I'm No Superhero
Chapter One.
“No! Kick it to me! Not to the fucking computer!”
“Louis, it’s a game.”
“Pay attention!” Currently, the boys were playing a game of FIFA on the Play Station 3 the record studio offered us. I was just waiting for Ed to show up. I’d given up playing after Louis nearly killed me for scoring on him.
“I can’t play this anymore. I’m gonna get killed.” Zayn dropped his controller and turned it off and sat beside me.
“Smart idea, Haz.” Zayn said.
“Thank you. I take much credit for it.” He shook his head and turned back to the telly that was playing the Man U and Arsenal match Lou had bestowed on us.
“Lou, we’re up thirty points.” Niall said.
“Do I look like I care?” He hissed as he scored on Liam again.
“This is unfair. Both of my teammates left me.” Liam said.
“Sucks, eh?” Louis said.
“I give up. Forfeit! Lou and Niall win!” Liam dropped his controller dramatically and threw his hands up.
“Flair for the dramatics, Li?” We looked over at the door and Ed stood with a girl at his side.
“Hey, Ed.” Louis calmly turned off the system and turned around in the gamer chair.
“You just slaughtered Arsenal and all you have to say is hey?”
“You’re not a fan.”
“I guess.” Ed shrugged as he sat in the large brown leather chair. “By the way, this is my song writing protégé Jenna. I call her Little Bird and Birdy though.” She waved at us and stood beside Ed.
“Birdy, you can sit down.” Ed leaned back in the chair and it leaned with him.
“I’ve been sitting since I left Oregon. I’m fine.” She said with a spark to her voice. He shook his head at her and dismissed her tone.
“You stood while waiting for me and when we walked up here.” She gave Ed the most rude bored look ever and he smirked at her.
“I’m just saying.” He shrugged at her. “So, you lot wanna hear your new song?”
“Which new song? Apparently you have two to give to us.”
“The other I’ll have a bit more trouble giving you, but this one is easy to give you.” He turned to the mix table and pulled a CD out. He put it into the computer and pressed play.
Obnoxiously, the song by some rapper Soldier Boy or something began playing and Ed jumped and began hitting buttons until it stopped. Meanwhile the girl Jenna began laughing at him.
“Dammit, Jenna!” He took the CD out and looked at her. She handed him the correct CD and took the other back as he snatched it from her. He turned the volume down before pressing play and then smiled.
“Right track.” He turned it up and his voice rang through the room. We all sat and listened to him playing the guitar and piano.
Three minutes later, the song stopped and Ed turned to us.
“So?”
“I like it.” Liam said. “Very catchy.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Who’s the teacher and who’s the protégé?” Ed looked up at her.
“Protégé means I’ve got some talent for this.” She mumbled, leaned against the mix table.
“I’m still the teacher. So, that is your first song, here are…le lyrics.” Ed handed me and Zayn a sheet and I gave the others to Lou, Niall, and Liam. “And I know Niall’ll learn the chords and notes in no time.” He tossed a CD to Niall and he caught it.
“So that’s that.” Ed turned in his chair, seeming bored. “And we’re done.”
“That’s it?”
“Yea, less you wanna try and practice a bit to see if you like it with your voices.”
“Don’t you think that’d be smart?”
“Well, I suppose…” Ed turned back to his bag and pulled out another CD. “Throw this away, Birdy.” He tossed her a CD and she barely caught it.
“That’s my joke CD though.”
“And next time you pull it on me, you’ll wake up with snakes in your bed.” He put the CD in and an instrumental started. Jenna chuckled and tossed her CD into the rubbish bin nearest her.
“Who’s starting?” Lou asked.
“Why don’t we all try the starting verse?” Niall said. We nodded and first went Liam.
“I think Li’s best with that.”
Almost two hours later, we were done. The entire song was finished. We each had parts.
“Alright…I’m tired and it’s late.” Ed leaned back again and sighed.
“I haven’t eaten…” Jenna looked off from us. “What time is it?”
We had all changed our seat in the room. Jenna had taken one of the gamer chairs, Niall took the leather chair from Ed. Ed took the other gamer chair. Liam and I were on the floor and Louis and Zayn were on the couch. Jenna had helped us with a few parts, showing off a beautiful voice.
“Nearly twelve.” Ed set his phone down. “We should get going. You have class in the morning.” She moaned in argument.
“I don’t wanna go to class!”
“Then I guess you’ll never be a certified song writer.”
“You’re not a certified song writer.”
“That’s cause I’m a musician.” He put his things away and stood up.
“Lovely seeing you lads today.” He hugged us. “I think we’re going to see each other soon with the other song.”
“Thank you for your help today, Jenna.” Niall hugged her and she hugged the rest of us.
“Lovely meeting you.” She picked up her bag and stood behind Ed. “Ready?”
“Let’s go. I’ll see you lot later!” They left out the door. We all sighed out.
“I’m hungry.”
“Shocker.”
“Let’s go get something to eat.” Liam finished his sentence, getting up.
“Haz! Lou! Liam! Niall! Zayn!” Ed greeted us, still playing his guitar. “How you doing?”
“Ready to hear a song!” Niall said. Ed laughed as he set his guitar aside.
“There’ll be time for that later! Come on, we’re celebrating!”
“Celebrating what?”
“Birdy’s passed her exams!” As her name was spoken, she came from a shed near the back of the yard. What had really caught my eye was the Old English and Shetland Sheepdog following her but then she caught me.
She was wearing black shorts that barely went past her bum. To counter, she had a sweatshirt on top that had a Jack Wills symbol over her heart. High top Converses adorned her feet and she laughed at the sheepdogs following her. Her legs were long for days and her torso was short. Her hair was longer than it had been before and a smile that I’d not seen when we first met graced her lips.
“Birdy! Good job!” She looked up at Niall.
