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

Yeah they're buzzing about it now.

The door slammed open and someone came stumbling, awakening me and Louis. 

"Woah. Are you guys okay?" the guy asked, staring at us in shock. He probably thought we were super drunk or something. 

"What time is it?" Louis grumbled. 

"Um. About 1:30." the guy said. 

We had only been sleeping for an hour. The party was still going on. I looked at Louis and untangled my fingers from his hair. "Come on, Lou. People are probably wondering where we are." I said, helping him stand up. He stumbled a little bit, almost falling over and hitting his head again, but regained his posture with a smug look on his face that said, 'See? I can do things on my own." 

I rolled my eyes at him and walked out of the bathroom like nothing even happened. Like we had been awake the whole time. 

Zayn and Niall met us outside the bathroom. "We've been looking for you forever!" Niall screamed in my ear. I plugged my ears, wincing at his loud voice. 

"Sorry, boys. There was just some things that needed to be taken care of." Louis said, still drunk. 

I really wanted to correct his grammar, but I decided against it. They wouldn't understand in this situation anyways. 

"Well, come on then. Cher wants you." Zayn told me, dragging me. Once we got to the foyer again, Cher spotted me and her eyes got wide. 

"Where have you been?" she asked, grabbing me by the arm. 

"Sleeping." I said, yawning. She rolled her eyes at me and laughed. 

"Of course. It's passed your bedtime, huh?" she joked. I gave her a glare and shook my head at her. "Anyways. Simon wants you." 

"I'm getting dragged everywhere, aren't I?" I said, but to myself, since Cher was too busy dragging me to the stage. Simon Cowell was staring up at the band and smiling, clapping along to the beat. It made me happy to see him happy. You don't see it too often. 

"Ah, there she is! The woman of the hour." he said, grinning when he saw me. 

"Isn't this party for the boys?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yes, but don't tell them that." he joked, poking my nose. I wiggled it under is touch and laughed. "Oh, Prudence. I've missed you." 

"You too, Simon." I said. He started fixing my hair and clothes, so I would look presentable and I just looked around at everyone, dancing and laughing. 

"You will perform won't you? We haven't seen you in so long. You must." he told me. I nodded my head, agreeing. But then I got scared. I hadn't practiced in 3 months. I'm scared I forgot. Simon saw this. "You'll do fine, Pru. You always do. Now. I was thinking you do Your Song. You know by..." his voice drifted off through my mind as I spotted those familiar curls in the crowd. He was talking to Caroline Flack. I wanted to cry, because I didn't know if they were just talking for a conversation or if they were close now. Harry really always did like older women. One time, my aunt came over from Australia and he flirted with her nonstop. It was funny really. 

I shook the thought out of mind. No. That's not the point, Pru. He's talking to other girls when he should be talking to you. Am I just being stupid? Of course I am. I always get like this when I get too close to people. Think about what Louis said, Brinker. You don't want to make a mistake. 

"The boys performed it in your place, of course, since you weren't there." I turned my head back to Simon to make it look like I was actually listening. 

"Of course, Simon. Everyone knows how right you are about these things," I said, forcing a smile and saying the line I always tell him when I'm not really listening.