'Just one more day,' I tell myself as I have been every morning for the last two years. 'Just one more day and then you can run away from it all.'
I take a deep breath and finish straightening my long hair. It's a unique combination of chestnut brown and beach blonde with the bottom of it being that darker color and the top being blonde. And it's all natural.
"Alex," my older brother Greg calls. "Are you ready?" He has a thick Irish accent. The one thing he brought with him when he agreed to move his family to California to get me away from the press. His new baby Theo, my nephew, cried out and I heard my sister-in-law, Denise, shush him comfortingly.
"Coming!" I bound down the stairs in my black Converse, jean shorts, and white ruffled tank top from Hollister. Greg laughs at me and grabs my neon orange backpack as I try to thread my brown braided belt through the loops of my shorts.
"You have got to start getting up earlier if you want to get to school on time," he says as we drive to my school.
"I already get up at six!"
"Five thirty maybe?"
I laugh. "You're insane."
"Well then you need to not take so long in getting ready."
"Maybe I should just be homeschooled," I say, rolling my eyes. We have this conversation almost everyday.
He pulls up alongside the curb of my school. "Get out." He mock glares at me.
"But Greg what if-"
"Alex you're fine! I don't know what more you want me to do. We changed your last name on your school forms, we moved you all the way over here, we leave whenever you want to have friends over so they don't recognize us."
"I just... I don't know. I just don't want to have to deal with hiding everything anymore. I don't want to hide. But I don't want the press."
"Well you can't have both. And you can think about your decision while you're daydreaming in class because we all know you don't pay attention in there." He smirks at me and I roll my eyes with a smile as I get out. I don't contradict him. He's right. Greg waves and pulls away, leaving me in the glare of a teacher patrolling the parking lot and forcing me to enter campus.
The bell rings as soon as my feet step inside the gates. I really do need to start getting ready faster. Dragging myself to first period, I keep my head down and shut my mouth like I do everyday. I'm to scared someone will pick up my faint Irish accent and then piece the puzzle together. I follow these same procedures all through second, third, and fourth period with a little more talking in my third period speech and debate class.
I wave to my friend Lauryn and hug another, Kylie, on my way to fifth period. I hate language arts. I hate everyone in that class. I don't know them and I have no plan to. I don't really know anybody here... Because in order to know someone, they have to know you. And that's the last thing I want.
My eyes are practically glued to the clock during the entire first half of the period. I'm told to pay attention an participate more several times by the teacher but I ignore her.
"Alex honestly," she sighs. A couple kids around me giggle. I want to slap them. Once again my eyes drift around. Movement by the window catches my eyes and I stiffen. Is that a camera? Why is he peeking through the blinds?
"Alex!!"
"Alex is it true you moved to America to get away from your family?"
"Have you been in hiding?"
"Alex over here!"
"Alex smile!"
"Alex did you change your last name to sever the connection between you and Niall?"
"Why haven't you let the world see you?"
"Do you wish you weren't Niall Horan's little sister?"
The door to the classroom has burst open and reporters, magazine editors, radio hosts, and lots and lots of paparazzi flood the room.
"Shit." I swear on instinct and spring up. "Is there a back door in here?" I ask desperately. The teacher, stunned, shakes her head. Some of the reporters are questioning the other people in the class thinking that they may have some information on me. This is why I don't interact. My peers stare at me shocked.
"Are you friends with Alex Horan?" One asks a boy who sits a couple seats across from me.
"Horan?" He looks at me with an open mouth. We've only talked maybe twice but he, as well as everyone else, always thought I was a quiet girl named Alexandria Smith. Never would they have guessed that my brother was Niall Horan from One Direction.
I yank my backpack on my shoulder and start to push through the crowd. It's all consuming and they try to stop me as I make towards the door.
"Why did you leave the UK and Ireland?"
"To get away from this," I answer gruffly.
"Have you talked to Niall recently?"
"No." I keep my head down and shove through.
"Why did you change your last name?"
"To try and be normal."
"Are you embarrassed by your brother and his band?"
"Not in the least." I'm blinded by flashes momentarily and stumble, but I catch hold of a desk before I fall.
"You never said anything about being Niall Horan's little sister," a girl named Gabriella snaps. She's the obsessive insane 1D fan with them on her binder, notebooks, dividers, stand ups in her backpack, them ON her backpack, wears one of their shirts almost everyday, has custume made 1D sneakers, runs blogs, stalks them, and they're the only thing she can talk about. I told Niall about her once and he laughed saying he should surprise me by picking me up from school one day. I had screamed no and hung up on him.
"I was trying to avoid this," I say back. Finally, I squeeze through the door and am horrified by what I see. They're everywhere. There are news anchors outside of vans broadcasting live and once they see me, all hell breaks loose. As I start to run towards the gym where the doors lock automatically, I have a very large mob running after me.
I pound on the door once I reach it and scream for someone to open it. My pe teacher, Mr. Vance, rushes over in my urgency and together, we use all our strength and some from helping pe students, to shut the crowd out.
"What's going on?" He yells. I don't answer, knowing he'll find out soon enough. Instead I go toward the middle of the gym where you can't see in through any windows and call Greg.
"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" He chuckled as soon as he answers.
I have tears rolling down my cheeks and I'm sobbing now. "Greg they know! They're at my school! They know about Niall and my last name and everything! They know I'm Alex Horan!"
Everyone I'm the gym is staring at me and I continue crying to Greg. He's silent for a long time, and then I hear him curse and yell to Denise what's happened. "I'll call security and get them there right away. Where are you?"
"In the gym," I sniffle. "Who told them?"
There's muttering and then the phone is passed to someone else. "Is this a bad time to tell you I came to visit you and Theo?"
Niall? "You told them Niall?!" I don't know weather to scream at him or hang up.
"It slipped! I'm so sorry Alex I honestly wasn't trying to! I really didn't mean it!"
"You do realize you ruined my entire sophomore year and I'll probably have to move across country again right?" My voice is much calmer than I expected it to be, but inside, I'm fuming and boiling over the edge.
"I don't know what to say Alex... I don't know what happened. They confused me and asked about a sister and I accidentally said your name. That's why I came to visit.. I was going to warn you and I thought if gotten here before they were able to track you down with only a first name but... I guess I'm to late."
I want to scream and cry and break everything I see. But I can't now that all the cameras are on me. So I do the only thing that I know will show him how upset I am. I hang up.
