480 Hours

The next morning I’m being woken up by the sound of a high-pitch scream, cutting through the air. By the time I groan and open my eyes ever so lightly trying not to get blinded by the sunlight that’s peeking through the curtain, I know that it’s Alice. And she’s freaking out about something again. It’s the third time of the week I’m being woken up like this, and it’s only Wednesday. God, I just don’t understand how she keeps doing the same, exact thing every morning for these past few days.

“What is it again, Al? You’ve done that every morning since Monday!” I protest to her as I stomp out of my room to the kitchen where Alice is having her healthy breakfast with phone on her other hand.

She turns to look at me and grins widely, “Gemma is here! Gemma is here! Ah!” she slides off the stool and starts to jump excitedly like a little kid.

“Who the hell is Gemma?” I ask, giving her a questioning look just as a loud sigh escapes from my lips.

“She’s my friend, of course!” she stops jumping immediately and rolls her eyes at me.

“I’ve never heard of her before,” I mumble under my breath as I scratch my back neck in confusion.

“Of course you haven’t,” she chuckles and grins widely again, “I met her last year when I went on that Europe Trip with Jack and Ellie. When we went to England, we got to meet Gemma who’s actually Ellie’s long lost cousin and she’s the one who guided us in London.”

Of course I remember that trip. I still remember how suck it was to be left out with Benny and school while Jack and Alice were traveling Europe for three weeks and spending some time with Papa. Jealous would be such an understatement. I wasn’t only jealous, but upset and furious too. Because basically, it’s not fair. Just because I wasn’t 18 yet that time, it didn’t mean I had to be left out at home with Benny and Mama. Not that I minded so much though, but really? I could’ve just gone with them, but instead I stayed home taking care of little Benny and going to school.

“Anyway, do you have any plans for today?” I stay put, not knowing what I should say because I’m afraid she’ll ruin the plans I’ve made with my friends, “It’s just… I should be at Four Seasons in a few hours ‘cause I have spa with Andy and Gemma and since it’s going to take a while, I just don’t want Harry to be left out.”

“Who’s Harry?” I ask, furrowing my eyebrows.

“Gemma’s brother,” she answers, “I know you already have plans for today but I think maybe you can bring Harry along with you? I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t mind though. Besides he’s just your age! He’ll get along really well with you and the others.”

“Why me? Why not Ellie? I thought you said they’re Ellie’s cousins.” I sigh as I run my fingers tiredly through my messy hair. But I think asking for more explanation from Alice will be useless so I speak before she can say anything else, “Never mind. Just, never mind. I can just fetch him in. Maybe my friends won’t mind.” Without saying another word, I turn around and walk towards my room.

Once I’m already inside, I accidentally slam the door behind me. Clearly, it’s too early to be arguing over something useless with Alice and it’s not like I’d win if I let it happen. Here’s the thing; I will never win. No matter how hard I try to win an argument or just something, I would never win if Alice is my opponent. Being the first child has its advantage, I think. And Alice is lucky enough to experience all the advantages she has.

So instead of sulking like my heart tells me to, I decide to make up my bed and take a shower since I don’t want to waste any more minutes in Alice’s web. Once I’ve finished taking shower and cleaning up nicely, I walk out of my room and make my way towards the master bedroom in the house where Mama is most likely still sleeping or having breakfast in bed.

But when I walk in to her room without knocking on the door, I’m pretty surprised to find her sitting on her usual spot in the balcony. She has her back on me as she takes a careful sip of her drink. I walk towards her and put my hand on her shoulder once I’ve already approached her, “Good morning, sweetheart.”

“Good morning, Ma.” I reply her with a soft smile as she turns her gaze to take a look at me from head to toe, “How are you feeling today?”

“I’m fine.” She answers before taking another sip of her drink.

“Are you sure? Because I have a feeling that you keep telling me that so you can get rid of me,” much to my surprise, Mama lets out a loud laugh—which is the first, real laugh that I’ve heard in this week. I’m not quite sure if I was trying to be funny, but I’m just glad that I get to hear her laugh this morning.

“Ah,” she puts her mug on the table next to her and waves her hand, “I’m pretty sure I’m fine. You can go and have fun with your friends without having to worry about me. Jack will be here all day and he promised he’s going to play Scrabble with me.”

“Did he really promise you that?” she nods, “God, I can’t believe it. The last time I asked him to play Scrabble with me he moaned and whined for two-hours nonstop.”

Mama laughs again and shakes her head at me, “By the way, what’s your plan for today?”

“Um, yesterday Sasha told me that she needed a new pair of sandals and a new swimsuit so maybe we’ll go to the mall and Kuta beach afterwards, but that’s before Alice decided to butt in and tell me that I should take her friend’s brother as well.” I sigh loudly, thinking of how my friends would react if I tell them this.

“Cheer up, Cloud,” I smile softly, feeling instantly warm and peace inside once Mama uses her usual nickname for me, “I’m pretty sure you and the others will get along with him.”

