Chapter Three
“Megan are you sure you’ll be okay here by yourself?” My business casual dressed African descent mother asked standing in the doorway of the guest room. Megan was sick with a fever and all. My brother, Brandon, was out with my friends and my parents had to work. I was supposed to meet Liam and Harry at Scoops for some frozen yogurt. The almost kiss with Liam a week ago was water under the bridge. Neither one of us spoke of it.
“I’ll be fine Mama Hastings,” Megan assured my mom using the name she had called her since Kindergarten.
My mother turned her chocolate eyes back to me, “You aren’t going to be out too long, right?”
I nodded, “I’ll be gone three hours max.” I looked at Megan who was curled up under the overs.
“Fine,” my mom sighed walking out of the house. I followed getting in the Volkswagen. I had decided to go to Liam’s and pick him up simply because I was curious as to where he lived.
Hesitantly I walked up to the door and knocked timidly. Liam opened the door in a black t-shirt, dark jeans, and a matching snap back he wore cocked to the left.
“Hey,” I smiled glad to know my denim skinny jeans and faded Ramones t-shirt were perfect for the frozen yogurt session.
“Hello,” he stepped aside. “Do you want to come inside for a few minutes?” I shrugged and walked inside.
“Nice,” I said taking a look around the modern home. “Cool artwork,” I said pointing to a One Direction poster hanging on the wall.
“It was a gift,” Liam explained. I nodded thinking about how surreal this whole thing was. He looked at his phone and frowned slightly, “Harry said he’s on his way.”
“We should go,” I said taking one final look around before walking out.
When we parked outside of the small frozen yogurt shop Harry was waiting. Before we headed towards the entrance I pulled out my phone.
“Smile,” I said standing between them and holding the phone out. They both leaned in and smiled. I snapped the picture. “Perfect,” I said reviewing it as we headed to the entrance. Harry stepped forward to open the door. “Thanks,” I smiled and walked inside.
“Ow,” I heard Liam say and the bell sounded as the door closed. “Jerk,” he muttered coming to stand beside me at the counter.
As I scanned the flavors of the day, Harry, who was standing oddly close behind me, began to poke my side. It made it harder to focus on the words in front of me.
“Stop,” I turned around and rolled my eyes playfully at him, but he didn’t give up. “No, no, no,” I chanted as he began to rapidly poke me on both sides. “Come on Harry you know I’m extremely ticklish.” I said squirming away right as he went for the full on tickle and crashing into Liam. “I’m sorry,” I apologized.
Liam chuckled, “It looks like you need help.” I nodded and he wrapped his arm over my shoulders and pulled me into his side protectively. “Now Harry can’t get to you.” The smile could be heard in his voice. Harry shot him a look and turned his attention to the menu board.
We ordered and took a seat in a booth by a window. Somehow I ended up on the inside next to Harry. Luckily he was too busy scarfing down the ice cream to even think about tickling me.
I started shivering, “Okay frozen yogurt was probably not a good idea.”
“It was your idea weirdo,” Liam reminded me.
“You didn’t have to agree.”
Harry chuckled, “Like he could tell you no.”
“What?” I laughed confused. Harry shook his head. We finished our yogurt right as the crowd emerged.
“Shit,” Liam cursed as we prepared to leave. He grabbed my hand and led the way outside.
“Harry can you sign my album?” a fan asked holding out a marker and the CD. Harry nodded and took the merchandise. Another fan asked Liam for a picture and he agreed. I snapped a picture of them interacting with the friends. After a few minutes standing there waiting was awkward. I took a picture of me waiting. Eventually they pulled away and we headed to the parking lot. Harry took my hand seeing as how the fans were following. This was crazy. I had no idea how they dealt with it.
“You guys are too popular for your own good,” I laughed as Harry opened the door of my car for me.
Harry chuckled, “We really are. What’s next on the agenda?”
“Well, Megan is sick so I have to go check on her.” I answered.
“To Brea’s house to check on Megan,” Harry decided. I was surprised that Liam got in the car with me instead of Harry.
