Sister Styles

{17} Interrupting Cow

Finishing my unpacking, I led myself out and into Alex's room. It wasn't any different from mine which made sense, other than the fact she already decorated it personally herself.

She had a collage of photos displayed on the coffee table and clothes dotted the floor. It was a little unorganized, but I can deal. You should've seen Gemma's room when we were kids. It was quite the mess.

I've always been so organized in my house. Mum always told me it was a gift to have such a neat brain because not a lot of people have that skill, but I just think it's human. Being unorganized, is like not remembering your birthday or Christmas. It makes no sense to me.

I plopped down on the couch, looking over the collage of pictures. There were baby photos, teenage photos, and some looked recent. A couple stood out, most of them being dance competitions and whatnot, but the one that stood out the most was a picture of a baby that had blonde hair and matching eyes like Alex. The other baby photos were all redheaded so I assumed this one wasn't Alex. Maybe a sibling? A cousin?

"Spying much?" Alex's voice startled me and I jumped a little. I looked up to see her wearing jeans and a cute little sweater. Her hair was blow-dried straight and tied back in a ponytail.

"Oh, no, sorry, I was just-,"

"Relax," Alex smirked, rolling her eyes. "I'm just teasing. It's a collage I had to bring with me because I can't stop looking at it for more than a day. It's weird, I know."

"No, no, it's adorable," my eyes scanned back over the images. It was like a story. It started in the top left corner with Alex in a little tutu as a toddler, then progressed furthur and furthur, some added photos that didn't involve dance. My eyes landed back on the little blonde baby. "Hey, Alex? Who's this baby? It doesn't look like you."

She walked over, sitting next to me on the couch, dazing at the photo. "My baby brother," she gave a crooked smile. "When he was a baby, he had a lot of kidney problems. Ended up dying at the age of four. I was turning nine. This was my favourite photo of him."

I looked at her, my mouth parted and a empathetic feeling rose in my chest. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

She laughed a little. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's nothing, really." She said, pulling her eyes to her lap. Her smile fell and her eyes glossy. "I'm sorry, I'm emotional already and we haven't even known each other for a good half hour." I didn't say anything, but fixed my eyes back on the photo. "I just miss him, you know? It's hard living without a brother that was supposed to be alive."

I can understand that feeling. Well, sort of. I mean, her brother died. Mine just pushed me away for a good solid four years, saying it was just for my safety, when really, it felt like he was just trying to get rid of me. It's hard. I understand.

"I get the feeling," I admitted, out loud. Cursing myself for saying it. I felt Alex's eyes fall on me, curiousity building up between us.

"You do?"

I looked up at her and just blankly nodded. "I'm an only child, so I get what it's like wanting a brother."

"Well, sort of," she explained. "I wanted a brother, got one, then lost him. Your stories different. But wouldn't you rather a sister over a brother?"

I shook my head, my eyes falling to the floor as I thought of Harry. "No, I would want a brother." I may want him, but he doesn't want me.

It's not that I didn't like Gemma, she's the best sister I could have ever asked for, but if I had to choose between her or Harry, I would choose Harry in the blink of an eye. Harry and I have a better connection than Gemma and I. Gemma's the one I can joke around with. Harry's the one I can joke around with and have meaningful conversations with.

"Shall we go?" I tried distracting myself, so I wouldn't want to start talking about my family private life. It would be kind of strange if I told Alex I was Harry's sister right off the spot. I hardly know the girl. How do I know I could trust her with such a personal thing?

-----

We didn't have a car, so we had to walk. Since it was pretty cold out, we didn't want to walk for long so we just ended up stopping in a McDonald's for their breakfast menu. We ordered our food, then sat at a booth and began to eat.

"So when did you get here?" I asked Alex, buttering my biscuit, chewing it, then swallowed.

"Yesterday afternoon, just like the others, I don't know why you weren't here yet though," She shrugged, starting on her hash brown.

I nodded. She has to have met the boys then. "Have you met them?" I dug a little deeper.

"Who?"

"The boys."

"Oh, yeah, they took us and the other dancers out for dinner," she said, a huge grin surfacing her cheeks. "It was funny, they were asking why there was only six of us and Danny had said the other was coming this morning."

I blinked, looking at her. Did they mention me? "Did they ever ask for the name?"

If they mentioned my name, Harry would know I'm here. That could ruin the surprise and he would just be mad from the beginning. He wouldn't be surprised or happy. I don't know what he'll end up reacting like, but I hope he won't start yelling or cause a scene.

Alex shook her head. "No, they just started talking amongst themselves. I was sitting next to the curly-haired one, Harry, and I overheard them whispering and asking if you were hot and stuff. I laughed to myself. Boys will be boys."

I widened my eyes, not being able to hold back my smirk. "Serious? They said that?" I questioned, breaking into sudden hysterics.

She joined me, laughing too. "It was so funny because I was the only one who heard it and started giggling so the other girls looked at me like 'what the hell is wrong with her' and I just couldn't stop laughing. Then the boys looked at me all weird and I left to the bathroom from embarrassment."

"What did they say when you got back?" I asked, trying to control my laughter now. It was pretty hilarious thinking of how my brother was wondering if I was hot. And his bandmates too? That's funny.

"They asked if I was okay, so I just told them I remembered a joke. I had to tell them the joke though so they weren't all suspicious, you know?" She explained, still trying hard not to laugh.

"What was the joke?" I asked, now just plainly grinning at her contagious laugh and smile.

"You really wanna hear it?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's pretty funny."

"Shoot," I told her. I always love jokes. Harry used to have so many knock, knock jokes as a kid. He used to have this book that he would just sit there and tell you all of them, then he laughed, which made you want to kill him because they weren't even that funny.

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Interrupting cow," she began to laugh.

I looked at her, puzzled, raising an eyebrow but continued anyway. "Inter-,"

"Moooooo!" She yelled and that's when we both fell into the laughter, again.

"Okay, okay," I said, holding my stomach and trying to contain myself. "I've heard many knock, knock jokes in my life, but that one, was the best!" I exclaimed. "Now my face and stomach hurt!"

"But it's funnier, because when I did it, everyone at the table just looked at me like I was mental while I sat there and laughed my ass off! Even Harry was chuckling a bit, but they all still looked at me like I was the cuckoo bird on the clock!" She exclaimed, laughing between each sentence.

I smiled at the thought of Harry laughing at the joke. It's something Harry would laugh at. I gotta tell that to Mum when I call her later. Or Payton... Speaking of him, I should probably try to call him later. I hope he and I are okay. Things got pretty intense at the station, I just hope he's not mad at me.