The Neighbors

2.9 Tabloids

I unfriended Cortin Valow, as Harry recommended. But the next day, a friend request reappeared. And this time, there was a message.

"Why did you unfriend me?" Cortin asked.

"I don't think I know you." I typed in response.

"Sure you do. I'm a friend. And you need me."

"Why?" I responded out of sheer curiosity. It was such a strange thing to say.

"Just be careful. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your family. Or Harry."

I gasped and quickly closed the chat window and blocked Cortin Valow from contacting me on Facebook anymore. Then I shut the computer down and walked away, as if that would stop this weirdo from contacting me.

I felt shaky for the rest of the day, but I had to reason with myself. I couldn't think of anyone in our life who would want to hurt us. We were in a safe neighborhood, and even so, Harry had made sure we had a burglar alarm installed as soon as we bought the house because he knew he'd be gone so much. The girls were always with Courtney, who gave them rides to and from school. Or else they were with other family.

I eventually began to get angry. Who was this person and why did they think they could threaten me anyway? The nerve! I chose to forget about it all together as I logged back onto the computer to check my email. After I'd checked it, I did another search on Harry Styles and there were actually several articles about him, along with some pictures of him from his high school graduation. I checked on his song on Vevo and he already had about half a million hits.

Oh, my gosh! I thought. Harry really is an overnight sensation! I laughed, knowing neither of us really expected stardom to come so fast, but Harry was handsome, confident and talented.

When I went to pick up the kids at school, I stopped in to talk to Grace's teacher, Ms. Blake. She was very young; this must have been her first teaching job, just like Courtney.

When she saw me, she asked excitedly, "Is Harry Styles really your husband?!"

I laughed and said, "Yes, he is."

"I love his new song! And all my friends do, too. We heard it when we went out dancing on Friday and we just can't get enough of it!" I smiled at the thought of Harry's song playing at a dance club and hundreds of people dancing to it.

"Well, thank you," I said, giving her a huge smile. "I'll be sure to tell Harry you like it."

Luckily, I would be able to tell him tonight because he was coming home for a few days. I couldn't wait to see him. I hadn't had the chance to properly congratulate him on his single. We had already decided we would all go to pick him up from the airport and then go out to a nice restaurant to celebrate.

We found a parking space at the airport and I put Danny in the stroller. I told the girls to hold each other's hands the entire way into the airport so that no one would get separated. We arrived at the security gate and waited excitedly for Harry to arrive.

We heard the announcement for the arrival of his flight. "Okay, girls, keep your eyes open for Daddy!" I told them.

It turned out that Danny was the first to spot him. At first, I thought he was just repeating after me when I told the girls to watch for Daddy, but he began screaming and squirming so hard in the stroller that I leaned over to unbuckle him. Then I heard the girls screeching, "Daddy" as well. I looked up and caught sight of Harry just coming through the security checkpoint. I set Danny free and he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him.