“Leprechaun!” Even though we’d really only met Jenna once, Niall and her text a lot and became best friends. She hugged him and he easily picked her up.
“Why didn’t you tell me you passed?”
“Because Ed took my results before I could see them.” She smacked Ed across the head and picked up the Shetland.
“Congrats, Birdy.” Louis, Liam, and Zayn hugged her off handed because of the dog. They went off with Niall to get food and she turned to me.
“Hi, Harry.” I loved the way she spoke my name. The way she didn’t say Harry, she said Har-eh.
“Hey, Jenna.”
“You can call me Birdy, you know.” She shifted the dog. “No congrats?”
“Massive congratulations.” She smiled at me. “Does this mean you’re certified now?” I shoved my hands in my pockets; sadly, they didn’t fit.
“Not yet. I’ve got to get a label to pick me up and once they look over my credentials, then I’ll be certified.” She carried the dog over to the chairs where no one was sitting anymore. “A little bit like I’m a musician looking for a record.”
“I noticed. Who were you hoping?”
“Dunno. Anyone willing to take me.” She shrugged, letting the dog curl up on her lap. “You can sit down, Harry.” I walked around the chair and sat beside her and leaned against the arm of the wicker chair. “How’s the album coming?”
“Well, can’t wait to finish it and let the girls hear.”
“They’ll appreciate it.”
“I hope-”
“Harry, mate! You want something to eat!?” Niall called from the grill. I looked over at him and he laughed and ducked. Jenna was laughing and the puppy in her lap jumped down and ran to Niall. He knelt down and Jenna sat up.
“Niall James! Do not give him something!” She sat back and pulled her feet up beside her.
“You were saying?”
“I hope they appreciate it. We’ve worked hard.” She smiled and played with the torn wicker as I spoke. “Jenna, I don’t know much about you.”
“Wish I could say the same.” She leaned her head on her arm and looked up at me through her eyelashes.
“What can I know about you?”
“Are you flirting with me, Styles?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” I smiled at her. She grinned at me.
“What would you like to know?”
“Where are you from? How old are you?”
“I’m from Birmingham, I’m seventeen.”
“Little young for uni.”
“I was a fast learner.” She shrugged. “Where are you from?”
“I thought you knew.” She shrugged again.
“I’m from Holmes Chapel in Cheshire.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m eighteen.”
“Little young to be selling out tours.” I chuckled at her.
“I was a fast learner.” She smiled at me and looked over at the house.
“Do you like touring? Being watched like that?”
“Sometimes it’s annoying…but I think it’s nice to see that people love me.”
“Cocky much?”
“Just confident.”
“I guess confidence is okay. Just not too much.”
“We-” As I was about to speak, a tall bloke cut in and kissed Jenna. She let out a noise and pushed him back.
“Toby.”
“Afternoon, love.” She blushed and shook her head as he sat in the third chair.
“Toby, I’ve told you about that.”
“About what?”
“Kissing me.”
“I like kissing you.”
“You’re not my boyfriend. Do not going around kissing me like you are.” He went to respond but Ed yelled at him to ‘get his arse back over there.’ Toby smirked at Jenna and got up.
Once he was out of ear shot, she spoke.
“I hate him.”
“Why? He’s good looking?”
“Man crush, Styles?”
“I’m just saying. Why don’t you like him?”
“I hate him because he thinks I like him.”
“You let on by blushing.”
“I wasn’t expecting a kiss from him.”
“Who rather?”
“You.” Her voice was blunt but she caught herself and covered her mouth. “I didn’t mean it like that, I just-”
“It’s fine, Jenna. I asked, you answered.” She looked down and I heard her mumble embarrassing before looking back up.
“The thing with Toby is, we did go out for I think a month before he broke it off then turned us into friends with benefits before I broke that off because I didn’t like being played.”
“I’m guessing he didn’t get the memo.”
“I guess not…” She looked back at him talking to Ed.
“You know, if he bothers you, you can just talk to me.”
“Harry, I have faith in you, but I don’t know that you could do much to stop him.” She giggled.
“Thank you, Jenna, thank you.”
“Birdy. You can call me Birdy.” She turned and laid across the chair with her legs hanging off the arm. Her body twisted so she could look at me and she smiled at me.
“So what else is there to know about you, Jenna?”
“My name means little bird farm. I’ve helped Ed write songs.”
“Did you help with one of the songs he gave us?”
“I helped a bit with the song he’s giving you today. Ed says I was the inspiration for it. Some of it.” She shrugged. “What else…well, until I was fifteen, I was dead set on auditioning for X-Factor.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I can’t sing.”
“Bull. Shit.” Jenna looked up at me. “I heard you singing with us when Ed gave us Over Again. You were amazing.”
“Keep trying, Styles. I’ll die to see the day she accepts her voice as a gift from the music gods.” Ed came back and sat in the third chair.
“There is a reason I write songs and not sing them.” Jenna sat up and the Old English dog came up to her.
“Hey, Eric…”
“Birdy!” She looked over at Niall and he waved her over. She got up without word and went to them. Ed watched her and then snapped his head back to me.
“Chatting up, Birdy, eh?”
“Chatting up? I’m talking to her.”
“Please, don’t think I didn’t see you two. Smiling and giggling.” Ed ate a bit of his food. “We’re not all oblivious like Toby.”
“I was just getting to know her.”
“I saw your face when Toby kissed her.”
“What face, Ed?”
“Alright, I’ll leave it alone.” He turned around to look at Jenna and Niall having a mini food fight.
“Oi! Birdy! Don’t hurt Niall before I give him the song!” Ed called to her. She turned to him and Niall tackled her. Shocked, I stood up quickly and Ed burst out laughing. I sat back down and Jenna shoved Niall off of her.
“Thank you. Ed.” She got up, letting the dogs eat off the ground, and came over to us.
“I’d say we’re almost ready to give them the song.” Ed looked at her.
