PLEASE PRAY

For

MY DOG

Critical condition. I need all the prayers I could get again.:(

The Guitar Girl

Written by:

13ISMYNUMBER

Chapter 20

The Thunderstorm

"Somewhere where fairytales aren't so twisted."

How could this happen to her of all people?

How could Shontelle be caught in such a situation wherein she couldn't turn anywhere else?

All eyes were on her and she slowly met them all, her eyes landing last on Niall's angry orbs. She was afraid, afraid that Niall would hate her so much that not even Simon Cowell, her grandfather, could fix her mess.

She was going to be honest.

She did use her rank as Simon Cowell's goddaughter against the boys, especially Niall. At first, she thought it was so manipulative and evil but when she really thought about it, it was how their world works. You use your rank, your beauty, even your name just to get what you want. This was where she grew up. This was the culture that was shown to her, the main ropes she learned.

She was desperate.

Desperate for Niall to look at her and spend time with her…

She was so desperate that manipulating and wordless threatening was what she held onto.

Could you really blame her?

She fell in love with a boy who fell for someone she can't compete with because she doesn't even know who Guitar Girl really was.

She fell in love with someone who never even looked her way.

But unlike other people who just give up and weep until they sleep, she fought for her feelings, fought for her heart…because if she didn't, she will always regret not fighting for something she wanted so badly.

Isn't that what people always told others?

Fight for what you believe in…

Don't give up unless you try?

So, what was wrong with what she did?

She did it because she fell in love…

But the thing is, no matter how much she doesn't want to recognize it; she knows what she did was simply wrong…

She did it because of love, yes, but without intending to, she broke his heart. She broke it. Period. It doesn't matter if she meant to or not, doesn't matter if she wanted to fix it or not.

She broke his heart.

And now, he breaks hers.

"Sing for me." His words echoed in her head as he repeated what he said a few minutes ago.

Her lips began to tremble as she looked at Riley, who showed a face of pain as she looked down, breathing heavily. Shontelle looked at Niall, opening her mouth to try and say something to prolong the sudden trial of her deceiving plan but before she could, Riley already made up her mind as the song came flowing out of her mouth.

There's still a little bit of
your taste in my mouth,

All eyes averted from Shontelle to Riley. Shontelle can't believe it, she doesn't know if Riley was saving her or simply making matters worse.

There's still a little bit of you
laced with my doubt,
Its still a little hard to say,
what's going on.

The song ended as she closed her mouth and licked her dry lips before saying, "I'm her." Her eyes met Niall's, "I'm Guitar Girl."

Niall's face started to turn red, as tears began to form in his eyes. "And you knew this whole time?"

Riley swallowed hard, trying to forget the look on Niall's face. She wouldn't try and tell him that she didn't know the whole time, she wouldn't explain herself. She just looked away, biting her lip.

"I trusted you." Niall's words broken Riley's heart but she still didn't meet his gaze. "You knew how much I wanted to find her and yet you…you did this!"

"She didn't have a choice! Shontelle blackmailed her!" Harry came interrupting, trying to save Riley.

Niall's eyes went back to Shontelle, the tears still threatening to fall. "Is that true? Did you really blackmail her?"

Shontelle begins to stutter, "I—I—you have to understand, Niall. I'm so sorry. Let me expla—"

"Don't you dare tell me to understand you and let you explain!" Niall shouts at her. "I believed you and yet you lied to me! You lied through your teeth and pranced on my heart!"

"Niall, just calm—" Liam tries to say but Niall turns to look at all the boys, his eyes in a glare. "And you! I thought you were all my best mates. I thought no secrets would ever come between us."

"We didn't know it was her until now!" Harry shouts at Niall.

"But I'm pretty much sure that you have given a little bit of a doubt that it could've been her!" Niall counters.

Harry was about to retort when Zayn puts a hand on his chest. Stepping up, Zayn said, "We did, I did but I just didn't want to get your hopes up."

"Yeah, you didn't but you broke my heart, intentional or not." Niall says through gritted teeth, his voice low and dangerous.

"If you want to blame anybody, you should blame me." Riley finally speaks up but in a small and soft voice. Niall looks at her, confusion and pain visible in his eyes.

She found her voice.

She had arranged her thoughts.

Everything that was going on was because of her, because she appeared into their lives.

Again, for the hundredth time, she blames herself.

When will she get it right?

When will her timing, her place and her moments be right enough that nothing bad would actually happen to the people around her? How many hearts must she break until she could actually get things right?

