Hi, Wattpadders!
Oh, it is so good to be back here at the Block Party so thank you for having me!! This time around I have chosen to feature my book For When I. It is a Harry Styles alternate universe Fanfiction I have been writing for about two years now. If you aren't a reader and curious on what it's about, here is a wonderful book trailer that was made for me by the amazingly talented @PennyElle -
I decided that my post is going to be an interview with all the For When I characters so that it's a bit of extra fun for my readers and a way for all you non-readers to get to know my characters! I hope you enjoy. Make sure to leave your comments and check out the giveaway at the end!
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FOR WHEN I
Raya's Blog:
(Unpublished draft: can only be read by user)
A Road trip with Scientists &... Royalty??
Note to self: Do not publish this, ever. Even if you're tempted to do so when you're mad at Louis, this is bigger than just the two of you. Keep it only so that you know you weren't going crazy and seeing things.
On a windy, late summer day in mid-August, I went to interview some of the most puzzling people I have ever met. I still laugh about how they all managed to squeeze into the couch on one side of the bus like they were being interrogated and this was how they knew how to cope. I soon discovered that they were just extremely comfortable, tangled limbs and all.
Yes, you read that right. There was a couch! In a bus! A massive, wood panelled, glossy floored giant fit enough to live in and definitely have a road trip in. There were many introductions made within the first few minutes, and I should admit that it took awhile for me to register all seven names. Four boys, three girls.
"I'm Raya Minogue." I introduce myself to the group. My boyfriend, Louis Irwin walks into the bus behind me, loud as ever. He had been the one who had landed me this interview after he came home from a trip to Spain and kept raving about a whole bunch of people he had met on one of his many disappearing acts. He leaves for days, weeks and even months an appears out of thin air when he feels like it.
The minor magazine I worked for always wanted the new scoop on backpackers. And according to Louis, this particular group was as interesting as they got. He had let slip that there was a thinly veiled secret. If someone looked closer, they would see it right away. I'm a bit ashamed that my main reason for being there was that and not the chance to get a killer article. But what else could I do? Louis was immune to my threats and stayed tight lipped about it all.
I nudge the collar of my dress to the side a bit, feeling guilty about my hidden motives when I am greeted warmly by the guy who seems to be in control of everything. Liam Clark. He's tall and tough, with hair buzzed close to his head and enough warmth in his expression to ease you out of the initial intimidation you feel when you meet him. His arm was protectively wrapped around the waist of a female with big eyes and pouty lips. She introduced herself as Sophia Rover. Now they were the picture perfect couple, they radiated a love and warmth that you could see went bone deep. I felt envious.
Everyone's sort of awkwardly crowded around the entrance while Liam points to the others and tells me their names. The tall guy with the most luscious brown locks I have seen on a male gives me a polite nod. His name is Harry Carstairs and he has a ring on every finger.
The girl next to him has the most stunning blue eyes, I don't think I'll ever forget them. It is the first thing you notice about her because of its contrast to her sun tanned skin. "This is Azure Waters," Liam tells me and I can help but sputter nervously.
"Your name is wonderful, so are your eyes!"
"You are lovely. Thank you." She smiles wide, her calm expression exchanged for the sun and Harry looks at her like she put all the stars in the sky. Were they together? They seem to be tethered together by an invisible string of comfort.
Next, I'm introduced to the only blonde in the group. Niall Keating, a guy with an amused expression and a build that suggests he plays something varsity. He watches silently.
"That there is my cousin, Florence-Jade Cases." Liam introduces the girl leaning against the wooden panelling, her hand in Niall's behind his back like they were trying to hide their affection for each other from everyone else.
Florence-Jade pushes her big round glasses an inch up her nose and grins at me. She was stunning, in the way that adventurous girls were, you just know that they have the entire world inside them. "What star sign are you?" She asks and I'm surprised by her Australian accent more than I am by the question. I had assumed they were all British.
"I'm a Gemini." I prepare for the eye rolls, but instead, I get excitement from her.
"No way! Me too!" Florence-Jade shakes her head like she couldn't believe it, her short, straight brown hair shaking around her face like a curtain.
"Raya." Zayn Hunt nods at me next, raising his heavily tattooed arm to give me a happy little wave. Everyone knew Zayn. He had been one of the first friends of Louis' I had met when we had started dating. He was pretty notorious for his designs as well as his life choices. Louis was quite fond of him and I could understand why. Zayn was intimidating at first glance, but everyone knew he was a softie.
I take them all in and see no hidden secrets in their eyes. There was only a sense of freedom. Maybe Louis had been over exaggerating? Maybe they are just a group of young adults who wanted a summer trip with their family and friends. What could possibly be so secretive about these people?
Harry clears his throat and I push my thoughts aside. "Um, would you like to take a tour?" he's soft spoken and I can tell his observational skills are quite trained because he senses my curiosity.
Everyone scatters and the tour begins from the 'living area.' Harry extends his arms on either side of him, pointing at things as he goes. The two couches on either side, the silver pole smack dab in the middle of the bus that he says they like to use to hang on to dear life when Zayn is driving. Florence-Jade and Azure clear the table of plates and food and Niall folds the table handily under the couch.
