The next few weeks seemed to fly by. Lindsey had promised to stay up until the tour started on the 27th. "You'd miss that much school for me?" I asked, smiling gratefully at my friend. "You say it like it's a bad thing." she had giggled back.
I hadn't seen the boys much since our little beach get together, but I'd been texting all of them like crazy.
Several from Harry stood out in particular.
Did I ever tell you about the day I lost my pet rock?
We're going to eat food.
Lou says hi, but don't say hi back or I'll lock you up in my evil dungeon.
When I'd showed these to Lindsey she just grinned. "And you like this boy because..?" I teased.
The others sent me random messages, asking what I was doing or how the girls were.
Zayn definitely does not want to know if Ashley's single. Louis texted me one day. I was basically on the floor, dying from laughter when Ashley walked in and asked what was wrong with me. I held my phone out to her and her naturally rosy cheeks turned a shade darker.
It was March 25th when I got an actual call from any of the boys, though.
"Hello?" I said, slightly out of breath from my rehearsal.
"Hi!" Liam said.
"Hey there," I grinned. Liam was very laid back and easy going.
"What are you up to?" he questioned.
"Just finished up at a rehearsal." I replied. So far we hadn't had any rehearsals together. I thought this was a bit odd, but Joy assured me that it was fine. "Most of the time you'll be performing separately, anyways." she'd said.
"Well, we were wondering if you, Ashley, and Lindsey would like to go out to lunch with us?" he said.
"That sounds great. I'm starving." I nodded, realizing how loud my stomach had been growling during practice.
"Cool. I'll send you the address."
"K. See you soon." I hung up.
A few minutes later the address arrived in a text, along with the time to meet their. I forwarded it to Ashley and Lindsey who replied with Ok ;P and Sure :)
"Joy," I searched around for my manager. She appeared right in front of me, her ever present smile plastered on her face.
"You sound fabulous." she grinned.
"Thanks," I thanked her and smiled at her compliment. "Hey, can you get me a car or something?"
She nodded. "Sure. There's a rental out front, I think. Lemme just grab the keys for it."
She dashed off and returned a few minutes later, plopping the keys in my outstretched hand.
"Thanks darling." I beamed and raced out to the car.
I started up the engine and quickly dialed Ashley's number. She picked after the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, do you guys want me to pick you up?" I asked as I stopped at a red light.
"Nope, we're already on our way there." she responded.
"Right, I'll see you soon then." I hung up and made a right.
My mind was racing as I drove to the restaurant. Was I too dressed up? Definitely not, I realized, as I looked down at my light wash skinny jeans, white ballet flats, and lacy poncho on top of a navy blue camisole. Nope, not too casual, but not too dressy either. My hair was in a floppy bun on the top of my head.
My thoughts were interrupted when I arrived at the restaurant. It was small, but cute and looked cozy.
I locked the car and walked through the entrance, looking for everyone. At 11:30 the small place was extremely busy and I had a hard time searching out my friends.
"Looking for someone?" someone said behind me.
I whirled around to face the attractive blonde haired boy who stood in front of me. Ok, I admit it. My main thought on the way over was what I was going to say when I first saw Niall.
I think my small crush, which I had hoped to deflate at the beach, had grown. Quite a bit.
"Nah," I smiled, leaning side to side. "I was just planning on getting a table by myself. You want an autograph or a picture?" my eyes widened as I pretended he was a fan.
He sighed and shook his head. "I left my phone at home."
"What a shame." I rolled my eyes.
"I'll just have to get that picture another time." he gave me a playful smile and I tried not to blush as I grinned back.
He led me to the table where everybody sat. Well, it was actually two tables pressed together since we had eight people and each table only sat four people. Ashley and Lindsey were already there.
"Hey, I saved you a seat." Lindsey patted the empty seat next to her. I took it graciously and scanned the menu.
"What are you getting?" Ashley asked me.
"Maybe two slices of pizza. And some fries. Would you split a piece of pie with me later?" I asked her as I realized how hungry I was.
"Jeez Alex. You could start your own restaurant with that much food." Lindsey elbowed me gently.
"Hey, don't make fun of me." I laughed at the girl who was the closest thing I had to a sister. You know, besides Ashley. And besides my actual sister, Rena. Rena was 27 and I could see her reacting to the situation at hand in my head.
"You're hanging out with 5 teenage boys?" she'd say, her voice coated in a mix of excitement and protectiveness. "Yup," I'd reply. "Well, try not to lead too many of them on." she'd probably wink and then tell all the boys to never flirt with me or touch me or even speak to me again. "Rena! Boys don't like me. No exceptions." I'd scold and try to pull her away before she scarred the boys with her over-protective sister lectures.
