Chapter 9: Talk the Talk


It took some time for Riley to gain her composure again. She would stop tearing up for a few moments to get some actual words out, but then would start weeping all over again. Probably about a half hour after I sang the song for her we finally sat like normal, just talking.

“I’m so sorry about that, Marcel.” She looked over at me from the other side of the futon we sat on together.

I chuckled at her. “Rils, you have no reason to be sorry. It means so much to me that I moved you enough to make you emotional.”

“Oh thanks.” She stated sarcastically.

I reached over and nudged her somewhat awkwardly. “You know what I meant.”

“Yeah, I know.” She giggled.
“Seriously though, I cannot believe I did that. Harry Styles is going to be such a lady killer.”

I flushed a bit red, “No, I don’t think so. I mean yeah, a bit different from me… but I don’t think I could ever treat women like that… or talk to them for that matter.”

“Oh, come on Marcel! You talk to me! I’m a lady.”

I hunched over leaning my arms on my thighs and my head on my hands, while I looked over at Riley. “I know that, but you’re different.”

She looked slightly offended. “Ugh!” She jokingly dramatized. “What makes me different?”

Everything makes you different. You’re perfect. I thought to myself. “I’ve just known you for such a long time. I couldn’t imagine not talking to you.”

She brought her hand to her chest, over her heart, “Well, I’m flattered.” I just smiled at her, which I noticed made her flush a little. “Umm…” She looked closer at my face. “Jeez, Marcel… I just still can’t get over how different you look.”

I looked down at my body. “Hmm…that’s strange. I still feel like me.” I stated teasingly.

“You are a cheeky bastard tonight.” She giggled.

“I think it’s Harry taking over.”

She rolled her eyes back, laughing for a few moments. Then her head suddenly snapped back, with bright eyes. “That’s right! We need to work on his type of personality!” She stood up clapping her hands even more excited.

“Okay, what do you think?”

She brought her hand up to her face, pretending to stroke an imaginary mustache, “Hmm… I think I really like him being cheeky. I like it when you let loose like that, so I think Harry should be like that more.”

I nodded my head. “I could probably do that.”

“But I think he needs to be a bit mature as well. He should know how to have a good time, but know when to hold it back.”

I stared at her with wide eyes, “Don’t I do that already?”

She giggled at herself, “I suppose you are quite like that.” She plopped back down on the futon, closer to me this time. “I just think he needs to be goofy and fun. You know how you get when it is just you and me? You should act like that all the time. Also, just be more confident with yourself. Let everyone see the real you.”

My heart sank a bit at the confident part. I always wanted to be more confident and stand up to my bullies, but I always knew it was no use. I shook my head to brush it off, and decided to keep the cheeky bit up, “Wait, I thought the point of this was to not be myself?”

She nudged into my shoulder playfully. “You are doing a perfect Harry Styles for what I imagined, you cheeky little shit.” We both giggled at her remark. “Hmm… what else could we do… how about your voice?”

I was a bit confused. “My voice?”

“Yeah! Like…what if people hear you and recognize you!”

I laughed at her serious concern about my voice. “Are people really going to do that?”

She smiled a wide grin, “Could you at least humor me?”

I nodded me head in agreement. “How do you think Harry Styles sounds?”

Her eyes squinted while she thought. It was so funny to think about how this whole charade came from her mind. Everything from the name, to the style, to the personality, to whatever else she could think of, all came from her. She began to speak again, snapping me from my thoughts. “What if you talked with a lower voice, and maybe talked a bit slower?”

“You want me to talk slow? Won’t I sound stupid or something?”

She giggled. “No! Not like super slow… but you talk pretty fast now… what if you just …slowed…it…down. That way when you are asked questions, you have a little more time to put together your thoughts.”

It was a good idea, but it was strange to think about all of this actually going anywhere. I mean, who was to say I would even get to the judges’ round of the competition. It was nice to know somebody believed in me, even if I didn’t fully. “Okay.” I stated. “How… about…this?”

She pushed my arm again. “No! Not like that, silly! Just… I don’t know… you’ll figure it out.” She smiled.

I thought about it for a second before turning and looking at her all seriously. “Okay let me try this again.”

“Alright!” She beamed.

I stood up and walked to the center of the room. I shook my curly hair out and brushed my hand through it, pushing over to the side more. I began to speak with a bit of a raspier voice and a bit slowed down, which I thought might suite Riley’s vision of the alternate ego. “Hello. My name is Harry Styles. I will be performing… some song… we haven’t picked yet.”

