Clandestine {Harry Styles Fanfiction}

Part 17

Hi :)

As promised, here is Part 17 :)

Madeline

                In every adventure I’d ever read about, there was always a part where the main character realized how much their life had been turned upside down. As I walked down the busy, bustling streets of Sydney, I had that moment.

                How was it, that six months ago, my idea of an adventure was going five miles over the speed limit on Interstate 77, and now, somehow I’d ended up in Australia? What was even more miraculous, was that in Sydney the sun actually existed. In London, you could go weeks with nothing but clouds and rain and fog and some snow to break the cycle of more clouds and rain and fog.

                “Like in the Wizard of Oz, when the landscape changes from black-and-white to vibrant colors,” I explained the sensation excitedly to Kate, as we moved down the sun soaked streets arm in arm, dodging people on bicycles.

                Kate nodded in understanding, “Or like in the Hobbit, when Bilbo realizes that his life won’t ever be the same after his journey from the Shire,” she chimed in.

                “Lame. Can we just take the Lord of the Rings references and put them in a dark closet where no one can find them?” Angelina asked, popping up on my other side and bumping my shoulder with hers.

                “Can we put you in a dark closet?” Kate snipped, just low enough so that Angelina could hear without directly speaking to the taller blonde.

                I stopped paying attention right before Angelina’s snarky reply. Instead I admired the city around me. Blue sky peeked over the tops of the buildings. Warm air brushed through my hair and picked up the threads hanging from my cut-off shorts.

                It was such a perfect day.

                We had three hours to kill between studio rehearsal and sound check and I’d begged the girls to come with me and explore downtown Sydney. I peered in the window of every shop and restaurant and bar that contoured the streets, my attention lingering on the display at a bridal shop. Ivory dresses in every fabric from lace to tulle were draped over mannequins. It reminded me of the photograph of my Grandmother and Grandfather on their wedding day. I couldn’t even dream of my wedding day, it was so far off. But there was one thing I knew, and that was that I was not going to wear an elaborate, expensive gown. I was going to wear my Grandma’s dress, outdated as it was. I had made my mind up about that long ago.

                You make me happy, he’d said, lying next to me on the middle of an empty beach, with the entire sky stretched over us like a blank mural, ready to be painted.

                “What’s his name?”

                My eyes darted from the window display to Angelina’s questioning gaze. She removed her Ray Bans from her eyes and perched them on top of her wispy blonde hair, revealing raised eyebrows.

                “Huh?”

                She gave me a knowing smile. “What’s his name? The boy you’re pining after.”

                My eyes widened. “Oh. No, I--” I shook my head fervently, feeling my cheeks flush their usual embarrassed pink.

                “Yes, you are. I know that look. You are in love.” Angelina hooked her arm through mine and pulled me away from the bridal shop. The other girls exchanged coy giggles.