When we got to the house, Megan had managed to crawl out of bed and make it to the den. She was curled up in the chair holding a cup of tea.
“Hey guys,” she said weakly.
“Hello,” Harry said sitting as far away from Megan as possible. Liam tried to do the same as well.
“Everyone say fever,” I snapped a picture of them before plopping down on the couch. I decided to upload the pictures that I took.
@BreaHastings: I went to get frozen yogurt with @Real_Liam_Payne and @Harry_Styles today.
I started with the picture of Liam, Harry, and me before we went into the yogurt shop. I was in the middle and we were all smiling.
@BreaHastings: It started like this intagr.am/p/6yh87J1
Next came the picture of them interacting with fans.
@BreaHastings: Then it turned into this instagr.am/p/7ghy9ol0
The picture of me standing awkwardly waiting was next. I was biting my bottom lip and looking around.
@BreaHastings: Then I was all like instagr.am/p/gh7f56k
I figured Megan wouldn’t appreciate an awful picture of her being posted, so I didn’t. While I refreshed my TL Harry looked down at his phone and shook his head.
“You move fast,” he said holding the phone so that the picture I had just posted could be seen. I shrugged nonchalantly.
“Do you take pictures all day?” Liam asked.
“I can be slightly camera happy,” I answered.
“Slightly?” Megan scoffed. I rolled my eyes at her as she told the boys about how I took over five hundred picture during our spring break trip to Disney World.
Liam and Harry left after an hour. They had some type of event to go get ready for. Megan had retrieved her laptop and was scrolling on Tumblr. She gasped suddenly before bursting into laughter. While she was still laughing she turned the laptop to me so that I could see the screen. It was two pictures of the boys and me and I hadn’t posted either one. In the left picture Liam and I were holding hands walking out of the yogurt shop. Harry was behind us looking annoyed. In the picture on the right Harry and I were holding hands. He was smiling while Liam was looking at the ground. There were notes.

Who is she and why does she get to hold hands with 2/5 of 1D?
THIS
That girl tweeted pictures of them too.
I think she’s a cousin or something.
I thought she was just a fan from the pic she posted, but I guess not.
R.I.P to that poor girl.


“Megan come on we’re suppose to meet the guys for karaoke in thirty minutes,” I called to the girl who was taking forever to get ready. Unlike my dear friend, I was already dressed in skinny jeans, purple graphic tee, and silver flip-flops. A silver headband with a bow was holding my curly hair back. Megan on the other hand still wasn’t sure what shirt she was going to wear.
“I’m almost ready,” she called back. I groaned impatiently. Not only were we hanging out with Harry and Liam, but Niall, Louis, and Zayn we’re coming too. Plus Eleanor and Perrie, which made this pretty significant. Megan didn’t seem to understand that. “Okay, I’m ready.” She announced emerging in a gray button down blouse and black skinny jeans. I looked at her curiously. “Pictures could end up on the internet.” She shrugged and walked out of the house.
“Mom we’re gone!” I called before closing the door behind me. We arrived at the karaoke house ten minutes late. “Blame it on Megan,” I said as Liam looked at me curiously.
“Whatever,” Megan rolled her eyes looking around the restaurant. “Oh. My. Gosh. You’re Perrie Edwards.” Perrie looked at Megan from the conversation she was having with Zayn. “We are huge fans,” Megan squealed.
“OMG she’s fangirling,” I announced. “This could be bad.” The guys exchanged looks. “Perrie if we could get a picture with you, I bet it would make Meg stop acting weird.” Perrie smiled politely and agreed. Once we got the picture taken Megan was completely normal.
“Is it safe to introduce her to anyone else, because I hear Justin Bieber is in town.” Louis joked.
“No one cares about Justin Bieber,” Megan and I snapped at the same time. Louis, Harry, and Zayn laughed.
“How dare you?” Niall gasped.
Eleanor stepped forward, “Hello I’m Eleanor.” She introduced herself.