"Nice." I give a low whistle.
"I made that." Zayn lets me know proud and loud from the very front of the bus.
"This is the kitchen," Harry says, nudging Azure's upper arm affectionately as we pass. It's a small space with counters, cupboards and a sink. Enough to fit in all the essentials like a mini fridge, microwave and coffee machine. The coffee machine was on and judging by the number of stained mugs in the sink waiting to be washed, I could tell this was a group of humans who ran on coffee.
A little corridor leads into the sleeping area where bunk beds are lined up on either side. There are luggage bags shoved into the empty spaces between and curtains pushed aside to show the messy, unmade beds with personal belongings scattered amid pillows and blankets. "Sorry about the mess. We've been staying at the hotel so the bus is a bit...neglected for today." Harry cracks his knuckles, looking around with a grimace.
"No worries. It's a cosy little space. I wish my friends and I thought of something like this." I say, following Harry back into the main area.
Harry laughs and instantaneous familiarity washes over me. Have I met him before? I cannot quite put my finger on it. "You can always join us. Louis is already here half the time."
"I just might." I get led to one of the couches and Sophia hands me a mug of steaming coffee.
"Hope you don't mind, we've run out of everything else."
"This is great. Thank you." I could tell that she was the motherly, responsible figure of the bunch.
I take a sip of the warm coffee and watch amused as they all pile onto the couch in front of me. Arms, limbs, and jokes tangling. I loved how comfortable they were with each other. I guess that would be the case when you're living in such close quarters for months.
Soft R&B music plays in the background and I scroll through my notes for the questions I had hastily typed down onto my phone on the way here.
The blue eyed girl, Azure, sits in the middle. Everyone seems to gravitate around her—an enigmatic presence. Harry has managed to squeeze in between Azure and Liam. He gives her an intimate look, her fingers graze his wrist and I look away quickly. It was a touch that carried too many words. If I wasn't sure about their relationship before, I was now.
I've trained myself to pick up on emotion like nails to a magnet. And there was plenty of emotion in the cramped space between them. "So, how did you all get together to go on this journey? High-school friends? College buddies?"
Liam turns his head to give Harry a slight grin before he begins speaking. "Harry and I go way back. We've been friends forever."
"Best friends." Harry clarifies, his eyebrows knitted.
Liam coos at this, throwing his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Yes, best friends. Sophia is my girlfriend," he puts his other arm around Sophia's shoulder. "--Florence-Jade is my cousin."
Florence-Jade gives a distracting noise of acknowledgement at the sound of her name, sitting cross legged on the floor in between Azure's legs with her attention directed on a laptop screen. "Sorry" she looks up momentarily, 'They've just released new theories on the space time continuum. They were able to to get readings with the new infra-red satellite Azure's mum was working on. It was built to monitor the aerodynamics of new spaceships but they ended up calibrating—"
"Florence," Niall interrupts, "—you're forgetting to speak English." he places a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Oh, sorry." She looks up at me apologetically and I give her a shrug.
"I was a Journalism major, I'm afraid most of what you said is lost on me. But it sounds interesting. Are you into science then?"
Florence-Jade closes the laptop screen. "Am I into science? Honey, I am science. We're budding scientists." she points at herself and Azure proudly.
"For real? I would never have thought."
Liam makes a light hearted joke. "Research assistants for now."
"Don't burst my bubble you imbecile!" Florence scoffs and Liam ignores her, continuing with his explanations.
"Zayn and I went to university together and he's the one who came up with the initial idea of the road trip. He rigged up this entire bus." Zayn who is sitting on the arm of the couch, bows his head in modesty, smiling down at his hands.
There is a loud beep from two cars outside and I jump, the coffee in my mug sloshing around dangerously close to the top. I take a sip, grateful for the warmth that travels down my throat. For some reason, I felt as though I was having an out-of-body experience.
"Azure is Florence-Jade's best friend, and Niall is her...step brother?"
Liam looks over at them with a questioning look and Niall simply shrugs. Azure rolls her eyes but there's a little smile at the corner of her lips. Siblings who annoy each other for sure. "Something like that." they agree.
"How many cities have you guys been to so far?" I inquire.
"Four." Azure answers. silently ticking off the countries with her fingers. "Oh, no, five actually."
"Where did guys go? And why did you decide to make this trip by road?"
"London, Belgium, Paris, Spain, Italy...we're headed to Austria." I wish I had set up the voice recorder beforehand but I had completely forgotten about it and end up having to ask Niall to repeat the list once more.
"You asked why we chose a road trip? Well, I mean, why not by road you know? We find you get to see it all this way instead of, well, flying from country to country. It's more...intimate I guess." Harry says thoughtfully. There was that feeling again. That there was something about him. The way he carefully worded his words. I get the feeling that I've heard him talk before.
"That is very true. You're fully immersed this way."
"Exactly," Sophia replies, twirling a strand of her brown hair around her finger.
