hoodie || nh au

Twenty-four

Miranda and Sam stand behind me. They came over to go to Homecoming with us. Josh came over, too. Miranda did my hair like she did the night of the party. We both decided that we don't need to put make up on me. Niall texted them right after I said yes. I still can't really believe Niall asked me. It's really nice of him. He probably just asked me, so I don't stay home and regret it later. Niall went home again to get ready, too. Miranda and the others are going to drive there in their own cars. Niall's picking me up. He's too excited to see me, so he wants to pick me up.

"You look good", Luke says, as he enters the room with Josh.

I thank him. Josh looks at Miranda's dress closely. I love her dress. It's so pretty.

"Niall should be here soon", Sam announces.

My parents were into Niall's plan. Mom hid in Luke's room to make it look like she was in my room. That's so thoughtful of them. My mom got all teared up. She said I was really pretty. A few minutes later the doorbell rings. Niall is here. I pull on my Vans and play with the dress a little to make it sit prettier. Niall's sister must've been really skinny like me since it fits me. The others go down to let Niall in while I pack my small bag. Miranda brought one for me. She really is an amazing friend. I put in my phone, money, my key and some tissues. My nose always starts to sniffle when it gets cold outside.

"Alex? You done soon?", Josh shouts.

"I'm coming!", I yell and step out of my room.

I walk down the stairs and see Niall standing at the bottom. He smiles widely. The others are busy with taking pictures of each other. Niall hugs me tightly, as I reach the last step.

"You look really pretty, Alex. Just take my complement serious", Niall mumbles into my ear.

I swallow and feel my cheeks turn a shade darker. He kisses my nose quickly.

"Thanks."

I look at him. His tux is a normal black one with a light blue shirt.

"You look nice", I tell him quietly.

"Thank you, birdy. I hope you like my sister's dress as much as I do. You should keep it", Niall smiles.

I nod and see that my mom is taking pictures of everyone. My eyes look down my body. I see a bulge forming right where my stomach is.

You shouldn't have eaten that ice cream. Look how fat you look now. Niall's not going to like it.

My stomach has bloated. Niall takes my face into his hand. He gives me a knowing look with his eyebrows raised.

"It's not that bad, okay? I think it's cute", he smiles.

I nod and pull him to my mom. Anything to get that topic out of our heads. My mom is currently taking pictures of every couple.

"Honey, you and Niall still need a picture together. Then we'll do a group picture", my mom instructs.

Niall and I stand where Miranda and Sam just stood. Niall stands behind me, his hands around my waist, just like in cliché pictures. Why does everybody make such a drama out of this stuff? Prom is more important than Homecoming but my mom is a picture fan. She loves keeping memories in pictures. She snaps a few pictures and then we do group pictures with funny faces.

"You should let them get going", my dad laughs and lays his hand on my mothers shoulder, "They'll be late."

My mom nods and lets us go. Niall takes my hand. I'm quite okay with him being my "date" to Homecoming. At least I won't sit home alone in my bed and watch sad love movies. He opens the car door for me and helps me in. The others already left but Niall and I still do some goofy selfies in his car. We drive after taking a few nice pictures. I decide to post one to my Instagram.

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you get."
-> Off to Homecoming with this guy :) @niallhoran_bigd... (btw you should change your username;D)

I post it quickly and tag the others in it, too, since they're going with us. As soon as we reach the school parking lot, a whole lot of people enter the gym. I never saw the sence of paying to go to a dance. It's like six dollars at our school. The commité needs money to plan and do these. Why do we have fundraising runs, car washes and cake sales? The teachers probably finance their coffee and new teachers room furniture with that money. Niall helps me back out of the car. Josh's and Sam's cars are already here but they are nowhere to be seen. They probably already went inside to get started. Luke and Josh love dancing at parties and dances. I don't know about Miranda and Sam.

Your stomach is bloated, you look fat. Everybody will be grossed out by you.

I push the thoughs out of my head and follow Niall to the doors. I hand him my six dollars but he gives them back.

"I have enough, Alex. Just keep it. I invited you", he explains.

"Thanks."

I put the money back into the purse Miranda gave me. Niall takes my hand again. He smiles down at me. We get our tickets quickly and then search for the others. Seems like Niall found them because he pulls me in a different direction. Luke and Josh stand there, drinking something. We start a quick conversation.

"Did you see the others?", Niall asks.

"Nope, they just disappeared when we entered. They said something about having fun by themselves. We just said 'okay' and got something to drink", Josh explains.

I scrunch my nose and my body shakes slightly. That's gross. Remind me not to go to the bathrooms until they come back. I let Niall's hand go and look around. People look at me weirdly. Maybe because of my stomach.

See, told you they think you're Fatty McFat.

"Let's go dance", Niall smiles.

I nod. The music changes from Treasure by Bruno Mars to Uptown Funk by him, too. Niall and I dance like we would in a club. Everyone else does, too. I loved dancing. Another thing Liam took from me. He really ruined my life. That's not important anymore. I have friends now and I'm happy again. My life is almost back to normal.