The Crystal by Jones M (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

hold the line for us while we go eat.”

Rachel and I had thought about it, and after minutes of talking about it, we agreed.

Rule number one of standing in line while waiting for coveted things: never leave the line. Before the three of us went to eat, Rachel asked one of the girls to hold our spot. She agreed way too eagerly for my liking.

We returned an hour later. We planned to go to our position in the line, but the security guards around the area said “No cutting!” Rachel, Emery and I showed the guards the tickets we had and even explained that we had someone at the front holding our spot for us. They confirmed our tickets, but they didn't let us move to our positions in the line. That left us standing behind the line. We were at the very back, the last of the last.

Then Rachel complained and blamed Emery for what had happened.

“Excuse me?” Emery said with a glare. “If we hadn’t gone to eat, I could have died or something!”

Rachel and I remained silent, ignoring Emery for the next couple of hours.

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Three hours later

“That’s it!” Emery said, turning to exit the line. I did not blame her. In fact, I wanted to join her. I didn’t even care that she made us stay behind the line. We had been standing for ages, and I wanted relief for my aching legs. 

“No!” Rachel countered, holding onto Emery’s arm. “First of all, I’m sorry we yelled at you.” I nodded with her. “We have ten people left, and then it’s us.”

“Rachel—"

“Shut up!” Rachel shouted, making Emery zip her mouth with her eyes widened.

“I have been standing here for a long time just to meet the Ordinary Brothers and possibly have them sign my stuff! We are almost there, Emery! We’ll be done soon. Just be patient.”

Emery gave Rachel and me the stink eye while thinking over the proposition. She sighed, giving in to Rachel’s demands.

The line kept moving until Rachel was in front of the Ordinary Brothers.

Finally!

If I hadn’t met them, I would have been ecstatic. It seemed like a dream come true, but I had already met them in Crystalia. 

At the moment, it appeared to be a waste of time. I could have spent the day watching movies or something!

The boys looked forward, not acknowledging Rachel, Emery and me. I thought that I had the worst day of my life. Seeing the boys’ state proved me otherwise.

They were tired. As in, too tired to even move a finger. Right then, I found myself admiring their dedication to their fans. They stayed a whole day just to meet them and to sign their things.

“Hello? Anyone there?” I asked as I waved my hands in front of the boys.

That had them snapping their attention towards Rachel. They showed her a smile, a perfect fake smile. Rachel smiled back, not seeing the tiredness in the boys’ eyes.

Rachel was smiling when everything seemed to stop.

“Guys, hi!” Emery said. The boys looked shocked to see that everything was frozen. They looked around before facing us.

“I know you are tired, but please make this meet-and-greet seem genuine to our friend.”

“I know, Emery. It’s just that we are all tired. We’ve been sitting here for most of the day, and we just had a thirty-minute break before we returned.” Zane said.

"It's true," Ethan added. "By the way, who knew that sitting could actually make people tired?"

“Also, do not forget the fans who tried to kiss us by force,” Logan grumbled under his tone. Emery and I blinked before falling into fits of laughter. The boys didn’t find it amusing.

“If you’re too tired, don’t worry. I have a spell that can act like cocaine,” I said.

"It better not get us hooked--" Liam went to speak, but I had already chanted the spell. Any remnants of tiredness were immediately wiped off their faces, and they looked energetic as ever.

“You have got to teach us that,” Liam said, earning acknowledging nods from the rest.

“I will, and like what Emery said, please make this meeting good for our friend,” I said before Emery unfroze time.

Rachel got her fantasy meet-and-greet. She got a couple of photos with the band, and she also got a kiss on the cheek from Harry. Emery and I had a hard time keeping her from fainting on the spot, and we both shot the curly-haired boy a bored look. In return, he just smirked.

The boys' meet-and-greet ended with us. We waved them bye as we went our own ways. 

“You know what I just realized?” Emery asked as we walked towards the castle’s entrance in Crystalia. I shook my head in a way of saying ‘no’.

“We could have frozen time and relaxed before we got back in line. We could have also teleported some food and ate while still in line.”

Emery’s realization had me gobsmacked.

“I also realized we could have used the spell we cast on the boys to give us energy for the day!”

Emery shared the same gobsmacked look I had.

Son of a bitch!

CHAPTER 14

Harry's P.O.V

"I am glad to be back home," I said as I walked towards the exit of the first class private plane. The boys and I had just finished our tour in the US. After that, we were to receive a three-month break where we could do whatever we wanted. All of us had one thing that we looked forward to: our families.

Yes, we kept in touch with them. We only spoke through the phones when we were busy with our tour, but it did not compare to being in the same room with them. I couldn't wait to go meet my mum and dad.

"Me too," Logan said, agreeing with my earlier statement. "Three months of doing nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. We have to deliver some songs to finish our album."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"You forgot or something, Harry?" Logan asked, giving me a confused look. "We have to come up with songs during this period. Didn't you hear what Simon said on the phone?"