“It’s your song.” She shrugged at him, sitting on the arm of the wicker chair she had been sitting in. “You give it to them when you want to. But I’ve got to go check something.” She stood up and sauntered inside.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Probably the bringing up of her singing skills. She gets all mad and pissy and stops talking to everyone. Won’t be surprised if she’s not in the house the rest of the time.” Ed shrugged.
“But anyway! Gather ‘round!” The boys gathered as Ed picked up his guitar.
“I cannot wait to record this song!” We were all excited about Little Things and releasing it as our second single. “This is gonna be fucking brill!”
“Calm down, Lou. It’s a song.”
“It’s a meaningful song, Haz.” Louis smacked the side of my head. “Our girls will love this song.”
“Aw, shit!” We all turned to the house.
“Where’s Birdy?” Niall asked, noticing her absence.
“In the house.” The others blew it off but I had to check on her. I got up and the Shetland followed me inside.
“Jenna?” I turned the corner to the kitchen and she was knelt on the ground picking up glass with bloody hands.
“Jenna!”
“Harry, it’s fine.” She dropped the glass into a rubbish bin and began picking up more glass in her hands. I shooed the dog away and knelt beside her. She tried to argue me but I helped her pick up the shards and cut my hands as well.
“Harry, I didn’t need help.” She picked up the rubbish bin and put it back in place before going to the sink. Standing in front of it, her hair shined and her face was lit by the sun. She washed her hands and hissed when she put soap in her hands.
“Jenna, I’m sorry.”
“For what, Harry?”
“For bringing up your singing.”
“Who told you I’d be mad about that?”
“Ed said…you didn’t like when people talked about you’re singing.”
“It’s nothing.”
“You’re mad at me.”
“I’m not mad at you.” She dried her hands and looked at me. “Why would I be mad at you?”
“Because I told you you had an amazing voice.”
“I’m not mad at that.”
“Then why are you mad?”
“I’m not mad!” We stood there. “I just don’t like hearing about it.” She sat at the table.
“Don’t you ever get tired of people telling you your voice is to die for?”
“It’s annoying sometimes, yea. But there’s a reason I put up with it.”
“I can’t do it. I don’t like my voice. There’s a reason I write songs and let other people sing them.”
“So what happens when you have to sing those songs so they get the idea?” She looked down.
“I…I don’t know.”
“Jenna, you do have a beautiful voice. I just want to say that.”
“Okay.” She whispered.
“So can we go back out to the yard and hang with our mates for a while?” I held my hand to her. She nodded and took my hand. I led her back outside where no one noticed my absence and everyone regreeted Jenna as if she simply went to the store. So the rest of the day, Jenna rarely left my side and not once did Toby bother her.
“Louis, you arsehole!” Jenna kicked the ball hard and Niall dived for it and caught it. “Easy goal!” I was laughing because Jenna, Niall, Louis, and Liam took up a game of football. Against Jenna’s will, Louis dubbed them Man U while Liam and Niall agreed on Arsenal. “And to think you want to play on Man U.”
“They’d be better with me.”
“You can’t make an easy goal!”
“Like you did one hundred percent better!”
“At least I tried unlike some tosser like you!”
“Alright!” Ed got up and separated them. “Let’s remind ourselves never to put Louis and Jenna on the same team again.”
“Better yet, let them play football together again.” Zayn chuckled, sipping a beer he had. “I’d love to see them against each other.”
“It’s not like you two lost.” Liam sat on the ground with his hands over his face. “You beat us six to two.”
“No thanks to Lou-eh!”
“My name is pronounced Lou-ee. Not Lewis. Not Lou-eh. Louis.” Throughout the day, Jenna had taken to calling him Lou-eh because of her accent. Needless to say, he was going mad.
“I will pronounce it as it comes to my lips. If you do so have a problem with it take it up with all the fucks I so happily give.” We all burst out laughing at her. Even Louis was laughing at her.
“Birdy, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Ed hugged her.
“Die of boredom.” She shrugged.
“What time is it? I’m starving for dinner.” Niall asked.
“You’re always starving mate. It’s going on six.” Ed answered him. “I’d say it’s about time for dinner.”
“What’s for dinner, love?” Niall pounced on Jenna, knocking her to the ground.
“Whatever our lovely cook has made.” She said.
“Who’s the cook?” He looked at her, hovering over her.
“I can’t cook for shit, lovely.” She chuckled. “Janice lovely is cooking.” She motioned to John’s girlfriend.
“I’m making pasta for dinner, Niall.” She said. “It’ll be ready shortly.”
“Good thing you can cook, eh, Harry?” Ed whispered to me. I elbowed him in the stomach.
“Would you like to help me set the table, Niall?” Jenna asked him. He nodded and jumped up to run in the house. Jenna followed him, laughing as she tried to catch up.
“Harry, mate. Let’s make it less obvious, eh?” I looked over at Louis.
“What?” He looked at me. “What!?”
“Calm down. I’m just talking about Birdy.”
“What about Birdy?”
“He’s just as oblivious as she is.” He laughed, drinking from his beer.
“We can all see it, mate. You obviously fancy her.”
“Jenna? As in Birdy Jenna?”
“The only Jenna present.” Liam shrugged.
“Fancy her?”
“Let’s not examine the ways you’re looking at her, talking to her. We’re not all oblivious like you and her.”
“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. Ed brought something like this up earlier.”
“Then you must have an idea.”
“That you all are set determined that I fancy Jenna.”
“So you do know.”
“Know what?” We all looked over at Jenna, standing near the chair set up.
“Just that Harry’s got a little crush.” Louis and Ed giggled together. I glared at them and kicked at them.
“Now, now, Harry. If you’ve got a crush, I bet she’d love to know.” What made Louis laugh harder is that she was the so called ‘crush’ I had. “But in other news, Niall and I have-” The sound of a plate shattering stopped her and she cringed.
