Chapter 1:
Something clinked against the window. Startled, I looked up. Whatever it was caused a chip in the glass. Shit, I thought to myself. Mum was going to be pissed when she found that.
I stood and went over to the window and gasped when I saw Harry standing underneath the tree in the yard with a goofy smile on his face. I raised the window pane.
“Marcel, are you going to stuff your face in your books the whole night or are you going to come hang out with your older brother?! I've only got a few days in town, and you've got school starting up soon,” He noted.
I laughed. “Where's the better twin?”
He gave me a jokingly shocked look. “Who, Edward? Pshaw, he's probably doing college stuff-”
“Or college girls,” I added.
He laughed. “The latter is more likely,” He bent down and picked up another rock and threw it up. I ducked, letting it hit the floor behind me.
“Harry, you've got to be careful,” I scorned. “You know Mum will have a fit if you break anything,”
He sighed. “Come on, Marcel. Come hang out for a while. I've got a couple of the lads with me and they want to hang out with you as well,”
I squinted my eyes. “How do you know that?”
“Well,” he started. “Niall's sitting in the car being impatient. I told him we would go to a restaurant after I picked you up,”
I sighed. “Give me a couple of minutes,”
“Just hurry,” Harry answered. I nodded and closed the window. I threw a shirt on and checked myself in the mirror. Lookin' cheeky, check. I sighed, tugging at my sweater vest. Who was I kidding? I didn't look 'cheeky' in this; Harry's job was to be the flirt. I tugged it off and threw a t-shirt on, one that had a math pun on it. When I saw my reflection, I laughed. That's more like it.
I ran down the stairs and out the front door. Harry looked up and smiled, laughing at my shirt.
“I like that,” he nodded, giving me a light nudge on my shoulder as I walked past him. Contrary to popular belief, he did a lot better in math than I did, so he understood the pun perfectly.
“Thanks,” I said.
“No problem,” he said. I got into the back seat and squeezed in beside Niall.
“Sorry about that,” I apologized. “I don't mean to crowd you like this,”
He waved his hand. “It's no problem. It's just a sign the Harry needs to get a new car,”
Harry laughed. “When I have the time, I will. As I see it, we've got a few days in Holmes Chapel before we go out to everyone else's homes,”
I rolled my eyes. I really liked all of his friends, but I felt so out of place among them. Maybe it's because they're all famous, I thought to myself. To be honest, the realization that they were all just a little better than me made being intimidated really easy. It wasn't their fault, though; they were just naturally talented. All I had was book smarts and a way with nerdy fashion....sort of.
“When do you go back to school?” Zayn asked me.
“In a week,” I answered.
“What year are you in?” Louis asked.
“Twelve. I'm hoping to get a few certificates finalized this year,”
“Certificates?” Niall questioned. “In what?”
“Genetic engineering,” I beamed proudly, pushing my glasses up onto my nose.
Harry laughed, looking back at me in the rear-view mirror. “Look at you, Marcel, being scientific and stuff. I can't believe that my little brother is graduating this year,”
I sighed. “I can't believe it, either,” Yeah, after graduating from being a loser in school, I'll upgrade to a loser in the real world.
After a few minutes of silence, Zayn said, “Marcel, have you ever had a girlfriend?” I shook my head nervously. “You should get one this year. After all, it is your last year of school,”
I shook my head and sighed. “I can't just get a girlfriend, Zayn. It takes qualities that I simply do not possess,”
“Nonsense,” Niall chimed in. “You've got all the qualities to be a boyfriend. Any girl would be lucky to have you,”
I smiled. “Maybe you're right,”
“Marcel,” Harry started, stopping the car in the parking lot of the restaurant. “You are the most intelligent person I know. So believe me when I say that he's right when he says that,”
We got out of the car and enjoyed our afternoon together. When we got home Harry told me that I could go up and study (even though we weren't in school yet).
“I told you that we've got a lot of homework over the summer!” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, yeah,” he answered, pulling me in for a hug. “I'll see you in a couple of days before I leave. I've got business to take care of with the lads.”
“Okay,” I answered, pulling away from him. “I'll see you in a couple of days,”
He walked back to his car. I could see Niall, Zayn, and Louis waving at me. I waved back and smiled.
“See you then,” Harry answered before getting in his car and driving away. I sighed. It was great seeing my older brother. I just hated the fact that he was always on the go. I went back into my house and got ready for bed. I was so tired that I could sleep for those two days.
Two days passed, and still no sign of Harry. At ten that night I crawled into bed to go to sleep. Maybe Harry had forgotten. It wouldn't be the first time that he'd gotten so caught up in something that he forgot about coming back.
A few minutes after closing my eyes, I felt something spray on me. I scrunched my eyes together and opened them widely, to be met with a spray of something that wasn't water. After wiping my eyes, I looked up to see harry standing over me, a spray bottle in his hand.
“Harry?” I questioned. “What the hell? What is that?”
He smiled mischievously. “A bit of pancake syrup,”
I groaned and sat up. “for God's sake, Harry. That's evil,”
“Well, I had to wake you up somehow,” he shrugged.
“Water would have sufficed,” I wiped my eyes again.
A few minutes passed silently before Harry said, “I almost forgot to come back. I got caught up with something at the studio,”
“It's okay,” I said to him. “I understand. It's business and stuff,” I threw the blanket back. “Now, help me get this mess cleaned up. Mum's gonna have a fit if we don't fix this,”
“okay, Marcel,” he answered, and started to pick up the sticky blanket. He went to put those in the washer while I wet a wash cloth and started to wipe things down. My exactness kicked in, and I was scrubbing everything before I could even stop myself. I looked up to see Harry standing in the doorway, smiling like an idiot.
“What?” I said to him.
“I used to have that problem,” he said. “it goes away eventually, I promise,”
I scoffed. “I don't have a problem. If things were this disgusting, you'd be cleaning, too,”
He rolled his eyes. “Everyone in the family has this problem. Even Edward has is, no matter how much he's willing to admit it. It does go away, though,”
I sighed. “I just don't know when,”
He patted my back. “Eventually. It'll take something that will keep you from wanting to clean all the time,” He turned and started to walk out. “I've got to go. I'll see you when I come back. I'll call before I do,”
“Bye, Harry,”
“Bye,”
