*Emma's P.O.V.*
Rose went on tour with the boys. She wanted to stay with me, but I insisted for her to go. I couldn't hold her back, I knew her feelings for Niall. But when I had nowhere else to go, I went to my friend Arielle's house. It had been a while since we'd talked, but she was the only person I had to talk to right now. I lay on her bed, my hair in a tangled matt from our sleepover the night before. But I didn't bother brushing my hair, even though if I didn't it would look like a lion's mane. About ten minutes ago she had told me to get dresed and shower while she went to the grocery store to get some breakfast and magazines. But I didn't want to get dressed or clean up, because I knew I would be back at home, eating junk food and watching TV all day as soon as she had to leave for work. She walked in, and scowled at me as she saw how messy I still was. I flashed her a smile, but she shook her head.
"I'll give you this food once you clean yourself up!" She insisted.
I groaned.
"Go!" She shoved me into the washroom, and I stripped off my clothes, taking a shower. I meant it to be quick, but it ended up lasting long. The water felt so good, and it was refreshing. I got out, and after brushing, and braiding my hair, I shaved my legs, and put on some makeup. I did nude eye shadow, that blended well with my skin. I used my liquid eyeliner to make wings, and I put on mascara, and light pink shimmery lipgloss. I smacked my lips together, evenly spreading the lipgloss.
I put on a red t-shirt and tucked it into a black skirt, the shirt hanging out, and baggy. I wore pantyhouse that matched my skirt, and little black boots with tiny chains hanging off. I came out of the washroom, and Arielle clapped.
"You look beautiful! Here's a banana." She said, lobbing a banana at me. I squealed, and caught it in two hands.
"That's it? A banana?" I said, shocked. "If I had known that's all you were giving me, I would've eaten at my house!"
"Calm down, I'm making pancakes. The banana is an appetizer."
"Getting fancy with your words, eh?" I joked. It was nice to be able to laugh again, Arielle was the only one who could get me out of my bed, and into the real world again, and I was grateful.
If Rose had been here, this would've been her job. But I couldn't let her leave Niall, I wanted her to be happy. "Just eat your banana!" She snapped, and we both laughed.
I slumped back into her couch, and picked up one of the magazines she bought at the grocery store. The cover of one features an extreme close up of a guy and girl kissing. The girl seemed to have blue eyes, although the lighting in the picture made it difficult to tell, and blonde hair. The guy on the other hand, had - green? - eyes, and brown curly hair. There was something about them that was oddly familiar, but the picture had been too close for me to tell.
"WHO'S THE MYSTERY COUPLE?" The magazine read. "GUESS THIS CUTE COUPLE, AND MANY MORE ON PAGE 36."
I shrugged and flipped to page 36. There was a series of pictures of different celebrities kissing, and holding hands, and holding babies, and being on dates, etc. The picture from the cover was labeled as A, and there was a list on the next page of names. Number 5. was "Harry Styles and Selena Williams". I gasped, looking back at the picture. No wonder it looked so familiar. I closed the magazine.
"You know what, I'm not hungry anymore." I told Arielle, getting up and leaving her apartment.
"What happened?" She asked, grabbing my arm.
"I just lost my appetite." I said, shrugging. She sighed and let go of my arm.
"Okay, I guess I'll see you later then."
"Bye." I gave her a weak smile, before heading down to the lobby, and out the street. I went through side streets and side streets, until I found a secluded laneway where I curled up in a corner and cried. Not only did my family and friends know I was rejected by Harry, but now the entire world knew as well. And he looked so happy...
I sobbed into my fingers, not knowing how to deal with this news. I had been holding back my tears for days, and had replaced it with meaningless eating. After a while cars started driving by, and druggies and gangs started coming by, and I got scared, so I got up and tried to leave. As I did, I felt someone grip my arm tightly.
I turned my head around, to see someone vaguely familiar. Someone from my High School, I think. Yes! His name was Patrick, and he had dark brown hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. "Remember me?" He said coldly.
"Hi, Patrick." I said, wondering why he sounded so pissed. "Do you mind letting go? Your fingers are kind of sharp."
"Why should I? It's not like you ever paid attention to anything I do anyways."
"Seriously Patrick, let me go."
"I don't think so." He chuckled, moving his face closer to mine. I could feel myself shaking. What was happening?
His hand came and grabbed my boob, squeezing it tight. Of course. The little pervert. I tried to pull away, but his grasp was too tight.
"Hey, dude, let her go." I looked up to see Arielle standing in front of me, and almost cried tears of joy.
"No." He chuckled.
"I hope you realize that if I diall 9-1-1 it doesn't even ring. It takes three seconds to dial it, and even if you took my phone the call would already be connected, and the police would track us. Now you've got three seconds to let go of her, or, you can have the police tell you to."
He looked around nervously as she dialed the number 9. "One." She said, counting seconds.
She dialed a 1. "Two," She said.
He desperately pushed me forward, before running in the opposite direction. I gave Arielle a huge hug. "Thank you so so much!" I breathed.
We got back to her apartment and she said "You're staying with me from now on."
"No, I can handle myself."
"Because you did such a good job handling yourself when that guy sexually harassed you, right?"
I sighed. "I can stay with my parents."
"But you're never going to tell them how depressed you are, and how dangerous it is for you."
"Of course not."
"But I do know. If you stay with me, you'd be safer."
"I don't know," I sighed.
"You're going to stay with me, or I'm going to tell your mom about the incident."
"Ugh, you're horrible." I whined. "Fine. How did you know where I was, anyways?"
"Well, when you left, at first I was okay with it, but then I realized you had been majorly lying. So I called you, but you didn't pick up. I ended up wandering the busiest streets for a long time, until I realized you'd probably be hiding somewhere where almost no one could find you. So I started searching through side streets. I was about to call the police, when I heard you arguing with that scumbag."
I patted my back pocket, and my phone was gone! "That douchebag must've taken it while it was in my pocket!" I cursed.
She sat down on her couch. "We can get you a new one. But why were you so upset?"
"I saw this magazine article about Harry and Serena, and realized they weren't only together, they were publicly together. It hurt knowing so many people knew about their relationship. And that all I could do was sit and read articles about it in magazines, and online. All my progress went down the drain, by months. It was like I was just another fan again. Someone hurting when he found someone he loved. But I couldn't do anything about it. I'm pretty much helpless."
I didn't realize until I was done speaking, that tears were streaming down my face, and my mascara was running. Arielle grabbed a kleenex and wiped my cheeks, before giving me a big hug. "It's going to be okay," She whispered.