“I’ll be back.” She turned calmly, but ran at top speed into the house. We all laughed because we figured she would finish with ‘successfully set the table’ when Niall had obviously been left alone and shattered a plate. Janice got up from John’s lap and went inside, claiming to see if they were okay.
“So, Harry. Gonna take her advice.”
“I would if I had a crush.” I said, throwing my best counter all day.
“Ooh, that was a good one. Now, tell another.” Zayn was calling my come back a lie.
“Thank you.”
“Okay, now we’re done! Come eat! Niall, no!” Jenna ran back into the house. We all got up and went inside. The table was set mixed match and Ed couldn’t help but chuckle at his young protégé.
“It was Niall’s idea.” She offered, standing near the food and giving Niall a look each time he reached for it. “Don’t chuckle at me.” We all sat down, after Janice asked us all what we’d like to drink.
“I’ll get mine, love.” Jenna left the table as Niall began spooning out pasta for himself.
“I’m gratefully informed that you have a crush, Harry.” Niall said, eating a fork of pasta.
“I do not have a crush.” I growled.
“Then who were you all talking about outside?” Jenna came back, cutting into the conversation.
“They’re just teasing me about someone.”
“Tell?”
“I’d rather not.” I said, eating some of the food.
“Very well.”
“So, Jenna. What are your plans now that you’ve graduated?”
“Well, there’s little calling nearest the great city of Los Angeles.”
“You’re moving to LA!?” Niall near screamed, freezing from eating.
“No, Niall. I’m not moving to LA. I’d just be there for a few days. I’ll be back before you lot go off promoting again.”
“But what will I do without you and our morning coffee talks?”
“Text me anyway because I know you will.” He grinned sheepishly at her and kept eating.
“When are you going?” Liam asked her.
“Probably next week some time.”
“Who’s hired you?”
“Not hired, Har-eh. Just a little song demo. If they like it, then they’ll have hired me.”
“And then!?”
“I’m not moving to LA, Niall.” Jenna forcefully put her silverware on her plate.
“Sorry…”
“I’m sorry, Niall.” She apologized, picking up her utensils again. “I’ve been on edge since they called yesterday.”
“But what if they do hire you?”
“I’ll stay for a bit longer.”
“What are you hoping for?”
“That’s a mad question, Lou.”
“I’m serious.”
“Obviously I want them to say yes to the demo.”
“Are you gonna sing on it?” Ed asked her.
“Probably. That itself might get the demo discarded.” I opened my mouth but Ed gave me a look. “But one hopes for the best.”
“I think they’ll love it.”
“You don’t even know the song, Janice.” Jenna giggled.
“Which song, Jenna?”
“Brave Ones.”
“Who wants to hear it?”
She avoided all of our gazes. “…Katy Perry…”
“Oh my god! That’s fantastic!” Everyone began congratulating Jenna again and she blushed.
“I know…I was shocked to say the least.”
“The least indeed.” Louis said.
“When are you leaving, again?”
“Sometime in the next two weeks.” Jenna told me.
“Mind letting me take you out to celebrate?” She smiled, looking down to her food.
“That’d be fine with me.” Louis and the others smirked at me and I just waved them off. “But, nowhere expensive.”
“That is not a promise.” She blushed again and kept eating quietly.
“Thank you, Har-eh.”
“You’re welcome.” We ate in quiet for a while, others having quiet conversations with each other.
“Har-eh?” I looked over at Jenna. I’d just taken to the fact that she was sitting across from me.
“Yes?”
“Is…taking me to an expensive restaurant necessary?”
“I mean-if you don’t-”
“I don’t mind you taking me out, I just feel bad if you pay too much.”
“Just a small meal and we can go back to mine and Lou’s flat for some desert.”
“Okay, I’d like that.” She finally looked up at me, smiling.
While later, Jenna and Janice were in the kitchen with Niall and the dogs doing dishes, since they insisted. The rest of us, minus Toby who left directly after dinner, were sitting in the living room, talking and watching the typical Doctor Who.
“I have a question, though, Ed.”
“Name it.” Ed remarked to Lou.
“Why did Birdy get so worked up when Niall asked a second time about her moving?”
“That’s just…Birdy…”
“Really, Ed? We’ve heard your songs, we’re not that stupid.”
“She’s got a few issues, okay. Take this as a small warning; Birdy is a very aggressive person. She’s got anger issues and often takes to violence to solve little things.”
“Talking about me, Ed?”
“Just stating facts.” She laughed and sat beside him.
“Always bringing up the anger issues, eh?”
“Lou asked, had to tell him.”
“After I told you we’re not idiots.” Louis added.
“Did you ever know that you come in at the most convenient times?” Liam asked her.
“I have a way with time, though time has no way with me.”
“No wonder you’re a song writer.”
“I also have a vivid past filled with trials and tribulations that just make for wonderful songs to sing.”
“Ballads?”
“Always.” She nodded her head at Liam in a mocking manner.
“Lord help. It’s already twelve.” Janice said. “John, you’ve got a meeting in the morning.”
“Oh, yea.” He groaned.
“I hate it kick you guys out…”
“But leave?”
“In the kindest way.” John smiled at Zayn.
“We should be going anyway. We’ve got some recording to get done.” We all got up, telling our good-byes to our hosts and left with Ed and Jenna.
“I suppose you could get my number off Niall to text me about the date.” I chocked a bit and Louis and Zayn began laughing.
“I’d rather, just get your number, if you don’t mind. Niall’ll either never give them or I’ll forget.” She took the phone from me smiling and typed in it quickly.
“I’ll see you then, Har-eh.” She kissed my cheek and followed after Ed, who was yelling at her to move her arse.
“Awww! How cute!”
“Get in the Rover.” I shoved them towards the car.
“Louis, it’s a game.”
