clouds // h.s

i.

-

that particular morning, after one irritatingly exhausting night of tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, chrissy lazily sat up on her bed at precisely six a.m, hair sticking out in all places as if someone had just pulled her by them and dragged her straight to hell and back. she let out an annoyed grunt after realizing how early it still was and hastily made her way to the bathroom, where she scoffed at her reflection and muttered a series of curse words under her breath at the sight of  her unruly hair. actually, it wasn't just her hair that made her cringe, it was her entire appearance.

her brown locks, which were usually perfectly kept in semi-waves, looked almost comical and if she wasn't so grumpy due to her lack of sleep, she would have at least giggled at the girl in the mirror. there were dark hues encircling her hazel eyes, making her appear a little disturbing. her face was ashen, probably because she hadn't touched any proper meals since two days ago as she had busied herself with house chores and finally managed to finish packing up her belongings.

she huffed and picked up the largest comb she could reach for and started to smooth out her hair, face scrunched up in mild pain. mid-process, a soft knock on the door almost made her jump, but instead, she groaned, nonsensical words dropping from her lips.

"what is it?" she asked, stressed out that her hair was still slightly disarrayed.

"what time is your flight?" her older brother, sam's deep voice came out muffled, and a little groggy from the other side of the door.

"ten," she answered curtly, one hand still working on perfecting her waves. "i'll be down in half an hour."

as promised, half an hour later, chrissy took her usual seat across her brother at the table and tuning everything else out, she devoured her pancakes, ignoring her brother's loud music that he had put on, some band she'd never even heard of.

"you're the greatest cook there is," she complimented earnestly, as per usual, after she had finished her breakfast.

"they're just pancakes, chrissy," sam rolled his eyes, already immune to his sister's daily compliment on his culinary skills. "not rocket science."

"still," chrissy shrugged, grinning.

"are you ready? i can drop you off at the airport on my way to work," sam abruptly changed the subject, struggling to finish his hash browns.

"it's fine. i'll take the cab," she gave her brother a careless shoulder shrug, trying to avoid that one topic from being brought up.

sam knew his sister well enough to understand that she needed some personal space, and that being forced to fly back to australia for a wedding of a cousin she'd never even heard of before, was a hard thing for her to comply to, considering her history back in sydney. he remained silent as he watched his sister intently, whose face went from pale to slightly pink in the cheeks and then entirely red.

"can you turn that up?" chrissy broke the awkward silence that had surged between them, eyes squinting at the tv. "oh, and turn your grunge music down."

sam rolled his eyes but did as he was told, turning up the volume to what seemed like an entertainment news and lowering his music down.

the woman dressed in red that emerged on the high-definition tv screen with a cliché-sounding opening score in the background caught chrissy's full attention as soon as she opened her mouth, her words like a nightmare to chrissy's ears.

"harry styles will be taking a break from one direction," said the woman who had introduced herself as miranda jones. "for who-knows how long. the teenage heartthrob, who had recently broken up with his on-again, off-again model-turned-actress girlfriend is rumoured to be flying to australia some time this week, without his band members tagging along. quoting his fellow member slash best friend niall horan, styles will be in australia until, quote, he learns how to get himself back together again, end-quote. the problem is, how are their fans going to handle this?"

chrissy rolled her eyes, finding the news a little bit irritating and cringe-worthy. one direction, the biggest boyband in the world, was on the verge of breaking up because of this ungrateful boy, because of his constant act of putting their name to shame, by being the worst boybander to ever walked this earth. not that she was a hardcore fan of them, but their music was still tolerable and she used to have a crush on one of them. she wouldn't in the slightest bit be affected if the break-up was really going to happen soon, but she still couldn't help but feel sorry for the rest of the human population who are so love-crazed over the five boys. she also couldn't help hating harry styles, despite not knowing him personally. she was no stranger to the name, of course, because harry styles was a constant face in the news these days, always flashing the cameras his million-dollar smile as he denied the ugly rumours that were circulating around him. chrissy hated the fact that he didn't realize he was someone else's hope and strength, perhaps he had forgotten about it at some point of his ever-blossoming career, and decided to humiliate not only one direction, but those who stand behind him, his fans. she hated that he didn't care about anyone else but himself. she hated that whenever he appeared on the screen, liam payne or niall horan or louis tomlinson or zayn malik was always there for him, covering up for his mistakes, saving his arse.

"what an ass," chrissy commented, turning to sam who was in the midst of doing the dishes. "i hate him."

sam chuckled at his sister's stony expression. "so, will you hate him even more if i told you he's going to australia for his break today and there's a tiny possibility that you're going to bump into him on the plane?"

"shut up," chrissy scoffed. "i'm sure he isn't going today. it's always too busy in the morning and he wouldn't want a scene at the airport. right?"

chrissy didn't even sound so sure herself.

-

author's note:

harry's an ass

at least that's what the media says

at least that's what he wants to be seen as