Chapter 1: Happy Birthday!

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"Happy Birthday!" My tired eyes opened for the first time that day, Friday, August 31st. Looking around my room, I recognized five familiar faces around my bed. On the left side was standing my mom, my dad, and my 11 year old brother Cameron. On the right side, my two best friends Kendall and Haley were standing. Wow, I sure didn't expect this when I woke up. 

"Hey guys.... um thank you!" I said to them as I smiled. "Happy 18th birthday, sweetie." my mom said as she leaned over to give me a kiss on the head. "Thanks mom."  "Ready to open presents?!" said Cameron. He handed me a homemade card and a crafty bracelet that he had made at school. "Aw thank you so much!" I said as I slid the pink and blue bracelet on my wrist. "Our present is down stairs....it would have been too hard to try to carry it up without waking you." said Haley. "Oh okay, cool!" I answered. "The present from your father and I is down stairs as well." My mom added. "So let's go down stairs!" suggested Kendall.

We made our way down the steps and into my living room. Oh. My. Gosh. There were FIVE card board cutouts of five hot guys. These guys were One Direction- Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik. My oh my did I love those boys! (Niall was my favorite) I was in shock! This was by far the coolest thing ever. "Flip the switch on the back of Niall's left hand." said Kendall. I did, and an audio of Niall turned on saying, "Happy Birthday, we love you!" "Now for our present....." said my dad as he walked towards me with a small box in his hand. I was so excited and anxious to see what it was. I opened the box and found nine slips of paper. I was puzzled. After examining the papers closely,  I about fainted. The next thing I knew I was screaming. There were six plane tickets for me, Kendall, and Haley to go to London and to come back. The other three papers were tickets to see One Direction....FRONT ROW. I tackled my friends as we all started jumping up and down screaming. Then, I faced my parents and gave them huge hugs and thanked them. Our plane was leaving in three days! This was unbelievable!

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"Hey babe! Happy Birthday! I love you so so sooooooooooo much! Hope you're having a great birthday and I'll see you at dinner!
xxxx 
-E "

My heart always flutters when my boyfriend Elliott texts me. He was absolutely perfect in every way. We had been dating for almost eight months. We didn't go to the same school, so we didn't see each other too often. We saw each other almost everyday in the summer though. He knew exactly what to say to make me feel better, and he got along with all of my friends. I loved him. 

"Thanks, Love you too! Can't wait to see you!
xoxo
-S "

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"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Sarah, Happy Birthday to you!" sang my family and friends in the restaurant we were in. We were at a pizza place. I looked down and my cake and blew out my candles. I blew them all out in one breath. 
I wish for an unforgettable time in London
Everyone applauded after I blew out my candles. It had to be the best feeling in the world to spend this time with everyone you love.

"Hey, I haven't given you your present yet."

whispered Elliott who was sitting beside me.

"Haha aw thanks! You didn't have to though!"I said back.

"I've already asked your parents and they said it was fine for us to take a quick walk to where they hold all the concerts two blocks over." He stood up and I figured that I was supposed to follow.  

We walked downtown and I realized where he was taking me. Off to the right of where the stage was, there we some stone benches on a hill. One of those particular benches is what we stood in front of when we kissed for the first time. This was so amazingly sweet and perfect. "Sarah, I love you so much. Here, happy birthday." Elliott said as he handed me a rectangular blue box. I took the lid off and there was nothing there but a sheet of cotton. "Oh my gosh did it fall out!?" he screamed when he saw nothing was there. I lifted the sheet of cotton up and giggled. "Don't worry, it's right here!" I said as I lifted up the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen. It was on a silver chain and attached to it was a heart with three little diamonds on the side. "Oh my goodness! It's beautiful!" I said to him. "It doesn't even compare to your beauty he said back. "Thank you so much. I love it, I love you." I gave him a huge hug that seemed to last forever. I was sad when he started to pull away, but then I realized what he was doing when he leaned in. Next thing I knew, we were kissing. Right where we did for the first time ever. I don't think the night could have been better. When he pulled away, I heard him say, "I love you too." After he put the necklace on me, we decided to walk back to the pizza place. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>

On September 1st, I left my house at 6:30am to go pick up Kendall and Haley. Haley was picked up first because it only took about five minutes do drive to her house from mine. As soon as she hopped in the car, I remembered to plug in my iPod. I had a playlist full of One Direction Music, (all their live performances and original songs), I couldn't pick which song to listen to, so I decided to put it on shuffle. The first song that came on was a live performance from last year. It was Viva la Vida. No words needed to be said. We just kept singing along. 

My missionary's in a foreign field,
for some reason I can't explain, 
I know St. Peter will call my name....

  We were having a blast. When we arrived at Kendall's, it was about 7am. She was waiting outside for us. I could tell that she was excited. "VAS HAPPENIN'!?" she said to us as she hopped in the back of my silver SUV. Haley and I both started cracking up. I started the music again once we pulled out of the driveway. 

Na nana na nana na nanana, na nana na nana
Na nana na nana na nanana, na nana na nana
Baby you light up my world like nobody else....

When Harry's part started, we all went crazy! "HIS VOICE IS SO SEXY!" said Kendall when his solo was over. It's true. Harry's voice was amazing.  I seriously could not believe that we wouldn't be back in the U.S. for a month. The concert itself was on Friday, September 13th. Which I soon realized was Niall's birthday. Ha. I was two weeks older than him. 

At 7:15, we arrived at the airport. Our flight took off at 8. Right before I got out of the car, my phone buzzed. Elliott texted me.

"Hey babe! Miss you already! Get on skype tonight after you eat dinner! Tell Kendall and Haley I said hi. Be safe!
xxxx love you soooo much!
-E" 

I quickly replied.

"Why are you awake!? Go back to sleep, silly!
And okay I will<3 xoxo Love you too!
-S"

I hit the send button then got my bags out of the car.

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We landed in London at 4 in the evening our time. It was 11am there. Haley, Kendall, and I walked over to baggage claim as we began to gather our belongings. Once we all got our bags, I turned on my phone to text Elliott.

"Just landed safe and sound! The girls say hi! 
Love you<3
-S(:"

When I looked up from my phone, I didn't see Haley and Kendall standing beside me as they were before I turned my phone on. I had a mini panic attack until I spotted them a short distance away talking to two British guys. From afar, it looked as if they were flirting. Figures. We all three agree that British boys are irresistible. I started walking towards them, but before I got over there, one of the boys looked at their watch and they both walked away. I assumed they needed to be somewhere. "Who were they?" I asked them in a tone of voice that was basically saying I know you thought they were totally hot. "Oh...just our new friends James and Andrew!" said Haley. "Haha oh I love you too." I said back. "Yeah but unfortunately, they're only visiting here until Wednesday. They are only visiting their grandparents;then they go back to Manchester." said Kendall. "Ouch, that's a bummer."

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The apartment we had rented to stay in for the next month was amazing. It was pretty big for an apartment;there were three bedrooms. One for each of us. When you first walked in, you saw a crystal chandelier hanging above a glass table with nice dining room chairs surrounding it. Off to the left was a sofa, a love seat, and a chair facing a flat screen TV that was nailed against the wall. On the right side, there was a kitchen. We then raced to claim our bedrooms. I ended up getting the smallest. Kendall's was the same size as mine, but her closet was bigger, and Haley's closet was the same but her room was far bigger than mine and Kendall's. I looked in the corner of my room and saw a door. Hmm random. I walked over and opened it. "Holy crap guys come see this!" I yelled to Kendall and Haley. When they came in, we all went outside to the attached balcony off to the side of my room. We were awing over how amazing it was when the doorbell rang.

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