Many more…

And one of them is Niall Horan's.

"I told the boys not to tell you." The self-blaming begins again just like the last time when her mother died because of her. "I accepted Shontelle's offer just to protect myself." Riley's eyes met Niall's and she forced herself to get the words out, "I made you believe the wrong Guitar Girl so that when all these pretending is over, I could get back to my life and forget that these all happened."

She was going to make him hate her alone…because again, she believes she deserves it.

It was her punishment for deceiving them all.

It was her sentence for not following and ignoring the last rule of this pretending game she played.

Don't fall in love.

Silence.

Niall's tears began to roll down on his cheeks and a sob left his lips, as Riley swallows hard once again.

Riley was going to make sure that Shontelle won't have any reason to tie her up again, to twist her situation further more. She was going to make sure that Niall will force himself to forget her and she was going to make the boys want to leave her alone.

Even if it means breaking her own heart.

Niall didn't understand what Riley was doing.

She was helping her situation, instead she was making it worst for herself. She was making herself be hated by him even more.

Everything seemed to be so twisted with her, so confusing.

Nothing was ever simple.

Is this how his fairytale would end, the damsel stays with her distress and leaves him instead with a broken heart?

And her next words were enough to make him sprinting for the door, slamming it behind him. He couldn't take it anymore.

She said, "I broke your heart, not them."

Zayn came back to his senses and so did Liam and their eyes met just before Zayn followed Niall out of the studio. Harry tried to grab hold of Riley's arm but she moved it away. He met her gaze, trying to understand what was going on in her head.

"Why did you say that?" Harry asked her in a whisper but before she could answer, Shontelle has already grabbed her by the hand and was dragging her out of the door.

The land was still thick in ice, and the witch wants to keep it that way.

The Guitar Girl by 13ismynumber

The doors were locked behind them and Riley found herself inside Shontelle's glass walled office. She saw the boys abruptly stopping as they tried to open the glass door but failed. They all looked at her, eyes pleading to open the only thing keeping them out. She turned her gaze to Shontelle who was starting to pace.

She abruptly stops pacing, her eyes digging into Riley's grey orbs.

"Leave."

It was one word that held too many meanings and Riley didn't understand.

"What?" Riley said dumbly.

"Leave." Shontelle says firmly again, "Disappear as if you never met the boys, never pretended to be a boy. Go back to your old life and don't ever return or show yourself. Ever."

Riley's mouth felt dry.

Of course, Shontelle wasn't going to just give up.

Isn't this what she wanted?

To leave without a trace?

To go back to her real world where boys like Niall Horan seemed to be so far-fetched?

She was given an opportunity to just go back to everything she knew and at the same time, Niall and the boys would just be forced to forget about her once she begins to disappear.

"I'll tell Jacob that you've done more work than necessary. I'll add another month pay to your two-month salary here that you're supposed to receive." Shontelle explains, her voice frantic, "But in return, you'll never appear again. The songs you wrote would be given to Niall and the others, your files would be given back to you and you shall burn them all, along with the memories."

"Why are you still doing this? Aren't you done breaking Niall's heart?" Riley says, the numbing feeling spreading through her body.

"I never wanted to break his heart…" Shontelle says, a tear rolling down her cheek, "But I don't think I can see him with you…he could be with anybody but you."

"Why?" Riley says.

"Because it's unfair. Of all the people in the world, you just had to be Guitar Girl. I have everything and you have nothing and yet at the end of the day, he still chooses you. And I can't let that happen. I'm sorry but I just can't." Shontelle explains, the tears were flowing nonstop through her eyes.

"I know that what I did was wrong and what I'm still doing is wrong." Shontelle continues to sob.

"Then why are you still going to do it?" Riley asks.

"Because he will never love you for you, Riley." Riley's eyes flickers emotion for a split second before Shontelle continuous to say, "He will love you because you're Guitar Girl but not simply because you're Riley."

Riley's hand suddenly turns into fists on her sides and she looks away from Shontelle.

"You know I'm right." Shontelle says. She wasn't trying to be a complete bitch. This time she was simply trying to tell the truth. "For me, just simply being loved by Niall whether it's the real me or just being loved because I'm pretending to be something I'm not…was enough for me. I stooped that low because I felt something strong for him. But I think you deserve so much better."

"You're trying to save me now?" Riley mocks, her eyes glued to the floor.

"No. The decision is still up to you. You still get to save yourself."

