Perceive

Chapter 4

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'Please tell me you're joking.' 'Nope. I'm dead serious.' Effy was staring at me in disbelief. She had been up waiting for me, worried to death by my lack of response to her messages. I was trying to be vague about the events of my day, giving her excuses about being tired and the fact that I had to get up early but she wouldn't have it. She could be pretty demanding from time to time. We had been living together for more than two years now so we were more or less family. We ate together, we worked together, we even slept in the same damn room. Keeping secrets from each other was more or less impossible. So naturally, I had to tell her everything.

She was sitting in front of me on my bed, legs crossed, examining me carefully, probably certain that I would break down laughing any minute, telling her everything was just a big joke. I didn't. 'So, let me get this straight. After work you just accidently bumped in to Harry Styles who bought you a coffee because you offered him your water when he burned himself. Then you spent the whole afternoon and evening with him, had dinner, got papped, had him drive you home before ditching him completely, giving him the wrong damn phone number?' I nodded my head slowly.

'I'm sorry but Adaline what the fuck were you thinking?' 'I don't know. I panicked.' I pulled my hand through my hair. I was so tired my eyes were burning. I had been awake for nearly twenty hours and had to get up in four. But I knew there was no way I could have avoided this conversation. 'Wow, you're really more stupid than I thought you were.' 'Cheers.' She looked down and started picking on a little cut on her finger, before turning her face back to me again grinning. 'Imagine the person the number belongs to though. Imagine having Harry Styles call you by accident. That would be nuts. You probably made someone's day.' I started laughing. She always knew how to make me feel better in situations like this. Not that I had ever been in a situation like this before. But situations I fucked things up in general. 'I really need to sleep now Eff.' I yawned for what felt like the thousandth time over the past hours. 'I know. I'm sorry for keeping you up this long. We could change shifts if you want to?' That was Effy. Always putting others before herself. 'Thank you I appreciate it but it's cool. I only work for six hours then I'm off for two days.' 'Okay then.' She crawled over to her side of the bed, pulled her duvet over herself and snuggled deeper down in her bed, before turning off the light on her bedside table. 'Goodnight then.' 'Goodnight Effy.' I had barely even closed my eyes before I was sleeping.

~

My alarm went off after what felt like an hour's nap at most. My entire body was aching. The birds outside of my window were trying to wake me with their twitter. I did not want to wake up. I managed to turn off the alarm without opening my eyes. I had such a lovely dream; I didn't want to get up to another day of reality. I adjusted my body to find a more comfortable position, without success. I pulled the duvet over my head, still drowsy. Why didn't I go to bed earlier yesterday? I knew I was opening today. Yesterday's events instantly washed over me. I sat straight up. It was only 5 in the morning, but I was suddenly wide awake. Had it all been a dream? I looked down, realising I was still wearing Harry's shirt. It wasn't a dream. I sighed and silently cursed myself, before I quietly got out bed, slipped out of the shirt and into a fresh one for work. It felt rather surreal to get ready for work as if nothing had happened, but 15 minutes later I was indeed out of my flat and on my way to the tube. It was calm as usual at this hour. At least half of the people on the train were coming home from a long night out, rather than heading to work. Unfortunately I belonged to the other half. I put my headset in to distract myself from everything going on around me. I didn't even look up when we approached my stop; I just got up and headed to the centre door of my carriage, as I did every morning. I had done it so many times now I didn't even have to think twice anymore. Eventually the tube came to a full stop and I jumped out, along with a few others. Up the stairs, in the elevator, through the gates, and finally out in the fresh air.

The city was waking up bit by bit and there were now more cars in movement than it had been earlier this morning. I grabbed the morning paper as I passed the guy standing outside the tube station and started walking up the street towards the café. It was just after six when I arrived, and we weren't supposed to open until another half an hour so I took the time to make myself a coffee and sit down with the paper before beginning with my chores. When I put the paper down in front of me I froze. My face was splashed across the front page, staring right back at me. Eyes wide open.

