My Brother's Best Friend's Friend (ON HOLD)

Chapter 16

After I change, I give myself two minutes to process everything. Is this all real? Did Harry do all of this for me? My hands tremble as I run my fingers through my long hair, combing through the knots. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Biting my lip, I walk out the room and see a large crowd of girls in a circle. I look around confused until I see Ella with her hands outstretched.

"What's going on?" Ella asks.

"Ross Lynch came to hear me sing!" I tell her and she screams.

"Stop lying!"

"I swear," I say and she smiles widely.

"How did he know you could sing? You don't post videos on YouTube." Ella asks.

"Harry heard me sing once and I guess he told him." I reply and her eyes widen.

"Harry? Douchebag Harry?" Ella asks.

"Yes," I laugh and she hugs me.

"Good luck," Ella smiles and I smile back before making my way to the crowd. As I do, I feel my eardrums burst because of how loud they are yelling. Someone grabs my hand and pulls me away while they tell me not to make noise. I panic, not knowing who this is.

"You're Alex, correct?" a man asks, letting me go.

"Yes,"

"Sorry if I scared you," he apologizes. "I'm Paul, the boys security guard. You can wait in the van while I go get them."

I nod and he leaves me there alone. When I get in the van, I realize how big it is. The smell of boys cologne permeates the van, putting me in some sort of trance. Suddenly, the sound of screaming girls coming nearer fills my ears followed by the door opening. All six boys come in one by one and my heart begins to race when Harry sits next to me. Liam sits on Harry's left side and I am left just besides Harry. I mentally curse to myself for being stupid enough to sit here. Niall, Zayn, and Ross sit in the second row while Louis sits in front with Paul and the rest of us sit in the last row.

Harry grabs my hand, intertwining his fingers through mine but I snatch my hand away. Liam's eyes move back and forth between Harry and I, surprised by my actions.

"Please, just let me -"

"Don't," I interrupt him. I am cautious to keep my voice low so that no one can hear us. He looks at me with hurtful eyes and I begin to feel guilt but soon anger washes over me. Does he think that a gesture is really going to make me forget what I seen?

After driving for a half hour, we finally arrive at a recording studio. When we get out of the van I feel relieved that I no longer have to sit next to Harry. I walk between Louis and Ross as we enter the building.

"Nervous?" Ross asks looking down at me. I look up and notice that his height towers over mine much more than Harry's. How much taller is he?

"No," I smile. Besides Louis, Harry watches us intently with burning eyes. I bite down hard on my lower lip, able to feel the tension all the way over here.

Inside the building, the rest of R5 is there waiting for my presence. I say hello to all of them and shake their hands trying to be as professional as I can. Ross' sister, Rydel, watches me carefully, studying my every move.

"Okay so first off, we want to hear you sing a few songs that the band and I chose. After we hear you sing those, we want you to sing 'Loud' with us." Rydel says and I nod.

"Step in the booth please," Ross tells me. He puts the headphones on me then gives me a warm smile as he adjusts the microphone. I watch him the entire time, taking in all his features.