Secret Sister » 1D

Chapter 17

Chapter 17


I was shocked at how many girls stopped chattering or screaming when I came out from backstage. Was I really that noticeable? I looked around. Not even the band members (as in music players) were out yet. Oh.

I walked to the middle of the stage and stood there nervously. Almost everybody was quiet now. It was disconcerting.

I noticed Harry's microphone and I picked it up. I knew it was Harry's because it was the one he used during rehearsals. I tapped it; it echoed around the theater. Good, it's on.

"Hello," I said into it. I realized I wasn't wearing an earpiece. Should've thought of that before I came up with this brilliant idea. Oh well.

"Sorry that the boys aren't here yet," I apologized for them. "They are experiencing some technical difficulties."

I heard a few giggles, and I frowned. What's so funny? Then I realized I had made it sound like they were taking a bathroom break. Well, why not build on that? "Yep," I joked. "For such big boys they sure do have little bladders." I earned a few more laughs, and I grinned. I like making people laugh.

"So for now," I continued. "You've got me for entertainment." I shrugged uncomfortably. "Now, I know I may not sound the greatest, like One Direction," I admitted. "So I don't blame you if you have the tomatoes ready. Or in this case, carrots." A few of the front row girls grinned.

"Well...." I mumbled, trying to think of a song. I decided on "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson. "I'm going to be singing Kelly Clarkson's 'My Life Would Suck Without You'," I said, my heart pounding in my chest. I waited for a moment so I could get the tune in my head. I think I heard a few girls shout at me to hurry up, but I waited patiently for my brain to get caught up. You just had to wait for it.

"I guess this means you're sorry," I began. I was such an idiot, what if this all went wrong? Maybe they'd boo me off the stage, or throw carrots at me, or shoes, or tampons, or whatever it is they'd got on hand. They didn't want me, they wanted One Direction.

But I was still singing, and they were still listening, so I just went with it. "Like how much you wanted," I went on. "Anyone but me. Said you'd never come back, but here you are again...."



......



I can't believe I managed to make it to the end of the song without a single comment or insult from the audience. I even got a few claps at the end. Either they felt bad for me so they're living with it, or I actually sounded pretty good. I hoped it's the latter option.

I decided to shake things up a bit. "Okay," I said loudly. "Obviously that was a little boring without music. So, let's try something else. You, there." I pointed to a little girl whom I guesstimated was about ten years old. "What song do you want me to sing?" I asked.

The little girl looked completely lost. "Come on," I coaxed. "I'll sing anything. Except for maybe 'Beauty and the Beat'." I wrinkled my nose.

I realized I shouldn't have said that. Practically 90% of these Directioners were Beliebers too! But when no one shouted at me, I decided to push it. "I mean," I shouted. "You're putting Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber TOGETHER, people! That's like asking for brain damage!" I got a lot of laughs from that one, and I grinned.

"Baby," the girl said. I glanced down at her. I almost forgot about her.

"What?" I asked.

"'Baby' by Justin Bieber," she said defiantly. I realized she must be a Belieber. "Not a problem," I said nonchalantly, twirling the microphone between my fingers. "I can do that. I don't have anything against that song."

I bit my lip. "Does anybody here know how to rap?" I asked. "If I start rapping you'll all wind up dead before I'm even done."

I saw a bunch of hands waving around, and a particular girl caught my eye. "You," I said, pointing to a redhead. "Get up here."

She looked so shocked that her friends practically had to push her up here. I grinned at her and handed her a microphone. "You know how to rap?" I asked her. She nodded. I tapped my microphone.

"Y-yes," she stammered into it.

"Alright," I said cheerfully. I turned to the crowd.

"Now who here knows the beat to 'Baby'?"

I wasn't surprised when 99.99% of the girls started screaming. I was the .001% that wasn't. You would have to be deaf not to know the beat to Justin Bieber's "Baby".

"You can't have a song without music!" I shouted. "Come on, let's hear it!"

"Dun... dun dun."

I almost started cracking up. "Whoaaa oh," I sang.

"Dun... dun dun," the girls sang back.

"Whoaaa oh oh."

"Dun... dun dun."

"You know you love me," I started, glancing at the redhead. She smiled back at me a little shyly and nodded.

"I know you care. Just shout whenever, and I'll be there...."

The redhead and the girls in the audience sang along with me. We made a pretty good a-cappella group. I was not a huge fan of Justin, but I have to admit, I kind of liked this song.