“Pay attention!” Currently, the boys were playing a game of FIFA on the Play Station 3 the record studio offered us. I was just waiting for Ed to show up. I’d given up playing after Louis nearly killed me for scoring on him.
“I can’t play this anymore. I’m gonna get killed.” Zayn dropped his controller and turned it off and sat beside me.
“Smart idea, Haz.” Zayn said.
“Thank you. I take much credit for it.” He shook his head and turned back to the telly that was playing the Man U and Arsenal match Lou had bestowed on us.
“Lou, we’re up thirty points.” Niall said.
“Do I look like I care?” He hissed as he scored on Liam again.
“This is unfair. Both of my teammates left me.” Liam said.
“Sucks, eh?” Louis said.
“I give up. Forfeit! Lou and Niall win!” Liam dropped his controller dramatically and threw his hands up.
“Flair for the dramatics, Li?” We looked over at the door and Ed stood with a girl at his side.
“Hey, Ed.” Louis calmly turned off the system and turned around in the gamer chair.
“You just slaughtered Arsenal and all you have to say is hey?”
“You’re not a fan.”
“I guess.” Ed shrugged as he sat in the large brown leather chair. “By the way, this is my song writing protégé Jenna. I call her Little Bird and Birdy though.” She waved at us and stood beside Ed.
“Birdy, you can sit down.” Ed leaned back in the chair and it leaned with him.
“I’ve been sitting since I left Oregon. I’m fine.” She said with a spark to her voice. He shook his head at her and dismissed her tone.
“You stood while waiting for me and when we walked up here.” She gave Ed the most rude bored look ever and he smirked at her.
“I’m just saying.” He shrugged at her. “So, you lot wanna hear your new song?”
“Which new song? Apparently you have two to give to us.”
“The other I’ll have a bit more trouble giving you, but this one is easy to give you.” He turned to the mix table and pulled a CD out. He put it into the computer and pressed play.
Obnoxiously, the song by some rapper Soldier Boy or something began playing and Ed jumped and began hitting buttons until it stopped. Meanwhile the girl Jenna began laughing at him.
“Dammit, Jenna!” He took the CD out and looked at her. She handed him the correct CD and took the other back as he snatched it from her. He turned the volume down before pressing play and then smiled.
“Right track.” He turned it up and his voice rang through the room. We all sat and listened to him playing the guitar and piano.
Three minutes later, the song stopped and Ed turned to us.
“So?”
“I like it.” Liam said. “Very catchy.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Who’s the teacher and who’s the protégé?” Ed looked up at her.
“Protégé means I’ve got some talent for this.” She mumbled, leaned against the mix table.
“I’m still the teacher. So, that is your first song, here are…le lyrics.” Ed handed me and Zayn a sheet and I gave the others to Lou, Niall, and Liam. “And I know Niall’ll learn the chords and notes in no time.” He tossed a CD to Niall and he caught it.
“So that’s that.” Ed turned in his chair, seeming bored. “And we’re done.”
“That’s it?”
“Yea, less you wanna try and practice a bit to see if you like it with your voices.”
“Don’t you think that’d be smart?”
“Well, I suppose…” Ed turned back to his bag and pulled out another CD. “Throw this away, Birdy.” He tossed her a CD and she barely caught it.
“That’s my joke CD though.”
“And next time you pull it on me, you’ll wake up with snakes in your bed.” He put the CD in and an instrumental started. Jenna chuckled and tossed her CD into the rubbish bin nearest her.
“Who’s starting?” Lou asked.
“Why don’t we all try the starting verse?” Niall said. We nodded and first went Liam.
“I think Li’s best with that.”
Almost two hours later, we were done. The entire song was finished. We each had parts.
“Alright…I’m tired and it’s late.” Ed leaned back again and sighed.
“I haven’t eaten…” Jenna looked off from us. “What time is it?”
We had all changed our seat in the room. Jenna had taken one of the gamer chairs, Niall took the leather chair from Ed. Ed took the other gamer chair. Liam and I were on the floor and Louis and Zayn were on the couch. Jenna had helped us with a few parts, showing off a beautiful voice.
“Nearly twelve.” Ed set his phone down. “We should get going. You have class in the morning.” She moaned in argument.
“I don’t wanna go to class!”
“Then I guess you’ll never be a certified song writer.”
“You’re not a certified song writer.”
“That’s cause I’m a musician.” He put his things away and stood up.
“Lovely seeing you lads today.” He hugged us. “I think we’re going to see each other soon with the other song.”
“Thank you for your help today, Jenna.” Niall hugged her and she hugged the rest of us.
“Lovely meeting you.” She picked up her bag and stood behind Ed. “Ready?”
“Let’s go. I’ll see you lot later!” They left out the door. We all sighed out.
“I’m hungry.”
“Shocker.”
“Let’s go get something to eat.” Liam finished his sentence, getting up.
About a month later
“Harry!” I grinned and greeted John the same way, hugging him. “We’re all out back!” We followed John and his girlfriend to the backyard of the foyer house. It was wide and sunny outside. There was a fire pit near a set up of chairs and a grill.“Haz! Lou! Liam! Niall! Zayn!” Ed greeted us, still playing his guitar. “How you doing?”
“Ready to hear a song!” Niall said. Ed laughed as he set his guitar aside.
“There’ll be time for that later! Come on, we’re celebrating!”
“Celebrating what?”
“Birdy’s passed her exams!” As her name was spoken, she came from a shed near the back of the yard. What had really caught my eye was the Old English and Shetland Sheepdog following her but then she caught me.
She was wearing black shorts that barely went past her bum. To counter, she had a sweatshirt on top that had a Jack Wills symbol over her heart. High top Converses adorned her feet and she laughed at the sheepdogs following her. Her legs were long for days and her torso was short. Her hair was longer than it had been before and a smile that I’d not seen when we first met graced her lips.
“Birdy! Good job!” She looked up at Niall.
