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I'm slightly out of breath as I walk through the door and I call out to see if anyone's home.
"In here honey," my mother calls from the lounge room. I join her on the couch, and can see she's curled up watching a movie.
"What are you doing home?" I ask. "Don't you have work?"
"I wasn't feeling very well today, so I decided to take a well deserved day off," she proudly announces.
It definitely is well deserved. I can't even recall the last time she took a day off.
"How was your night?" she asks, pausing the movie. "Marnie told me you were invited to a fancy art event. I think you know how I feel about Poppy, but I'm glad you managed to get out for the night."
"Yeah, I had a pretty good time. The venue was amazing Mum - really cool people there. I probably had a little too much to drink, but Poppy went off and did her own thing the whole night, so that was a small bonus. The only thing was, was that she left me with Max."
"Max?"
"Yeah, he's seeing Poppy I guess. Though he didn't really act like it because I couldn't get him to leave me alone. One good thing came out of it though," I explain. "Harry and I are on speaking terms again. We spoke about the rumours, and it turns out that's all they are. Just rumours."
She looks relieved. "That's brilliant news honey. I knew he was a lovely boy. You don't come across people like him every day."
I know she isn't referring to his fame or status, but himself as a person. She sees what I see in him apparently, and approves wholeheartedly. What more could I ask for?
"I ended up staying at Harry's for the night." I inform her. "Nothing happened," I cut in quickly, "but I probably wasn't in the best state to come home."
"Ava," and she holds her hand up to stop me from rambling even further, "You don't need to explain anything. You're a responsible adult, and your father and I trust that you'll make the right choices."
I give her a big hug and decide not to mention my second run in with the paparazzi. She doesn't need to worry at this time, and I don't want to ruin the little moment we're having.
"Did Scar have a nice time last night? I haven't seen her in over a week. How is she?"
Oh no. Now there's that to explain.
"She's good Mum," I blurt, skirting around her first question. "I'm in yesterday's clothes though and need a shower. Do you need anything while I'm downstairs?"
"I'm good darling," she replies, before getting back to her movie.
Before I get in the shower I place my phone on charge as I've let it die again. How irresponsible of me! I have a horrible habit of letting it get to that stage in the last few days. I hop in the shower and let the hot water run onto my back. It feels so nice to finally wash my hair after last night. When I get out, I quickly throw some shorts and a singlet top on, and hear my phone vibrating like crazy.
I check the notifications and am surprised to see that it's my Twitter page that's going off. I wait for my home page to load and am speechless as my number of followers has increased from around 300 to 6,000 in probably a matter of hours. I'm not stupid. I realise that my name has been leaked somewhere to the public, and am no longer going to be referred to as 'Mystery Australian Beauty', but Ava Sinclair.
But how? More importantly - who?
I scroll through the multitude of tweets and see a common trend with most of the tweets. I uncertainly click onto a link to a recurring article, fearful of what I may read and my mouth continues to drop open as I get further into the piece.
'Styles Fling Revealed'
'Celeb Newz Update has an exclusive angle on the former mystery girl everyone seems to be talking about. Ava Sinclair, socialite, and heir to the Montgomery fortune has seemingly grasped the heart of the scrumptious Harry Styles, and we spoke exclusively to her best friend Poppy Elston to shed some light onto the intriguing situation.'
That bītch! I can't even see straight as I try and finish the fabricated article. Socialite? Is this some kind of sick joke? I barely leave the house, and I'm labelled as a socialite. I would gladly refer to myself as an unsocialite, and would have much preferred that title. I cannot believe the desperate lengths she goes to, only to use me as a stepping-stone to make herself more relevant. She's even gone as far as informing the website and it's readers of my grandparent's wealth. Barely anyone knows about that. The betrayal I'm feeling is indescribable, and I could never do something like that to anyone - not even to someone I disliked. I force myself to read on. Oh here we are - a quote from the traitor herself.
'I've always counted Ava Sinclair among my closest friends. I wasn't at all surprised to hear from her directly that she's romantically linked to One Direction's Harry Styles. She is known for her specific fondness for a good looking A-Lister.'