I place my coffee cup on the floor. "You are all obviously living in quite close quarters. What's good and bad about it?"
Louis, who has been watching this all distractedly from next to me, suddenly bursts out laughing. And as if on cue, so does everyone else like they have telepathically shared an inside joke.
"Oh, do tell!" I perk up a little in my seat.
Sophia groans loudly above everyone else's laughing, covering her face with Liam's hand. "Let's not go there!"
"I doubt it's appropriate for her to write about in a magazine." Azure giggles, her strange eyes sparkling with a look of mischief.
"That just makes me even more curious than before!"
"Let's just say we've...heard a lot of things we didn't want to hear." Niall offers and everyone's back to laughing. Liam buries his face in Sophia's hair with embarrassment and I can tell the joke has something to do with the two of them.
"So where is the final destination?" I put them at ease by changing the question.
Florence-Jade has closed her laptop for good and is paying attention now. "We're headed for the northern lights."
"No way! I have always wanted to see the lights myself but never got the chance. That's amazing, any specific reason behind it?"
She shrugs and Harry picks up the reply. "It seems like a good ending to this, don't you think? But we're still a few cities and months away from it."
I can't help but catch the look Azure gives him, a soft kind of pain mixed with longing. I felt for her. I wouldn't want something like this to end either.
"Have you guys come across any trouble on the trip? What are the hardships of a journey like this?" I read from my notes, looking up when no one replies. They've all gone quiet, the air buzzing with a surge of nervous energy that was nowhere in sight a moment ago.
Louis interrupts from next to me, placing his hand on top of my thigh. "Every trip has its hardships, right guys?" he laughs a nervous laugh, "Didn't Azure get sucked into the quick sand just the other day?"
It's a swift change in subject and I can see the clear relief on their faces. They give Louis grateful looks and Azure begins an elaborate story on how she stepped right into quick sand when they were trekking through the trees to find a place to relieve themselves.
"I can still feel the mud on my skin." she shivers a little, rubbing her arms and Harry leans in closer to her, his body curving mindlessly around hers like he was worried she would disappear. He must not have found that amusing at all.
I try not to think about it or it will distract me from the task at hand. "Any tips for people who want to go on a road trip like this one?"
Liam answers first. "Take the people you love."
Sophia agrees. "And pack lots of bug spray! There are all kinds of bugs out here."
Azure and Florence begin at the same time, reaching for the necklaces around their necks. "Buy things!" Azure says, "Sentimental things!" Florence-Jade adds.
"We buy a charm in each country and add it to the necklace," Azure explains when I give them a confused look.
Florence-Jade lifts it up to show me and the little charms catch the light. There were little orbs in the shapes of planets and stars, the Eiffel Tower, a paintbrush and even a doughnut! "That's adorable, and it doesn't load you down with luggage!"
"Exactly!
"They didn't let us join in the tradition." Harry pretends to look offended.
"It's a strictly Azure-Florence thing. You wouldn't understand."
"People should also take a mechanic like Zayn," Niall adds to the list. "We would've broken down two days into the trip if it weren't for him."
Everyone agrees with this and Zayn hides his face behind his coffee cup. "Aww, guys. Stop."
"You've all left something important out." Harry puts his hands up to silence everyone. After a beat of anticipation, he grins. "Underwear. You need to pack enough underwear. For the love of all God."
I agree with him, looking down at my screen for the next question but seeing that I've reached the end of the list. "Looks like that's all guys."
"Really?" Sophia pouts.
"Don't you wanna know our Zodiacs or something?" Florence-Jade laughs.
I gather my things as everyone begins to untangle away from each other and stand up. "I know you're a fellow Gemini. That's all the gossip I need."
'It was great meeting you all." I hug them all goodbye, feeling like I should stay longer. But as friendly as they were, there was a feeling I couldn't shake. Maybe it was just that I was disappointed with what Louis had made me believe. This was a great, beautiful, talented group of people and I highly doubted that they had any dark secrets. And even if they did, I feel bad for intruding.
They invite me to come to Austria with them and I would have gone without any hesitation if I didn't have interviews lined up the entire week. I follow Louis out, stepping down from the bus. The cold evening air hitting my face. I breathe in deeply, my muscles relaxing.
Then it clicks into place. The thing that had been itching at the back of my mind since I laid eyes on him. It felt like a eureka moment and in a matter of seconds I go from shock to excitement to disbelief then disappointment and embarrassment. I had failed greatly as a journalist today.
Harry. His soft spoken voice and his hand gestures. His long hair that everyone is used to seeing much, much shorter. It all floods my mind at once. Harry in tailor made suits and not just ripped denim and t-shirts. Harry with a legion of guards around him. Harry and Liam standing tall next to each other with their hands behind their backs. I remember who he is now.
I remember that he is in trouble. I remember that he is the prince of England.
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RhythmWithLove will give away a free ebook to one lucky winner! My giveaway is open internationally! Don't forget to enter the giveaway through the link below!
Thank you for reading!
All my love,
Rythma L. E.
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