Wednesday, May 30 2012
Toronto, ON

Brittany shifted her weight as she sat in the MuchMusic HQ. She always found interviews to be nervewracking. The thought of giving the wrong answer to a question terrified her. She had no problems with performing, but she knew very well that the pop music industry was largely based on image and personality.

She quickly went over in her head the questions she figured were going to be asked and prepared her answers for them. At least this was just a one on one interview – just her and Lauren. Unlike One Direction’s visit the day prior, fans hadn’t been invited to come into the building and watch.

She took a deep breath as Lauren looked at her, signalling they were about to begin.

“Good afternoon! I’m Lauren and we’ve got a very special guest here today. I’m here live with Brittany Copper.”

Brittany smiled and waved at the camera. “Hi!”

“So Brittany, you’ve just released your first single, what’s that like?”

Brittany grinned. “It’s all just really, really fun. We shot the video a few weeks ago and the concept is just me and a bunch of friends hanging out at the ranch.”

Lauren nodded. “That does sound like a lot of fun. Who directed the video?”

“It was directed by Joesph Kahn, which was really exciting because he’s a celebrity all on his own for that kind of thing. He’s worked with so many big names, like Eminem, Chris Brown, Britney Spears…”

“Wow! That is really exciting. We’re going to premiere the video after this interview, but since you mentioned Britney Spears, I wanted to touch on that a little. Are you worried at all about being compared to her, just because your names are that same?”

Brittany bit her lip and thought about that for a second. “Well… I mean, it’s probably going to happen I guess, there’s nothing I can really do about that. But I think any female pop artist will be compared to her at first. I’m just trying to set myself apart, I think my songs are less dance pop and a little more on the light rock pop. You can still dance to them, but there’s also that hint of a country feel to them. So I think that’s what’ll make me unique.”

“Well, the song really is catchy, and I definitely think people will take notice of it. Speaking of people taking notice, you’re definitely getting a lot of exposure these days.”

Brittany tried not to let her apprehension show on her face. The questions she had been dreading were coming. “Yeah…”

“You’ve basically living the dream of every teenage girl in the country right now since you’re opening for One Direction. What’s that like?”

Brittany giggled nervously. “It’s just really fun. You know, it’s a really big tour, and I’ve never performed in front of that many people before this, so I’m just really grateful for the opportunity. It’s been great so far.”

But of course, this wasn’t an acceptable answer for Lauren. Not when they were talking about the hottest group on the planet. “That’s awesome! So what’s it like touring with them? What are the guys like when they’re just hanging around?”

Brittany shrugged. “They’re just regular guys I guess. They’re all really nice.”

“So who’s your favourite member?”

Brittany kept her television-friendly grin plastered on her face. Inside, she was screaming. She’d hardly been asked about her music, but of course they wanted all the details about the time she spent with Harry. “Oh, I don’t know. I love them all. There’s never a dull moment around those boys, they always have so much energy!” she laughed.

“Right… but you’re sort of linked to Harry, right?”

Brittany laughed and kept the smile on her face. “Yeah… I guess I sort of am.”

“Do you find that difficult at all?”

Brittany shook her head, wanting nothing more than to stop talking about this. “No… not at all. I guess since we’re touring together and everything it’s a lot like just being in high school. He’s around all the time, his friends are around all the time. There’s times to sit around and have fun, but there’s also a lot of work to do.”

“All right, cool! Well Brittany, it was really nice having you here, good luck on your tour and with your album release!”

“Thanks,” Brittany said, smiled with a sigh of relief that the interview was over.

Lauren turned to the camera. “Make sure you catch Brittany on tour with One Direction this summer, and here’s the world premiere of her first music video, I’ll Be There.”

Brittany sighed as she was escorted back to the car that would take her back to the hotel. She should have known that the interviewer would have cared more about her relationship with the group rather than her actual music. She briefly wondered if all the attention she was gaining simply because of Harry was a good thing. Sure, she had twitter followers, but did they care about her single and album, or did they just care about where she was going to be hanging out with Harry next?

Perhaps if this had happened later in her career, it wouldn’t have been so bad. Brittany shook her head as she scrolled through her twitter feed. There was no use denying it now – she was just going to have to work to make fans out of all the girls who were already following her.

***

As soon as Brittany was back in her hotel room after doing another interview, she flopped down on her bed and intended to take a nap. This plan worked out quite well for her, until there was a light knock at her door.

She sat up, but grinned a little when she opened the door and saw Harry standing there. All the media scrutiny aside, she really did enjoy spending time with him.

“Hey Brittany,” he smiled.

“Hey,” she yawned, leaning onto the site of the door frame. “Sorry, I was just having a little catnap. What’s up?”

