No Control (Book 1)

2. Once In A Lifetime

I stepped up onto the doorstep next to her. She looked at me. Then I realised what she'd just said.

"What?!" I squealed, but before the word had even fully left my lips I started to laugh at  the ridiculousness of her statement. "Oh very funny," I said. "You almost had me for a moment."

Callie grinned at me. "I'm not even joking," she said.

I stared at her, grinning back, waiting for her to burst into giggles but she just smiled broadly. I could feel my face begin to drop as what she was saying began to sink in. My heart began to pound.

Before I could even think about forming a coherent response a figure approached from the other side of the door, distorted by the frosted glass, and pulled it open. A tall guy with spiky blond hair stood there, looking at us expectantly. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Callie, I'm meeting James Lacy," Callie answered, flashing him her best smile.

"Ah, OK," the guy replied, stepping back and opening the door so we could pass. "Come in. Sorry if I seemed rude, but sometimes random people just turn up uninvited if they think someone famous might be here. I'm Josh, by the way, and this is my house."

"Quite alright," Callie breezed, stepping inside. She introduced herself and me, but I could only smile nervously as I tried to stop my whole body from trembling. "Do you know where James is?" she asked.

"Kitchen," Josh replied, shutting the door. "Go straight down the hall, and help yourself to anything you want."

"Thanks," we both said, and I followed Callie dazedly in the direction Josh had pointed, keeping my face aimed at the ground. I was terrified of catching a glimpse of Harry Styles in the flesh without warning and falling to pieces. We walked into a large kitchen and I heard Callie say, "James! Hi!"

I risked looking up and saw James standing right in front of us, planting a kiss on Callie's cheek. "Hey, you look great," he smiled at her, and then turned his gaze to me. "Hey Jess."

"Hi," I tried to say, but it just came out as a squeak. James grinned. "Oh dear. She's told you Harry Styles is here then?"

My heart pounded even harder. "Harry's definitely here?" I croaked. "I thought she might be joking."

Callie looked at me affectionately. "Jess, I would never ever joke about Harry Styles like this. I know what you're like over him. And before you ask, I didn't tell you sooner because I knew you would take fifteen hours to work up the courage to come, and then take another fifteen hours working out what to wear. And I simply couldn't let you get yourself into a state about it. Or potentially miss your one and only chance to meet him."

As much as I wanted to strangle her for not giving me any warning, everything she had just said made complete sense. She knew me so well. But I did wish she'd given me like five minutes, just to try and get my head straight. I took a couple of deep breaths while James watched me with amusement. "He was in the lounge before with one of the other One Direction lads," he supplied.

My legs almost gave way beneath me. "Which one?" I asked faintly.

He gave me a confused look. "I didn't know there was more than one lounge?"

"Which One Direction lad?" I clarified, a little more clearly. I was struggling to believe I was actually having this conversation for real. It felt like a weird dream.

"Pfft, you're asking the wrong person," he shrugged. "Black hair, stubble, olive skin. Northern accent - Leeds maybe?"

"Bradford," I corrected, as relief flooded through me. "I think you mean Zayn."