"Oh. My. Goodness. You just met Niall Horan. Oh. Oh. Oh!" It had been twenty minutes since I returned to our suite with a full bucket of ice and a smile stretched across my face, and Jo still hadn't gotten over the fact that I had been stuck in an elevator with an international popstar.
"Yes Jo. Now before you finally wrap your head around it, let me tell you the best part." I paused for dramatic effect, wanting to fully take in her response. "He's coming over tonight."
Jo's jaw literally dropped. I could see every emotion clearly splayed across her face—disbelief, jealousy, excitement, hysteria, joy. She looked at me with a funny expression until she clearly deducted that I wasn't lying. Then came the explosion.
"You've been sitting here for twenty minutes—twenty minutes!—and didn't tell me that a member of my favorite band is coming to hang out with us tonight?! Are you crazy?! I have to get ready!" she said with annoyance as well as excitement evident in her voice. She stood up immediately, obviously torn between taking a shower and picking out an outfit. Then she did the unthinkable. She asked me—me!—for help getting ready.
"Of course I'll help you hun," I soothed her, sensing the stress in her voice. "Just go take a shower, I'll pick out a nice outfit for you to wear, and then you can do your makeup while I dry your hair."
She scurried off to the bathroom, muttering to herself, while I only caught the words "Stella," "Niall," "onion rings," and "purple mascara." I sniggered when she closed the door, skipping across the room to sift through her suitcase. I found the new dresses she had bought at the mall earlier—had that really only been six hours ago?—but ended up selecting a pair of black skinny jeans and a yellow floral quarter-sleeve top that was baggy on top but tight at the hips. It was cute without looking like we planned it too much. As for myself, I planned to stay in the flirty blue dress and black blazer I had met Niall in; that way, I didn't look like I was too worried about our hangout.
After I tidied up our room—Jo had made quite a mess with a bag of potato chips while I was stuck in the elevator—I realized that Niall had never actually texted me. I would have messaged him, but I didn't have his number. Just as I started to feel hurt, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, seeing a message from an unknown number:
Hey Stella! I'll be there in about an hour. Is it okay if I bring some of the boys? -Niall
My heart hammered at the thought of meeting the other boys. Despite my panic, I responded within the minute:
Absolutely! Can't wait
By this time, Jo was out of the shower and dressed in the outfit I had chosen. She stared appreciatively in the mirror. "Nice job Stells. I didn't think you had it in you."
"Okay, I know you can stare at yourself all day, and I don't mean to stress you out, but he's going to be here in less than an hour. And he's not coming alone."
She stared daggers at me, as if I had personally done her wrong. "He's not coming alone? Who else is coming?"
"Other members of the band. I'm not sure who. He just asked if he could bring 'some of the boys.'"
"Well than what are we waiting for?!"
Forty-five minutes later, Jo's golden hair was flowing pin-straight down her back and her usual layer of makeup was painted on her face. She also had time to fix my eyeliner where I had smudged it earlier and place some pretty blue barrettes in my hair, where they sparkled mysteriously amid the thick, dark brown.
"Let's just watch TV for a few minutes. Try and calm our nerves," I suggested. Plus, when Niall and the others walked in, it would not look as if we had been hurrying before they arrived.
We walked into the central room of the suite, closing the door to our bedroom behind us. We sat down on the couch and turned on some mindless sitcom, neither of us paying it any attention. I could not keep my mind from straying to Niall, and the fact that he wanted to spend time with me.
The next few minutes seemed like several hours. When the clock on my cell phone struck ten o'clock, I knew they would be at our door any second. I took a final look in the mirror, and finding nothing desperately wrong with my appearance, went back to the sofa. My heart hammered louder with every passing second, and my breath was becoming shallower. My fingers started shaking and I couldn't stop the rising panic in my chest. Although she tried to calm me down, Jo didn't look much better.
Then, the doorbell rang. I stood up slowly, and Jo flashed me a panicky look. I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile before turning toward the door. I really wished that Niall had told me who was coming. In what seemed like three steps, I was at the door and couldn't put it off any longer. I twisted the handle and pulled the door without consciously commanding the action.
