Stardust
She Moves in Her Own Way
“What’s Liam doing here?” Harry said as the two young men stepped inside the living room. He was seated on the sofa, flipping through a magazine. He was wearing black sweatpants and a simple white t-shirt. After all, he didn’t have to leave the house at all that day, and this was really comfortable.
“You said you’d talked to Harry.” Liam turned to Louis, boxing him in the right arm. It was usually not a problem, if one of the other three, or even all of them, hung around Louis’ and Harry’s apartment, but it was still better to make sure it was alright.
“Ou!”Louis immediately jumped aside, looking horrified. “I did! Harry!” With that he turned to Harry, who was now on his feet. He couldn’t suppress the laughter anymore and pressed a hand to his stomach.
“Of course he did.” Harry tried to stay upright and get himself under control again. “And even if he hadn’t asked me, I wouldn’t have a problem with you staying over. You should know that by now.”
“Asshole,” Liam said with a grin and settled down on the sofa after he’d taken off his shoes. “What film are we going to watch?”
“I thought we could watch Avengers or some superhero one.” Harry sat down next to Liam again. “And then have Tacos afterwards.”
Just like Louis had thought. It put a smile on his face and he said: “Can you start without me? I’ll just hop into the shower real quick.”
“I was going to suggest that.” Harry waved a hand in front of his nose while Liam scrunched up his face. “I can smell you all the way over here.”
“Yeah, yeah… whatever,” Louis waved as he left the room to go to his own room first to get some clothes before he headed to the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Liam and Harry turned on the movie and got comfortable on the sofa. They’d watched it a couple of times already, but Avengers was a movie they could watch again and again.
“We saw that Lilly girl today,” Liam said not even five minutes into the movie.
“And?” Harry shot a glance at Liam before concentrating on the movie again.
“She wasn’t so tense anymore and she wore proper clothes. Not these uptight office clothes. I think it will be fun to have her around. She’ll probably surprise all of us.”
“That’s what I think.” Harry stretched out his legs. “Poor girl was probably a little taken aback. I mean, that was a lot to take in for the first day. She hadn’t even signed her contract.”
“Well, that’s out of the way now. But it looks like Paul gave her our schedules so she knows what will be up the next couple of months”
Harry sighed, turning his face towards Liam: “I can’t wait to be in America the next time and have two days off to spend them the way we want to.”
“Yes, that will be great,” Louis said from the door dressed pretty much the same like Harry only that his towel-dried hair was standing up in all kinds of directions. “We’ll just have to go somewhere where nobody will recognize us.”
“That’s something we can ask Paul and Lilly about,” Liam mentioned.
“Might be worth a shot.” Harry shrugged his shoulders. “And now we should watch the movie. We can talk more over dinner.”
And so they did. With anticipation, laughter and some moments where they held their breaths, they made it through the movie. Harry presented them with tacos and strawberry-vanilla cupcakes for dessert. He’d gotten them just around the corner, from a bakery they usually went to.
“If you keep buying the cupcakes and cookies there, we’ll all end up fat and unable to move an inch,” Liam complained, while he took a bite out of his cupcake. He couldn’t help it. It was just too delicious, and if he didn’t eat it, one of the other two would, and he couldn’t let that happen. No way.
“That’s his secret plan, you know?” Louis licked his fingers after finishing the cupcake. “How about we chat with some people on Omegle. We haven’t done that in a while.”
“I thought you’d say that.” Harry got up and got both, his and Louis’, notebooks, so that Louis and Liam could share one. They’d done this before, only in writing, but with the camera on as well. It had been the most fun when they’d dressed up for this, with fake mustaches, wigs and whatever they could find. This time, though, they’d stick to writing.
“Are we going to put One Direction in the common interests?” Louis asked, looking to Liam. Once he nodded his head, they were off, talking to strangers, most of them girls, pretending to be a member of One Direction. If they only knew that they were really talking to them, they would probably freak out.
Harry on the other hand, wanted to try something different. He didn’t want to put One Direction in his shared interests; instead he put London, to have at least one shared interest with the stranger he’d be talking to. The first three people were all the same starting with “asl”, making him quit the conversation almost immediately. The fourth person started with: “Never did sun more beautifully steep/ In his first splendor, valley, rock or hill;/ Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!”
This caught him completely off guard. There was a person who did not only not start with asking him about his gender, age and whatnot, but that person started with a poem. A poem by William Wordsworth nonetheless. So he answered with the following, and last, three lines of the poem: “The river glideth at its own sweet will:/Dear God! The very houses seem asleep;/ And all that mighty heart is lying still!”
“Finally! After an hour and more than twenty people, you are the first one who knows that poem and can give me the lines that are following mine.” Her response made Harry chuckle, and he asked the person how one could not know that poem.aHar
“What’s so funny?” Louis leaned over to have a look at Harry’s desktop. “Why are you talking about William Wordsworth?”
“Because I decided to find someone to talk properly to.”
