Half A Heart › New Edition ✔

Chapter 3

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The first thing I see when I enter the main room of the club are a bunch of people on the dance floor; there’s gotta be at least four hundred people here. There are glow sticks and neon lights all over the walls. There’s a large bar, with huge shelves, full of alcohol. Off to the corner there's a section of booths and tables. There's also a huge pedestal where a turntable rests; I see the DJ mixing tracks and taking requests. This place is kind of amazing, no wonder "the party never ends".

The further we walk into this place, the more I see. There are some ridiculously tight, short dresses on some of these women. I swear I just saw that lady’s thong, gross; she’s definitely not a lady tonight. Don’t even get me started on all of the excessive cleavage it’s like most of them aren't even- Woah, what are those people doing over there? Are they really doing that out in the open? I mean I get it, sometimes you just gotta go with your urges but you’re practically fucking on the dancefloor. I don't get why you can’t do that somewhere else? The side effect of alcohol ladies and gentlemen. I think I remember why I vowed to never come back here.

We’re still walking through the crowd five minutes later. Zayn let's go of me once he sees an empty booth and walks toward it. Louis guides me in the same direction and the rest of the guys follow. We all slide into the circular booth. I sit between Louis and Zayn. Liam is next to Zayn and Niall and Harry are sitting across from Louis and I.

I can feel the awkwardness between all of them. Maybe I should say something. "Is it weird that I get paid to sell things with your faces on them?" I ask without thinking. Why did I say that of all things?

They look shocked: they probably weren't expecting me to know who they were. Zayn is the one to answer my question. "No, I guess not. I take it you know who we are then?" He's surprisingly calm when asking, almost as if he expected this to happen.

"Yeah, sort of," I say. "I didn't realize who you were until after you got closer. I didn't even know your names before you introduced yourselves. I just recognized your faces because I've been stocking your merch all day."

Their moods lighten a tremendous amount after I explain myself. I guess they were afraid I was one of those die hard super fans or something.

Louis looks at me for a second, then he stands. "I'm going to go get a drink," he announces. "Would you like one, Cassie?"

"I would but I'm not twenty-one yet," I say and he takes note of it. I think he’s trying to figure out how old I am.

"Alright," he says. "How about a soft drink then?"

"Sure. I'll take a Pepsi."

"I'll be back," he says before walking towards the bar.

I turn back to look at the other guys who are all staring at me. "What?" I ask.

"Nothing." Harry grumbles. "I'll be back in a little while," he says, getting up to follow a blonde that just walked past our table. Wow. What happened to the flirty guy I met fifteen minutes ago? 

"Ignore him," Liam says. "He's just mad that you aren't paying attention to him, so now he's off to find someone who will." He pauses. "I promise you he's not always like that. He's just looking for some fun and he doesn't like it when we go in after 'his girl'. It was too hard not to, this time. You’re beautiful." My cheeks flush and Liam flashes me a quick smile before abruptly turning his attention to Zayn. Um, that was weird.

I look at Niall. He’s tapping his fingers and quietly singing along the the music. Is it me or do their accents sound different when they sing? I wonder where they're from. The UK obviously but where in it?