Out Of His World

Chapter 4

"He's got to be joking," Emma said, turning to face me. She raised an eyebrow. I wasn't sure what she wanted from me. Of course I couldn't tell the truth, but I certainly didn't want to lie to her. She was my only friend on this planet.

"Look," Harry said, taking a few steps back. It wasn't until then that I'd realized he was standing so close. The air left after he retreated felt colder suddenly. "I'm sorry. This wasn't appropriate at all, and you must think I'm a freak." I shook my head. "I've got to get going, but..." he trailed off, looking from me to Emma. "If you two want to talk more later, I'll give you my number. I'll put it in your phones." He reached his hand out and Emma quickly drew her phone out and passed it to the band member. I did the same, but with more hesitation. I wasn't sure what to expect from this interaction or the fact that he and Emma seem eager to exchange contact information. He entered his numbers in both our phones and handed them back to us. "Text me. We'll be in town for about a week." He jogged off towards the direction of the theatre and as soon as he was out of sight, Emma squealed.

"We just got Harry Styles' number!" She gasped. "Harry!" I tried to match her excitement but it was clear I didn't have the same energy she did. "Kayla, what is it? Why are you not excited?" She seemed to have forgotten why he wanted to keep in contact with us in the first place. I was not about to remind her that Harry thought, somehow correctly, that I was an alien.

"I'm not as big as a fan as you are, Emma," I simply said.

"Yet!" She giggled, grabbing my arm. "Let's head home. It's late, and he said they'll be in town all week. We can text him tomorrow and maybe hang out! With the whole band! How wonderful would that be!"

HARRY'S POVI closed the stadium doors behind me and took a breath. I wasn't out of shape, that jog was barely anything to me. But I was just so taken aback by Kayla and her oddness and quietness, especially compared to Emma's outgoingness and clear fangirling. There was no way Kayla wasn't otherworldly. If not that, then seriously homeschooled. There was just no way human eyes would've shone like hers did under stage lights. They were so breathtaking. They looked like the night sky, with a full moon and so many stars, you can't make out just one constellation—

"Harry, mate, where've you been?" Liam said, coming around the corner, breaking me out of my thoughts about the strange girl.

"I wanted to get some fresh air," I said slowly as I came up with the lie.

"We've got to get going to the hotel," he informed me. "We've been waiting for you! Zayn's getting tired." I mumbled an apology and walked with him through the halls towards our dressing room. "Also, Niall told me you made eyes at a girl in the audience tonight?" He nudged my side and gave me a suggestive look.

"No, it wasn't like that," I defended myself. "Liam, I don't know how to describe it, but I looked at her, and I just knew—"

"You're in love?"

"She's not human." I said bluntly. He stopped in his tracks and looked at me wide eyed.

"You've got to be kidding me," Liam scoffed.

"You know how human eyes shine in stage lights?" He nodded in response to my question. "And how every single human would blink or react or look away if it was shined directly in their eyes? Especially for more than just a few seconds? Like, a solid minute of light?"

"Yeah, what are you getting at, Harry?" Liam said, slowly starting to walk again. I followed his pace and sighed.

"You all will think I'm crazy," I started. "But I don't know how else to describe it. She looked right at me, and we made eye contact, she was totally calm. No reaction. I was singing straight to her, and everyone around her was screaming, but she looked so peaceful. So content. And the spotlight started to change between us and it shone directly into her eyes for at least a minute. And her eyes lit up. She didn't seem to care, she just kept looking at me. But her eyes were brighter than cats' in nighttime. They shone. Like stars. " I opened the door to the dressing room and Liam walked in after me. The rest of the boys were still packing up and cleaning out their drawers and wiping down makeup counters. "I just don't know. I can't understand how her eyes did that. I'd seen that same spotlight on so many other girls tonight, and none of them reacted even close to the way she did."

"Are you talking about your mystery beauty?" Niall called out, throwing a wet wipe at me. I caught it and threw it back to him.

"You know what, none of you will understand it." I sighed loudly. "Just forget it." Niall started apologizing for making fun of me, but my phone buzzed in my back pocket and I ignored what he was saying. I pulled it out and saw two new messages.

Hey!!! You gave me your number after the show tonight. I was the one in the light pink top with white jeans. I would love to grab a coffee or lunch with you while you're still in town! Let me know whenever you're free :) That one must be from Emma. I read the other one, assuming correctly that it was from Kayla. You can't tell a soul.