~

I started to riffle through the pages to find the article, and as I arrived to the centrefold, there I was once again. There were a lot of pictures, but the only one actually showing my face was the one on the front page, all of the others just showed Harry, next to me hiding behind my hands. There were even the pictures of me dunking inside the car. The headline read 'Harry Styles out and about with new mystery girlfriend?' Girlfriend? I had met him once and didn't even have his damn number. In what world does that make me his bloody girlfriend? I skimmed through the article, who didn't mention anything significant since they clearly didn't have any clue about me or about our relation to each other, although the headline clearly suggested something else. There was a knock on the door. My eyes automatically went to the clock behind the counter. The café was supposed to have opened five minutes ago, shit. I quickly closed the paper, making sure my face wasn't visible before I walked over to open the door. 'Good morning, how are you?' I greeted the lady entering the café with a smile. She was one of our regulars. 'Can I have my usual unsweetened soy milk latte?' she asked me as I walked with her towards the counter. 'Of course. Anything else?' I asked, already knowing the answer. 'No thanks darling. Actually, could you make that an iced latte? It's getting hot outside.' 'Iced latte made with unsweetened soy milk, got it.' Two minutes later she was out of the store with her latte in her hand. I glanced at the paper and considered reading the article once more, before I finally decided against it, and began to make the sandwiches for the day.

Effy arrived a couple of hours later, holding not one, but FIVE different newspapers and magazines in her hand. All covered by the same picture of Harry and I. 'I guess you weren't kidding.' She said as she dumped the pile of papers in front of me. 'I told you I wasn't.' 'Adaline this is absolutely crazy. Have you been on twitter? There is literally a man hunt going on right now. Probably with a prize on your head.' I sighed. 'I really didn't need to hear that Eff.' 'What are you going to do?' there was a concerned wrinkle on her forehead. 'I don't know. I guess I'm just gotta go home and barricade myself in my room or something.' She looked pitifully at me. 'I'm sure you will be fine. Don't worry about it.' Her voice wasn't convincing. 'Anyway, I finish now so I'll see you tonight?' Her face lit up. 'Actually I'm going on a date tonight right after work. With Joseph, the guy I told you about, remember?' 'Oh, of course, the tinder guy right? I'm excited for you. Although you have to text me if he's a pervert. Actually, text me either way to let me know. I don't want to have to wonder whether you're alive or not.' She laughed at me. 'Promise. I'm going to try and have some fun as well if you don't mind, mom.' I stuck my tongue out at her, right before the door to the stock room closed behind me. This was just too fucked up to believe.

I had 28 notifications by the time I got my phone out of my locker. 11 missed calls and 17 messagesI had been rather disheartened before I had realised what it was all about. 'Adaline, is this for real?' 'Call me when you get this.' 'Is this a joke?' 'Has there been some kind of misunderstanding' 'HARRY FUCKING STYLES, ADALINE?! WHEN? WHERE? HOW?' For some reason I hadn't realised that the news about Harry would spread. It had spread of course. Like a fire in a haystack.

~

They found me. I was lying in my bed, staring at my phone. Follow request upon follow request. It must be at least one request per second. My phone was blowing up, literally blowing up. The pictures from last night were now accompanied by my old class photos, Instagram selfies and even childhood pictures. I was no longer a 'mystery girlfriend'. I was Adaline Rose, Harry Styles new girlfriend. Only that I wasn't. I picked up my phone. The screen hadn't gone dark, not even for a minute, since the moment I got out of the tube. The only occasional change from the endless follower requests was when I received a text from a friend. Even acquaintances I hadn't spoken to in years were texting me, all asking the same question.I scrolled through my ever-changing inbox, chasing the beginning of the stream of messages. How would I ever be able to respond to all of these? I stumbled upon a message from Effy sent twenty minutes ago. 'He's lovely, don't worry about me. Actually I think I'm the one who should be worried. Are you ok?' Part of me wanted to tell her everything, but at the same time I didn't want to ruin her date. 'All good' I responded. I put my phone down on the pillow next to me. I stared at the roof for the better part of five minutes, before I closed my eyes, and soon drifted into an uneasy sleep.