I can't even continue to read this drivel. How can anyone believe her? I see the pictures she's included within the article. There's an old photo of her and I at school - though Scarlett is noticeably cropped out. The other two photos are from the event last night. One of the photos is of all of us at together from the beginning of the night, and the second is the photo of Liam, Max and I. I linger on that photo where Max's hand is giving my waist a little squeeze, and it's quite noticeable within the photograph. Surprisingly, Poppy didn't address it within the article, probably due to the fact that she didn't want me to have the satisfaction of 'winning over' her so called date. Not that I would want to. I stare a little longer at the photo. I never noticed how green his eyes were. Still an àsshöle though.
I'm absolutely furious. How dare she! She had obviously seen the original magazines of Harry and I and wanted to make a name for herself. My mind is brought back to a comment Francesca had made in the car when we first met,
"Is this the girl who-," and she was quickly cut off by Poppy who replied, "Yes! She's the girl I went to high school with." Through clenched teeth, and intense eye contact.
Unmistakably she would have informed Francesca of this fact earlier, and almost gave her up. I knew it all didn't add up! Why did I not trust my instincts more?
My phone begins ringing and I'm even more surprised to see that it's Scarlett's name appearing on the caller ID. Even more so than when I found the article.
"Oh please, not you too. I've had enough of this stuff for one day."
"No Ava, I just saw it. Come over," she asks, and I'm so thankful to hear she's seemingly on my side again. I need someone in my corner if I'm to get through the rest of the day.
I get into my Mini Cooper and turn the radio on so I don't have to listen to my thoughts right now.
"And here joining us is none other than the fabulous Harry Styles. Welcome Harry."
"Thank you, it's lovely to be here again," he tells the radio host. I turn up the volume and wish that I could see him as well as hear him. I need him right now.
They talk about One Direction's current album, and the radio host takes no time in trying to get the latest news on his 'love life'.
"So Harry, it's no secret that you're a ladies man, but it appears that a young Australian girl has caught your attention. Care to elaborate on that?"
There is silence for a little while and I hold my breath for his response.
He laughs, "Nothing gets by you, does it? I guess you could say I have met someone, and yes she is Australian," he says, not giving away too much detail.
"I see what you're doing there Harry! Keeping your cards close to your chest," and she laughs. "What do you think about all of the rumours? Is it annoying to constantly be talked about?"
"Err, well I never like it when a celebrity goes on Twitter and denies rumours that aren't true. It is what it is; I tend not to do that. It just gets annoying when you're in the early stages of a relationship, and then things are being written in the papers that affect them and how they see you. Then it can get annoying," he explains.
Well thank you once again for joining us Harry, and all the best with the album," she announces, and it fades to a song.
I wrack my brain in trying to decipher if he's referring to past relationships or him and I. In the past hour, I've learnt of so much new information that I'm giving myself a headache. I've lost all focus, so much so that I don't even realise I've run a red light until I'm midway through the intersection.
I'm not even driving for another ten seconds before I hear sirens and flashing lights behind me, ordering me to pull over.
Can this day get any more eventful?
I indicate, and pull over at the next chance I have. A police officer approaches my car window.
"Do you have any idea that you've run a red light?"
"I'm sorry - I had no idea I-" and he interrupts.
"Can I see your drivers license please?"
I search through my purse from last night and I panic when I can't find it. I don't know what I could have done with it. I always keep it in the first compartment - there's just nowhere else it could be.
"I swear, it's in here somewhere," I inform him, nerves riddled in my voice.
I can't seem to find it and tell him so. I must have been really drunk last night.
"You do realise that it's an offence to drive without a license? Do you realise how many rules you're breaching today?"
I burst into tears at the situation I've gotten myself into, and can feel his discomfort at my emotional outburst. Sensing my frazzled state, he speaks to me in a more sympathetic tone. He asks for my details and he makes a quick call to his office to check if they match up to who I say that I am.
"Look, I'm going to let you off this time with a warning as your record is clean. So keep it that way please," and he taps the hood of my car to signal I'm okay to continue driving.
Finally, a stroke of good luck. I continue the drive and before I realise it, I'm at Scarlett's house.
I knock on the door and she opens it immediately. I can't interpret her emotions and before I can speak, she wraps her arms around me wordlessly, and embraces me in a hug.
Question of the chapter: How do you think your parents would react to finding out you've had a sleepover at Harry Styles' house for the night? Did anyone also predict that Poppy would do something like that to Ava?
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