As I brewed the standard vat of coffee the next day, a woman I didn't recognize wandered into the kitchen. I didn't remember seeing her working with any of the other producers, and I was sure she wasn't on the camera crew. Maybe a member of the executive team? That didn't seem likely since the execs usually kept far away from the "talent," as we were sometimes called. And she didn't exactly look like an exec either, not that I thought they had to conform to any particular standard. 

She had jet-black hair, which I was fairly certain was a dye job, overly large black-framed glasses, and a slouchy beanie on her head. In summer, no less. She wore high-waisted jean shorts and a t-shirt that proclaimed Screw Boybands, so it seemed pretty obvious that she wasn't a contestant, unless Harry had a thing for girls who dressed in clothing that slammed his profession.

She didn't say anything and began looking through cupboards, so I asked, "Are you looking for coffee mugs?" 

She gave me a very tight-lipped smile and quietly said, "Yes." 

I opened the door to the mug cabinet and said, "Take your pick." She grabbed one and filled it while I pulled out various creamers.

"I'm Harper, by the way," I said, hoping she would reciprocate. 

"Annie," she said, again with the tight-lipped smile. 

I sat down with my own hot cup of coffee, trying to decide what I wanted to eat for breakfast. I hoped that Annie would offer some more information about herself, but she didn't. At least not right away.

I tried to examine her while she drank her coffee, without being too obvious, of course. Finally, I asked, "Did you just get here?" 

"Yes," she replied politely, with no further information. Was I not supposed to be asking who she was? Was this top secret or something? 

Ariana and Jamie wandered in, looking much more awake than I felt. "How was the date?" Jamie asked. Both girls glanced at Annie curiously and then looked back to me.

"Super," I answered eagerly. "We went to Seattle. Well you probably heard that part already, but it was so much fun. Let's see, we did the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, a walking food tour of Seattle...." I was trying to think of anything else that seemed noteworthy, without mentioning that Harry was the best kisser in the world.

"Well, the three that came home weren't very happy," Ariana informed me. 

"That's no surprise," I said. "I won the trivia contest by sheer luck. But who wouldn't want more time with Harry? That's why we're here, isn't it?" 

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Annie was suddenly paying very close attention to our conversation. 

"Yeah," Jamie said. "I just hope I get one of the one-on-one dates this week. I really feel like I need more time with him, you know. You've had a lot, Harper." 

I couldn't tell if that was just a statement of fact or if Jamie was jealous. In either case, I responded, "I know. I can't say it hasn't been amazing, but I'm not purposely standing in anyone's way. In fact, I doubt I'll see much more of him this week with the two one-on-one's and the next group date. I don't even know if he has plans to spend time with us as a group again before the next elimination." As I said that, I hoped, in retrospect, that everything I said to Harry the night before was enough for him to want me to stay. If not, our kisses had been very convincing, I hoped for both of us.

"Tell me about this Harry fellow," Annie said. Her voice was very quiet, and she seemed to have just the slightest bit of an accent, but I couldn't tell if it was Midwestern or maybe Canadian. She would have to talk a lot more for me to figure it out. 

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Ariana asked. "Not to sound rude," she added. I didn't think it was possible for Ariana to be rude to anyone. Her constant smile and her sweet voice made her seem angelic. 

"I'm Annie," she replied, again with no further information. "So what is it that attracts you to Harry?" She asked. 

Brittany heard the question and walked into the room, declaring, "The man is basically sex on legs. God, I can't wait to get some of that!" I just laughed, shaking my head at her. That was Classic Brittany right there. 

Annie seemed almost embarrassed at Brittany's bold proclamation of her desire to get into Harry's pants. She just looked down at her coffee with a slight blush on her face. 

Brittany mouthed out, "Who is that?" Pointing obnoxiously to Annie. I shrugged because, although I knew her name, I still had no idea what she was doing here. 

Dove showed up only seconds later, asking, "Brittany, why is that you always have to let the world know how much you want to do it  with Harry?"