“I hope so,” I breathe out, “I think I’ll leave now, yeah? I’ll see you later, Ma.” She stands up from her seat and turns around just so she can give me a hug. Once we already pull back from the hug, I peck her cheek before finally walking out of her room.



Much to my surprise, my friends are all okay with Harry tagging along with us today. I thought they all would let out a collective groan and bail on me just so they could stay in the house and watch movies and let me deal with a person that I haven’t even met before. Throughout the forty-minute car ride to Four Seasons hotel—where Gemma and Harry stay at and where Alice and Andy’s wedding will take place—Jasmine, Yuri and Naira are having this game of what Harry would look like. Their guesses are really silly and we all can’t help but to laugh at them.

“Will one of you come with me inside? You know how awkward I can be around new people.” I ask them once we arrive at the hotel.

“I will.” Nano is the only one who agrees to come with me while the others are just waiting in the car. Nano and I leave them be and walk towards the hotel. Alice told me before that she and Andy would be waiting in the lobby so I won’t get lost trying to find which cottage Gemma and Harry are staying in.

And as soon as Nano and I reach the lobby, we can easily spot Andy and Alice talking with a girl and a boy that I assume as Gemma and Harry. I can’t really see their face since both of them have their back at me. Nodding at Nano, both of us walk towards the group, silently hoping that we’re not intruding anything.

“There she is!” Alice exclaims as soon as she sees me and Nano walking towards her. Whatever conversation they had before just stops like that and other 3 pairs of eyes are instantly on me.

“Hey, guys. Sorry we’re late. The kids are taking too much time to get ready.” I speak with a little smile playing on my face as I approach her and stand just beside her with Nano on my right.

“It’s alright,” Alice waves her hand off and turns to look at her two friends, “Guys, this is Claudia. Dee, this is Gemma and Harry.” That’s my cue to turn my gaze away from Alice and see the two siblings that stand just a few feet away from me.

The sister, Gemma, is so beautiful. Her blond hair is in a messy, fishtail braid that looks fantastic. I don’t know how to do a fishtail braid—hell I don’t even know how to do a simple braid—so maybe that what makes me think it’s so fantastic. As she smiles warmly at me, dimples are shown and it’s just really cute. And what makes her even more beautiful is that the smile she cracks, reaches her eyes, “Nice to finally meet you, Claudia. Alice’s told me lots of things about you.” She greets, holding her hand out.

“Well, I hope it’s all good things.” I smile and shake her hand.

“I’m Harry,” I let go of her hand and turn my gaze a little bit to take a good look of Harry, her brother. Oh my God. I think I can’t even believe my eyes in this moment. He’s clearly tall, like a good 5 to 6 inches taller than me. And I can tell that his hair is curly because the curls are peeking out of the fedora that keeps his hair in place. And he’s smiling really sweetly and warmly, making the same, exact dimples to show, “and it’s pleasure to meet you.” God, that voice and that accent… It’s so cute I’m gonna die.

“Pleasure’s mine.” He doesn’t stick his hand out for me to shake like his sister just did. Instead, he shoves out his hands from his pockets and opens both of his arms, pulling me into a hug like we’re some kind of best friends that haven’t seen each other in a long time. After a few seconds, he finally pulls back and smiles warmly again at me.

And then I realize who he actually is.

“Take a good care of him, yeah? And please, please don’t do something stupid.” Alice says before I can drift away to a deep thought. I only roll my eyes at her though, and wait until Nano finishes greeting Gemma and Harry.

“Is Ryan coming with you today?” Andy asks as he shoves his phone into his jeans pocket.

“Of course, he is,” I roll my eyes again, “I know he can be very annoying sometimes, but there’s no way I’m leaving him alone in the house. He’s one of my best buds and we’re going to be related by the end of this week. I might as well get along with him, right?”

“Yea,” he chuckles, “Say hi to him from me, okay?” I just nod and once Nano has finished greeting the group, we excuse ourselves and walk away with the pop-star trailing behind me like a lost puppy. But that only happens for a few seconds because being a good person he is, Nano decides to walk with him and strikes up a conversation about music, leaving me to walk by myself.

I have no idea that the ‘Gemma’ Alice talked about earlier is Gemma Styles, the sister of Harry Styles. I mean, it didn’t even cross my mind at all that Alice would be friends with Gemma. The odds are a bit impossible. But then again Gemma is invited to Alice’s wedding and bringing Harry with her. Well, even if I had known that it’s Gemma Styles, I wouldn’t even think Harry would come. I know how busy he is and besides, why would he go with Gemma to one of her friends’ wedding that he never knew of?

“I don’t mean to scare you off, but there’ll be another five of us and we can be pretty loud sometimes, so yeah…” I inform him as we walk to the car where the kids, Sasha, Naira and Ryan are waiting.