......



"Wow, girls, that was great!" I whooped into the microphone when the song was over. The girls cheered and clapped along with me.

I turned to the redhead. "You're a pretty good rapper," I complimented her, winking. She blushed. "Do you have a Twitter?" I asked her.

She looked surprised. "Yes, I do, actually," she said.

"Great," I said cheerfully. "Just give me your username and I'll ask the boys to follow you."

Her eyes glowed. "You would seriously do that?" she squeaked. "For me?!"

"Sure, why not?" I said with a shrug.

She grinned. "My username is @1Disthekey," she said.

I stared at her. "YOU'RE @1Disthekey?!" I practically shouted at her.

She gave me a confused look. "Yeah, why?" she asked.

"I'm @1Dee_Lily!" I cried.

"OMFG!" she squealed.

Over Twitter, when we didn't know each other, she had been my biggest supporter. She was always asking for more, and I kept giving her more. She had no idea where these fresh pictures were coming from, since they weren't on the Internet yet, but I never told her the whole truth. I guess now she knew. Sort of.

"You are so amazing!" she gushed, but I cut her off.

"No, not really, and let's leave it at that," I said. "I'll make sure the boys follow you."

"Thanks again!" she cried before leaping back into the crowd.

"What else should we sing?" I asked them, and I heard the girls mumbling amongst themselves.

"I'm a pretty good rapper," a voice spoke up. I turned around and saw a brunette standing up straighter as she spoke to me. "And I want us to sing 'Can't Hold Us' by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis."

I was a little surprised by that, but I let her come up anyway and resume the roll as rapper. "Does anybody else know this song?" I asked.

Not a lot of replies.

"Well, you'll learn," I said with a shrug.

The brunette started out with the "alright"s and "okay"s. I sang along with her when the I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T part came up. That had to be my favorite.



......



"Well done, girls, well done," I said loudly as I applauded. "That was very well done. For those of you who have never heard that song before, now you have." I promised the brunette a few more Twitter followers, and she jumped back down, looking pretty pleased with herself.

"Say 'I' if you love Louis!" I shouted.

"I!!" yelled 1/5 of the crowd.

I'm not sure where that came from, but I was so filled up with excitement and adrenaline I had to let it out somehow.

"Say 'I' if you love Zayn!"

"I!!" Another 1/5.

"Say 'I' if you love Liam!"

"I!!"

I was tempted to yell at them, "You're crazy, bitches!" but I didn't. They couldn't know that I was his sister, and if they didn't figure that out, I didn't want them thinking I was a Liam-hater.

"Say 'I' if you love Niall!"

"I!!"

"Say 'I' if you love Harry!"

"I!!" I think half of the Niall fans cheated on that one.

"Niall fans, I didn't hear you!" I yelled at them.

"I!!!"

"That's better," I said in satisfaction.

I glanced towards the edge of the stage and spotted Louis grinning at me. He seemed to know what I was asking for. He held up two fingers. Two more minutes. I was almost disappointed. I felt like I had made over a billion friends today. I stiffened. Liam's gonna kill me.

"Looks like we have time for one more song," I said. "I don't know about you, but since this is the 'Up All Night' Tour, I want to sing a song from the 'Take Me Home' album. How about that?"

I heard a bunch of shouts of agreement.

"'Rock Me'?" I suggested. "Everyone knows that one...."

As the audience agreed with me, I proceeded to bring girls up onstage. "You, you, you, and you," I said, pointing to four random girls. "You be my One Direction."

They got up onstage, and the pride and excitement on their faces made me feel pretty proud of myself too. I'd just made these girls' lives a whole lot more interesting.

"I hope to see some of this stuff on YouTube!" I shouted in a suggestive tone. "I'm sure no one wants to forget this night!" Almost immediately I saw girls taking out their cameras, iPhones, iPods, etc., etc.

"Let's see those hands in the air!" I declared, clapping my hands over my head. "Scream and shout and let it all out!" The girls followed my orders. I was getting them excited, I could tell.

"Do you remember summer '09?" I sang into my microphone. I motioned for my girl "One Direction" to join in. "Wanna go back there every night. Just can't lie, it was the best time of my life!"

When it came to the echoes, this is what I did:

"I used to think that I was better alone!" I sang, and held my microphone out to the crowd.

