My fists tightened around the magazine I was holding and my blood boiled. How did I not see this coming? What was my issue? I slapped the magazine down on the counter with a satisfying smack and groaned in frustration. He was dead. He was so, so very dead. Looking back at the cover of the magazine, the words bore into my eyes.

Liam Hawthorne’s New Bird! Has the bachelor gotten a girl at last?

I was not his new bird, whatever that meant. Also on the cover was a picture from outside the coffee shop, my face partially in view from the camera’s lenses. We were laughing at something, probably our lame name-calling. The quality was a bit shoddy, but you could still make out my face and that’s what scared me. If I was worried about people knowing who I was before with only James being my connection to the famous world, I had no idea what I had just gotten into after being seen with Liam. This was a week ago! Why does anyone care that we were hanging out?

Inside the magazine was a brief snippet with another two pictures of us inside the café and they just happened to get the picture of me poking Liam’s dimples. If I didn’t know the two people in that picture, I would have thought it was cute and silly, something a couple would do, especially the way the girl was looking at the boy. But the unfortunate topic of the matter, was that that “couple” was Liam and I. And I was looking at him like I was completely lovesick. It was just a crush, what did the paparazzi know? Nothing, that’s what! All they cared about was that the fangirls’ precious Liam Hawthorne was with a girl that no one has heard about it. What they didn’t care about was that that girl was me.

Feeling curious and angry, I grabbed my laptop and found the magazine’s website, finding the article and even more pictures than in the actual magazine. My exact wishes of remaining away from the public eye were denied. I went from being awkwardly at the edge of the spotlight to standing front and center stage in the limelight and I hated it. Below were thousands of comments, the majority of them containing hateful words and threats, but I couldn’t stop myself. I kept reading them, getting angrier every moment as they figured out who I was - who I definitely wasn’t. Each comment getting nastier and more hurtful until I felt like chucking my computer out.

“Cammie? You home?” I heard James’ voice reverberate of the walls as he came up the stairs to the kitchen where I still was, now sitting on the floor, biting my lip to stop me from crying. A traitorous sniffle escaped and I clamped my hand over my mouth as I shut my eyes to hold the tears back.

“Cam?” James rounded the corner and I could feel him staring at me for a moment before I felt him sit beside me and put his arms around me. I buried my head into his chest and cried.

“Cammie, what happened?” I sat up and wiped my tears away, grabbing my computer and putting it in James’ lap. I watched as James read the article and looked at the pictures and I could tell he hadn’t reached the comments yet, because he didn’t look to fazed by it. 

And then his brows furrowed as he began reading the comments, his scowl deepening each time his fingers scrolled further.

“Enough of that,” he said, shutting the computer. “Cam, you cannot listen to what those people are saying. They get brave behind a computer, but they’re wrong.”

“Are they? I’m not some super hot actress, I’m not well-known, I’m not cool, I’m just a nobody who happened to be there when he was.”

“Shut up, right now. They have no right to call you the things they did. You are a beautiful, awesome person and a phenomenal sister.”

“You have to say those things, you’re my older brother.”

“No, I’m saying them because it’s true. They don’t know you.”

“Oh, but they’re figuring it out. They already know I’m your sister, which will just make matters worse for you.”

“That’s why I came home. Your name was trending on Twitter and I didn’t know if I wanted to figure out what was happening through social media.”

“It’s moments like this I am so glad I don’t have a Twitter.”

“Me too. I wouldn’t want you reading through all of those comments even more. Now, get up. I’ll make you some coffee.” James got to his feet and then pulled me to mine. Just as he was pulling the coffee out of the cupboard, we heard the door open downstairs and footsteps.

“James? Cam? Are you here?” My heart stopped for a moment as my eyes widened, looking at James and I shook my head. My eyes were still puffy and cheeks tear-stained. The last thing I wanted Liam to see was me being weak.

“Hey, what’s up?” James quickly rounded the corner to stop Liam from entering the kitchen.

“My newsfeed is blowing up with stuff about Cam and I going out for coffee yesterday. I saw the article and the comments and...” he stopped for a moment and I heard him sigh before continuing gently. “Is Cam alright?”

It was like my heart was going to explode. His voice was soft and so sincere. He came to see if I was alright. I wasn’t, but his concern was overwhelming.

