Prudence Brinker Vs. The World (Mockingbird) (Book 2)

I don't know if you've heard, but it's all over town,

I tried my hardest not to look at Harry, and was saved by Matt coming over. "Mattie!" I screamed, hugging him. 

"Pru, you look...horrible." he admitted. I looked myself up and down and nodded in agreement. 

"I know." I said, smiling. 

Matt was like a brother to me since the start of X-Factor. I had missed him. "Come dance with me. I need to talk to you." he said, grabbing me by the arm lightly. I saw Harry out of the corner of my eye glaring at us and I smirked, sticking my nose up in the air. 

A slow song came on and Matt grabbed my by the waist. I smiled up at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. 

"What happened to you?" he asked, out of the blue. 

I shrugged. "My dad died." 

His grip on me loosened. "I know that's not the whole story, Prudence." 

I hung my head, refusing to look in his eyes. I knew he meant about Harry. I was just too afraid to say anything. "The day I left, Harry got mad at me. He said he didn't want to say goodbye. And he never talked to me, except for twitter. But sometimes I think that's just for publicity." I admitted.

"Don't you think that maybe he was too scared to talk to you? Long distance relationships are hard, Pru. Maybe he didn't want to say goodbye just yet, because he didn't want anything to happen with your relationship." 

I thought about it for a second. "Well I guess that makes sense. But he cheated on me, Mattie. I saw the pictures." 

"I'm thirsty. Are you thirsty?" he asked, changing the subject. 

"A little, but I don't see what that has to do with any-" I started, but Matt just walked off and I stood in the middle of the foyer, looking like a lost puppy. I started looking for one of the boys, or even Cheryl or Jamie, but they all seemed to disappear. I didn't know where anyone was. 

Starting to get claustrophobic, I walked out of the foyer and outside. There was a heated pool, but no one seemed to be outside. It was too cold, anyways. I slipped my shoes off and stuck my feet in the water, feeling relaxed at the heat. A shiver ran up my spine and I stared up at the stars, wonderstruck. 

Suddenly, someone sat down next to me, but I didn't look over, because I knew it was Harry. I scooted away from him a little, trying not to make it noticeable. I saw Harry flip his unruly hair out of his face and looked over finally. 

"Hi." he said, smiling. 

I rolled my eyes and scoffed. "4 months and all you have to say is 'HI'?" I whispered, burying my head into my shoulder. 

"Well, ya." 

"Oh my God, Harry. You're so stupid sometimes." I stood up and walked around to the other side of the pool, leaning against the fence.

"I don't understand what I did that was wrong." he said, kicking some water at me to try and cheer me up, but I ignored it. 

"Another reason why I think you're stupid." I told him. I took my new phone (since I threw my old one at a wall) out of my bra and scrolled through my saved pictures. Once I landed on the one I was trying to find, I threw it at Harry. He caught it (barely) and stared at the picture. 

He looked at me and his eyes widened. "Pru, it's not what it looks like." 

"Are you freaking kidding me?" I asked. When he didn't answer I laughed and shook my head. "If you were getting sick of me, all you had to do was say so."  

I walked back inside, the tears threatening to flood out of my eyes. 

I turned a corner, ready to leave, when I rammed right into Louis, landing on my ass. 

"Pru! Oh damn. I'm sorry." he slurred, trying to help me back up. He failed though and I just ended up falling down again. 

When I tried to grab me again, I put my hand out to stop him. "No, Lou. It's fine. I got it." I said, standing up on my own. 

"Why are you crying?" he asked. 

Oh shit. I wiped at my eyes, probably smearing make-up. "I'm not crying. It's just allergies." I lied. 

He rolled his eyes and smiled at me. "Even when I'm drunk, Pru, I can tell when you're lying. Come on." I let him drag me upstairs and into a bathroom. 

He set me down on the edge of the bathtub and warmed up some water in the sink, before wetting a towel and handing it to me. 

I gave him a confused look. "This...blurghdurp." he said, making hand motions around his face, indicating my make-up was smeared. I looked in the mirror and laughed at myself. Then I took the towel and started rubbing my face until it was pink. 

"You look better without make-up." Louis said. 

"I agree. I just did it because Harry payed more attention to me when I piled make-up on my face." I shrugged. He sat next to me and slung an arm around my shoulder,giving me a weird, drunkenly hug. I almost gagged at the alcohol, but controlled myself as I pat him kindly on the shoulder.

"How are you?" he asked. 

I shrugged again. "Oh, you know. Tired. Broken. The usual." I gave him a weak smile.

He looked at the ground and nodded. "I see how this is going to be. Okay." He stood up and filled up a plastic beer cup with water. I didn't pay attention to it, until he threw the water on me. 

"LOUIS!" I screamed at him. 

"PRUDENCE!" he screamed back. 

"WHAT THE HELL-"

"MAN UP, PRU! YOU'RE SUCH A BIG BABY! YOU CAN'T HANDLE ANY SITUATION CORRECTLY, ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND CRY!" he yelled at me. I stared at him in shock, my mouth hanging open. "SURE, HARRY RIPPED YOUR HEART TO SHREDS, BUT YOU'RE MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!" I bit my lip and looked down. "I thought you were FEARLESS. You witnessed your own mother try to kill your dad. What the hell is Harry compared to that? He's just a small problem in your mix-up of other problems!"

"Louis, stop screaming at me!" 

"Not until you fucking listen! DON'T take Harry's shit. When life hands you a problem, you take it and learn from it. When Harry cheats on you, you dump him and act like nothing happened." he shrugged, stumbling across the bathroom. I think he was trying to pace or something. 

"Louis I didn't come hear for you and Harry to scream at me!" I tried again. 

"Your dad would've wanted better, I bet. I bet those whole 3 months, you just sat on the couch, eating ice cream, and watching old movies that you and Harry watched but didn't really want because you were too busy making out. And your dad never wanted that." 

That hurt. I stared up at Louis in pain. 

"Don't bring my dad into this." I whispered. "MY DAD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!" I screamed, hitting Louis in the chest so hard, he fell on the ground and hit his head on the toilet. 

I gasped. "Oh God. Louis are you okay?" I asked, as I got down on the floor next to him. "I'm so sorry." 

"No, Pru. It's fine. Glad to see you don't take shit from no one." he said, laughing. 

I laughed too. "Any one." I corrected. 

"What?" he asked, staring up at me confused. He was too drunk to realize, so I dismissed it. 

"Nevermind." I said, smiling at him. 

He groaned at the pain and I held his head on my lap, brushing my hand through his hair. "Louis, you're like Buddha, you know?" I said out of the blue. 

"I know. I'm a fatass." he said, smiling, before falling asleep. A few minutes I fell asleep too.