MAD // HARRY STYLES

003

"What doesn't look good?" Greg asks. He breathes out a puff of smoke and part of his cloud hits my face. That was his intention, I'm sure. 

"Half your population starving and being homeless. What're you gonna do when your army dies off?" I speak.

He didn't deserve to be in charge. He was clueless. The only reason he has any power was because of his father who died a few months ago. I guess Greg was the older son because he got all power. It should have been Niall.

"I don't think my army will die off. We're gonna win this war sooner than you know it," he says. "The other army, though...now they've got something to worry about."

"C'mon, Greg. You don't know that. Give her a job," Niall pushes.

"Why would I trust Miss Street Rat? She doesn't seem to like me, does she?" Greg says. His cigarette hung loosely in his mouth. He had a smirk that made me want to scream at him.

But I didn't.

I couldn't.

I've already gone too far. I should've let Niall handle this, like he said he would. If I don't get a job now, I'll never forgive myself.

"Quit it. Her name is Charlie," Niall says. His voice was defensive, pretective.

"Charlie?" Greg questions, amused with my name for some reason. "A boy's name."

There it is. I haven't heard that statement since middle school. People act like unisex names don't exist. It really goes to show how immature Greg was.

"You just told me the nurses needed help today," Niall pushes more.

"You think a street dweller will understand what the nurses do?" Logan asks.

It's almost like he doesn't think of us as human. We all had lives before the war started. We all went to school and lived in houses and had jobs and friends before the war started. He took that away from us.

He is mad.

"You think someone with a house and some money will know any more than her?" Niall argues. "You're acting like she's dumb."

"I'm not acting." Greg takes another drag from his cigarette. "I know." The grey smoke creates a cloud in the room, and I watch as the air quickly becomes clear again. I am surprised he smokes in his own house. 

"You don't know the first thing about her. You just met her," Niall says.

"And you didn't?" Greg chuckles. He walks around the table to come closer to me. "Charlie," he says, my name running sour off his tongue. I hated when he said my name. I never wanted to hear him say it again. I never wanted to hear him speak all again.

"Greg," I say, looking him in the eyes.

"How do I know I can trust you?" He asks.

"Are you being serious-" Niall starts, but Greg quickly cuts him off.

"The girl can answer," he says.

"I'm just need money," I tell him. How could I prove that he could trust me? How does he come to trust other people in the military?

Greg shakes his head. "So? What's stopping you from spreading information to the enemy?" He questions.

"The enemy killed my brother," I say. I hoped I sounded confident because bringing up my brother always made me want to cry. "And my parents killed themselves because the enemy killed my brother. I hate the enemy."

Almost as much as I hated Greg.

Greg folds his arm across his chest. "Who was your brother?" He obviously didn't believe me. He expected me to freeze while trying to come up with a name.

"Jacob," I tell him. "Jacob Evans. Soldier number 443, if I remember correctly." I hold my cigarette down by my side and roll it between my fingers. I wanted another, but that would have to wait.

"Jacob Evans...I remember him. You look like him." Logan clears his throat. "He was good...until he died, that is." The smirk returns. He didn't care about people, and that statement proved it to me. He didn't care for people, yet he rules over the people in an entire nation.

"Figured," I mumble. It was Greg's fault that my brother was dead. I never wouldn't blame him for that. He put ill equipped men in the military knowing they'd die.

The room suddenly falls silent. I was waiting for him to speak, and he must have been waiting for me to say something. Thankfully, Niall comes in to break the quietness. "So let her help the nurses," he says. "When do the nurses even see the enemies, man? They just help soldiers on our side. You're being-"

Greg cut him off again. He must like doing that. "Fine. The street rat can have a job with the nurses," he gives in.

I didn't expect that. I didn't know it would be this easy to convince anyone to give me a job in this day, let alone Greg. I thought I'd be here for hours listening to Niall spew random shit about how I deserve a job, even though he didn't even know me.

I try my best to keep my smile hidden. "Hm," I hum. "Knew you'd come around, Greg. Thanks for the opportunity." I reach down to grab the box of cigarettes, but he grabs them before me.

"You start tomorrow morning. Eight o'clock," he says. I think he was trying to make me regret asking for a job, but eight o'clock was nothing. I'd been up earlier. I always am. Sleep was for the privileged. 

Clearly, he had more to learn about me than I did him.

"Tomorrow is Christmas. Let her start the twenty sixth," Niall says. He was trying to help me; I know he was. But I didn't really need help. And I didn't want to start any later than possible. I'd prefer to start tomorrow. I needed the money now.

I watch him shove the cigarettes into his pocket again. "Funny that you think war waits for the holidays to pass," Greg says to his brother while shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, there'll be enough nurses to last tomorrow," Niall continues.

This time I interrupt him. "I'd be glad to start tomorrow." And then I look back over at Greg. "Eight o'clock?"

"Let's make it seven," he changes. Again, he was trying to put me off. But anything was better than being jobless.

"Can't wait," I say, indifferent to the hour time difference. I look over at the clock that hung in the corner of the room. "10:30? I better get some rest."

"I'll show you the spare room," Niall says.

Greg laughs in response to him. "So you're letting the girl sleep here, too? Maybe this is why I'm in charge—you clearly lack the brains to lead."

The snarky remarks that I wanted to send Greg's way, I kept suppressed. I'm sure he's heard them all before.

"C'mon," Niall motions for me to follow him, so I do. I'd go anywhere to get out of the same room as Logan.

"Oh, Charlie," Greg calls when I'm on the staircase.

I look over at him. His eye stare into mine for a little longer than I would have liked. It was like he was trying to read my mind, pick out any lies.

But I didn't have any lies.

"I've got my eyes one you," he says.