Brittany retaliated with, "Well someone's gonna get some and it ain't gonna be you, Miss Snooty Pants. Are you seriously afraid to say sex?

"Vulgar words are not in my vocabulary," Dove retorted, sounding exceptionally prudish. 

Brittany seemed happy that she had found a weak spot, so she moved and stuck her face about an inch from Dove's. "Well, it's in mine. And I can't wait for Harry to fuck. me." 

"Dear lord, Brittany," I scolded her lightly. "You could tone it down for all of our sake. I mean, we're all here for Harry, and it's going to make people uncomfortable when you're so blunt about wanting to have sex with him."  

"Whatever," Brittany said, waving me off. 

Changing the subject, I said to everyone, "Have you all met Annie?" Almost everyone was in the kitchen by now and everyone greeted Annie, telling her their names. I asked, "Would it be too rude to ask why you're here? I mean no offense, but you kind of just appeared out of the blue."

"Well," she said slowly. "Let's just say I'm on a secret mission."

"You're a spy," Lucy accused her. "You're here to report everything we say and do back to Harry." 

Annie didn't refute that statement, but she said, "There are cameras rolling all the time. Everything you all say and do is being recorded, right? That would make your spy theory pointless."

We looked around at each other, wondering if we should pry further into the nature of her "mission." 

She finally said, "If it helps at all, I'm not here to join the competition. Harry is not my type. At all. I know that much about him. I hope that calms some of your fears. But I'll be around for a little while, so I look forward to getting to know you. All of you," she said in a sincere voice. 

Ariana had received a date card the day before, while we were gone to Seattle. She was going on a one-on-one date with Harry and I could tell she was thrilled. Brittany and I helped her to get ready. We helped her to pick out a variety of clothing for the day, but it was a little challenging to be happy for her, for obvious reasons. I was falling for Harry, hard and fast, and I didn't want him to have that same feeling with anyone else. I didn't want him to kiss anyone else the way he kissed me. Was he telling other women he had feelings for them, too? 

I felt like we were living in a polygamous culture and I had to share my husband with several other wives. I mean, I couldn't say I was ready to marry Harry just yet, but I didn't think it would take long before I was completely in love with him. I didn't know if I could handle him falling in love with other women at the same time as he was falling for me. I wondered if I could just come right out and ask him if he had strong feelings for the others. 

We sent Ariana on her way, and I decided another run was in order, and then maybe some time by the pool. I also made a point to ask one of the producers, Kimberly, if there was a chance that some of us could go out and shop a little or just do something - anything - besides being confined to this mansion. She was a lot more easygoing than Claudia, but she said it would probably take some planning for us to go out somewhere. We really couldn't be seen in public for fear that we'd spill some information about the show. It was different when we were out with Harry because there was so much security always traveling with us. She said she'd get back to us about possibly going out later in the week. But it didn't sound promising. I hadn't been in the mansion that long, but I was already getting tired of the place.

Later in the afternoon, I retreated to my room, feeling rather bored. Since we weren't allowed any kind of contact with the outside world, it meant the pickings were slim. Unless we wanted to play board games. I didn't mind a good game of Monopoly or Scrabble, to be honest, but I just wanted to be alone right now. 

I flopped onto my bed and decided to watch some more videos of the man who was in the process of stealing my heart. And possibly thirteen other women's hearts as well. I huffed, trying to forget about the competition for the time being. I searched through the videos on YouTube and came across a bunch from an event called Red Nose Day. I had only heard of it in recent years, and I knew it had to do with raising money for charity. It was in 2013, and One Direction had traveled to Ghana to witness the poverty and sickness in the country, and then to create an appeal film for Red Nose Day. I watched a video of Zayn, Niall and Louis as they encountered babies dying because their families couldn't afford vaccines. Then Harry and Liam sat in the emergency department watching the staff treat tiny babies and older children who were gravely ill. My heart shattered when Harry learned that a little boy was dying of malaria and hadn't much hope of survival. He broke down crying, sitting next to the boy and his mother. Hot tears flowed freely down my face as I listened to Harry sobbing while he made an appeal for people to donate money to their cause.