“She’s fine. She’s just never had to deal with hate mail before.” 

“Nor should she ever have to. I knew I shouldn’t have taken her out.” Liam’s voice sounded regretful and it hurt. 

“How were you supposed to know there’d be paps?”

“There’s always paps, James. I should have known better than bringing her in public with me. I should have known they would tear her apart and she doesn’t deserve that.”

“It’s not your fault, Liam.” I said it before I thought it through. I didn’t even realize I got up and left the kitchen and was standing near them.

“Cam, I’m so sorry. I -”

“It’s not your fault. We were just out for coffee. Really it’s not that bad. Don’t worry about it.” It was worse than I made it out to be and I could tell he knew by the way he stared into my soul. My eyes were likely to still be bloodshot and it wasn’t like he didn’t have eyes himself. I looked like a proper mess and he knew.

“I’m still sorry. But I hope we can do it again sometime, just without the articles and hateful comments.” He smiled as if to make it better and all I wanted was to go on a proper coffee date with Liam and not have anyone hate me. 

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” I laughed humorlessly. The situation wasn’t funny. Even if I tried to make light of it, it really wasn’t. Those comments hit deep and I couldn’t get the words out of my head.

“Camille, please forget everything they said about you.” I looked up to see Liam standing closer to me, his eyebrows scrunched together in concern. How did celebrities ever deal with hate? I felt like someone ripped out my soul and stomped on it and threw it in the dirt for good measure.

“Easier said than done,” I said quietly, my voice still hoarse from crying.

“I know, but really, they’re just insecure.”

“And obviously jealous,” James chimed in and I gave him a pointed look. “What? You have me as your brother and Liam as your supposed boyfriend.”

“James!”

“Supposed boyfriend. They don’t know you two aren’t actually together.” James shrugged, like what he said was harmless, but the fact that we weren’t together made his words sting.

“Anyway, how I dealt with hate when I first started getting it, is ignoring it and if you do choose to address it, do it calmly and cooly. It makes you look invincible and the hater look like an idiot. It’s a win-win situation,” Liam told me.

“That sounds hard.”

“It’s really not. You’ll be a pro. Just give them a sassy one liner to shut them up and boom. You’ll have someone silently fuming at their computer. Also, don’t get a Twitter any time soon.”

“No worries there.”

“Good, now I have to head back. I promised I’d have supper with my mum tonight. I’ll see you both later.” Liam started making his way towards the door when he turned back and faced me. “And Cam. I am truly sorry that this happened.”

“It’s fine, I’ll live. Thanks though.” I smiled gratefully at him as he exited the house and I caught myself looking too long at the staircase after he left, because, when I turned towards the kitchen, I saw James giving me a curious look.

“Well,” he began.

“Don’t. I don’t know where you’re going, but don’t.”

“I’m so glad I can read your mind, Cammie.”

“Stop.”

“First you were interested, but now. My, my, I do believe you like him.”

“Of course I like him, we’re friends.”

“Not that kind of like and you know it. You like-likehim.”

“Like-like him? Are we in middle school again?” James moved closer, his smile mocking me.

“You like him, you could tell in all those pictures of you two. I mean, it’s obvious enough in person, but seeing you two alone? My goodness, Mom and Dad are gonna flip when they hear this.”

“What does it matter? He doesn’t like me. It’s just my pathetic celebrity crush moving up into adulthood.”

“Except it’s a real crush this time because you actually know him.” Yeah, and that’s what makes this situation worse.

I couldn’t reply to what James was saying without confirming what he said, but staying silent was worse because his grin only widened.

“Yeah, you like him. Now to figure out if he likes you.”

“He doesn’t.”

“Oh, but he might. This is going to be so much fun.”

“I swear, sometimes I honestly believe you were incorrectly cast.”

“Maybe so, but we’ll talk about this whole ‘Cammie liking Liam’ thing later. I gotta go back to work.”

“But now you’re going to be all weird and dumb and smirking like an idiot whenever you’re around Liam.” 

James smiled and ruffled my hair. “You worry too much. I’ll be good.”

“No you won’t,” I said, slapping his hand away.

