Another One Cindirection Story (L.P.)

Chapter 8 - You're Invited

Aubrey's POV

I somehow managed to sleep through the whole day. When the final bell rang, I jumped, forgetting where I was. Practically no one was in the library. The people left were probably just killing time waiting for their after school clubs to start.

I rubbed my eyes and stretched out in my corner of the library, hoping that if I rubbed hard enough my thoughts of Liam would finally pass. He was everywhere recently, and not just in my mind either. I had noticed him earlier in the day, even earlier than when I ran into him, but he had been surrounded by an entourage that approaching him didn't seem realistic. Not that approaching him seemed realistic in general.

I couldn't help but think back to the day I met him. Things were so different back then; oddly enough, things seemed to be simpler before I became Ella. No expectations, no lies. I sat back against the shelf as uncomfortable as it was and wondered what it'd be like to be Aubrey Scotts again.

I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to find some peace within me. Owen was right, I had no idea what I was doing. I was lying to everyone, dating someone who had made my life miserable up until a few days ago, and justifying it all because I couldn't stand to be in my own skin. I leaned back in my bean bag and looked up at the ceiling, considering my options which weren't looking too good for me right now.

And then suddenly, I remembered the poem. I reached for my bag and dug through it, trying to find it. I needed something to remind me that I was still Aubrey.

Where was it? I pulled my bag closer to me and rummaged through it.

But it wasn't there.

I looked again, this time careful to search the pockets.

It still wasn't there.

Oh God. My heart dropped and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I dumped my entire bag out and ignored the dirty looks I got from the noise. I looked through the scattered contents on the floor, and sure enough the poem wasn't there. But that was impossible, I never took the poem out of my bag.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I almost jumped out of my skin. I looked up. Taylor.

She couldn't know about my poem, no one could. Everyone would know right off the top of their head that I was Aubrey. The girl who got bullied every day.

I threw all my stuff back into my bag again and forced a smile onto my face.

"Taylor!" I exclaimed, hating how fake I sounded.

"What's all this stuff?" she asked, leaning down and picking up a stack of papers. She raised her eyebrows and waited for an answer.

"It's just some homework," I said, taking the stack of paper back from her.

She shrugged and changed the subject. "I missed you at lunch. Where were you?"

I picked the rest of the scattered contents on the floor back up and shoved them back in my bag, remembering that I was supposed to meet her for lunch. "Oh, sorry. I was here. Studying." I added.

She rolled her eyes and then brightened up. "So anyways, I was wondering if you were busy this weekend? My sister, Ruby, and her boyfriend are throwing a party at a bar this weekend if you wanted to come?"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. A few weeks ago, I never would've imagined that Taylor Smith would be inviting me to a party, but here she was and all I wanted to do was say no. However, this was my ticket to making some new friends and I was pretty sure everyone else at the school was going to be there. It would be strange if I didn't go.

"Sure, why not?" I replied.

"Great, we'll pick you up on Friday. Five sharp."

I nodded. "Friday."

She stood up to leave. "By the way, don't bring your phone, you won't need it. The bar is like, in the middle of nowhere with no cell service." she feigned disgust. "Completely medieval."

"Got it." I said, trying to rush her out so that I could go back to looking for my poem.

"Perfect!" Taylor flashed me another smile before disappearing through the library door.

As soon as I made sure that she was out of sight, I dumped my bag out again and searched through the contents. Sadly, the result was the same. The poem was nowhere to be found. I could feel my anxiety spiking but I closed my eyes and tried to breathe in and out in threes. One, two, three breathe in and out, two, three breathe out. I opened my eyes and tried to reason with myself. The poem must have just fallen out of my bag at home. When I got home, it would be lying on the floor somewhere. There was no reason to worry.

My phone chimed right at that moment snapping me out of my thoughts. Rifling through the stuff on the floor, I found my phone and read the message.

Layla: Aubrey!!! Where are you? I have bad news.

Liam's POV

By the end of today, I was tired of throwing pies at girls and I was still deaf from Louis's airhorn. I guess he felt the same way, too.

"I can't hear anything!" Louis whined.

"I can still hear your annoying voice," I replied.

"I could hear that perfectly well," he glared at me.

I shrugged and walked out of the school with Louis trailing behind me.

"Hey!" he called from behind me, running up to catch up with me. "I'm sorry we didn't find her yet." he took a look at my face, "Don't worry. We'll find her before we leave for tour."

"Thanks for reminding me how little time I have left." I mumbled.

Louis stopped walking and I turned around, afraid to look at him because of what he might say. After all, he did try really hard to help me find the anonymous girl. And he did spend a lot of money on his airhorn and the pies. I wondered how long it took to get Niall to agree to that once he found the pies and realized what they were for.

I finally looked up at Louis. He crossed his arms. "Liam, I am your best friend. If there is one thing you should know, it's that I've got your back. I will find this girl. I still don't know why you want to find her so bad, but if she's that important to you, I will find her." he said in one breath.

"Thanks Louis," I said, wondering what I did to deserve such a good friend. There were not too many people in this world that I could imagine going through the effort he was to find a girl that I couldn't even remember too well.

A/N: Don't forget to vote, follow, and comment!

~Forever_Yours_Too