Chapter One
I flipped the half-baked pancakes out of the pan and watched as they flipped through the air, flawlessly finding their way back to the sizzling skillet they came from.
"Show off." A small voice from the kitchen table said, her high-pitched words dripping with sarcasm. I looked away from my breakfast, turning my head to look at my little sister. She sat in one of the four high-backed chairs, her small body enveloped by the seat. Hadley was cute, with her tight blond curls and wide blue eyes, but don't let the looks fool you. She was far from innocent. "Just because you think you're good at cooking, doesn't mean you are. So just stop before you hurt somebody."
I smile at her and return to my breakfast making. "I wouldn't be talking, Haddie. This is your food I'm making here, and I could 'accidentally' burn it or spit in it, or-"
"Okay your point is made. Just hurry up." She interrupts. I laugh at her somewhat snotty maturity and follow her orders. Soon, pancakes, eggs and bacon are all set on the table and although she tries to hide it, Haddie's smile was unmistakable. With her leaving for camp today, I made her favorite breakfast. It was simple, but delicious. She digs in, and I call up the stairs for my brother to come down.
Within a few seconds I hear thundering footsteps on the stairs and loud coughing as Adam came down the steps. Hadley's eyes never left her plate, but I stopped putting strips of bacon on my plate to take in his appearance. Or, more like, seeing if he was alone or not.
"Hey kids." Adam says, coughing into his sweatshirt sleeve. I could tell his cold was getting worse, but it's been going on for so long I've been beginning to think that it will never get better.
"Hey Adam. Want some pancakes?" I ask. He nods and scoops some onto his plate, sitting on the in front of me beside Hadley. She shoots him a look and Adam smiles. Haddie rolls her eyes and returns to her breakfast.
Looking at my plate, my stomach churns. Last night I pigged out on a whole tub of raspberry ice-cream with Victoria, my brother's girlfriend, and Adam while watching a Friends marathon all night. There was some Doritos and whole liters of soda also. All in all, I'm surprised Adam can even look at his food, let alone eat it. Victoria must have left after I went to sleep, because she didn't walk down with Adam for breakfast. "Hey, when's Caroline coming home?" The question popped into my head and my mouth moved before I could think about it.
Hadley's fork clattered onto the plate as she finished her food. "She called and said they're gone another week. The cute one has a special magazine thing and they're staying in England a little longer for all the interviews and stuff." Haddie finished, looking proud with herself. Her bright eyes twinkled as she smiled and took her empty plate to the sink. As she sat it down I winced, realizing I would be the one finishing the dishes later.
"Which is the cute one?" Adam asked. As soon as the sentence finished though he picked up his napkin and covered his mouth as he coughed into it. As I looked at him, I guess I looked shocked, he winked, letting me know he was fine. I didn't believe him.
Haddie smiled into her sleeve. Although her arm was covering her face, I saw some blush creeping into her freckled face. "Harry." The name came out muffled, but it was clear enough. My heart jumped in my chest at the thought of his green eyes and his tattoos, his hair when Caroline puts it back in those bandanas. Quickly, I pushed the thought out of my head and replaced it with thoughts of Hadley, my little eight year old Hadley, being corrupted by a boy band when she barely had a concept of what a boy band was.
"Harry huh? What about whoever you had a crush on last week? What was his name? Such a pain? What can you gain…?" Adam teases.
"Zayn!" Hadley says, giggling and running up the steps. It was not unknown that Zayn wasn't Adam's favorite of the five boys. I don't know what happened exactly, but I think Zayn criticized one of my sister's new hairstyles she tried with him too harshly, and although it didn't hurt Caroline too much, it bugged Adam.
"Are you going to eat that?" Adam asked. I shook my head, and my brother slid my full plate over to him.
I picked up my phone and dialed the first number on my list. It rang for a long time, and I tapped my foot as my patience wore thin. The boys should be in an interview right now, I think. So shouldn't Carry be free? Before I could wonder anymore, a cheery voice comes on the other side.
"Jessie! Oh my gosh I haven't heard from you in ages!" I smile at her enthusiasm and laugh into the phone.
"I'm sorry I just am so busy with that piano crap-"
"Crap? If that's crap, than my piano skills are straight up awful. You're wonderful on that thing!" My sister cried. I heard a loud laugh come from the background and wonder if Harry was listening in. My heart leapt again and I pictured his smiling face with those dimples… "Hello?"
"Oh sorry. Am I on speaker?" I ask tentatively, my voice dropping at the end of the sentence. Caroline gasped and giggled.
"How'd you know?" My heart got caught in my throat at the thought of Harry Styles listening in on my conversation. What an invasion of privacy.
"Who else is listening in?"
Caroline sneezed before answering. "No one important. The boys are rehearsing, and everyone else is doing whatever else. So, if someone was listening, it wouldn't matter."
I relaxed a bit and laughed at myself inwardly. I'm so paranoid. "Okay, thanks. So, what's new?"
As my older sister took her time answering, I took a quick glance over to Hadley in the corner of the room, braiding her bright hair with quick, small fingers. I don't know how she does that, because my fingers just don't move as fast and as neatly as hers when I braid my hair. Unconsciously I reach up and run my fingertips over the weave I did this morning. It took a good fifteen minutes, while Haddie finished hers within three.
"Nothing much is new, just that with the new album out the boys have been busier than they ever have in the time I've been here. The only time I see them is at breakfast, and when I do their hair. Liam has this new passion to cut all of his hair off, and I don't want to let him but who can resist that face?"