Liam and Louis looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and continued to chat with the person they were currently talking to. Good for Harry, because that way he could concentrate on his own conversation and find out more about the person on the other end.
And he did. He found out that her name was Natalie and she was eighteen years old. She’d just moved to London to start University here and live with her aunt. She had to get away from her parents and start over. The downside was, that she hardly knew anyone around London. Harry assured her that she’d find friends really soon. In a big, busy city like London, she wouldn’t have a problem with that.
But what did Harry tell her about himself? Well, not everything of course. She knew his name and age, some things he loved and despised. He’d been honest with everything except for what he did. He told her that he was studying music at the University and was working in a bakery. He could hardly tell her that he was in a boyband and had to travel around a lot. After all, he hardly knew her.
One thing he did know, though, was that he really enjoyed talking to her. They had a lot in common, and she could make him laugh. Right now, they were still two strangers except that they knew their names and ages. So, Harry found himself asking for her number. He promised, he wouldn’t call, but that way they could stay in contact via WhatsApp. It was something so out of character for him, that his palms started sweating.
Natalie took her time answering, not sure whether this was a good idea or not. After all, this Harry guy could still be some sort of serial killer. Then again, if she didn’t risk anything now and then, she wouldn’t move forward. Without thinking about it anymore, she typed in her number.
Only a couple of seconds later, she had a message from Harry. It said that he would disconnect Omegle now and wished her a good night, that he was already looking forward to talking to her a little more.
“Okay, who’s the person that has you grinning like an idiot?” Liam asked as soon as Harry had shut down his notebook.
“Her name’s Natalie, she’s easy to talk to and she doesn’t know who I am. Just my name.” Harry stretched out his whole body, feeling his vertebrae move back in place.
“Good that you found someone like that,” Louis said, shutting his own notebook down. They had had enough fun, and he was tired, ready for bed. They’d gotten up at six in the morning, so he was ready for sleep. “You can use the guestroom, if you want to.” He turned to Liam. By now, he should already know that.
Louis figured that it would be best to leave it at that, to not lecture Harry or ask him further questions about it. If he wanted to talk about it, he’d come to Louis and open up. It had always been like this, and Harry knew that Louis would always listen to him, no matter how stupid the topic was.
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Liam said as he got up from the sofa. “I’ll do that. And you two should go to bed as well. You look like you’ll fall asleep any second now.”
Liam wasn’t far off with his observation. As soon as Louis and Harry lay on their beds, they were out cold. Harry had spent most of the day at home, but he’s worked hard at paperwork and songs. Now they were all able to sleep for as long as they wanted, since they didn’t have any plans for the following day.
“You said you’d talked to Harry.” Liam turned to Louis, boxing him in the right arm. It was usually not a problem, if one of the other three, or even all of them, hung around Louis’ and Harry’s apartment, but it was still better to make sure it was alright.
“Ou!”Louis immediately jumped aside, looking horrified. “I did! Harry!” With that he turned to Harry, who was now on his feet. He couldn’t suppress the laughter anymore and pressed a hand to his stomach.
“Of course he did.” Harry tried to stay upright and get himself under control again. “And even if he hadn’t asked me, I wouldn’t have a problem with you staying over. You should know that by now.”
“Asshole,” Liam said with a grin and settled down on the sofa after he’d taken off his shoes. “What film are we going to watch?”
“I thought we could watch Avengers or some superhero one.” Harry sat down next to Liam again. “And then have Tacos afterwards.”
Just like Louis had thought. It put a smile on his face and he said: “Can you start without me? I’ll just hop into the shower real quick.”
“I was going to suggest that.” Harry waved a hand in front of his nose while Liam scrunched up his face. “I can smell you all the way over here.”
“Yeah, yeah… whatever,” Louis waved as he left the room to go to his own room first to get some clothes before he headed to the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Liam and Harry turned on the movie and got comfortable on the sofa. They’d watched it a couple of times already, but Avengers was a movie they could watch again and again.
“We saw that Lilly girl today,” Liam said not even five minutes into the movie.
“And?” Harry shot a glance at Liam before concentrating on the movie again.
“She wasn’t so tense anymore and she wore proper clothes. Not these uptight office clothes. I think it will be fun to have her around. She’ll probably surprise all of us.”
“That’s what I think.” Harry stretched out his legs. “Poor girl was probably a little taken aback. I mean, that was a lot to take in for the first day. She hadn’t even signed her contract.”
“Well, that’s out of the way now. But it looks like Paul gave her our schedules so she knows what will be up the next couple of months”
Harry sighed, turning his face towards Liam: “I can’t wait to be in America the next time and have two days off to spend them the way we want to.”
“Yes, that will be great,” Louis said from the door dressed pretty much the same like Harry only that his towel-dried hair was standing up in all kinds of directions. “We’ll just have to go somewhere where nobody will recognize us.”
“That’s something we can ask Paul and Lilly about,” Liam mentioned.
