[an: attached is a photo of mckenna's outfit for kelsey's birthday!]
Harry Styles | March 12, 2017
I scratch out the words in frustration, this is it, we've finally reach the writing rut every musician is talking about. We're stuck.
"Come on Harry! I know you could do this! Just a few more songs and you're done with the album!" Jeff pushes encouragingly, but I still feel stuck.
Writing on my own has proven to be more difficult than writing with 3 of my best friends. Sure, I'm surrounded by people now who are amazing writers, but having Louis, Liam & Niall go through the same things I have, it was easier to write with them.
Mitch had his guitar on his lap, and he kept playing the same tune over and over again. Which in the beginning was driving me insane, but it was starting to grow on me, and I started to like it.
"Mitch, record that tune would you?" I ask, to which he nodded, pulling out his phone to record the tune.
"How about we take a break tonight and go out? Have some fun?" Kid suggests, looking at me, then at Jeff who had an apprehensive look on his face, but eventually shrugs and says, "Sure, how 'bout that. Maybe you could find some inspiration."
We decide to hang a bit, writing up some lyrics which was good, but not good enough for how I wanted the album to sound like.
"Every time I see your face, there's only so much I can take oh Anna." I sang softly, writing down the lyrics as it comes to me. Maybe this could be a song I sang on tour, but never to be released as an official track. I continued playing on the guitar, strumming here and there, as Kid reenters the studio, car keys in hand.
"Let's head out yeah?" He says and we nod, fixing up the studio a bit and piling into his car.
"So, who's Anna?" Mitch asks, giving me a smirk, but I look to him with a serious face, and he drops it. We continue to sit in the car, Kid driving, recklessly I might add, to his favorite club, The Nice Guy. He parks the car a few blocks down, and turns to Mitch & I in the backseat.
"Alright, so my mate, Conor, is having his girlfriend's birthday party here and he said I could bring some friends. He booked out the whole club so no need to worry about fans or anything like that." We exit the car and Kid hands his keys to the valet.
"I'm going to go get a drink, I'll find you guys!" I yell to them over the music, I see Mitch nod as they make their way to find a table. I head to the bar, where I saw two girls downing, what looks to be, 10 shots.
I noticed one of the brunettes had a 'Birthday Girl' sash and a frilly children's crown. The girl standing opposite her was in a little black dress, with black pumps. Her face seems familiar, I try to remember where I've seen her before, but I couldn't. I shrug off the thought and continued to ask the bartender for drinks.
As I was walking to the table - a tray of drinks in my hands - I saw Kid talking to someone.
"Harry!" Kid exclaims, grabbing a drink from the tray I was holding. He put a hand on my shoulder, then he turns to the man he was talking to.
"Conor! This is my lovely friend, Harry Styles. Harry, this is Conor!" Kid introduces, as I place the tray on the table in front of Mitch & Jeff.
"Wow, it's a pleasure to meet you! My girlfriend and I jam to One Direction when we work out." I chuckle at his honesty, I mean, I do too, but nobody knows that.
"Thank you!" I say, and give him a smile. He then looks over to the bar, his brows furrowing and finally relaxes when his eyes land on his girlfriend, the girl with the crown and sash.
She was with her friend, the two brunettes from earlier, and she approaches us, Conor instantly smiling. She stands beside Conor as he places an arm around her waist, and placing a chaste kiss on her temple.
"Harry, Kid, this is Kelsey," he points out to his girlfriend and she shakes my hand, a wide smile across her face, "And this is McKenna."
He points to the brunette I saw with Kelsey minutes ago, she looks at me with a smile. She extends her arm to shake my hand, and I did too.
"Pleasure to meet you, McKenna." She smiles at this, and Kelsey nudges her shoulder. I turn to Kelsey, wishing her a Happy Birthday. Her and Conor leave to greet more guests, leaving McKenna standing in front of me. I motion for her to follow me, she does, and we sat on the couch - away from prying eyes and my friends.
"Excuse me, but I think I've seen you before." I tell her, and she looks at me, giving me a soft smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes.
"You probably know my parents? Atasha & Charles Prentiss?"
"Oh yeah! Charles Prentiss! Man I loved him on Friends, and your mom is gorgeous!" I say, and she laughs.
