Chapter 1: Introduction
Two teenagers.
Two different lives.
From two different homelands.
In two different worlds.
She: She was not given much in her 16 years on Earth. She was the oldest of three children, with one younger sister (age 12) and one little brother (age seven). Her life could be considered decent, but only for a decade. Her parents divorced when she was nine, and the brutal custody battle that followed left her siblings and her in the possessive clutches of their lethargic, drunken mother who never seemed able or willing to hold down a job. As a result, in the past seven years the electricity and water for their run-down home in inner-city Houston, Texas, had been shut off countless times, the pile of bills had stretched continually higher toward their home's leaky ceiling, and they were forced to sell their television, computers, cell phones, and even one of the younger children's beds to barely pay for their meager supply of food and clothes. The clothes they are awarded with are hand-me-downs from Goodwill, decorated with unattractive patterns and various stains. Pretending to be alright became a habit for her for at least half a decade after the divorce, but eventually, she found it nearly impossible to even crack a smile. She didn't talk much at school. She didn't participate in any activities, especially ones that would force her to talk to people. Consequently, she was virtually friendless, penniless, and depressed.
She could, however, occasionally find refuge from the dysfunctional life she lived. She just had to pick up the Ibanez zebrawood guitar her father gave her on her eighth birthday – the one item she absolutely refused to sell, close her baby blue eyes that had long since lost their sparkle, and strum her problems away as she played herself to sleep.
Addison Marie Kelly's 16th birthday was December 6, 2011. She was the only one who remembered.
He: He was one of the most privileged teenagers on the planet. He grew up in an upper middle-class family in a small, but wealthy, town in the heartland of Ireland called Mullingar. His childhood was full of friends, a relatively normal family, and a burning passion for music. When he was sixteen, he auditioned for The X Factor in Dublin, Ireland, and made it through to boot camp, where he was lumped into a group with four boys from England. From there, they performed ten weeks of the live show, after which they were voted off. Luckily, judge Simon Cowell still believed that the boys were destined for greatness. Cowell signed One Direction to his record label, SYCO, and in less than a year, the boys had gone from unknowns in their five hometowns to international superstars. "The Irish One" was always a fan favorite, known for his carefree attitude, his love for any and every food, and, of course, his voice – underappreciated by their management, but truly one of a kind. At the age of 18 he already had three hit singles, one #1 album, two tours, and thousands of dollars to his name, in addition to the millions of girls across the globe who might consider killing someone if it meant they got a glimpse of the teenage heartthrob whose pictures were flooding their Tumblr dashboards and Twitter timelines every second of every day. Also, he got to spend almost all of his time with his four best friends, who happen to be his bandmates as well. Though "lucky" is an understatement, he was the epitome of "the luck of the Irish."
Out of the five band members, he was clearly the most skilled when it came to playing his favorite instrument – the guitar. At times during shows, he would completely stop singing, and simply accompany the other boys on his guitar. He also recorded much of the guitar for the band's second album.
Of course, he would also spend hours playing at home during his vacations, which were few and far between. He would close the door to his small bedroom where he spend his first comparatively uneventful 16 years, pick up his guitar – his most prized possession, close the same bright blue eyes that drove their millions of fans into hysterics, and play. Eventually, he would forget about everything. It made him feel like a normal teenager – something he knew he was far from, and wasn't sure he would truly experience again.
Niall James Horan turned 18 on September 13, 2011. He spent his birthday visiting various clubs in London with his bandmates, surrounded by media and fan attention.
Two teenagers.
Two completely different paths:
one at the bottom of the societal food chain,
one at the top of the music charts.
Two teenagers – as different as two people could be.