“Might be worth a shot.” Harry shrugged his shoulders. “And now we should watch the movie. We can talk more over dinner.”
And so they did. With anticipation, laughter and some moments where they held their breaths, they made it through the movie. Harry presented them with tacos and strawberry-vanilla cupcakes for dessert. He’d gotten them just around the corner, from a bakery they usually went to.
“If you keep buying the cupcakes and cookies there, we’ll all end up fat and unable to move an inch,” Liam complained, while he took a bite out of his cupcake. He couldn’t help it. It was just too delicious, and if he didn’t eat it, one of the other two would, and he couldn’t let that happen. No way.
“That’s his secret plan, you know?” Louis licked his fingers after finishing the cupcake. “How about we chat with some people on Omegle. We haven’t done that in a while.”
“I thought you’d say that.” Harry got up and got both, his and Louis’, notebooks, so that Louis and Liam could share one. They’d done this before, only in writing, but with the camera on as well. It had been the most fun when they’d dressed up for this, with fake mustaches, wigs and whatever they could find. This time, though, they’d stick to writing.
“Are we going to put One Direction in the common interests?” Louis asked, looking to Liam. Once he nodded his head, they were off, talking to strangers, most of them girls, pretending to be a member of One Direction. If they only knew that they were really talking to them, they would probably freak out.
Harry on the other hand, wanted to try something different. He didn’t want to put One Direction in his shared interests; instead he put London, to have at least one shared interest with the stranger he’d be talking to. The first three people were all the same starting with “asl”, making him quit the conversation almost immediately. The fourth person started with: “Never did sun more beautifully steep/ In his first splendor, valley, rock or hill;/ Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!”
This caught him completely off guard. There was a person who did not only not start with asking him about his gender, age and whatnot, but that person started with a poem. A poem by William Wordsworth nonetheless. So he answered with the following, and last, three lines of the poem: “The river glideth at its own sweet will:/Dear God! The very houses seem asleep;/ And all that mighty heart is lying still!”
“Finally! After an hour and more than twenty people, you are the first one who knows that poem and can give me the lines that are following mine.” Her response made Harry chuckle, and he asked the person how one could not know that poem.aHar
“What’s so funny?” Louis leaned over to have a look at Harry’s desktop. “Why are you talking about William Wordsworth?”
“Because I decided to find someone to talk properly to.”
Liam and Louis looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and continued to chat with the person they were currently talking to. Good for Harry, because that way he could concentrate on his own conversation and find out more about the person on the other end.
And he did. He found out that her name was Natalie and she was eighteen years old. She’d just moved to London to start University here and live with her aunt. She had to get away from her parents and start over. The downside was, that she hardly knew anyone around London. Harry assured her that she’d find friends really soon. In a big, busy city like London, she wouldn’t have a problem with that.
But what did Harry tell her about himself? Well, not everything of course. She knew his name and age, some things he loved and despised. He’d been honest with everything except for what he did. He told her that he was studying music at the University and was working in a bakery. He could hardly tell her that he was in a boyband and had to travel around a lot. After all, he hardly knew her.
One thing he did know, though, was that he really enjoyed talking to her. They had a lot in common, and she could make him laugh. Right now, they were still two strangers except that they knew their names and ages. So, Harry found himself asking for her number. He promised, he wouldn’t call, but that way they could stay in contact via WhatsApp. It was something so out of character for him, that his palms started sweating.
Natalie took her time answering, not sure whether this was a good idea or not. After all, this Harry guy could still be some sort of serial killer. Then again, if she didn’t risk anything now and then, she wouldn’t move forward. Without thinking about it anymore, she typed in her number.
Only a couple of seconds later, she had a message from Harry. It said that he would disconnect Omegle now and wished her a good night, that he was already looking forward to talking to her a little more.
“Okay, who’s the person that has you grinning like an idiot?” Liam asked as soon as Harry had shut down his notebook.
“Her name’s Natalie, she’s easy to talk to and she doesn’t know who I am. Just my name.” Harry stretched out his whole body, feeling his vertebrae move back in place.
“Good that you found someone like that,” Louis said, shutting his own notebook down. They had had enough fun, and he was tired, ready for bed. They’d gotten up at six in the morning, so he was ready for sleep. “You can use the guestroom, if you want to.” He turned to Liam. By now, he should already know that.
Louis figured that it would be best to leave it at that, to not lecture Harry or ask him further questions about it. If he wanted to talk about it, he’d come to Louis and open up. It had always been like this, and Harry knew that Louis would always listen to him, no matter how stupid the topic was.
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Liam said as he got up from the sofa. “I’ll do that. And you two should go to bed as well. You look like you’ll fall asleep any second now.”
Liam wasn’t far off with his observation. As soon as Louis and Harry lay on their beds, they were out cold. Harry had spent most of the day at home, but he’s worked hard at paperwork and songs. Now they were all able to sleep for as long as they wanted, since they didn’t have any plans for the following day.
11/16/13