“Leprechaun!” Even though we’d really only met Jenna once, Niall and her text a lot and became best friends. She hugged him and he easily picked her up.
“Why didn’t you tell me you passed?”
“Because Ed took my results before I could see them.” She smacked Ed across the head and picked up the Shetland.
“Congrats, Birdy.” Louis, Liam, and Zayn hugged her off handed because of the dog. They went off with Niall to get food and she turned to me.
“Hi, Harry.” I loved the way she spoke my name. The way she didn’t say Harry, she said Har-eh.
“Hey, Jenna.”
“You can call me Birdy, you know.” She shifted the dog. “No congrats?”
“Massive congratulations.” She smiled at me. “Does this mean you’re certified now?” I shoved my hands in my pockets; sadly, they didn’t fit.
“Not yet. I’ve got to get a label to pick me up and once they look over my credentials, then I’ll be certified.” She carried the dog over to the chairs where no one was sitting anymore. “A little bit like I’m a musician looking for a record.”
“I noticed. Who were you hoping?”
“Dunno. Anyone willing to take me.” She shrugged, letting the dog curl up on her lap. “You can sit down, Harry.” I walked around the chair and sat beside her and leaned against the arm of the wicker chair. “How’s the album coming?”
“Well, can’t wait to finish it and let the girls hear.”
“They’ll appreciate it.”
“I hope-”
“Harry, mate! You want something to eat!?” Niall called from the grill. I looked over at him and he laughed and ducked. Jenna was laughing and the puppy in her lap jumped down and ran to Niall. He knelt down and Jenna sat up.
“Niall James! Do not give him something!” She sat back and pulled her feet up beside her.
“You were saying?”
“I hope they appreciate it. We’ve worked hard.” She smiled and played with the torn wicker as I spoke. “Jenna, I don’t know much about you.”
“Wish I could say the same.” She leaned her head on her arm and looked up at me through her eyelashes.
“What can I know about you?”
“Are you flirting with me, Styles?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” I smiled at her. She grinned at me.
“What would you like to know?”
“Where are you from? How old are you?”
“I’m from Birmingham, I’m seventeen.”
“Little young for uni.”
“I was a fast learner.” She shrugged. “Where are you from?”
“I thought you knew.” She shrugged again.
“I’m from Holmes Chapel in Cheshire.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m eighteen.”
“Little young to be selling out tours.” I chuckled at her.
“I was a fast learner.” She smiled at me and looked over at the house.
“Do you like touring? Being watched like that?”
“Sometimes it’s annoying…but I think it’s nice to see that people love me.”
“Cocky much?”
“Just confident.”
“I guess confidence is okay. Just not too much.”
“We-” As I was about to speak, a tall bloke cut in and kissed Jenna. She let out a noise and pushed him back.
“Toby.”
“Afternoon, love.” She blushed and shook her head as he sat in the third chair.
“Toby, I’ve told you about that.”
“About what?”
“Kissing me.”
“I like kissing you.”
“You’re not my boyfriend. Do not going around kissing me like you are.” He went to respond but Ed yelled at him to ‘get his arse back over there.’ Toby smirked at Jenna and got up.
Once he was out of ear shot, she spoke.
“I hate him.”
“Why? He’s good looking?”
“Man crush, Styles?”
“I’m just saying. Why don’t you like him?”
“I hate him because he thinks I like him.”
“You let on by blushing.”
“I wasn’t expecting a kiss from him.”
“Who rather?”
“You.” Her voice was blunt but she caught herself and covered her mouth. “I didn’t mean it like that, I just-”
“It’s fine, Jenna. I asked, you answered.” She looked down and I heard her mumble embarrassing before looking back up.
“The thing with Toby is, we did go out for I think a month before he broke it off then turned us into friends with benefits before I broke that off because I didn’t like being played.”
“I’m guessing he didn’t get the memo.”
“I guess not…” She looked back at him talking to Ed.
“You know, if he bothers you, you can just talk to me.”
“Harry, I have faith in you, but I don’t know that you could do much to stop him.” She giggled.
“Thank you, Jenna, thank you.”
“Birdy. You can call me Birdy.” She turned and laid across the chair with her legs hanging off the arm. Her body twisted so she could look at me and she smiled at me.
“So what else is there to know about you, Jenna?”
“My name means little bird farm. I’ve helped Ed write songs.”
“Did you help with one of the songs he gave us?”
“I helped a bit with the song he’s giving you today. Ed says I was the inspiration for it. Some of it.” She shrugged. “What else…well, until I was fifteen, I was dead set on auditioning for X-Factor.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I can’t sing.”
“Bull. Shit.” Jenna looked up at me. “I heard you singing with us when Ed gave us Over Again. You were amazing.”
“Keep trying, Styles. I’ll die to see the day she accepts her voice as a gift from the music gods.” Ed came back and sat in the third chair.
“There is a reason I write songs and not sing them.” Jenna sat up and the Old English dog came up to her.
“Hey, Eric…”
“Birdy!” She looked over at Niall and he waved her over. She got up without word and went to them. Ed watched her and then snapped his head back to me.
“Chatting up, Birdy, eh?”
“Chatting up? I’m talking to her.”
“Please, don’t think I didn’t see you two. Smiling and giggling.” Ed ate a bit of his food. “We’re not all oblivious like Toby.”
“I was just getting to know her.”
“I saw your face when Toby kissed her.”
“What face, Ed?”
“Alright, I’ll leave it alone.” He turned around to look at Jenna and Niall having a mini food fight.
“Oi! Birdy! Don’t hurt Niall before I give him the song!” Ed called to her. She turned to him and Niall tackled her. Shocked, I stood up quickly and Ed burst out laughing. I sat back down and Jenna shoved Niall off of her.
“Thank you. Ed.” She got up, letting the dogs eat off the ground, and came over to us.