I shut off the TV and grabbed probably the tenth tissue that I'd used in the past half hour. I blew my nose loudly just as Annie passed by my room. 

She came in, looking concerned. "Hey, are you all right?" 

I sat up and smiled sheepishly. "I'm fine. Just watching some heart-wrenching videos of Harry and the other guys when they were in Africa."

"Oh," she nodded. "I think I've seen a few of those. I've heard those guys do lots of charity work."

"So, do you even know Harry?" I asked. "I mean, you were asking about him earlier, and then you said he wasn't your type. I just wonder how well you know him or how much you know about him," I said with a smile. 

"I know him, let's just leave it at that," she said simply. "How are you doing today, besides watching sad One Direction clips?"

"I don't know. I'm all right, I guess. I just...ugh, this whole thing is so maddening. Let me just start by saying that when I first agreed to apply for the show, I had no intention of falling in love." 

"I can imagine it's tough," she said. "Why didn't you want to fall in love? Isn't that what the whole show is about?" 

I started at the beginning and explained what I had done for my best friend. "But now I'm so head over heels for Harry, and I'm afraid. All of these women are competing for Harry's heart. There are no guarantees. I just wasn't prepared to get my heart broken, and now that could very well happen. I mean, we have a great connection and I know he likes me, but that doesn't mean he's ruled everyone else out. And it doesn't mean he'll fall in love with me." Damn, I felt like I was going to cry again, and I didn't cry very easily.

"Yeah, I can understand how that would be a challenge," she said with a sympathetic look on her face. 

"And imagine how it must be for Harry," I said. "I'm sure he's under a lot of pressure. I worry about him, you know. He was upset after sending the first group of women home. He just has such a tender heart that I'm afraid he'll end up getting hurt too." 

"Well, I hope it works out for you," she said, patting my leg. She didn't get up to leave just yet, and when we saw Demi and Jordin walking past the room, we called for them to join us. They plopped onto the other beds, looking eager to join the conversation. 

Hearing a bit of commotion from downstairs, a few cameramen traipsed into the room a few moments later, cameras rolling. 

Demi's fashion choices were a mystery to me. Not judging, but there was honestly just no telling what she was going to wear from one day to the next.  I had seen her wear some very different outfits. One day, she wore a pretty, beaded flapper-style dress, which was a bit much for everyday to begin with, but when she wore a matching fascinator on her head, I felt it went too far. I'd seen her in a flowing tie-dyed t-shirt dress, thigh-high gladiator sandals and Lennon glasses and a 1950's vintage housedress with pointy pumps. Today it was high-waisted shorts, a tank top with a colorful skull design and matching earrings. I had nothing against skulls, but they just weren't my taste. However, the fact that she completed today's ensemble with high-heeled, black Mary Janes that had skulls all over them was just a curiosity to me. She also had half of her hair tied into a knot on the top of her head. Just a unique look, I guess.

I don't judge based on what people wear - if I did,  Allegra and I would have never become friends. But what was strange to me about Demi was that her personality almost seemed to change with each outfit. I hadn't really seen that self-conscious 80's prom kid again since the first few days. One day, she would act completely normal (well, as normal as things get around here), hanging out with people like she'd known them forever. The next day, she could be moody, bitchy, or sometimes even slutty. Who knows? Maybe she was part chameleon, blending in with her surroundings based on who she was hanging out with on a given day. But that didn't explain the wide array of her tastes in clothing.

"Ooh, I love your shirt," Jordin gushed as she examined the top I was wearing. "What color is that? It's like jade or something."

"Myrtle," I replied without even thinking. I mean, I had a name for the color of every piece of my clothing. When I looked at other things, I had to think about them for a little bit before getting just the right shade.

"Myrtle," Jordin said flatly. "That's a color?" 

