Climbing the Walls (a Niall Horan love story)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Oh, hey. My name's Haley. Haley Ramiel Watson. I'm sixteen years old, and pretty much your average teenage girl; I love shopping, music, hair, make-up, being weird with my friends, ice cream and romantic comedies, the works. Well, I'm average besides the fact that I'm Harry Styles' cousin. But, ya know, that's no big deal.

Well, I guess I should tell you some more about myself. I'm 5'6, have long curly brown hair, golden brown eyes, a pale, freckley face with ever-rosy cheeks and red lips due to a horrible habit of licking my lips. I love Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, Rent, The Notebook, and Mean Girls, I prefer vanilla to chocolate, night to day, rain to sun, and cats to dogs, and I have two siblings, Billy (19) and Jaci (21). My parents recently died in a car accident, forcing me to move from my small town in New Jersey to Harry's house in Holmes Chapel with him and his parents. Oh, and his four band mates.

I can't say I consider myself a "Directioner", but I do like their music. I mean it's not like I've never heard their songs before, if your cousin is becoming famous and his band's "Infection" is spreading all over your country, chances are you're gonna listen to their music. And I like it. I'm not obsessed like my friends Julia, Megan, and Danielle, though. That'd be kinda weird, considering Harry's my close cousin and all,

And to be honest, it is kind of weird for me, my three best friends being obsessed with my cousin. I mean, how many girls can say that pictures of their cousin cover their best friends' lockers, phones, and bedroom walls? They try to mute it around me, but still. When your friend checks her phone and you see that her background is a shirtless picture of your cousin, it's a tad uncomfortable.

I wasn't very happy about moving to England and leaving my friends and family (Billy and Jaci were staying in college in America) and I definitely wasn't happy about my parents' death. But as shaken as I was, I knew I had to be strong for my brother and sister. As much as I hated to admit it, they were both much closer to my parents than I ever was. All the hiking my brother did with my dad, the science field trips my dad brought Jaci on, the girl scout and cub scout meetings my mother led, the heart-to-hearts my mom had with my sister late at night that I pretended to be asleep during. I've never had a heart-to-heart with my mom before. Now I never will. I liked to isolate sad Haley and cry alone at night, not letting any of the family know. I was always that happy, cheerful, polite little girl whose smile never left her face, and I decided I would pretend to always be that way.

Honestly, my parents barely knew me. They died thinking I had never had a boyfriend before. I've only really had one that actually meant anything to me, Chase, but he meant everything to me. And he said I meant the world to him, too, but I guess he just knew what a girl wants to hear. It's retarded, it's been three years, but the pain is still fresh, like a new stab to the heart every time I see him. Not just him, every time I see a flash of jet black hair or stare into a pair of turquoise blue eyes, I'm reminded of what we had and what could've been.

"Hale, you ok? We're here..." Jaci attempted to gently bring me back to reality when I realized tears were streaming down my face. I wiped them away, careful not to mess up my mascara. I checked it in her rearview mirror. She was taking me to the airport, to the plane that would take me to England. Julez, Meggy, Dani and I had said our tear-filled goodbyes yesterday, Billy earlier today, and I guess now I would have to part ways with my older sister, the girl I called my idol ever since I learned what the word meant.

"I'm fine. It's just..." She nodded, and I was glad she understood. "Guess Newark's got me down," I joked, trying to lighten the mood. She smiled and offered to help me inside. I gratefully accepted, as I've only been on a plane twice, going to England to see Harry, four times if you count coming back.