I stared at the three boys standing in my doorway, and had to remind myself to breathe. I looked into the angelic faces of Zayn Malik and Liam Payne. I moved my eyes to the third figure in the doorway, the face of Niall Horan. As my eyes met his, my heartbeat immediately slowed, and I felt at ease. Of course this won't be awkward, you survived a power outage in a dark elevator shaft with this boy, didn't you? I chastised myself. After realizing this, I was able to pull a smile across my face. "Please, come in!" I said, after perhaps too long of a pause. Once they were all safely inside, I stretched out my hand to Zayn, grasping his hand firmly. "Hello, I'm Stella," I said cheerfully, and then repeated the gesture with Liam. They both introduced themselves as if I didn't know who they were. I looked over to Niall, not quite sure how to greet him, since a handshake was obviously not appropriate. I began to wave and say hi, when he pulled me into a hug. When he released me, I noticed Jo walking toward us from the sofa. "Guys, this is Jo. Jo, this is Niall, Zayn, and Liam."
She walked up to me, rolling her eyes. "Stella, you don't have to pretend that we're not huge fans," she said, earning a few chuckles from the boys and a light blush from me. She shook hands with each of them in turn, stating each of their names before they could, causing even more laughter. Like me, seeing the boys seemed to ease her nerves. After all, they were just average teen boys, and nobody was better with teenage boys than Jo. We moved to the sofas, where I sat next to Jo, with Zayn and Liam across from us. Niall, bringing up the rear, sat next to me without hesitation. Zayn did not think too much of this, but Liam looked back and forth between Niall and I, making me once again very self-conscious.
As Jo made easy conversation with the three boys, I found myself wondering what Niall had told his bandmates. Hey, I met this girl in a dark elevator shaft today. She said she likes our music, and asked us to go over later tonight. Sketchy! And I couldn't feel completely at ease while Liam was shooting me looks of accusation.
"Stella? Stella!" I heard Jo call. I turned to look at her, snapping out of my thoughts.
"What? Oh, sorry, I spaced out for a minute."
"That's okay hun. I was just telling them about our graduation."
"Oh yeah, it's unbelievable! It feels like we just started high school, but now we're off to college in the fall!" I exclaimed truthfully.
"Well none of us finished high school, but that sounds amazing. You guys must feel so accomplished. Congrats!" Zayn added, his British accent making the words extra sweet.
We passed the rest of the hour talking and bantering about stupid things, and soon we were all well acquainted. We learned that Harry and Louis had mini-golf plans tonight so couldn't make it. Apparently they had a long-lived bet, but it had never been brought to fruition. So the moment they saw a mini-golf course earlier, they pledged to discover the winner before they left Los Angeles. Liam eventually opened up, but I couldn't figure out why he had given me the cold shoulder before.
"We have a favor to ask you," Niall said innocently, looking between Jo and me. "We saw this adorable ice cream parlor earlier, and would love to take you guys. But Harry and Louis left us without a car. Is there any way you could drive us?"
"Of course! Let me just grab my keys," I said, glad for the excuse to stand up. I had been sitting still far too long. I skipped to the bedroom, grabbed my car keys, and retied one of my sneakers. As I turned to go back to the living room, I saw Niall standing in the doorway.
"May I come in?" he asked, glancing across the room with his wide blue eyes.
"Yeah, definitely," I replied, glancing behind him to where Jo was talking animatedly with Zayn and Liam.
He walked toward me and placed his hand gently on my shoulder, then let his hand run softly down my arm until he held my fingers in his. I could definitely feel my heart speeding up at this point. I waited for him to speak, because he obviously had something on his mind.
"Stella, I would love to spend more time with you before we have to leave LA. What do you say to sightseeing tomorrow morning?" He stared into my eyes with his innocent expression and bright blue irises. Did he honestly expect me to say no?
"Of course! I would love to!"
He still looked like he was struggling with words, so I waited patiently, very aware of his fingers gripped around mine. "I'm not sure you understand me," he said quietly, his head turned toward the ground. "What I'm really trying to say is…will you go on a date with me?"