"Well, that was his favorite show to film as well." She says and smiles, taking a sip of her drink, not even grimacing at the alcohol.
"What are you drinking?" My curiosity piqued at her not even flinching at the alcoholic beverage in her hands.
"Rum and coke." She says softly, her hand twirling the glass as she sits in silence.
"So, tell me about yourself McKenna." I ask her, fully interested and intrigued by this girl. She's gorgeous no doubt, but I feel as though she's trying to hide her sadness.
"Well, what do you wanna know?" She asks as she faces me, pulling her legs up on the couch and sitting on her heels.
"What do you do?"
"Well, I'm a model, I think everyone knows that. I released an EP late last year, and I read, a lot." she says, sipping her drink as she looks at me, anticipating for my response.
"You love to read I'm assuming?" I ask, and I mentally facepalm myself, of course she loves to read, she just said she reads a lot. She chuckles at my word vomit.
"Well, I love immersing myself in the world of a book, books are my escape from reality. Any genre, any type of book, give me a week at most, and I'm done." She says, placing her hands on her lap, and looking at me with a small smile.
"So, a book for every situation then?" I ask, and she laughs, nodding in agreement.
I look at her, as she looks to the crowd that's dancing on the dance floor, grimacing at it. I wonder what's got her so caught up that she's decided to become a wallflower from her friends party. I take a moment, and realize who's sitting right in front of me.
"Wait," my voice startles her, she turns her head to me, and looks at me in confusion, "You're McKenna Townes Prentiss. Daughter of Charles & Atasha Prentiss."
She looks at me confused, suddenly sitting upright, "I thought we've been over that?"
"No, I mean, you're here." I say incredulously, and she looks at me, confused more than ever.
"I am here?" she says, confused, but I shake my head and chuckle.
"No, I mean, you're here, in LA. Your parents hid you for years. Nobody knew what you looked like. A lot of people seemed to think your parents made up the whole pregnancy thing to gain more popularity and fame." I say, rambling on as to what I've read over the past couple of years.
"Oh yeah, that" She says, sighing and her shoulders drop, "my parents wanted to keep me out of the public eye, they wanted me to have a normal life. So, I lived with my grandma in South Carolina." She says and shrugs, taking a sip of her drink and looking back at the dance floor.
"What made you decide to move back to LA?"
She looks back at me, an apprehensive look on her face, she doesn't speak for a few minutes, and I got scared, way to force yourself onto a woman Harry.
"Well," she speaks, which made me relax, "I told my grandma how I've always wanted to model, and how I've wanted to sing and show people my talent, and I kept telling her how stupid it sounded, my parents hid me from the world and all I wanted to do was be exposed, but she said, 'Townes, if you've got a dream, go for it, swim in deep waters before you drown in a pool of regret.'"
"Your grandma has a way with words doesn't she?" I say, to which she chuckles, crinkles forming on the side of her eyes as she smiles. "So, you've always wanted to live in LA then?"
"Not really, no." I hear her hesitation again, but when I give her a reassuring smile, she relaxes, "I've enjoyed my freedom and anonymity in South Carolina, LA is far from home, but you know, you can find home in people too, my family is here, and they're my home."
This girl is interesting, her story is interesting. We continue talking about ourselves, how when she told her dad that she wanted to be a VS angel, he almost had a heart attack, how I was after the band's hiatus. She's shy and quiet, but I feel like she has that wall, a wall preventing people to see through her and see her emotions.
Kelsey approaches us, pulling Kenna's wrist and drags her back to the bar for some shots. I sat there, thinking only about McKenna, how gorgeous and soft spoken she is. My thoughts were interrupted when Kenna came stumbling back to me, a loopy smile on her face.
"K-kelsey, m-made me do 10 shots." She says, well, tried to say in between hiccups, and I chuckled at her.
"I guess I better catch up." I speak, to which she smiles at, taking my wrist and dragging me back to the bar, and asking the bartender for 20 shots.
Shot after shot, the night started to blur. I remember McKenna & I dancing, the lights flickering from color to color, then McKenna saying something about heading home. I remember white flashes, and yelling.
The last thing I remember is curling up next to someone, my chest pressed against their back, and a blanket draped over us.
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Hello Harry Styles! Things are just getting started from here, and I can't wait for you guys to see what's about to unveil between McKenna & Harry.
all my love,
sammie x