Evie looked up at the bright blue sky, squinting her eyes at the midday sun. The wind brought the smell of salty air as she walked back to her parked car. Evie opened the door to the ’99 BMW and was putting the gift she had bought for a friend in the back seat when she heard several high pitched screams. She turned to her right and saw a figure walking hurriedly in her direction. The group of girls making the screams were still out of sight. The figure was hunched over with his expensive pea coat pulled up around his face. Evie decided he must be someone famous running from his adoring fans. She sighed, oh how difficult it must be to have millions of dollars, and then chuckled to herself. But before she turned away, she noticed the strong look of grief on his face. She cursed herself and picked up the dark purple beanie she had in her passenger seat and hurried toward the man, leaving the door to her car open.
As she got closer, she noticed he looked to be more around her age, at most being twenty.
“Hey,” she said, grabbing his arm. When he turned to face her, the grief had melted away and was replaced with a startled expression. Evie knew her face must be the mirror image of his, because this wasn’t just any famous person. This was Harry Styles.
•••
Harry Styles was right in front of her, and she was grabbing his arm. Evie didn’t understand what a celebrity of his magnitude was doing in a small town like Wilmington, but her train of thought was cut short by the sound of crazed teenage girls closing in.
“Do you want to get away from those fans?” I asked quickly.
All he could do was stammer, a look of surprise seemingly plastered to his face.
“Oh, you are useless. Just do what I say and you won’t be trampled.” Evie thrust the beanie into his hands.
“Put this on and get in the car. I’ll cover you.” Thankfully, the Great Britain superstar must be use to being told what to do in these situations and obediently put on the hat and ducked into the passenger seat of the car.
Evie quickly shut the door and leaned against it, so that no one could see inside. She tried to appear casual as she pulled a book out of the satchel by her hip, and began to read. But no matter how hard she tried, the words on the page could not form logical sentences in her head. Her heart was pounding in her ribcage. In those first seconds, Evie decided that as soon as the stampede of girls were gone, she was going to walk the opposite way of the One Direction singer and not look back.
A few seconds after Evie closed the door, the fans started to appear. They were decked out in their One Direction t-shirts and hoodies, all wearing the same look over-obsessed fans seemed to share. They were like hunting dogs searching for their prey, heads turning all around, trying to pick up the trail of their beloved Harry. There seemed to be a total of fifteen girls. Evie thought, How did they all know where Harry was going to be?, but quickly dismissed it. These ladies were professional celebrity hunters.
By the time they were near Evie's car, they were beginning to realize something was wrong. How could Harry have disappeared so fast? Some of the girls began to eye her suspiciously. Looks like I will have to try and blend in. Evie quickly put away her book and tried to do her best impression of a lovestruck teenage fangirl. She let out a high pitch squeal, and all the girls heads snapped in her direction.
“OH MY GOD! Are you guys looking for Harry too? I just saw him go towards Starbucks!” Evie pointed to her right where the ever familiar green logo stood out against the tan building. It was a couple hundred yards away, far enough that Harry will be able to disappear once they were inside.
Evie's news was met with a chorus of squeals, shrieks, and looks of determination. The pack of girls set of with a revived vigor and disappeared behind a Kinko’s. I really do love MayFaire, she thought. The amount of crosswalks the girls will need to go through will keep them busy. And out of my hair.
After waiting another minute, Evie turned and opened the door for the A-list celebrity. He was slouched down in the passenger seat, going through the books stuffed into her glovebox.
“Hey!” Evie shouted. Harry looked shocked to be reprimanded, especially by a girl who was as small as Evie. She barely reached his shoulders. He stepped out of the car and carefully looked around for the pack of girls that had been chasing him. Satisfied with the absence of screaming, he turned his attention back to Evie. The beginnings of a smirk appearing on his face. His mass of curls was barely contained under her beanie. But it covered one of his most recognizable features, which in turn should help him remain unseen.
“You saved me,” was all he said in his gravelly voice. Evie had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at his melodramatic statement.
“Yeah, and I still haven’t figured out why. But now that I have super charged my karma, I am going to go. Nice meeting ya, and try to be a little more stealthy next time.” The smirk on Harry's face dropped, a puzzling look forming in his eyes. Pivoting away from the chart topping singer, Evie walked to the bookstore around the corner. She did not look back.
•••
YOU ARE READING
That One Thing (A One Direction Story)
Fanfiction"....because this wasn't just any famous person, this was Harry Styles." Evangeline didn't want to help out the guy she saw on the street, but she couldn't stand the sad look she saw on his face. When she raced to save him from the...
