in time // h.s.

xiv. janet

Sixteen years old...

We had reached the end of year eleven and it had turned out to be an eventful few months. A bit after Harry's sixteenth birthday in February, Anne ended up signing him up for the seventh season of The X Factor because of all the success White Eskimo were having in our little town, Cheshire. They began to become popular in the rest of Holmes Chapel as well, once everyone in school started to talk about them. He was a nervous train wreck from the day Anne sent in his application until April when he was set to audition. He constantly tried out and sang various songs until he finally stuck with Stevie Wonder's 'Isn't She Lovely'. Everyday after that he practiced and practiced, humming in class, drumming his fingers to the rhythm of the song on our lunch table, and quietly singing to himself whenever we got to one of our houses.

Finally, April 11th came around. It was a Sunday morning and Anne, Gemma, Robin (Anne and him had become an official item a month after our trip to Paris), Matty and I tagged along for support. We waited with him and constantly reassured him he was going to do great while we stood in queue. He was extremely anxious and nervous but somehow hid it whenever the cameras came to interview him. Backstage was when he almost fainted until Matty slapped some sense into him (he literally slapped him). With a kiss atop his curly head from Anne and Matty and a quick hug from me, he walked out onto the stage in front of the three judges that year, Simon, Louis and Nicole. He got two yes's out of three with his lovely acapella of 'Isn't She Lovely' sending him to the next round. We were all extremely thrilled and proud of him, smothering him with hugs and kisses of congratulations once he made it backstage.

He went off to London for boot camp a week before summer holidays started to compete with the rest of the lads that had made it through auditions for a spot in the competition. Sadly, after a few days of hard work and effort, they decided he wasn't quite ready to be in the competition and sent him back home with a hearty 'better luck next time'. Harry came back deflated, not at all his normal cheery self. He was bummed for obvious and understandable reasons. His new found passion wasn't only shot down by anyone, but by the people who could actually make something blossom out of his passion. He ended up deciding to give up on music and quit White Eskimo, devoting himself completely to his original plan of becoming a lawyer. Even though none of us really agreed and tried to convince him not to just drop his dream like that because of some lousy judges, we had to support him with whatever he decided to do with his life.

Not too long after Harry's X Factor audition, something else that was pretty big happened. From the moment Matty and I kissed in Paris I knew I'd lose my virginity to him. I wasn't sure when it would occur, in a week's time, a month's time, six months, a year, I just knew it was going to happen. It was a thrillingly scary thought.

We'd talk about it, a lot. Of course we did. What teenage couple didn't talk about the possibility of having sex? But one thing Matty was brilliant at was reassuring me. He was in no rush to lose his virginity, and neither was I. That was until he told me he loved me... from that point on I just wanted to do it more than anything. There was a desire that surged through me, threatening to cause an almighty explosion if something wasn't done sharpish.

It ended up happening over the Easter holidays, five months after we got back from Paris. Yes, I'm aware that it would have been nice to wait a bit longer, but there was no stopping our lascivious behavior once the cogs were in motion. Plus, we'd known each other since we were nine years old, we trusted each other unconditionally. So many qualities you'd hope to build in a new relationship already existed between us. I didn't feel the need to wait any longer.

It happened on a Tuesday.

Three days after my sixteenth birthday.

Our parents were at work. Harry had taken himself off somewhere for the day. I've no idea if this had been planned between the two boys, or if he'd arranged it himself not knowing what we were about to get up to.