My Little Bird

Finally we have an answer!

The mysterious girl that's been hanging around the members of boyband One Direction for the past month has been fully identified! Our exclusive source tells us her full name is Asher Maxwell, and gives us a few personal tidbits on the beauty:



Finally, and most importantly, her One Direction Connection: she's the first cousin of Louis Tomlinson's girlfriend, Eleanor Calder! So there you have it, readers; mystery solved! We did an extensive google search and sadly, we couldn't unearth any social networking accounts (facebook, instagram, twitter-- nothing!) so she either doesn't have any, or she's hiding them really well. If you happen to find one, let us know about it! In the meantime, keep checking back for more about our friend Asher Maxwell and her relationships with our favorite boyband!

"El, are you still there?" Eleanor was fuming as she read the latest tabloid article featuring her cousin. At the bottom were some photos taken two days before when she, Harry, and Niall were at the gym and after when they were walking to Finch's Cafe. Harry had seen it first thing that morning when he woke up and he instantly rang her to inform her and reveal his suspicions.

"Yes, I'm still here," she sighed, closing out the window that she had the article pulled up in and sliding the computer off her lap and onto the cushion next to her. "So how do you think they got all this information on her?"

"Well, if you really want to know what I think, I'm positive it was that bloke she's been hangin' around at Finch's."

"Olly? Why would Olly do this?" Eleanor hadn't met the boy but she thought he was pretty great from the way Asher made him sound.

"I don't know, but think about it, El. Who besides us knows this stuff about her? And it wasn't one of us who gave the tabloids an exclusive."

"It's awful to accuse someone of something like that unless you're sure."

"I know," he sighed heavily into the receiver. "Just.....tell her to be careful. I have to go, El. Abby's coming downstairs."

"Thanks for calling me, Harry."

He hesitated a moment before finally muttering a "Yeah" and hanging up. Eleanor dropped her phone into her lap and sighed, massaging her temples. She could hear her cousin bounding down the stairs and a few moments later, Asher appeared at the bottom of the staircase, pulling a black beanie on over her long brown waves as she walked into the living room. "Where are you off to?"

"I'm goin' over to Liam's to hang out. Wanna come?" Asher sat down on the arm of the chair across from her cousin, crossing her ankles and folding her hands in her lap as she looked at Eleanor expectantly.

"I'm actually spending time with Lou today, but we can walk there together." She rose to her feet, sliding her phone into the pocket of her jean shorts and Asher followed her to the door. It was a nice day out, the sun shining and the temperatures reaching to a scalding sixty-six degrees fahrenheit. Asher loved the drastic change in the weather between London and Tampa. The temperatures at home in Florida during the month of June were about thirty degrees higher than what she was experiencing.

The girls walked in silence for awhile, but Eleanor's mind was racing with the thoughts that Harry had planted in her head during their phone call. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore; she had to ask. "So how are things with you and Olly?"

Asher groaned. "Can we not?"

"Come on, Ash. I'm your best friend. You tell me everything!"

"Things are fine," she finally conceded. "It's not serious at all though. We went on two dates and we hang out occasionally. Really not a big deal."

"If you insist," Eleanor shrugged lightly. Secretly, she was rejoicing. If what Harry suspected was true, then Eleanor definitely didn't want her cousin to be getting serious with someone like Olly. Silence settled between them again, but Asher had moved on to more somber thoughts as she clutched the charm of her necklace, sliding it back and forth across the gold chain that hung from her neck.

When they arrived at the boys' complex the girls went their separate ways, Eleanor to Louis's and Asher to Liam's. Asher didn't bother knocking on the door since she knew that Liam was expecting her. When she stepped inside the living room, calling his name, her yelled back that he was in his room and would be down momentarily. He stomped down the stairs, a frown on his face as he pointed to the phone pressed to his ear. "This may take a few minutes," he whispered to her. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's fine. I'll just....go bug Harry or something."

Liam nodded, returning to his phone call, and Asher left his flat, walking the short distance to Harry's. She was about to go right in without knocking, but then she remembered that Abigail would most likely be there so instead she knocked softly on the door and waited. A moment later, it opened to reveal Harry, completely dressed in really tight jeans and a Pink Floyd tee shirt, which was odd considering he looked half asleep.

"Hey! What are you doing right now?"

He threw a quick glance back toward the living room."Just watching tv with Abby."

"Perfect! Come out to lunch with us."

"Who's us?" he asked hesitantly. He wasn't about to say yes if it was going to be a double date with Asher and that prick Olly. He would not have that.

"Just me and Liam. Come on! I'll get to meet Abby. We'll make it a double date, whadda ya say?"

He chewed on his bottom lip, thinking for a moment before giving a short nod of confirmation. "Okay, yeah. I'll go get her."

"We'll meet you by the car," she told him before turning to walk back to Liam's flat. Liam met her about halfway and when she told him that Harry and Abby would be joining them, he groaned. He hated Abby as much as everyone else did. He had given her a fair chance, but she had no interest in becoming his friend so he finally gave up.

"Don't be mean," she chided gently.