“Long day?” he asked, and Brittany nodded. “Well, a group of us are going out to try this Canadian pizza place, do you want to join us?”

Pizza sounded heavenly. “Yes,” Brittany said eagerly. “Yes, I really do. Just give me a few minutes to get ready, okay?”

Harry nodded. “Okay. We’re downstairs waiting in the lobby.”

As Brittany got ready for the evening, Harry went back downstairs to wait with the others.

“So… is she coming with us?” Niall asked, although judging by the look on Harry’s face he was sure he already knew the answer.

“Yeah,” Harry replied. “She’s just getting ready.”

Niall tried to act nonchalant, but really, he wasn’t sure how he felt. Yes, he wanted to spend more time with Brittany, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to spend more time with Brittany while she was around Harry and they were being all couple-ish.

Because that’s what they were now, wasn’t it?

And as Brittany came walking towards them, Niall found it difficult to keep his eyes off her. What with the sundress she was wearing, the big black sunglasses that covered her dark brown eyes, and the carefree way her straight hair lightly brushed the tops of her shoulders.

Yes, she was beautiful. But, unfortunately for him she locked hands with Harry. Giving her boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek, she glanced the others. “Ready to go?” she asked.

Niall just nodded. “Yeah, I’m starved. Let’s go.”

The group took two cars over to the restaurant, and luckily, they had called ahead and informed the staff they were coming. As such, there was an area blocked off so they wouldn’t be bothered.

Niall, Zayn and Liam’s car arrived slightly after the other one. They walked into East Side Mario’s and were relieved to see that fans had yet to catch wind of where they were. Perhaps they would have a few minutes of silence before the chaos began.

The waitress led them over to the booth where Brittany, Harry and Louis were sitting. Brittany waved at Niall when she noticed them, and patted the empty seat in the booth beside her, as if to tell him to sit beside her.

And, against his better judgement, Niall did so. It would have been rude not to, wouldn’t it? He eyed Harry’s arm that was lazily draped around Brittany and tried his best not to let it bother him.

“Hey,” Brittany smiled, pushing her sunglasses up on top of her head. “What happened to you guys? Did you get stuck in traffic?”

“Yeah, I don’t know,” Niall replied. “We just hit every light on the way here I guess.”

Brittany nodded, peering down at the menu. “Have you ever been here before?” she asked, looking at the assortment of food they offered.

Niall glanced over at Harry, wondering why she wasn’t chatting with him instead. He appeared to be involved in some kind of conversation with Louis about the 2012 Euro. That made sense – he was sure Brittany wouldn’t be interested in talking about that.

“No, I’ve never been here before,” Niall said, turning his attention back to her.

She looked so focused as she flipped through the pages, presumably deciding what to order. She looked up at Niall with a shy grin on her face as she landed on the last page. “Confession…” she laughed. “I really just want to order a dessert pizza.”

Niall nodded in agreement and laughed a little. “I would if I could.”

“Oi, don’t do that guys,” Harry turned to them. “We don’t need Nialler bouncing off the walls all evening.”

Brittany giggled and looked back over at Niall. “We’ll order one after,” she winked at him.

“Deal,” Niall replied, looking back down at his own menu. Perhaps sitting next to Brittany hadn’t been the greatest idea after all. The booth was so small that he kept brushing against her. She didn’t seem to mind, but it was starting to drive him a little crazy.

Plus whenever he looked over, he could nearly see down the top of her dress. Of course, he could also very clearly see Harry’s hand resting on her shoulder. He sighed, trying to concentrate, on something, anything else.

“That’s rubbish,” he heard Harry say loudly after a couple of minutes. “Absolute rubbish, Nialler, settle this for us okay?”

“Huh?”

“Who’s going to win the Euro?”

Niall rolled his eyes. They already knew what he was going to say. “Ireland.”

“See?” Harry said, turning his attention to Louis once again. “Even Niall agrees with me.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Niall doesn’t agree with you! He’ll say Ireland no matter what. England really does have a shot you know.”

“Um,” Brittany cut in, and all three boys glanced at her. She blushed a little. “Well… England didn’t even make it into the last Euro… and they didn’t do great in the last World Cup either…”

“A woman after my own heart,” Harry said, pulling Brittany in closer to him. Niall just looked at her in shock… and at Harry with seething jealousy.

“Well,” Louis laughed, glancing at Brittany, and then at Niall. “At least England qualified for the last World Cup.”

Brittany glanced over and Niall, shrugged a little and giggled. “He has a point.”

Niall rolled his eyes. “Just you wait,” he said, eyeing the three of them. “Ireland’s going to make a comeback.”