I laugh and picture Liam's already short dark hair cut even closer to his head. "Wait- that would just leave him bald, right?"
Caroline sighed. "Yeah." I hear another voice come from behind her, but this time it was deeper and confident. I couldn't make out what he said, but Caroline replied with 'Jessie.' A few more seconds passed with muffled conversation before she came back on the line. "Is it okay if Liam says hi?"
Liam? Out of the five boys he's the one I talk to the least. Usually it's Niall, Louis or Harry, hardly ever Zayn or Liam. They are the quietest I guess, but not stand-offish. Just compared to the other three, those two are the shiest. After a moment or two I agree and I hear Liam's voice in my ear.
"Hey Jessie." His voice sounded strained and grainy, and immediately my mind goes to the worst possible situation.
"What happened to your voice? Do you have a nodule like Adel? Please don't have a nodule like Adel." I ramble. I was met with laughter on the other side.
"No, calm down. We've just been talking and rehearsing all day, so my voice is a little tired. That's all." I stop talking about it but the worry doesn't cease.
"Okay, I guess. So what did you wanna talk to me about?" I ask. As soon as the question came out of my mouth I realized how snotty it sounded. It kind of sounded like I didn't want to talk to him at all.
"Just wondering if your brother's doing any better." His British accent clouded his words and I had to think about what he said before answering.
"It's just a cold Liam; it's not like it's some bad disease." I laugh but he doesn't join in.
"That's not what he told me. He said that the doctor told him that the antibiotics he's been taking weren't working because the bacteria became immune to it or something." Liam finished, but his words kept replaying in my head. So that's why Adam's cold hasn't been getting better. The puzzle pieces start to come together and I start to say goodbye to Liam. "Wait. Jessie, could you not tell him I told you? I said I wouldn't tell anyone, and I assumed you knew."
I agree quickly and hang up before the conversation could go on any longer.
(Caroline POV)
While Liam was on the phone with Jessie, I left the room and moved to the kitchen. On this bus, the kitchen was large and beautiful, with granite countertops and dark wood cabinets that were stocked with whatever we bought from whatever grocery store we passed. Mostly it was chips and junk in the cabinets, but when you opened the fridge you saw fruits and vegetables, along with different energy drinks we've become addicted to. I pull a Gatorade out of the fridge and sink into the red couches beside the T.V.
As I reach for the remote, it is taken from its position by another set of hands. It took me a moment to realize that I wasn't in control of what was going to be put on the television, and I whip my head around to see who the thief was.
I laugh and don't even attempt to take it back. Harry is just too fast and smart to let me get the remote again, so I just lean back into the couch and try to glare at him.
"You know that won't work, right Carry? You love me too much to be mad." Harry says, grinning like a child. I run my hands through my wavy red hair and try to keep a straight face.
"You think I won't get you back, but I will." Harry's smile falters but recovers quickly.
"Carry, I love you." Harry bats his long eyelashes at me and uses puppy dog eyes. I don't know what he hopes to accomplish, but whatever it is, it isn't working.
"I know." I say, grinning. The boy across from me turns on the television and starts to laugh. I follow his gaze to the screen and see Tom and Jerry chasing each other around the leg of a table. Tom catches his legs on the table and it falls, crashing to the floor in an exaggerated display. Personally, I don't find it funny, but Style's laugh was contagious so I found myself giggling along with him. After only a few minutes we are holding our stomachs, rolling on the ground laughing. The laughter stopped as soon as Liam came through the door.
He held the phone in his hands, but confusion was written all over his face. His dark eyebrows were creased, and his eyes were trained on the floor. Harry looked up and got the same look on his face while I leaped up from the ground and snatched my phone away from him. When I saw no physical damage was done to my beautiful new IPhone, I turn to Liam.
"What?" Liam looks at me and opens his mouth to speak, but closes it again and instead turns to Harry. Harry gets up from his spot on the carpet and walks up to him. The boys whisper quietly and Harry lets out a small 'oh'. "What?!"
The couple moves into the next room and closes the door. I hate being left out of the loop, especially when, most likely, my baby sister is involved. I mean, she was the one Liam was talking too, right? I slide the green unlock screen over and check my recent calls, just to make sure Liam didn't call anyone after Jessie.
1:05- Jessica Lane
So, no. That was it. And that also means that Jessie was probably the topic of conversation between Curly and Liam. Banging on the door, I feel my anger bubbling up inside of me.
"If you two don't tell me what is going on right now, I will shave every last hair on your pretty little heads off!" I threaten. I hear footsteps and Harry's head peeks through the door.
"Liam said he would like that, and I have to agree." I groan and stomp my foot like a little girl. Why did I ever want to join this stupid tour? If I had gotten to know these boys before I did, I probably wouldn't be here right now. Harry looks apologetic but doesn't tell me any information, just asks me some questions. "We also would like to know if you knew about Adam. About his err, cold?"
I shake my head quickly and get frustrated at the door. Why did it have to be there? It's just a slab of wood, so why can't we take it down? Then I could march right into that room and demand Liam tell me what is going on. "He's had that cold since Thanksgiving of last year. It's not going away." I reply quickly.
Harry scoffs, and I meet his eyes as he answers. "Yeah, because the medicine they're giving him isn't working. Apparently, your brother is some freak and the bacteria inside him are immune to whatever antibiotics the doctors are giving him. He's getting surgery tomorrow."
I feel tears well up in my eyes. I feel betrayal and anger and fear all messed up in my head at once and run to one of the bunks, sliding the curtain over so no one could see inside, and I cry.