“Oh I know who you are,” Megan smirked and shook her hand. “I follow you on Twitter. Cute shirt by the way.” She pointed at Eleanor’s ruffled blouse.
I rolled my eyes, “Megan the infamous has returned.” We all took a seat at one of the two round tables being occupied by our group. “Okay let’s set some rules for this karaoke thing.”
“I think it should be girls versus boys,” Eleanor piped in.
“I agree,” Perrie added.
Megan nodded, “There is no voices that make girls swoon allowed.”
I coughed, “Liam.”
“No surprisingly deep voices either,” Megan continued.
“That’s definitely Harry,” Perrie commented.
“We’ll allow the Irish god,” Megan decided.
“They always prefer the blonde,” Louis shook his head.
Megan smiled, “Oh and no voices that are better than… Well you know.”
Perrie and I coughed at the same time, “Zayn.” We laughed at our joke.
“That’s a lot of rules,” Liam stated.
Harry nodded, “You girls have an unfair advantage.”
“No,” we all argued simultaneously.
“Besides Perrie the rest of us are amateurs.” I pointed out. They nodded and agreed to our terms.
“Flip a coin to start?” Louis said pulling out a coin. “Ladies choice.”
“Heads,” Eleanor called.
Liam looked at the flipped coin, “Heads it is.” We girls gathered together to discuss who would sing first.
“I think we should choose who sings from each team,” Zayn piped in suddenly. It was as if he knew our decision.
“I agree mate,” Louis nodded.
“Fine,” I folded my arms.
“This should be interesting,” Eleanor laughed as the boys conferred.
Niall looked up, “We choose Megan.” Megan’s eyes squinted as she dramatically stood. They thought they had us and it was hard to hide my smile so they wouldn’t know otherwise. Megan had a voice that could blow Christina Aguilera away while I was stuck with my Demi Lovato soprano.
Megan flipped through the karaoke book. She must have made a decision, because the DJ nodded. Megan took the microphone but no music played.
“Underneath the city lights,” she began the song from Burlesque that I knew so well. Her voice was quite deceiving. She definitely was not singing to her full force yet. “There is a world few know about. Where the rules don’t apply no and you can’t keep a good girl down.” The music started and Megan began to move with the beat. “She come through the club looking for a good time. Gonna make that shake that money on the dime. Don’t need a sugar daddy she can work it just fine. Up on the table she’ll be dancing all night. Hey hey hey!” I watched everyone’s face fall in shock as Megan hit the first high note. “Baby doll just come to life. Under the spotlight all the boys wanna fall behind. We say hey ay hey ay. Here come the ladies about to give a little show. Hey ay hey ay. Here comes the fellas gotta show a little more.” Megan pulled the microphone off the stand. “Get it up hit up won’t let you rest. Get it up hit it up this is not a test. Get it up hit up gotta give it your best so get your ass up show me how you burlesque.” She stepped off the small stage and walked to a table where two attractive guys were sitting. She was a natural performer. “A little bit of naughty was a little bit of nice. She’s a whole lot of glam, sweat, sugar, sex pie. Shimmy shimmy strut strut. Give a little what what. Up on the table she’ll be dancing all night. Hey hey hey! Baby doll just come to life. Under the spot light all the boys wanna fall behind. We say.” Everyone was getting into her performance now. By the energetic bridge she had them clapping and dancing. “Lemme hear you say hey ay ay eh eh. Say yeah yeah yeah eh yeah yeah yeah. Say hey ay ay eh eh. Say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah oh oh!” She finished the song flawlessly and took her much-deserved bow.
“That was great,” Perrie complimented Megan as she rejoined our table.
Megan smiled, “Thank you.” She turned to the guys, “Beat that.” Did I mention that she was highly competitive?
“Come on boys it’s your turn and we choose Harry,” Eleanor smiled. We had this competition in the bag.
Harry’s eyes were still wide in shock as he walked to the stage. He chose the song he auditioned with on the X Factor and people cheered him on. That gave the guys their confidence back.