I mean, it was true. I had problems even talking to boys, but these guys were so easy-going and sweet. Even when I said something embarrassing and stupid they'd turn it into something clever or funny.
"Did you guys already order?" I asked everyone.
They nodded and Louis answered. "Everyone but you, love."
"No pressure or anything." I joked and when the waitress came around I placed my order.
I examined the table quietly. Louis sat to the left of me, with Liam on his left. Lindsey sat on my right with Harry right beside her. And when I say right beside her, I mean right beside her. Zayn sat next to Harry and Ashley sat next to Zayn. Niall had taken the seat next to Ashley and Liam and-wait, had he just smiled at me. No, like right at me.
I turned my gaze to the boy who sat diagonal to me. He wiggled his eyebrows and stuck his tongue out. I half-smiled and held in my giggles.
I went cross eyed only for a second, but Lindsey caught me. "What are you doing?" she grinned.
"Nothing." I smiled at Niall and took a drink of my iced tea.
"Oh, yeah. Totally nothing." she rolled her eyes.
"When will our food get here?" Niall whined right as the waitress appeared behind him.
She gave him a disapproving look and rolled her eyes as she dished out our meals. We all held back grins, but once she had left we burst into a fit of laughter.
"Niall," Liam poked Niall. "That was very rude."
It was hard to even speak in between laughs.
"Oh, gosh. I think I'll simply die if I don't eat soon." Harry mocked Niall who sat laughing along with everyone, his cheeks a bit pink. Why was he so cute?
I ate the pizza and fries I got pretty quickly. "What brand vacuum are you and what did you do with Alex?" Ashley joked.
"Stop it," I laughed and buried my face in my hands.
"It's okay." Ashley continued. "I've been needing a vacuum for our apartment. Alex leaves the living room a mess."
I grinned and leaned my head on my hand, wondering how I had ended up with a friend like her.
I had grinned back at Alex when Lindsey caught her making faces at me. She was pretty cute.
"You like her. You like her." Louis had chanted the whole way home from the beach. He had caught me helping her up. I was just being nice, I guess.
We sat waiting for our food but soon it became to much for me to bear.
"When will our food get here?" I blurted out. Unfortunately, the waitress had been right behind me.
Everyone started laughing after she left, and I had seen Alex looking at me, a bright smile on her face.
I had blushed a bit but laughed along because this sort of thing always seemed to happen to me.
We ate our food while chatting a bit.
"Ashley, will you split a piece of pie with me or not?" Alex asked, pouting at her best friend.
"Alex, I'm way too stuffed." Ashley sighed and patted her stomach.
"Anyone?" Alex's gaze landed on Lindsey than me.
"I will." I said, still a bit hungry myself.
"Do you mind chocolate?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not at all." I grinned.
"Just try not to insult the staff's speed anymore, k?" she smiled at me teasingly.
She ordered the desert when the woman came back over. She nodded at Alex sweetly and then gave me a nasty glare.
I grinned at Liam who sat beside me. He just laughed and rolled his eyes.
"So, are you going to come along with Alex at all during the tour?" Zayn asked Ashley.
She shrugged, smiling. "Maybe. Depends on my school schedule. Definitely in the summer though."
"Good." Harry nodded. "How about you, love?" he directed his question to Lindsey.
"Um, same as Ashley. After school's over I'll be with Alex and Ashley." she smiled shyly.
My attention broke away from their conversation when our pie arrived.
"I get the whip cream." Alex stated, splitting the slice down the middle with her fork.
"That's not fair." I grinned.
"Um, it's totally fair. Whip cream's for the coolest, right?" she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, that means I should get it." I smirked.
"Don't push your luck." she beamed and pushed my half of the slice over the table.
"Yeah Niall, gosh." Louis sighed.
I grinned and started in on the pie, which tasted like heaven.
We talked about our rehearsals a bit and then Alex mentioned she had to return the car she'd borrowed.
She looked up a few moments later and patted Lindsey's shoulder.
She whispered something in her ear and Lindsey turned to her, a half-smile forming on her face.
"I lost the keys!" I said to Lindsey.
She just grinned a bit. "It's not funny." I pouted.
"Just look around a bit." she said, shaking her head and turning her attention back to Harry.
I leaned my head back and sighed.
"What is it?" Niall asked from across the table where he'd finished his pie only a few moments before me.
"I lost my keys." I mumbled, avoiding his gaze.