My eyes went wide as the memory dawned on me. As the boys and I were boarding the plane, Simon called Liam. At that time, he couldn't reach for his phone because we were all busy struggling through a horde of crazy fans waving us goodbye. It was both crazy and adorable.

When we entered the plane, Liam called Simon back. Then we were told that we had to drop some songs in the break period. I couldn't be able to comprehend that because I was tired from the meet-and-greet. After that, I slept and woke up when we arrived in London. 

That explained the temporary memory loss I had when I woke up.

"So this won't be a break?" I asked, even though the answer seemed a bit obvious. I was still groggy from sleep, and my emotions were uncontrollable.

"No, it would be a break. Just with work and less involvement with our fans," Logan stated.

I huffed in annoyance before I went to move out of the plane with Logan. I was feeling sad about the news, but at least we could have day breaks in between.

When we were alighting, I noticed many people in the airport. Sure, there could be many people in the airport, but in this case, they weren't just any people.

They were our fans and the paparazzi.

They weren't that close. Just something like more than six meters far from us.

"Damn," I heard Ethan curse under his breath behind me. I nodded my head, saying with my body that I felt the same as he did. When we did, it made passing through them involving.

It looked like we would have a hard time moving away from our fans and the paparazzi.

"Well, at least Trevor is here," Ethan added. Our management required some of our bodyguards to be with us during the flight to London, and that thankfully included Trevor. He was the lead bodyguard, and he was a genius when it came to dealing with our fans.

The bodyguards that were with us on the plane were the first to alight. They were soon ushering us to hurry out of the plane to evade the curious crowd.

Ethan, Logan, Zane, Liam and I quickly alighted and moved to stay close to our bodyguards. When we were close to them, they formed a protective circle around us as we moved to leave the airport. On our way out, some reporters and our fans were trying to reach us.

Excited screams and shouts soon reached my ears.

"Who are you dating, Logan?"

"Is it true that you slept with Emma Watson, Harry?"

My eyes widened at the second question. Who came up with such a rumor? It wasn't true, that's for sure. But that didn't mean I would mind if the opportunity ever came.

I went to answer with that thought when Liam put a hand on my chest, preventing me from doing so.

"You need to remain quiet, Harry," he advised through the deafening noise around us. "If you give them something, they'll turn it around. That's what they all do." I thought of what he said and realized he was right.

He let go as walked through the horde of people. After some minutes, I could see the morning sky without the sight of ceilings above me, indicating that we were outside the airport building. Like vultures circling their prey, the paparazzi kept following us, asking us more ridiculous questions.

We came to a stop. I wondered why, but my mental question was answered by the presence of a limousine. Paul told us to get in with haste. He did not need to tell us twice.

A minute later, we were leaving the airport with, dare I say it, reporters running after us. They tried, but they failed.

The things people would do for gossip.

"So what's the plan, guys?" Liam asked us, trying to come up with light conversation. We all sat in the limousine with three of us facing the other two. I sat between Logan and Liam on one side of the limo.

"We'll visit each other. That's for sure," Zane replied as he moved his head towards Ethan's shoulder.

"Hey!" Ethan said in protest, but Zane wouldn't budge. Most of the people in the limo were exhausted from the meet-and-greet we did in New York. It was the first one we ever did. I was hoping it would take less time and that nothing crazy would happen, but apparently, I was wrong.

I love my fans. I do, but sometimes...

Flashback

"Hello!" I said with a grin as a girl came towards the desk. She was a brunette with long straight hair and a pale face. She had worn a yellow sleeveless shirt and a pair of cropped blue jeans that revealed too much of her legs. Apart from that, she had nothing that needed to be signed.

The other guys greeted her, but she ignored them. She was just staring at me.

"Hi, I'm Miranda," she said, finally looking towards the boys. However, her eyes came towards me in a second. She was still smiling.

"Hi, Miranda," I replied, feeling a bit cautious of her behavior.

"I'm a big fan of yours, Harry," she replied. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I was flattered, but I thought she was a big fan of our band. Why just me?

I was worried about her mental state. I hope she wasn't going to ask me to sign her tits like a couple of girls before her.

"What can I do you for?" I asked with a smile, even though I was worried in the back of my head. The girl grinned, and all hell broke loose.

I found myself vowing to never participate in any event that involved meeting my fans ever again. 

Ever! 

But how can I be so sure that what the girl did would not happen again? In fact, I guessed it was bound to happen to all of us. I just couldn't believe it happened to me first.

The memory that replayed in my mind still shocked me.

The girl kissed me!

Most guys would feel okay with the kiss. I didn't like it because of the way the girl initiated it.

She had jumped onto me and practically stabbed her lips onto mine. The girl, having been on the other side of the table, decided to jump onto me. The girl was fit, I had to give her that. The force of the jump was strong enough to send me and my chair to the ground. My head hit the gravel, causing pain to radiate throughout my head. I barely even feel the onslaught of the girl's lips on mine. It took a couple of seconds before the security team pried the