She was right and Riley knew it.

Niall had been so caught up with Guitar Girl that Riley even started being jealous of her, not knowing it was her all along. He was in love with the idea of Guitar Girl, of the perfection of her…

But Riley wasn't perfect. She was far from it.

And she didn't want to be loved just because she has a unique voice or because she gave him a chase…If what he did feel for Guitar Girl was love, she didn't want any of that 'cause that means a bigger heartbreak. She wanted to be loved because she was enough, because she was Riley Paige Green.

Shontelle passes by her and headed for the door, not even waiting for her reply but Riley knew what she had to do. This was what she wanted. "I'll get my pay tomorrow morning."

It was enough for Shontelle to stop and turn to her. She says, "That's what I admire about you, you will always put yourself first, not even feelings can confuse you." And then she turns again, opening the door and stepping out of the room before the boys pushed themselves in, running to surround her.

"What did the witch say this time?" Louis says to her, touching both of her shoulders.

She looks at all of them, knowing it was probably the last time she would get to be this close to them. She turns to Liam. "If Zayn doubted that it could've been me, is that why you tried to bring me and Niall closer?"

The question caught Liam off guard and all eyes were on him, waiting for his words. There was no point lying. Every single truth they tried to hide was out in the open. "You could say we were playing a matchmaking game." Liam explains, "But we didn't mean for anyone to get hurt."

"Of course, you didn't." Riley says before removing Louis' hands on her and passing them by, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Harry shouts back at her.

She turns, the numbing feeling starts to disappear. She knows that she needs to get out of here before the heartbreaking feeling comes back and haunts her. She needs to hide, to run, to escape. She says, her eyes beginning to water, "Somewhere where fairytales aren't so twisted."

Disclaimer: I do not own ONE DIRECTION but I do own the idea and the plot of this story as well as the fictional characters that are used and will be used in this story. So please don't steal it. Thank you.

Song: CANNONBALL (listen to the cover of Little Mix, it's nice.)

Reviews and Replies:

Callthedoc-tor: HAHAHA. Stay tuned, more drama will come…

Qistina: Thank you! Happy reading.:)

Saikono-san: How's school going? God. College is fun. I made new friends. Anyway, hahaha. Mayroong may crush sayo? Ayieee. Gwapo ba? Mabait? Kahit di gaanong katalino, basta di nabagsak, pwede yan. Basta dapat gwapo at mabait. Anyway, don't mind the other girls. They can fuck off. HAHAHA. Medyo malayo pa ata pagtatapos eh. PM kita one time pag patapos na, okay?

Ashleyloveblack: Thank you! Happy reading.:)

TokTok: I think Carly and Niall only slept together. GAAAH. I AM BROKEN HEARTED.:( They can't be together…but if they are…fine. . SHONTELLE DID SOMETHING AGAIN. HAHAHA.

Tok. TM: THE QUIZ WAS FUCKING CANCELLED. Shitty ass. And oh, I don't want Demi either. I want some fan or some childhood friend or something! Something refreshingly new for NIALL!

Polkadotsandsmileyfaces: Writing is some type of venting out my stress. Hopefully, I survive college while I continue to write.:)

IllLookAfterYou: Cliffhangers are my new best friend now a days.:)) Sorry, love. Anyway, thank you for reviewing!:)

Xonedirectioninfection: Here you go! Happy reading.:)

Leoch: What do you mean BLESS HIM when you're in England? I seriously wonder.

Ukelelegirl: Yeah, don't give up! And don't worry…working hard pays off.:) Goodluck!

VenVen: I'm sorry I made you cry but I'm happy my writing has that kind of effect on people! Happy reading.:)

Pat a.k.a. 16: Condolence, love. And don't worry, I'm your friend. I'm here and I hope my stories can bring you some comfort! I'm glad you liked my past chapter. Happy reading, love. Stay Strong!

Ninastylee: It's okay! Don't worry. HAHAHA. College is survivable. Watch out for the next few chapters…you might see a pattern in my writing style. OR MAYBE YOU ALREADY DID! HAHAHA. And yes, you have told me already that you love NIALL because he seemed so SEXY in this story.:)) Thanks, love.:)

Thanks to all the reviews, alerts, favorites and reads.

I shall make notes now for tomorrow's class and hope I won't die.

In the mean time, please do pray for my dog. IT WOULD MEAN THE WORLD TO ME.

Stay Safe.

Xoxo,

13ismynumber