She giggled at the last part, but her eyes were sparkling. “That sounded perfect! I especially like that little hair shake. You can make that your signature thing!... I seriously don’t even recognize you, Marcel! You even stood up with confidence and everything. There is no way this isn’t going to work.”

I shrugged my shoulders, “At least I’ll get an honest opinion out of it.”

She stood and grabbed ahold of my shoulders. “I fully believe you will get more than just that of this. You promised you would try your hardest in all of this.”

I smiled at her. Her face seemed so close to mine. “I know… And I will keep that promise.”

She let her arms fall to her sides. “Good…you better!” The room was silent for a few more moments. She must have been thinking about what I had said because she then looked deep into my eyes and stated, “I think you should sing that song for your audition.”

Not really thinking, I asked, “What song?”

She smiled her perfect smile. “Isn’t She Lovely. I think it was so perfect and beautiful, and will really get attention brought to you. Also, it’s my favorite.”

I returned her smile, “I know.”

She tilted her head to the side slightly. “We know each other pretty well, huh?”

“Yeah, we do.” I admitted.

I looked to the ground, not really sure how to break the seconds of silence that followed. However, Riley did. She pulled me into a tight hug, placing her head against my shoulder. My arms rose to the small of her back as she whispered, “Thanks for being such a great friend, Marcel.”

I whispered back, “Thanks for just… being my friend, Riley.” We pulled apart and her face was twisted to the side. Her eyes were a bit teary again. She was getting very emotional that night. I took my hand a wiped it across the edge of her eye, brushing the tear along my pants leg. I lightheartedly stated, “I don’t know why you are cry so much tonight.”

She stepped back, “Me neither… I think I am already just really proud of you for trying this.” We both giggled momentarily, until we heard my mum enter the house upstairs, home from work. She looked back to me. “I should be getting home… I’ve got some homework and stuff to do. I also have to call Kyle.”

My gut lurched at the thought of her leaving to talk to Kyle. I wondered if that was how I would always feel when his named was mentioned. I hoped they wouldn’t last forever, because obviously I had stronger feelings for her than he ever could. I pushed my lips to the side and stated only a bit disappointedly, “Yeah. Okay.” We walked up the steps, to the door. Riley picked up her bag and was about to head out the door. I stated, “Well, thanks for everything.”

She twisted the knob and opened the door. “Anytime, Marcel.” With one last smile, she turned and exited through the open arch. The door closed, and I stood there for a few minutes, reminiscing about how nicely the evening had gone.

I decided to go into the kitchen to have a nice chat with my mum. I hadn’t seen her for a long while. When I entered she was fixing some kind of supper over the stove. “Hey mum.”

“Good evening, Marcel.” She slowly turned to face me. “Oh, dear! You look different. I hardly even recognized my own son!”

I laughed. “Well that’s good then! This is my new look for my audition for the X-Factor. You know, what Riley and I were planning?”

She nodded her head, remembering. “Oh, that’s right! Well… I have to say… it’s quite impressive.”

“Thanks, mum.”

We both sat down and chatted about how our days went the past few days. I obviously left out the whole Kyle situation. Luckily she didn’t notice the slight bruise on my face. I suppose I appeared so different already, she didn’t really look too closely. We ate supper together, which ended up just being hot dogs and some mac and cheese. When we were done eating I offered to do the dishes, to let her relax a bit. After I was done, I placed them back in the proper cupboards and headed back up the steps.

I went into my bathroom and took my contacts out. I rubbed my eyes roughly as they were rather itchy. That was something I was going to need to get used to, so I made a mental note to wear them more often. I looked at myself in the mirror, looking at my outfit and hair style. It reminded me once again of the emotion I sparked in Riley. I hated to see her cry, but it was beautiful when it was for something good. I was happy I could create those sorts of feelings in someone. I smiled at the guy looking back at me in the mirror. He was new. He was different… but I think I liked him.

Notes

Here is another chapter update! I must be on a roll or something? Haha!
I hope you guys like it.

What do you think of Harry Styles? Why was Riley so emotional? Do you think Marcel can pull it off? Do you think Marcel will be more confident?

Please keep commenting! It really motivates me to keep writing... like I hadn't planned to update tonight, but here we are! :)

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