“Eleanor,” Louis called in a singsong voice. Eleanor chose a classic pop song that she performed well, but it didn’t beat out Harry. Next Liam went and Perrie followed. Zayn thought that he one up us with a R&B song.
“Alright Brea it looks like you’re our last hope,” Megan announced.
“Are you scared?” Louis taunted.
“No,” I countered trying to act tough.
“You should be,” Harry chuckled. “Niall is following you.”
“Crap,” I muttered and turned to the girls. “What am I going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Perrie shook her head.
Megan gasped, “As cheesy as this may sound you should definitely do DNA.” She looked at Perrie, “Don’t worry she’ll do it justice.”
Eleanor nodded, “Go for it.”
I huffed a quick breath before heading towards the stage. I inhaled quickly gripping the microphone as my cue hit. “Does he tell you he loves you when you least expect it? Does he flutter your heart when he kisses your neck?” The thing about my voice is I can do several ranges. I can go from high soprano to high alto. It’s a gift. “No scientists or biology. It’s all us when he’s holding me. It’s only natural that I’m so affected.”
Suddenly Megan ran up to the stage. “Oh and my heart won’t beat again if I can’t feel him in my veins. No need to question I already know.”
We took the chorus together, “It’s in his DNA. D-D-D-DNA. It’s in his DNA and he just takes my breath away. Br-br-breath away. I feel it everyday and that’s what makes a man. Not hard to understand. Perfect in every way. I see it in his face. Nothing more to say it’s in his D-D-DNA.”
Megan nodded at me signaling that she would do the second verse, “It’s the blue in his eyes that help me see the future. Fingerprints that leave me covered for days. Yeah yeah yeah. Now I don’t have any first degree, but I know what he does to me. No need to work it out he’s so familiar. Oh oh oh.”
“And my heart won’t beat again if I can’t feel him in my veins. No need to question. I already know!” I sang.
“It’s in his DNA. D-D-DNA. It’s in his DNA and he just takes my breath away. Br-br-breath away. I feel it everyday and that’s what makes a man. Not hard to understand. Perfect in every way. I see it in his face. Nothing more to say it’s in his D-D-DNA.” We were possibly cheating, but no one was complaining.
Megan smiled this was her favorite part, “It’s something bout his kiss contaminates my lips. Our energies connect. It’s simply genetics. From his X to his Y it’s the color of his eyes. He can do no wrong. No he don’t need to try.”
I harmonized with her, “Made from the best. He passes all the test. Got my heart beating fast. It’s cardiac arrest. He’s from a different strand. The science can’t explain. I guess that’s how he’s made and it’s in his DNA. Oh oh oh. Oh oh oh.” I dropped out, “Oh oh oh. Oh oh oh.”
“Whoa oh oh!” I hit Perrie’s signature note confidently with enough breath to complete the chorus. We finished the song and bowed. Are they giving us a standing ovation? I thought to myself as Megan and I went back to the table.
Niall frowned slightly, “I don’t think we have a chance mates.”
“Agreed,” Louis added as the rest of the guys nodded.
Perrie smiled, “That was my first time hearing that be performed by someone other than my group and I really liked it.”
“You two are talented,” Eleanor agreed.
Megan shrugged, “I couldn’t let Brea have all the spotlight.” She joked, “But she could have taken it by herself.”
“Except for that thing called stage fright,” I reminded her. Megan pursed her lips . While the guys were discussing something and grabbing refreshments, Eleanor leaned forward.
“Louis was telling me that Harry has a new interest,” she whispered.
“Really? I wonder who?” Only I picked up on Megan’s sarcasm.
“Apparently she’s sort of from around here. Dark curly hair, gray eyes, and she’s short.” Eleanor continued. “He said she’s a fan, but she’s really relaxed and easy to talk to.”
“She sounds awesome,” I piped in.
Perrie looked at me curiously, “I think he means you.”
I sat up and shook my head, “No way.”
Megan face palmed, “Brea can be oblivious sometimes.”
Eleanor nodded, “Now that I think about it. The description definitely fits you.” I looked at all of them like they were crazy. Harry and I were just friends; just like Liam and I were.