Simon's Secret (One Direction FanFiction)

Chapter 9

  Two weeks after the incident at the ice cream shop, Harry and I had been on multiple dinner dates, to the zoo, and to a museum in town. I hadn't seen much of the other boys, unless Harry had invited me to join them while hanging out at one of their homes, which had happened a few times. Right now I was waiting in front of a vending machine.

  Today was kind of going to be a "me day," or at least that's what I planned on. I just wanted to relax and eat some Funyuns. They fell into the slot where you retrieved them from, and I bent to pick up the bag.

  As I straightened back up, I heard a girl's voice say, "Excuse me, ma'am. Just want to buy some Cheetos." I turned around to let the girl, who looked to be about ten years old, pass. She glanced up at me and smiled gratefully, then gasped, "Oh my God! Are you Alexandra White?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

  "That depends," I said, "who's asking?" Her face had suddenly lit up and she beaming at me. She shoved a magazine into my face. I blinked a couple of times, trying to make sense of what she was showing me.

  "Look!" she said excitedly. "You're Harry Styles' girlfriend! Oh my God, I can't believe it's really you. I love One Direction!"

  I could finally see the page, and my jaw dropped. On the cover of the magazine was an enormous heart, and in that heart was a picture of Harry and I. They had cut us out of the background, but looking at the position we were in I could tell that it was from the ice cream shop, when we had posed for the fans.

  "Umm," I mumbled, shocked. "We'll that's really something, isn't it?" I smiled warmly at the girl, who looked liked she was about to pass out. Before I could get past her with my Funyuns, she grabbed my wrist.

  She begged, "Wait! Can you please sign my magazine?" I froze for a moment, taken aback. Hesitantly, I agreed to writing my name on the girl's booklet. I hadn't really ever practiced my signature, and I wasn't very good at cursive, so I just printed the message. She told me her name was Megan, and I wrote telling her that she was awesome. I felt bad about signing with my fake last name, so I just wrote "Alex."

  "Um, have a nice day, Megan," I said, giving her one last confused smile. She beamed and nodded enthusiastically, hugging her magazine tight to her chest. I walked away from the vending machine and continued down the street, still not understanding what had just happened.

  As I walked past a McDonald's my phone buzzed. I tugged it out of my pocket and squinted at the screen, struggling to see who was calling past the sunlight. It was Harry.

  "Hey!" I greeted cheerily.

  "Hey Alex!" he said. "Just wanted to let you know that I'm not doing anything right now. Do you want to come over?"

  I paused for a moment, thinking. Harry had never actually come over to my house, and I really wanted him to. The only problem would be telling my dad that Harry knew that he WAS my dad, but I was sure I could handle it.

  "Actually Harry," I said, "why don't you come over to my house? I think it's high time that you met my father."

  He sounded shocked when he responded. "Really? You're... you're ready to tell him I know? Well that's great! I'd love to! When should I be there?"

  I laughed, "Head over in an hour, I still need to get there myself. See you, Harry!"

  "Later, babe!"

  I hung up and shoved the phone back in my pocket, now smiling. My smile slowly faded, though, as I thought back to the scene by the vending machine. I was in a magazine. I was in a magazine as the girl dating Harry Styles, and they didn't even have my real name. How could they? To the world, I was Alexandra White, not Alexandra Cowell.