“It’s alright,” he chuckles, “I have four brothers that are maybe as loud as your friends can be.” Aw, he considers his band mates as his brothers. Adorable. And with that, the conversation between us drowns and we finally reach the car.

As always, I’m the one who’s in charge to sit behind the steering wheel and Nano sits in the back with the others so Harry is in the passenger seat, safe from the kids’ attack, “Guys, meet Harry. Harry, this is the guys.” I let them introduce themselves to Harry and Harry does the same as I start the car.

The 45-minute car ride fills with nothing but the sound of Ed Sheeran’s beautiful songs blasting softly from the speaker and the small talk that Ryan and Nano have with Harry. They’re being so nice with Harry I might even want to cry. I know for sure that Ryan is a hard shell to crack when it comes to meeting new people and Nano is pretty awkward too but thankfully they don’t show that side of them today. I don’t know what I’d do if they’re not here and it’s just me and Harry. Maybe things would be really awkward since I’m not a very social person and I never have an international pop-star sitting in one car with me.

“We’ll be waiting at Starbucks and please don’t take longer than two hours. We still have places to go.” I inform the kids, Naira and Sasha once we’re already at the mall. Being here at only 11 am, the mall isn’t crowded yet so it’s pretty nice for all of us.

“You sure you’re not coming with us, Dee?” Jasmine asks once again and I shake my head firmly at her.

“No, I’m sure. You go ahead I’ll be just with the boys.” With that, the eight of us part ways. The boys and I walk towards the back of the mall where Starbucks is located. One thing that I like about going to Starbucks at this mall is it’s located in the back of the mall so it has a very good view of the Kuta beach.

“I thought you’re in the mood to shopping.” Ryan says as we walk into Starbucks. We decided to have a seat in the corner of the room near the glass door to the terrace and while Ryan and I wait in our table, Nano walks towards the cashier with Harry to order while there’s no queue yet.

“No actually I’m not. I feel like I’ve spent a lot of money that I should have.” I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly.

“Was it Alice who made you do that?” Ryan asks with a chuckle escaping his lips.

“Yes, it’s her. She made me spent a ridiculous amount of money for a goddamn dress last week. Yes it’s pretty and I shouldn’t have listened to her but it’s really pretty and I just couldn’t handle the thought of not having it in my dresser.” I sigh, repeating a memory of me and Alice shopping last week and buying a dress that’s ridiculously expensive.

“You’ve turned in to a girl, Dee.” I roll my eyes at him, ignoring his statement, “But seriously though, I thought you’re in for another shopping with the girls. I mean, that’s what girls always do in the movies, right? They go out together for shopping and a nice day out.”

“Seriously, Ry, you’ve watched too many chick-flicks. We don’t always do that, you know. That kind of things only happens in the movies where people have unlimited money so they can do whatever they want with their life.”

This time, it’s Ryan who rolls his eyes at me, “But seriously, I can’t just waste my money for something that I want if I’m planning to study abroad.” By the time I finish my words, Harry and Nano are already making their way back to our table with our drink.

“You’re planning to study abroad? Where do you want to study?” Harry asks as he takes a seat just across me and hands me a cup with my name scribbled on the side of it.

“Well, I’ve been looking for universities in England, France and Australia. But I’m still not sure if it’s a right decision since my mother hasn’t really talked with me about it.” I take a careful sip of my drink before settling down the cup on the table again.

“Oh,” Harry nods in understanding, “what’s your major though? If you don’t mind me asking…” I actually kind of mind since I drop out of university starting from this semester but since it’s Harry and he doesn’t know anything about me, so I’ll just give him a tiny information about it.

“It’s alright, really. I don’t mind,” I chuckle nervously, “I’m taking English Literature actually.”

“Anyway,” Ryan speaks before Harry can ask anything about my school, “How long are you going to be here?” I turn to give Ryan a thankful look and he only nods at me.

“Three weeks if I’m not mistaken.” Harry answers shortly.

“That’s a pretty long time,” Nano says, “have you been to Bali before? Or maybe you know a little bit about this place?”

“Nah, I have no clue at all about this place, mate.” I could’ve sworn I almost die when I hear him saying that. He sounds really British and it’s cute how the accent rolls over the words he just said. Now I know why other girls have such a thing on British people.

Nano and Ryan are glancing away at me and giving me looks that say ‘we should do fun stuff together and show this British guy everything about Bali’. I just nod my head at both of them before settling my eyes at Harry.

“Well then, Mr. Styles, I hope you’re in for three weeks full of adventurous trip with us. Because clearly, I can’t just let you go home without you not having a single thing to tell your friends about your trip here.”

“Of course, I’m in.” Harry chuckles and takes off the RayBan that’s covering his eyes. He puts it on the table and smiles cheekily at me, “So when do we start?”

I glance at Nano and Ryan, silently asking them when we should start but both of them only shrug their shoulders at me, “Um, how about today?”