Secrets

I’m brushing my teeth, minding my own business, when the door flies open. An arm reaches in and grabs my shirt, dragging me away from the sink.

“What the fuck?” I try to say, though communicating is difficult, since my mouth is so full of toothpaste and foam. “I have to spit!”

“Simon’s on the phone,” Liam explains away, not caring the least about my issue at the moment. “He said to go get you because it’s important.”

I shut my mouth as I follow him into the kitchen area. The other boys are already gathered around the laptop screen. Simon’s on the other side of the Skype connection, wearing one of his signature t-shirts. His face is broken out in a smile, like he’s quite excited to hear from us.

Before I stand behind the bench, I open the window and spit out on the pavement. It’s disgusting, but a guy’s got to do what he has to do.

After rinsing my mouth, I use the back of my hand to wipe off around my mouth and take my place standing behind Louis.

“Okay, everyone’s here,” Niall expresses, his voice high with excitement. “Now what’s the news?”

“First things first, boys. How are you doing? Is the tour going well?”

“Awesome,” Zayn replies. “America has great crowds.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Simon tells us honestly as he rubs his hands together. “Alright, now onto business. I just wanted to let you all know that I discovered a new talent the other day. I think she’s incredibly promising.”

“That’s great,” Liam says, his voice tinged on the edges with confusion, “but why are you telling us?”

“Because I thought she might do really well opening for you on the next leg of the tour.”

“That could be awesome,” Zayn nods approvingly.

“What’s her name, just out of curiosity?” I voice, leaning over more so that Simon can see more of my face in the camera.

“Molly,” he answers nonchalantly. “She’s just a nobody from America who’s been living in England for the past couple of years.”

The boys all shot me sidelong glances as I entered full-blown panic mode. How was it possible that she’d come back into my life this way? I did my best to feign coolness, ignoring the layer of sweat that broke out over my forehead, as I respond, “Oh, is she in London right now?”

“Yeah, she is. She’s a lovely talent. She sang a Taylor Swift song on a Twitcam the other day, and I just so happened to check it out. It was brilliant. You should look it up on YouTube or something. I’m sure it’s there.”

“We’ll definitely do that,” Louis replies, though his voice sounds noticeably weaker. “Thanks for telling us, Simon.”

“It was my pleasure, boys. I hope that you get to meet Molly soon.”

“Us, too.” Liam pastes a massive smile on his face as everyone quickly says goodbye.

The second the Skype window is closed, I jump into action. As quickly as my legs can carry me, I’m back in the bunker room of the tour bus, throwing all the shit I can grab in a matter of sixty seconds into the bag in my hands.

“Harry, please think about this,” Louis begs at the doorway. “You don’t want to do anything daft.”

“I’m not being daft,” I reply quickly. “I’m going to find her. This is a sign, Louis. Can’t you see that?”

“I think you’re jumping into this.” He shakes his head and crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Honestly, Harry. You can’t just leave America and run back to England, chasing after a girl that left you behind. She doesn’t want you anymore.”

“It’s not that she doesn’t want me,” I argue as I zip the back, shoving my way past him. “It’s that she thinks things are her fault that were completely out of her control. I have to clear things up with her. And if she really hates me, then she can say it to my face.”

“Just think about it!” Louis screams after me as I hurry off the bus.

“There isn’t any time to think,” I respond, unlocking my phone to buy a last-minute plane ticket.

And less than an hour later, I’m on a plane over the Atlantic, tapping my fingers on the armrests of the chair anxiously, trying to ignore the irritating snoring of the man next to me.