"BETTER ALONE!!" they shouted back at me.

"Why did I ever wanna let you go?"

"LET YOU GO!!"

"Under the moonlight as we stared at the sea...."

"STARED AT THE SEA!!"

"Those words you whispered I will always believe!"

"Come on, girls, let's hear what you've got!" I hollered.

"I WANT YOU TO ROCK ME, ROCK ME, ROCK ME, YEAH!! I WANT YOU TO HIT THE PEDAL, HEAVY METAL, SHOW ME YOU CARE!! I WANT YOU TO ROCK ME, ROCK ME, ROCK ME, YEAH!!"

By the end of the song my ears were ringing, and it didn't help that the girls continue to scream the lyrics even after the song was over.

"Thanks so much!" I yelled. "You've been a great audience! Enjoy the show!"

I heard a bunch of screams and cheers as I raced away, and I wasn't sure if they were cheering for me or One Direction. Either way, it left a warm feeling inside of me.

"Delilah!" someone shouted, but before I could see who it was, they smashed me in a hug. I laughed and hugged them back, not even caring who it was. I pulled back; it was Niall.

He grinned down at me. "That was amazing!" he exclaimed. "I could go on all night, but to put it bluntly, Lily, you did brilliantly!"

I grinned, my face not able to express my happiness enough, and I hugged him again.

"I thought you were a crazy lunatic going out there like that," I heard Zayn say. "But it turns out it paid off."

I grinned at him, but suddenly I was being hugged from behind. I looked back and saw Louis. I smiled, turned around, and hugged him the right way.

"You're going to be in so much trouble," he told me.

"Shut up," I mumbled, but that reminded me of something. "Where's Harry?" I asked worriedly.

He pointed. "Still by the shattered lamp," he said. "The doctors are bandaging him up right now as we speak." I was gone before he even finished his sentence.

I turned the corner and saw Harry giving the nearest doctor the evil eye. The doctor reached towards him. "Don't touch me!" Harry screamed and scooted back.

"Harry!" I cried and ran up to him.

He looked up at me. "Hey, Lily," he said brightly. "How'd it go?"

"Really good, actually," I said, and I sounded surprised, even to myself.

"That's great," he said, grinning. "How did the fans like it?"

"Who cares?" I snapped back. "What matters is that you're hurt! How is it going back here?"

He rolled his eyes, but answered anyway. "Just fine," he said firmly, but still glared at the doctor.

"Did it hurt?" I asked.

"What do you think?" he shot back sarcastically. "My wrist was facing the wrong way! It makes me sick just thinking about it."

"Did you put out your hands to cushion your fall?"

"Yes...."

I face-palmed. "That's exactly what you're NOT supposed to do!" I shouted. "You're supposed to try and land on your feet!"

"Oh," he muttered, like that had never occurred to him.

I sighed. "You idiot," I mumbled, but there was less venom in the insult this time. I sat next to him.

"Lily! There you are!" a familiar voice exclaimed, and Liam materialized by my side. "How could you do that?!" he yelled at me. "All of those girls saw you, and now Mum and Dad are going to KILL me!"

"Excuse me!" I spat back. "You were kind of in a dilemma thanks to Mr. Balance here! If it weren't for me, you would have to cancel the concert, and look at where THAT would've gotten you!"

Liam glared back at me for a moment, before doing the one thing I second-to-last expected from him. He hugged me. I raised my eyebrows, but I hugged him back anyway.

"I know," he sighed. "I know I'm not showing my gratitude in the greatest way right now. But thank you."

"You're welcome," I replied cheerily.

"Alright, enough with the gushy stuff!" a voice yelled. "How do you think Harry must feel?"

I realized that I was still sitting closely next to Harry, and I immediately scooted back. I glared at Louis and he smirked at me. "Let's get this show on the road!" he cheered.

"Help me up," Harry ordered once me and Liam were standing. I rolled my eyes. "What's the magic word?" I asked.

"Please," he grumbled, and I grabbed his good arm while Liam grabbed his messed-up arm and we hauled him up.

"What will the fans think?" I asked nervously.

"Let's just pray that they don't notice," Zayn said, joining us with Niall.

"Be out in five, four, three, two...." the director began to count down, looking relieved.

We all stopped by the curtains. "Good luck, boys," I whispered.

"Thanks," Niall told me again, and I squeezed his hand. They rushed out to the many excited screams of the fans.