“I’d say we’re almost ready to give them the song.” Ed looked at her.
“It’s your song.” She shrugged at him, sitting on the arm of the wicker chair she had been sitting in. “You give it to them when you want to. But I’ve got to go check something.” She stood up and sauntered inside.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Probably the bringing up of her singing skills. She gets all mad and pissy and stops talking to everyone. Won’t be surprised if she’s not in the house the rest of the time.” Ed shrugged.
“But anyway! Gather ‘round!” The boys gathered as Ed picked up his guitar.
“I cannot wait to record this song!” We were all excited about Little Things and releasing it as our second single. “This is gonna be fucking brill!”
“Calm down, Lou. It’s a song.”
“It’s a meaningful song, Haz.” Louis smacked the side of my head. “Our girls will love this song.”
“Aw, shit!” We all turned to the house.
“Where’s Birdy?” Niall asked, noticing her absence.
“In the house.” The others blew it off but I had to check on her. I got up and the Shetland followed me inside.
“Jenna?” I turned the corner to the kitchen and she was knelt on the ground picking up glass with bloody hands.
“Jenna!”
“Harry, it’s fine.” She dropped the glass into a rubbish bin and began picking up more glass in her hands. I shooed the dog away and knelt beside her. She tried to argue me but I helped her pick up the shards and cut my hands as well.
“Harry, I didn’t need help.” She picked up the rubbish bin and put it back in place before going to the sink. Standing in front of it, her hair shined and her face was lit by the sun. She washed her hands and hissed when she put soap in her hands.
“Jenna, I’m sorry.”
“For what, Harry?”
“For bringing up your singing.”
“Who told you I’d be mad about that?”
“Ed said…you didn’t like when people talked about you’re singing.”
“It’s nothing.”
“You’re mad at me.”
“I’m not mad at you.” She dried her hands and looked at me. “Why would I be mad at you?”
“Because I told you you had an amazing voice.”
“I’m not mad at that.”
“Then why are you mad?”
“I’m not mad!” We stood there. “I just don’t like hearing about it.” She sat at the table.
“Don’t you ever get tired of people telling you your voice is to die for?”
“It’s annoying sometimes, yea. But there’s a reason I put up with it.”
“I can’t do it. I don’t like my voice. There’s a reason I write songs and let other people sing them.”
“So what happens when you have to sing those songs so they get the idea?” She looked down.
“I…I don’t know.”
“Jenna, you do have a beautiful voice. I just want to say that.”
“Okay.” She whispered.
“So can we go back out to the yard and hang with our mates for a while?” I held my hand to her. She nodded and took my hand. I led her back outside where no one noticed my absence and everyone regreeted Jenna as if she simply went to the store. So the rest of the day, Jenna rarely left my side and not once did Toby bother her.
“Louis, you arsehole!” Jenna kicked the ball hard and Niall dived for it and caught it. “Easy goal!” I was laughing because Jenna, Niall, Louis, and Liam took up a game of football. Against Jenna’s will, Louis dubbed them Man U while Liam and Niall agreed on Arsenal. “And to think you want to play on Man U.”
“They’d be better with me.”
“You can’t make an easy goal!”
“Like you did one hundred percent better!”
“At least I tried unlike some tosser like you!”
“Alright!” Ed got up and separated them. “Let’s remind ourselves never to put Louis and Jenna on the same team again.”
“Better yet, let them play football together again.” Zayn chuckled, sipping a beer he had. “I’d love to see them against each other.”
“It’s not like you two lost.” Liam sat on the ground with his hands over his face. “You beat us six to two.”
“No thanks to Lou-eh!”
“My name is pronounced Lou-ee. Not Lewis. Not Lou-eh. Louis.” Throughout the day, Jenna had taken to calling him Lou-eh because of her accent. Needless to say, he was going mad.
“I will pronounce it as it comes to my lips. If you do so have a problem with it take it up with all the fucks I so happily give.” We all burst out laughing at her. Even Louis was laughing at her.
“Birdy, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Ed hugged her.
“Die of boredom.” She shrugged.
“What time is it? I’m starving for dinner.” Niall asked.
“You’re always starving mate. It’s going on six.” Ed answered him. “I’d say it’s about time for dinner.”
“What’s for dinner, love?” Niall pounced on Jenna, knocking her to the ground.
“Whatever our lovely cook has made.” She said.
“Who’s the cook?” He looked at her, hovering over her.
“I can’t cook for shit, lovely.” She chuckled. “Janice lovely is cooking.” She motioned to John’s girlfriend.
“I’m making pasta for dinner, Niall.” She said. “It’ll be ready shortly.”
“Good thing you can cook, eh, Harry?” Ed whispered to me. I elbowed him in the stomach.
“Would you like to help me set the table, Niall?” Jenna asked him. He nodded and jumped up to run in the house. Jenna followed him, laughing as she tried to catch up.
“Harry, mate. Let’s make it less obvious, eh?” I looked over at Louis.
“What?” He looked at me. “What!?”
“Calm down. I’m just talking about Birdy.”
“What about Birdy?”
“He’s just as oblivious as she is.” He laughed, drinking from his beer.
“We can all see it, mate. You obviously fancy her.”
“Jenna? As in Birdy Jenna?”
“The only Jenna present.” Liam shrugged.
“Fancy her?”
“Let’s not examine the ways you’re looking at her, talking to her. We’re not all oblivious like you and her.”
“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. Ed brought something like this up earlier.”
“Then you must have an idea.”
“That you all are set determined that I fancy Jenna.”
“So you do know.”
“Know what?” We all looked over at Jenna, standing near the chair set up.
“Just that Harry’s got a little crush.” Louis and Ed giggled together. I glared at them and kicked at them.
“Now, now, Harry. If you’ve got a crush, I bet she’d love to know.” What made Louis laugh harder is that she was the so called ‘crush’ I had. “But in other news, Niall and I have-” The sound of a plate shattering stopped her and she cringed.
