never letting go || lrh

F*cking press.

I woke up Monday morning, jumped in the shower and put on my school uniform. I put a dash of makeup on, and dried my hair. I walked downstairs to get some breakfast, watched a bit of TV and went to brush my teeth - that’s what I do every week days before school.

I then shoved a couple books, papers and my makeup bag in my shchool bag and headed down to Ay’s house. 

I waited for her a couple of minutes, and she walked down, I saw her bruise had almost disapeared. We walked over to school together, and when we got there, we got stares. Lots of them. Mostly from younger girls. I had tried to ignore them, but at lunch time, as I heard 15 year olds laughing behind my back, I turned around.

«Excuse me, can I help you?» I snapped. They stopped laughing and stared at me with a bitchy look. ‘Well, 2 can play that game’ I thought. I kept staring at one of them until she dropped her gaze onto her lap. I smirked, and repeated my question.

«So, can I help you?» I asked, less snappy. They didn’t answer, but handed me their phone.

It was an article in a shitty people magazine. I rolled my eyes as I saw it, but started reading.

Aussie rockstars, who have taken the world by storm, 5 Seconds Of Summer, were trying to avoid tabloids for as long as they could. But Saturday night, they were spotted in a bar, in the south of Sydney, accompanied by 2 girls. My heart pounded in my chest and my eyes opened wide as I kept reading. We sent one of our journalists in the bar to get a closer look. Luke Hemmings, 18, was seen holding hands with a mysterious brunette we had never seen before. With a bit of research on the boys’ Twitter, we found her account, @MaddieGoneCrazy. The boys had tweeted about her a couple times in the past. As they grew closer, they kissed and disapeard to the back of the club. We all know what that means. I felt sick to my guts. As I scrolled down the page, I saw photos of me dancing against Luke, some where we were kissing, and one when he had dragged me to the back room. At least, we couldn’t really see my face on the photos. I guess if someone knew me personnally, they would realise it was me, but people wouldn’t be able to recognise me in the streets based on these photos. Luke on the other hand, could not be confused for anyone else. He was taller than everyone in the club, his blue eyes reflecting the light, and his torn Nirvana shirt not blending in. Aylin was behind me, also reading the article over my shoulder. Another girl, was spotted dancing with all 3 of the other boys, Calum Hood and Michael Clifford, 18, and Ashton Irwin, 20. No kissing was involded, but she was growing closer to Calum at the end of the night. Around 3 AM, «@MaddieGoneCrazy» was spotted running out of the bar, in tears, Ashton running after her. Luke was not seen until the closing of the bar, at 5 AM. These boys set up a punk-rock image, so are they really as much trouble as they make it seem? There were some more photos of Aylin and the boys.

I felt like crying; the worst night of my life had been photographed and reviewed by some useless tabloid. I handed the girls the phone back, and sat there blankly. I walked off after a while, and called Ash.

«Hey Maddie, how are you?» He sounded sad.

«Not well, to be honest.» I said, sliding my back down a wall and ended up curled up on the floor. People were staring, but I didn’t care.

«Why’s that?» He sounded concerned.

«Didn’t you see that article about this week end?» I said, blankly.

«Oh, yes, I did.» He paused. When he didn’t say anything else, I butted in.

«I didn’t have sex with Luke, and they make it seem like I did, they make me look like a slut on those photos!» I whisper-yelled in the phone, not wanting to draw any more attention onto myself.