The Replacement Program - Harry Styles

Chapter 1

It wasn't my fault I missed all those calls from my manager Laura. I blame the air conditioning in my apartment, or lack thereof. My A/C was broken, and air-conditioning repairs were not my forte. Seen, as it was such a beautiful day outside the apartment, I decided to take advantage of the sunny weather outside of my gloomy apartment, and with this decision came the secondary decision of not bringing my cell phone with me outside for the walk, a choice Laura would not appreciate. My walk lasted, maybe, 2 hours since I decided to explore the great city of London, England. Since I was born and raised in Holmes Chapel, so still England, but not a touristy area. It was my mom's decision to send me to London when we realized my career as a model was blooming. She thought that as long as Laura looked after me, and I made good choices, everything would be okay. I know that she had an ulterior motive to sending me away though.

When I was 16, I had a best friend. He was my other half, literally. We did everything together and we were inseparable. I loved him, and he loved me, at the time. One thing about him is that he was an amazing singer, and because of that talent, his mom, sister, and I would always push him to do something with it. We nagged at him every single day to try out for any type of singing competition because we knew he would win. After all of our nagging, I guess at one point, we finally got through his thick skull. He made the choice to try out for X-Factor. We supported him fully, happy that he was taking initiative to put his talent to good use. When the time came for the auditions, I found him in his room, 15 minutes before we had to leave. "What's wrong?" I remember asking him. His hands were shaking and his face was really red. He was nervous. "I can't do this," He said. He shook his head. "You can do this, I believe in you." I remember telling him. I think it was at that point that he just looked at me, but it wasn't one of his usual looks, where he believed I was lying, this was something he had never used on me. It was kind of a lusting look, but you could sense all the feelings behind it.

He stalked towards me, his hands still shaking as he grabbed my waist. I pulled him down for a hug since he was a lot taller than my 5'4 frame. I gripped him tightly, not wanting to let go. After maybe 2 minutes he pulled back and stared into my eyes, and so quickly, he pecked my lips, and I felt goosebumps on my arms, and my neck was tingling. I just stared at him in shock, processing what just happened, but he was already by his doorframe, ready to go downstairs. He threw a lazy smirk my way and came back to pull me by the hand with him. I went quietly, the shock still running through my system.

The drive the stadium the audition was being held it seemed to last forever. The tension radiating off of Harry was so thick, he was psyching himself out for nothing. I remember not understanding why he would be scared. Even if he didn't make it, he would still have his family, he would still be going to college to study whatever he wants, and I wouldn't leave him. He's my best friend, so what if he doesn't end up famous? It's not like I'm only with him just to say I know him.

Anne finally parks the car in the parking lot of the stadium and we all get out and make our way to the sign in area. I latch onto Harry's hand to try to calm him down, giving him a tight squeeze. He looks over at me with a shaky smile, and I can't help the smile that forms on my face right back at him.

We made it through the registration area and made our way to the lineup outside the auditorium. Harry was slowly relaxing as we played a game of creating back-stories for the contestants around us. He was slowly settling his nerves, but I could tell he still had an edge to him. Knowing him as well as I did, I realized he doubted himself. He didn't think he was good enough to be here. It didn't help that some snobby died blonde lady was "warming up" her vocal cords. I believe she was just trying to be cocky and scare away the competition, and in Harry's case, I could tell it was working. In my mind, I was imagining the lady on stage, and Simon being very rude to her, like he often is to cocky contestants. I couldn't help but laugh at the scenario.