"Let's look on the floor." he got up and walked over to where I sat. I got up and nodded, his idea seeming to be the only logical one. I found it rather funny that Niall was planning on helping me, rather than one of my best friends.
We asked at the desk, but they said they hadn't found any keys. We looked under the seats at our table and then around the rest of the restaurant. Turns out I'd dropped them on the way in, by the door.
"Be careful where you put those next time." Niall grinned at me.
"Yeah," I smiled at him, getting lost in his eyes.
"Hey, Alex," he smiled softly.
"Hmm?" I snapped out of the spell his eyes had cast on me.
"You haven't been ignoring me have you?"
I cocked my head to the side. "Why would I ignore you?"
"I don't know," he shrugged and gave a small smile.
The truth is I had been ignoring him. Not necessarily today, but ever since the beach I'd made an effort to try to weaken the sudden feelings I'd acquired for him. Whenever he called I let it go to voice mail and when he texted me I would reply a few times and then say I was busy or had to go.
Thus, by answering the way I did, I wasn't really lying. I hated lying and I was pretty awful at it.
"Well, I don't know why either." I smiled back and tossed the keys from one hand to another.
We stood there for a few seconds, not really saying anything. "Well, I should get going. I mean, have to return this car and all. Can you tell everyone that I'm leaving?" I asked him, breaking the silence.
"Well, I can go with you if you want." he offered.
"Um, that's okay. I don't want you to feel like you have to.." I trailed off.
"It's okay. Everyone else is totally in love over there, anyways." he gestured to the table and then seemed to pick up on the unintentional thing that he'd just suggested. My eyes widened again and I must have looked pretty stupid.
"I'm not saying that we should, like, you know-" he stuttered.
"Be in love? No, I know. I mean, we're not," I continued with his rambling.
"No," he shook his head to confirm it.
"Well, you can come if you want." I blurted out before my mind could process what I was doing.
"Alright. Lemme just let everyone know." he walked over to our table and informed everyone that he was accompanying me back to the rehearsal building. Ashley and Lindsey and Louis turned to look at me, a teasing look in each of their smiles. I rolled my eyes and hugged my arms against my chest.
"You ready?" Niall asked, walking back to the entrance.
"Huh? Oh, yeah." I nodded and held the door open.
"Ladies first." he smiled.
I pretended to curtsy and had an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. It happened when we first met. This exact moment happened when we first met.
Because of this I started to giggle. And then it was a full-out laugh.
"What is it?" Niall grinned at me, the door shutting behind us.
"It's just that-" I was stopped mid sentence by another round of giggles.
"Tell me." Niall whined but his eyes were shining.
"Nothing," I smiled and wiped away the tears that were forming in my eyes. "It's just funny because, well, that happened when I first met you, too."
He scrunched up his eyes then relaxed int a grin. "Oh yeah. That was a bit of an awkward introduction, huh?"
"I guess. I usually end up looking like an idiot in front of guys when I first meet them, though." I smiled and unlocked.
"Well, looking back, you looked like a pretty cute idiot, if you ask me." he gave me another smile and opened the door. I stood there, staring at him with a mixture of shock and what he possibly thought was cuteness painted on my face.
I quickly turned on my heel before he could embarrass (or was it flatter?) me anymore and unlocked my door.
God bless the fact that I'm always listening to music.
The radio shook on as soon as I turned the car on. The Script.
"I haven't heard this in ages." I said as the chorus of The Man Who Can't Be Moved softly sounded through the speakers.
"Do you listen to much of their music?" Niall asked.
I guess my brain forgot that I had just been in a totally awkward situation with him so I answered. "I adore them. They have really powerful music."
"Like every song tells a story." he nodded and I couldn't help feeling totally relaxed, like I could tell him anything.
The song finished up and Drops Of Jupiter by Train followed.
"Jeez, I love this song too. It must be Alex Appreciation Day." I smiled. "Do you know this one?" I asked Niall.
He shook his head no. I raised my eyebrows in mock surprise. "Download it as soon as you get home." I said.
"Would that make little Alex happy?" Niall grinned back.
"No, but ice cream would." I contemplated, smiling.
"Then let's get ice cream." he stated simply.
"I was kidding." I said, but now the idea appealed to me.
"I wasn't. I think there's some place around here where we can get ice cream." he mumbled, looking down at his phone.
"I think you're right." I answered and took a right towards an ice cream shop, rather than the left that would take me to the rehearsal building.
Hey lovebugss :D
So, here it is. The next chapter. Um, I don't know if I'm overkilling it with the flirting so if you review it'd be great if you let me know your opinon on that.
Ok well, hope you enjoy the chapter and such.
xoxo Alex
