Alternate Paths (Harry Styles Fan Fiction)

Chapter 5 - Reece

November, 2012

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" 

Dragging me out of my bed, Emilia insured that today I wouldn't be doing nothing. Saturday morning was, according to her, the best time to go into London if you were still a student. I disagreed - the weekend was too busy for my liking, what with tourists getting excited about Harrods, Madame Tussuads and the London Eye. Then again, London was busy every day of the year and just because I was socially awkward didn't mean that I could stay inside all day like I was agoraphobic.

But just because I knew I couldn't stay inside for the rest of my life, I still liked to try.

At first I had been ecstatic about going to London with Emilia, but after that first day I made a solid statement that the city was far too crowded; it made me realise how much I missed little Bradford. It also made me realise how little I knew about the outside world. When I was in Bradford I didn't realise I was basically living under a rock, probably because I didn't interact with anyone but Kat. The only celebrity gossip I would gain would be from her and the magazines dumped in a pile on her desk. If I wanted to see what was happening in the world, I'd have to stroll over to her house and watch the telly, pick up her mum's paper or ask if I could look on her Mac. My entire music taste came predominantly from her; Kat would often blast Ed Sheeran's sweet melodies out of her laptop, along with OneRepublic, the XX, Coldplay and the Neighbourhood.

It was further proved that I was a hermit and basically despised the world - Emilia's words, not mine - when we went to Madame Tussuads together. Of the 300 or so figures we only looked at about thirty, and still I could only recognise the Royals, historical figures we had learnt about in secondary school and the Twilight actors. The last wax models I only knew thanks to Kat who had a love-hate relationship with the books and movies.

"We have exams soon," I whined, pouting my lips to try and convince Emilia to let me stay. Admittedly I hated being cooped up for too long and it was sweet of Emilia to try and take me out, but she knew how much I loathed crowded streets. She knew but still she persisted. I swear, that girl…

"Relax! I've got it all under control. I'll study on the way there."

I rolled my eyes, somewhat quizzically. Right, because that was totally believable. Emilia would surely be lugging her books around with her as we caught the train.

Emilia, catching my eye rolling, just mocked me by rolling her eyes and groaning in a terribly accurate impersonation of myself. "Geez Reece, you don't even give me a chance. I record my notes and play them on my iPhone. I go to sleep listening to them and it actually works. I'm surprised you didn't think of that Einstein."

I ignored the nickname she had been constantly using the past week and just grabbed my coat. "I don't have an iPhone, Emilia." Although I was appearing to be nonchalant, it still bothered me that I had to borrow Kat's old phone since I barely had enough money to feed myself. I tried to use it as rarely as I could knowing that I couldn't afford a hefty phone bill and if I got a smart phone I'd probably rack up more fees than I could imagine.

"I could buy you one for your birthday. Oh whoops. There goes the surprise. But anyway, I could. When is your birthday? Or is it better off buying you a phone for Christmas?"

Staring at Emilia, shocked that she would even consider doing something so generous, I racked my brain to remember the date. "November fourth."

"Shivers, Einstein, that's three days away! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Sorry?"

"Never mind, just grab your purse and let's GO!" Emilia complained, dragging my wrists and shaking them until I stumbled forward.