ChatRoom101

Chapter 7

After dinner, Niall asked my parents for permission to take me out. Not knowing what’s gotten into them, they said yes. Clearly they adore Niall, I mean, they wouldn’t let anyone else take me anywhere this late.

“Just make sure you’re back by midnight,” they said.

It’s 8 pm, we’ve got four hours and I find myself in my car, driving with Niall back towards the city.

“I’m gonna take you to meet the rest of the guys,” he said. I nodded, oh dear.

He told me they were staying at the Marriott hotel and I took that as a sure sign that they really are rich and famous. He took me up to the 18th floor and led me through the maze of corridors. Finally he found the room he was looking for and fished out his key card out of his pocket.

The door swung open and I was greeted with four boys spread out around a large living room, eyes trained on the TV, each with a controller in hand. I suppressed the urge to laugh at the familiarity of the sight of teenage boys glued to a game. When Niall walked in, they didn’t even look up but said a chorus of “Hello Niall.”

Niall laughed at them and cleared his throat. Somehow, that got their attention and the curly haired boy paused the game to look up. The other boys opened their mouths to protest but stopped when they saw me at the door way. I blushed and waved awkwardly at them. The boys’ eyes darted from Niall to me and back to Niall again, their mouths hanging open.

Finally, Niall got the brains to introduce me, “Boys, this is Lucy. Lucy this is the rest of the band.” He then waved for me to go inside, so I did, shutting the door behind me.

One by one, each boy stood up and made their way towards me. The curly haired boy was first, “Hi, I’m Harry,” he said, his green eyes twinkling. I shook his hand and he walked back to the couch.

A guy with brown ruffle hair with matching brown eyes was next, “Liam,” he said, grinning at me and hugging me instead of shaking my hand.

The boy after him had a darker complexion with dark brown, almost black hair and hazel eyes. “I’m Zayn.”

The last boy had brown hair too, but he had blue-ish grey eyes. He picked me up and spun me around, I couldn’t help but squeal in surprise. “I’m Louis, love!” he said, smiling widely.

I laughed and he put me back down. I looked around the room and smiled more comfortably at the boys. Niall had a look of amusement on his face and I walked to his side. “Nice to meet you all.”

They laughed, a chorus of beautiful sounds. “So this is the famous Lucy. Niall hasn’t shut up about you since he found out that it really was you that he was talking to,” Louis said, winking at Niall.

I glanced at Niall who was now blushing furiously, hiding a smile. “Is that so, Nialler?” I asked him.

He looked at me and nodded. I laughed, and when he heard me, he smiled too. He walked over to the couch and sat down, joining the rest of the boys. He waved me over so I sat down next to him, squished between him and Liam.

Harry cleared his throat, “Do you know about us, Lucy?”

I shook my head, “No, but Niall told me you guys are in a band. He also promised to explain.” I looked at Niall beside me and raised an eyebrow.

He laughed, “Boys, it’s story telling time.”

The boys cheered and laughed, arranging themselves in a comfortable position on the seats available. Niall started off telling me about his audition on the X Factor in the UK and the boys took it in turns speaking, filling in gaps if one missed something. They were modest about the whole thing, they didn’t brag but each of them had something in common. As they told me their stories, their eyes filled with pure happiness, I could tell they loved what they do. They’re in it for the music and the fans not the money and the fame. It’s unbelievable to hear it from them, like they’re living in a fairytale and I was thrilled to become a part of it.

I can’t believe I missed this much in my best friend’s life. So much has changed but it’s like I never left. He still seems like the happy go lucky boy that I had become attached to when I was a kid. It’s amazing, it truly is. I sat there in the midst of them all and listened to each one of them. It was like I was slowly getting filled up, like I had been missing this all along and now I’m becoming whole again.

The story was drawing to a close and Niall had concluded it saying, “So now here we all are. We’re here for a promotional tour, Brisbane’s actually our last show, which is tomorrow, then we have 3 weeks break.”

The boys cheered again, clearly ecstatic to spend some free time, I found myself laughing along with them. It’s clear that they’ve been working hard but they’ve achieved so much in such little time that I think they didn’t really mind it too much.

Liam spoke up, “Lucy, would you like to come to our concert tomorrow? I believe I still have two tickets to spare. My girlfriend couldn’t come, so I might as well give it to you.”

“Yea Luc, it’d be great to have you there. Then you can see how awesome we are,” Zayn joked.

I laughed, unsure. I looked at the boys, they were all looking at me. As if sensing my discomfort, Niall smiled at me. “Uh, if you guys are sure,” I said.

“Yay Lucy!” Louis shouted, hugging me tightly. The boys all high fived and then grinned at me. I laughed at them, such goofs.

“Great, that’s one ticket down, do you have friend you’d like to invite?” Liam asked again.

I thought immediately of Alexis. I nodded, “Yea, I do actually. Do you mind if I take her with me?”

He shook his head, “Go ahead, wait let me get the tickets for you.” He stood up and walked out the door.

Niall grabbed my arm, “Uh, Lucy, it’s late.”

I looked down at my watch, shoot! It’s a little past midnight already! I’m so dead. I jumped up and brushed myself off, “Thanks for having me guys. I have to go, my parents will kill me.”

“Aw, going already Luc?” Harry pouted.

I laughed, “I’ll see you tomorrow anyway. You’ve gotta rest for your show tomorrow.”

Just then Liam walked in, two strips of paper in hand. “Your tickets to tomorrow. Front row,” he beamed. I took it from him and gave him a hug.

“Thank you. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” I turned to leave but Harry called me back.

“Wait! We’ll drive you home,” he offered.

“But I have my car with me.”

“Doesn’t matter, we’ll follow behind you,” Niall said. “I just don’t want you driving alone at night.”

I blushed, “Are you sure?”

They all nodded. Harry grabbed his keys and I got mine out of my bag. I followed them out of the hotel and led them to my car. They seem to have rented one out, a sleek black Range Rover, which was parked behind mine. Niall slid into my car and the rest piled in with Harry.

“Thanks for tonight, Niall,” I said, quietly. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”

“It’s nothing, Luc. I’ve missed you so much, I can’t believe I didn’t get this idea until now.” He chuckled softly. He placed his hand over my free hand and squeezed it tight. The warmth calmed me down, it reminded me of when we were kids.

Tonight I realised what I had been missing since I left. With Niall, I felt like I was home again.

When we got to my house, I parked on the driveway while Harry parked on the street. I thanked Niall again and he leaned in and kissed my forehead. It felt so nice and the touch seemed to have travelled all the way through my body.

We both hopped out of the car and Niall walked me to my door and, after a quick exchange of numbers, Niall walked towards the Range Rover. I turned in time to wave one last good bye before they disappeared.