Paper Airplane

12

Chapter Twelve

 

 

                “No.”

                Harry’s expression turned from pleading to desperate to irritated in a matter of seconds, but it was Brady’s reaction to my answer that surprised me the most.

                “Lex, let’s talk about this some more before you make any decisions, okay?”

                How could he even consider any alternative to my response?  Wasn’t he on my side moments ago?  How did anything Harry said sway him so quickly?

                “How about not?” I frowned.  “I’m not doing it.  No.”

                “Please, just think it over – “ Harry began.

                “No.”

                “Lexie,” Brady sighed, standing up and turning around to face me.  I locked gazes with him, willing him to understand why I was being the way I was.  He knew how I felt about all of this.  I threw a fit the day he told me he wanted me to hang around him this summer; this situation will be taking all of that to an extreme, because my brother is hugely famous, yes, but Harry Styles is a part of One Direction.  One Direction is frequently referred to as the new Beatles.  “Can I talk to you?” my brother asked, nodding towards my bedroom door.

                Angrily and silently, I dropped my folded arms to my sides and strode into my room, returning to my former stance as soon as I came to a stop.  Brady shut my door behind him and stood closely to me so that he could speak quietly and I would still be able to hear him.

                “Brady, I don’t want to do this,” I told him just above a whisper.  I dropped the act I was holding up before and instead worked with the helpless little sister angle. 

                “I get why you’re mad, Lex, but honestly I don’t understand what the big deal is.”

                “He didn’t even tell – “ I began to nearly shout.

                Brady shushed me.  “Listen to me!  I said I get why that made you mad, but maybe it’s just because I understand where he’s coming from that I can see why he thought this would be a good solution.  The media, the fans, the girls…it’s all crazier than you think it is.  I mean, you saw them all at the signing.  Imagine that intensified by fifty, okay, Harry is that famous.  Especially because he’s single.  He needs you right now.”

                “Bull shit he needs me!”

                “Just until he can find an actual girlfriend, Lexie, it’s not even that bad of a deal.  All five guys are great, and you’ll get to hang around them a lot.  Harry’s a really cool guy anyway – “

                “He’s a dick.”

                “He’s not,” Brady sighed.  “In his defense, Modest was supposed to get ahold of us before the magazine was put out so that we’d know what was going on.  He didn’t know they were going to ‘f up and forget.”

                “I don’t care, Brady, he can fake date some other girl.  I’m not doing it.  I don’t want to be a part of anything that has to do with that band or him.  Do you know how insane their fandom is?  Do you know how often those guys are all over the news?  I don’t want to be the girl with Harry Styles.  I don’t.”

                A silence settled, then, and I wondered if in the silence of my brother’s condo, Harry could hear our entire conversation despite how quietly we’d been talking.  I was growing desperate, unsure of how to get Brady to realize how very much I despised the life he lived and how much I would actually hate willingly throwing myself into it more than I already have.  Especially because I wouldn’t be more involved with him, I’d be more involved with Harry Styles.  And right now, I just really didn’t like him. 

                Part of me felt like it was unreasonable to dislike him so much already; what had he really done except go along with what his management told him to do?  Not to mention he assisted me when I hurt my knee, and he’s been nothing but nice to me until now – well, even now, he isn’t necessarily damning me to the fiery depths of hell or anything. 

                Another part of me, though, knew that it was because he alone was threatening what happiness I could possibly have left this summer.  Because of this little favor he was asking of me, everything I stood for that Brady hadn’t already destroyed would be stepped on and gone.  Why is it that what I want doesn’t seem to matter to any part of the male population?  First Dad turns on me and agrees to spend the summer in LA with my brother, then Brady gives me the ultimatum that basically assured I’d have to do whatever he wanted if I wished to spend any time with him, and now Harry Styles is asking me to pretend to be his girlfriend to throw his crazy fans and stalkers off his path until he can get a real girlfriend. 

                And I was so sick of all of it.

                “Please just consider it rationally.  You’d really be helping him out, and he promised that it’d only be for a couple weeks,” Brady said in a calm, collected tone then, breaking the silence and my internal web of despair.

                Like the first two times, do I really get a say in what I want?  No.  I don’t.  Because Brady has already made this decision for me.  I knew this even as I told him again, “I don’t want to.”

                “It’s not going to kill you.  Two weeks.  Come on.”

                And then he left, leaving my bedroom door wide open so that I’d have to either follow him out or look like an idiot just standing there.  Embarrassingly enough, I was near tears, fighting back the strange emotions because I was overwhelmed and outnumbered and angry and all I wanted was to go home.  I wanted my parents to come back, agree that I’ve been through enough already this summer, and take me home.  But that wasn’t going to happen.

                I took just a few steps out of my room and refused to look at either Harry or my brother, though I knew they were both watching me.  I could feel my face heating up from everything going through my mind, and I tightened my lips in an attempt to calm myself down a bit, though it didn’t work at all.

                “So?” Harry asked eventually.

                I didn’t say a thing; I had no say anyway. 

                “She’ll do it,” Brady said.  “But we’ll have to discuss this more later, because I have a meeting with my manager in twenty minutes.  I’ve got to get going.”

                I could feel my stomach dropping as my brother’s words settled.  She’ll do it.  Of course I’ll do it, why did I expect or hope for anything else?

                It seemed like a long while before Harry responded, and since I still refused to look their way, I didn’t know why.  But when he finally did, he said, “Sounds like a plan.”

                And I could feel him looking at me again, and I knew some kind of thank you was coming, so quickly, I spun on my heel and returned to the safety of my bedroom.  I didn’t feel like seeing or speaking to anyone right now, least of all Harry Styles. 

                I’d left my iPod on the nightstand beside my bed, and I snatched it and unwound the headphones in a quick motion.  I didn’t get to hear Brady’s excuse or apology for the way I was acting, and I didn’t get to hear Harry’s response.  I didn’t hear the door close behind the curly-haired boy, and I didn’t even hear my brother leave shortly after.

                Eventually, I just fell asleep.