Lost (Liam Payne)

Part 3

Liam looked out the window of the plane, watching the ground get closer and closer. It didn't look promising. All urban and dirty. The fresh white snow he was expecting was gray slush. He checked his map and pictures of Oscoda again. Fresh white snow. He hoped that was true. He also hope that there really only 900 people. He wanted to be anonymous. He didn't want to be Liam Payne anymore. He was going to be Andy. He was going to borrow his best mates name and get some alone time. Try to remember who he was. He wasn't very fond of the obnoxious, deluded pop star he had become.

He was already feeling proud of himself. He'd purchased the plane ticket on his own. He'd arranged to have a car meet him and rent it for a month. He'd told his accountant not to let anyone know where he had gone. He was going to be Joe average. Write music. Maybe even get a job.

The plane landed with the familiar bounce. He relaxed in his first class seat and mentally prepared himself. Deep breath. Baseball cap pulled down. Carry on in hand. Liam stood up and got off the plane, ready to become Andy, a normal guy from England looking to "getaway from it all."

"Cricket! What is all this food? What is going on? I mean, I planned to invited Jon over for dinner, but this is too much for 3!" Penelope's mom exclaimed as she walked in the door. She had spent the day at the bank, her winter job, denying people mortgages. If Penelope cooked, she had to clean.

"Seriously, mom?" Penelope sighed. "You left the website active. We have a guest due any second! We are lucky I came straight home and didn't go right to Tom's after school. I cooked, you can deal with the guest. I was supposed to leave an hour ago!"

"I did what?" her mother gasped. How could she have been so careless. She didn't have time in the winter to deal with a guest. She had an actual job, 9 to 5. "Why didn't you cancel it?"

Pen sighed. Like she hadn't thought of that! "I tried mom. He's already on his way here! By the time I discovered the reservation, his plane had landed and he was on his way. He's coming from overseas. The number he left is for an answering service. Nothing I could do except go to the store and make food. He's staying for a MONTH, mother. You need to be more careful. I have no idea how we are going to do this."  With that Pen jumped off the stool and headed up the stairs. She needed to pack. Her mother was downstairs, cursing and slamming cupboards.

She sent a quick text to Tom, her boyfriend of three years, letting him know that she was on her way. He was an hour and a half away, in the city were they had met, teaching 8th graders to do algebra. He loved it. He want to stay his entire life there, in Saginaw. He loved the noise, the traffic, the inner city kids who needed him. That was his dream. He'd been trying to convince Penelope to make it hers, too.

Throwing clothes into a bag, she started to head downstairs when she heard the door bell ring. She raced down the rest of the stairs and pulled the door open, planning to leave as the guest came inside. Pen looked up and gave a half smile to the guest and said "Wel..." Then she froze in place. This wasn't a guest. This was Liam Payne, a member of the world's biggest band. He was in One Direction. He was famous. And he was even more beautiful in real life than he was in pictures. She looked up into his warm brown eyes and felt her heart race. He had a wide smile on his plump pink lips. It was the grin of a man who knew he was good looking. He knew what his smile could do to a girl. She fought the urge to scream and moved aside to let him in the house.

Liam rang the bell of the large, blue house. The entry was a huge rock patio that wrapped around the house. He saw furniture neatly stacked and covered with clear tarps for the winter. The lake was a short distance away. Not even a two minute walk away. It looked gray and angry today. Huge sheets of ice lined the beach. Choppy waves crashed into them, pushing them back and forth. Snow covered everything. At least 10 inches, he figured. Perfect, he thought.Nobody HERE will know me.