"It's not mean, Ash. You'll understand soon. None of us can stand her. Even my girlfriend hates her."

"Liam!" she gasped, giving him a surprised look, all talk of Abigail momentarily forgotten. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend!"

"It's still a relatively new thing," he shrugged. "We're not really telling everyone yet. Just friends and family."

"Is it conceited of me to feel special that you told me or was that an accident?" she joked.

He laughed. "You can feel special, Ash."

"Oh, I can't wait to meet her!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Tell me about her! What's she like?"

They spent the next fifteen minutes talking about Liam's new lady Sophia before Harry and Abby actually came out of his flat. Harry offered to drive since Liam's extremely expensive black car wasn't really suited for four people so Asher and Liam climbed into the back seat of the Range Rover parked a few meters from Harry's door. It was immediately obvious that Abby was in a foul mood. She didn't greet them and she only gave a curt "hello" in response to them when they greeted her.

Liam and Asher talked softly amongst themselves as Harry drove them to a restaurant about fifteen minutes from the flat. The boys hustled them inside quickly. Asher thought the restaurant was a bit too fancy for a regular lunch with friends and she knew she wasn't dressed for it. But then again, neither were Harry and Liam. Abigail, however, was dressed in tight leather trousers and an expensive-looking grey blouse, a pair of stilettos on her feet and her signature dark red lips. They were seated at a more private table in the corner.

The conversation was only three-sided instead of four, but no matter the topic, Abigail didn't join in. They could have been talking about her own movies (which they didn't) and she wouldn't have paid them any attention. Liam had felt bad that even though she had ample opportunity, she hadn't exactly been active in their conversation so far, so he tried to make even more effort to include her.

"So, Abigail, how was New Zealand? Did you have a good time?"

The blonde didn't respond. She actually didn't even look up from her phone screen. Liam, Asher, and Harry all exchanged glances. Harry nudged her gently with his elbow.

"What?" she asked, annoyed, as she looked up from the Blackberry cradled in her hand and quirked a perfectly shaped eyebrow at her boyfriend.

"Liam just asked you a question," he mumbled quietly to her. "You're completely ignoring us all."

"Well, I didn't even want to come out with him and your weird friend," she snapped, throwing Asher a nasty glare.

Harry gaped at her, horrified. "Abby!" It was obvious by the pink tint in his cheeks that he was embarrassed by Abigail's behavior. His mouth hung halfway open in shock, unable to believe that she'd actually been so rude to someone she'd never properly met before-- someone whom he considered a good friend. "That was so rude!"

"It's okay, Harry," Asher put in, seemingly unfazed by the rudeness that had been directed toward her. " It's been my understanding that I'm a bit of an acquired taste."

Truthfully, it was a bit of a sore spot for her. She'd never had many friends because most people thought she was a bit strange. She didn't keep up with current fashion trends, music, movies, or really anything else. She was completely her own person, uninfluenced by the current world for the most part. Because of that fact, most people didn't have any common interests with her so they mostly just avoided the situation. She was admittedly pretty lonely most of the time, especially after the accident.

"I'm gonna go get us some drinks," Liam blurted, clearly uncomfortable, as he quickly got up from the table and headed for the bar. Harry moved to get up as well, but then he had a second thought and he glanced back at Asher unsure. She gave him a reassuring smile before nodding her head toward the direction that Liam had gone.

Once he had left the two girls alone at the table, Asher's smile disappeared. She sighed heavily as she leaned back in her chair. "Look, I didn't mean to cause so much drama. I just thought that maybe we should get to know each other since you and Harry are together. I thought maybe we could've been friends."

Abigail gave a scathing laugh. "As if I would ever be friend with you! You're so weird! What are you even wearing? You're actually quite annoying. I mean, you're constantly making eyes at my boyfriend. I could never put up with being around someone like you. Frankly, I think the boys only do it because you're Eleanor's cousin so they have to." She rolled her grey eyes and twirled a strand of blonde hair around her index finger as if the conversation were boring her to death.

Asher had never been ashamed of the way she dressed or where she purchased her clothing or any other part of herself, but the biting tone of Abby's comments instantly made her feel completely inadequate. And that, in turn, made her defensive. She had to force herself to count to five in her head and take a deep breath before responding. "I'm really sorry you feel that way, Abby. Maybe it was presumptuous of me to think that we could get along, for Harry's sake."

"Why do you care so much about my boyfriend?" Abby scoffed.

"Why don't you care more about him?" It was obvious she'd caught Abigail off guard because the blonde just stared at her, unable to think of a comeback. Asher shook her head, licking over her lips as she glanced back to the two boys who were being handed their drinks. "If you could just be civil through this lunch, you'll never have to see me again. It was foolish of me to think that this might work."

Abigail didn't get a chance to fire back a snide remark before the boys returned to the table with drinks, interrupting the conversation between the two girls. Harry looked between the two hopefully but Asher just gave him a sad smile and a subtle shake of the head to let him know that things hadn't gone well. He frowned deeply as he took his seat again and Asher turned to Liam, thanking him for the drink he handed her and hoping desperately for some shift in subject and/or mood.

Unfortunately they couldn't recover.