“See you later tonight, I think we’re doing late night filming, so I might not be home until after midnight. Bye Cam! And don’t read anymore comments, ok?”

I wrapped my arms around myself and nodded. “Yeah, no worries. See you tomorrow.” James grabbed his keys and phone, heading down the stairs and out the door as my phone buzzed on the counter. I unlocked it to see a new message on my screen.

From: that British guy

Again, I’m really sorry about the comments, hope you’re ok :)

The smile was evident on my face as a new message popped up.

From: that British guy

But I’m serious, we should do coffee again. Maybe when the paps are dead and it’s midnight. But we should.

I laughed again and quickly typed a response.

To: that British guy

Yeah, paps dead + midnight is a good plan.

Thanks tho :)

I silenced my phone as I headed up to my room and flopped on to my bed. Crying so much exhausted me, but I fell asleep with a warm, fuzzy sort of feeling that wasn’t there just because of the fleece blanket wrapped around me.

I don’t know how much time passed, but next thing I knew I was being shaken awake. Pulling my blanket over my head, I tried to pretend that I was unavailable for talking. I didn’t care if the house was on fire, I was not getting up.

“Get up, Camo,” a voice said. There was only one person on earth that called me Camo. My body went into alert as I flung up to a sitting position.

“Dad!” I wrapped my arms around his neck as he laughed and hugged me tightly.

“How’ve you been, kid?”

“I’m fine, how was Switzerland?”

His smile widened as he started telling me about work and all the places he went. His stories were always the best, as anyone’s is who travels enough. Running for flights, run-ins with the local police when American customs are way too different than the local customs.

“My colleague and I stopped in Germany for the weekend, just a small village that he had a friend in, and we thought we were going to choke to death, they smoked so much. But it was interesting to see them all converse at the pub together over cigarettes and beer. And I’m not saying every German is like that,” he said when he noticed my sour expression. Neither of those appealed to me much. “Just some of the local older men. It was fun.”

“Not quite my cup of tea, but I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“Speaking of ‘cups of tea,’ tell me about this Liam guy. Who is he and what does he want?”

I placed my head in the palm of my hand. “Seriously, Dad? It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Oh, if it makes the news in Switzerland, I’d say it’s a pretty big deal.”

“It made what now?” My head flew out of my hand as I stared at him, eyes widened in horror.

“Oh sure. I was watching some random TV over there the other night and then this half hour gossip show turns on and first thing on the list is how James Everett’s little sister went on a date with Liam Hawthorne. So Camo, please do explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain. I was out drawing, it started raining, Liam saw me walking and he offered a ride home, but then he wanted to go out for coffee. So we did.”

“And all the paparazzi saw you and now you’re almost as famous as James.”

I flipped my hair off my shoulder over dramatically. “So famous I get hate mail, so hey. It’s a pretty good day.”

“Hate mail?” My dad’s voice dropped an octave and he looked like he was about to slaughter someone.

“Dad, it’s fine. James took care of it. Don’t worry about it.” 

He narrowed his eyes and then pointed at me directly, making sure I was paying full attention. “We’ll talk about this when I’m not exhausted from jet lag. But as for right now, you be careful with Liam. He’s a movie star, Camo, and the last thing I want to see is you building yourself up for disappointment.”

“Wow, thanks Dad.”

“I’m serious. I don’t want to see more articles about some star’s bird, whatever that word means.”

“That’s what I was wondering!”

“Anyway, I’m going to bed. We’ll talk later. Good night, Cam.” He leaned over and kissed my head and exited my room leaving me with nothing but my thoughts to run wild.

Sleep was overrated anyway.

------------------------------------------>

Hello my lovelies!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter even if it was a little depressing because Cam got a bunch of hate mail. WHO COULD HATE CAM THIS IS NUTS! But then Liam came to be adorable and ashdfkj I can't deal with it. Not to mention One Direction released Story of My Life and I'm kinda living on a high of emotions right now.

This week was incredibly busy with All-Night Prayer, United night, and small group PLUS the additional homework, so thanks for waiting!

What do you guys think of it all? Did anyone notice the sneaky title slip in the chapter? I'm particularly proud of myself for doing that ;)

Have a lovely week and HAPPY MONDAY!

You guys stay classy,

-Katie