Out of the Ordinary

Chapter 3

"Read it to me again." Emily demanded, her voice firm over the phone.

"Em, reading it again won't change anything." I looked down at the scribbled note in my hands, amazed that it was still there, and still as giddy about it as I had been in the coffee shop.

"Just do it, Maddie." She insisted. I could hear the crinkle of something on her end of the line, followed by a distinct crunch.

"Madelyn," I started, not as upset to read it once more as I let on I was. Scanning my eyes over the note, and tasting each word on my tongue again was like reading it for the first time - the thrill didn't go away, only settled its warmth in my chest with a pleasant buzz, one whose presence served to remind me of just how major all this was.

"Oh my God. I still can't believe it." Emily was still munching away, as if she had first row seats at the theater and needed to busy her hands and mouth with popcorn, "And you wrote out your full name on the napkin? The one you left him?"

"Yes." I said, for what felt like the hundredth time in our half hour long conversation, "I don't even know why - I just did." Truth was, I wanted Harry to know more about me, and giving him my nickname - the one everyone called me - felt cheap. I wanted him to know my full name as if, in some strange way, it would help him get to know me. It was stupid, I realize, but I didn't regret it.

"This is just - so crazy." Emily let out a long breath.

"You think?!" The sarcasm couldn't be helped. She wasn't the one it was happening to, and I still hadn't grasped the fact that I was the one on the receiving end of this whole thing.

"So..." she started, ignoring my remark, "What are you going to do?"

It was the question I had been asking myself since I'd read the note in the shop. Obviously, my first thought was that I had to go meet him. This was a once in a lifetime kind of thing, and I fully realized and appreciated that fact. This was Harry freakin' Styles - one of, if not, the biggest heartthrob/teen sensations in the world - and he was getting in touch with me. But, I had also seen what he was like separate from that media perception in the shop, where I'd conversed with someone who was clearly so much more than just a celebrity. He was a friendly, polite, intelligent, and funny human being, one who also happened to be incredibly good looking and talented.

But what was perhaps most impressive to me was the fact that the Harry Styles I met seemed to be the same Harry Styles in interviews and on stage. Maybe he was a little more outgoing in those lights, but I supposed he had to be. And I found I quite liked both sides of him, and counted myself lucky to have gotten to experience him in both settings.

And here he was offering me the time to experience him more. To what extent it should be taken, I wasn't sure, and I didn't want to admit to myself that my hopes were already far too high. While I certainly wanted to go meet him, there was a small part of me that was afraid it would just be a huge let down. Before, the idea of not seeing him at the coffee shop again was terrifying, but something I was basically counting on - it didn't seem realistic enough that he would be there twice in two days. But Harry didn't let me down then. And now my hope was much higher - he had led me up to the highest point of a steep cliff. It would be a much farther fall from the top for me if he didn't show, but I hoped I would get the time to enjoy the view if he did.

"I'm going." I replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Em sighed, not in exasperation, just a quiet acceptance, "Want me to come with you?"

"No," I squeezed the pillow I had clutched in my lap, feeling small in my tiny, bare dorm room, "That might be too weird."

"You mean you going to Central Park at the butt crack of dawn to meet a famous boy bander isn't too weird?" I giggled, agreeing that the whole thing was crazy, and she got abruptly serious, "No, I understand." She sounded concerned, like something was bothering her. There was something she wasn't telling me.