“I’ll be back.” She turned calmly, but ran at top speed into the house. We all laughed because we figured she would finish with ‘successfully set the table’ when Niall had obviously been left alone and shattered a plate. Janice got up from John’s lap and went inside, claiming to see if they were okay.
“So, Harry. Gonna take her advice.”
“I would if I had a crush.” I said, throwing my best counter all day.
“Ooh, that was a good one. Now, tell another.” Zayn was calling my come back a lie.
“Thank you.”
“Okay, now we’re done! Come eat! Niall, no!” Jenna ran back into the house. We all got up and went inside. The table was set mixed match and Ed couldn’t help but chuckle at his young protégé.
“It was Niall’s idea.” She offered, standing near the food and giving Niall a look each time he reached for it. “Don’t chuckle at me.” We all sat down, after Janice asked us all what we’d like to drink.
“I’ll get mine, love.” Jenna left the table as Niall began spooning out pasta for himself.
“I’m gratefully informed that you have a crush, Harry.” Niall said, eating a fork of pasta.
“I do not have a crush.” I growled.
“Then who were you all talking about outside?” Jenna came back, cutting into the conversation.
“They’re just teasing me about someone.”
“Tell?”
“I’d rather not.” I said, eating some of the food.
“Very well.”
“So, Jenna. What are your plans now that you’ve graduated?”
“Well, there’s little calling nearest the great city of Los Angeles.”
“You’re moving to LA!?” Niall near screamed, freezing from eating.
“No, Niall. I’m not moving to LA. I’d just be there for a few days. I’ll be back before you lot go off promoting again.”
“But what will I do without you and our morning coffee talks?”
“Text me anyway because I know you will.” He grinned sheepishly at her and kept eating.
“When are you going?” Liam asked her.
“Probably next week some time.”
“Who’s hired you?”
“Not hired, Har-eh. Just a little song demo. If they like it, then they’ll have hired me.”
“And then!?”
“I’m not moving to LA, Niall.” Jenna forcefully put her silverware on her plate.
“Sorry…”
“I’m sorry, Niall.” She apologized, picking up her utensils again. “I’ve been on edge since they called yesterday.”
“But what if they do hire you?”
“I’ll stay for a bit longer.”
“What are you hoping for?”
“That’s a mad question, Lou.”
“I’m serious.”
“Obviously I want them to say yes to the demo.”
“Are you gonna sing on it?” Ed asked her.
“Probably. That itself might get the demo discarded.” I opened my mouth but Ed gave me a look. “But one hopes for the best.”
“I think they’ll love it.”
“You don’t even know the song, Janice.” Jenna giggled.
“Which song, Jenna?”
“Brave Ones.”
“Who wants to hear it?”
She avoided all of our gazes. “…Katy Perry…”
“Oh my god! That’s fantastic!” Everyone began congratulating Jenna again and she blushed.
“I know…I was shocked to say the least.”
“The least indeed.” Louis said.
“When are you leaving, again?”
“Sometime in the next two weeks.” Jenna told me.
“Mind letting me take you out to celebrate?” She smiled, looking down to her food.
“That’d be fine with me.” Louis and the others smirked at me and I just waved them off. “But, nowhere expensive.”
“That is not a promise.” She blushed again and kept eating quietly.
“Thank you, Har-eh.”
“You’re welcome.” We ate in quiet for a while, others having quiet conversations with each other.
“Har-eh?” I looked over at Jenna. I’d just taken to the fact that she was sitting across from me.
“Yes?”
“Is…taking me to an expensive restaurant necessary?”
“I mean-if you don’t-”
“I don’t mind you taking me out, I just feel bad if you pay too much.”
“Just a small meal and we can go back to mine and Lou’s flat for some desert.”
“Okay, I’d like that.” She finally looked up at me, smiling.
While later, Jenna and Janice were in the kitchen with Niall and the dogs doing dishes, since they insisted. The rest of us, minus Toby who left directly after dinner, were sitting in the living room, talking and watching the typical Doctor Who.
“I have a question, though, Ed.”
“Name it.” Ed remarked to Lou.
“Why did Birdy get so worked up when Niall asked a second time about her moving?”
“That’s just…Birdy…”
“Really, Ed? We’ve heard your songs, we’re not that stupid.”
“She’s got a few issues, okay. Take this as a small warning; Birdy is a very aggressive person. She’s got anger issues and often takes to violence to solve little things.”
“Talking about me, Ed?”
“Just stating facts.” She laughed and sat beside him.
“Always bringing up the anger issues, eh?”
“Lou asked, had to tell him.”
“After I told you we’re not idiots.” Louis added.
“Did you ever know that you come in at the most convenient times?” Liam asked her.
“I have a way with time, though time has no way with me.”
“No wonder you’re a song writer.”
“I also have a vivid past filled with trials and tribulations that just make for wonderful songs to sing.”
“Ballads?”
“Always.” She nodded her head at Liam in a mocking manner.
“Lord help. It’s already twelve.” Janice said. “John, you’ve got a meeting in the morning.”
“Oh, yea.” He groaned.
“I hate it kick you guys out…”
“But leave?”
“In the kindest way.” John smiled at Zayn.
“We should be going anyway. We’ve got some recording to get done.” We all got up, telling our good-byes to our hosts and left with Ed and Jenna.
“I suppose you could get my number off Niall to text me about the date.” I chocked a bit and Louis and Zayn began laughing.
“I’d rather, just get your number, if you don’t mind. Niall’ll either never give them or I’ll forget.” She took the phone from me smiling and typed in it quickly.
“I’ll see you then, Har-eh.” She kissed my cheek and followed after Ed, who was yelling at her to move her arse.
“Awww! How cute!”
“Get in the Rover.” I shoved them towards the car.
1/16/13