"Haha, yes it is. The color of the myrtle plant is almost like this. It's quite similar to jade, actually. Jade just has a little more blue in it than myrtle." 

"I would have just called it green," Demi laughed. 

"I know," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Most people would. But I have this kind of obsession with colors. I can look at just about any color and I'll know almost exactly where it is on the RGB spectrum. I've even memorized the hex triplet codes for tons of colors."

They all looked at me like I was speaking Chinese. "You know how people can naturally harmonize while others have to work hard to learn?" They nodded. "Well, I'm like that with color. I can almost see a color split into its primary components. I know it's weird and kind of useless, except in my job, but hey, it's my one claim to fame. Some companies are extremely picky about the colors used in their branding. Some have even named a specific color just for their company. A lot of sports teams have a very specific color to represent them. For example, the Michigan State University Spartans have their own color, called MSU green." 

"What color is this?" Demi asked, pointing to her pink, high-waisted shorts. 

"They're pink," Jordin said as if Demi was crazy. 

"Well, technically, they're apricot. And most people would call your tank top black, but it's actually onyx." 

Soon they were rapid-firing questions about all of our clothes, hair color, decor in the room, etc. 

"You guys act like I'm a circus side show freak," I laughed. "I just love color." 

"Okay, well here's a hard one," Demi said. "What color are Harry's eyes?" 

"Oh!" I fell back onto my bed. "I've been trying to figure that one out since I first saw him. I mean green doesn't do them justice. They're kind of a mossy green, but then sometimes, especially in the sunlight, more blue comes out, so they look a little more like jungle green. I just think they'll have to name a new shade of green after his eyes. We'll call it Harry Styles green and we'll make a page for it on Wikipedia." 

The other girls laughed, but I think there was some truth to the fact that so much about Harry couldn't be defined or quantified. He was a gem of a man, for sure, with his unparalleled beauty, his sense of fun and humor, and most of all the size of his heart. He seemed almost too good to be true. 

"So," Demi said, bluntly changing the topic. "What's your story, Annie?" 

"Not much of a story," she said, never giving much more than that tight-lipped smile. "Just here to observe for a few days." 

"I know!" Demi said, getting far too excited. "You're here to conduct a psychological experiment on us to see how we deal with the pressure of dating a superstar and having to compete with each other for his love." 

"Not exactly," Annie replied with a hint of laughter in her voice. 

"So, no experimental drugs? Electric shock therapy? Deprivation or isolation?" Demi wondered aloud while we all looked at her just a little strangely. 

"What?" She asked in total seriousness. "You're obsessed with colors," she said to me. "I'm obsessed with psychological illnesses and experimental treatment." None of us knew what to say. Demi continued, "Did you know that in 1939, there was a man sentenced to die by a firing squad. He asked specifically to have his heart monitored at the time of his death. It kept beating even after he was shot four times." 

Nothing. Stunned silence. 

"Oh, and did you know there's an actual psychological disorder where people eat their own-"

"No!" Jordin yelled. "I don't want to know! No offense, hon, but I've had enough fun facts for today." And she got up and walked out, calling behind her, "I'm going to see what everyone else is doing." 

"I'll come with you," I said, leaving hastily. When Jordin and I reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked at me and made just about the funniest face I'd ever seen. Then she whispered, "That Demi chick is not right in the head." 

"I know, right? I thought they did thorough psychological testing and background checks, but I'd swear she's certifiable sometimes."

Throughout the rest of the day, I kept thinking about Demi's strange "obsession," along with her personality quirks. She was definitely odd and it made me wonder if she was actually sane. Granted, she could just be eccentric, but I hoped that Harry got to see all sides of her. She was unpredictable, and that scared me a little. I just hoped that she wasn't as good as Dove was at pretending to be someone else when she was with Harry.

_____

Double update coming your way :D 

Thanks everyone for your reads, votes & comments. Would you all mind sharing this story with friends or followers? I have a great group of readers, but it seems like I'm not getting a lot of new readers for this book. I'm always happy to return a shout-out! <3