bit numb and unfeeling after Jared, but then I met Harry Styles.

"Oh, really?" I questioned. "How so?" I always assumed he was a blessed soul who had his dreams come true for only singing on stage, becoming one of the most wanted individuals ever. Why would he be unfeeling?

He shrugged. "After getting so famous, well, you get bored. It was really exciting at first, but now it's only getting.. repetitive, you know? There's something about you, Clarissa. I don't know what it is, but you're kind of like a spark in my life."

I stopped brushing my hair. I never thought of it that way. I always thought celebrities were vain, obnoxious people who get angry when they don't find their face on a billboard somewhere. And what about me was so attractive to people? I gambled. I get in trouble. I almost get killed. I yell. I'm irritating. I'm not fashion-forward. I put almost no effort into how I look anymore. Not just Harry liked, me either, Louis too. I could kind of see why Jared showed interest in me; that was when I used to straighten and curl my hair, wear the most 'in' clothes, and actually put on some makeup that isn't all black. He'd always tell me that I would look so beautiful without it but I never believed him. Now it's just mascara and eyeliner that I wear when I actually do go to school.

"Wow," I breathed, blinking into the mirror. I wasn't a particularly beautiful person. Kind of a run of the mill sort of thing, especially now that my hair was so short.

"You look great, by the way."

Could he read my thoughts or something?

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, right. I looked like I had just walked out if a shooting range.

I glanced at Harry, who was smirking to himself. "What?" I asked.

He walked over to me, grabbing my elbows lightly.

"Baby you light up my world like nobody else,

The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,

But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,

You don't know,

Oh oh,