The Christmas Concert | h.s.

Chapter 19

Harli's POV

In stories and movies, girls always complain about not knowing what to wear on a date. I always believed it was a load of crap. Then I got asked on a date, or what I believed was a date, and discovered that there was some truth to that. Not knowing where you're going just adds to the pressure; like what if you go somewhere fancy and you're underdressed and vice versa.

I spent almost all afternoon trying to get ready for that date. After the trampoline fiasco, Harry left with the rest of the 5sos boys, and I went to bed way early. I told him he was still perfectly welcome to stay on the couch, but he wanted to pick me up at the door, like an official date.

Of course, this resulted in me waking up at 5:00 a.m. I tried convincing myself that it's just Harry and the date will be a piece of cake, but I way overthought things, and ended up going for a run at 5:30 in the morning.

Around 6:00 or so, I stopped at the beach. Mom and I used to sit on the back porch overlooking the beach to watch the sunrise every morning, and that's what I found myself doing. There was no one else around, and it was extremely peaceful with the background noise of the waves crashing onto the beach.

The sky began to lighten as a few strips of pink rose in the horizon. I flopped down on my back, staring at the sky as the soft morning light pierced the darkness. It was so surreal watching everything come to life. The waves even seemed to wake up because they got louder, yet seemed smoother. The seagulls began flying and a small breeze picked up.

When I was little, Mom would tell me that when the sun rose, it was Jesus' way of saying good morning and smiling down at us. My instinct at this moment was to lay in the cool sand for the rest of my life, enjoying every sunrise and sunset.

Unfortunately, my morning peace was broken by my phone ringing. I sighed and sat up, frustrated at whoever decided to ruin my morning. Not even bothering to check my caller I.D. I answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Is this really Harli Jackson?"

"Um, who is this?"

"Guys, we were right! This is Harli Jackson!"

My stomach was tossing uncomfortably as I began panicking. How had these random people gotten my number?

"Who is this?"

"Oh, I'm Clarissa and my friend here is Aimee."

"How did you get my number?"

"It was on a fan site."

I hung up the phone and immediately opened google to search "Harli Jackson's phone number." Sure enough, my phone number was plastered everywhere. I exited and sighed in frustration, not really wanting to deal with it that early in the morning. After some thought and a few missed calls, I turned my phone off and tossed it into the sand. Best to just figure it out later.

By that time, the sun was fully up, and I could hear cars zipping down the street already. I stood and began jogging back towards my house. When I got home, I remembered to check my calendar, and got excited when I saw that soon, I would be back in the studio, putting the final touches on my album.

It was due to be released in March and I couldn't be more psyched about it. The tour started in April, and I was planning on going overseas in June to continue it. My summer would be busy, but I was super pumped, and the plan was to release two more singles before the album. Right before my album came out, I was scheduled to do some interviews and radio shows.

Recently, my fan base had grown. Ever since the concert, "Stackson" shippers had become more loyal. My recent single had gone to number one on iTunes for a few weeks before falling to about five or so.