Stockholm Syndrome

Chapter 1-Overly Excitable

(Emma's POV)

"Emma, Emma, Emma!" My best friend Maya rushes into my bedroom without knocking, a habit she had developed after spending an entire summer at my house when we were kids. She plopped down on the bed next to me, grinning like a child on Christmas. "Are you ready to go yet?"

I roll over and set the book I had been reading on my nightstand. Maya was hard to ignore when she was in this mood. "I still don't see why I have to come." I protest, laying back down next to Maya.

"Because my parents won't let me travel halfway across the country on my own and you're the only one I know who can drive." Maya pointed out. It was true. Although I was only a couple months older than most of my friends, I didn't know anyone else who had a car. In fact, a few people, like Maya, were putting off their driving test until they got a car.

"Yeah, But I'm also the only person you know who has no interest in attending a One Direction concert." I point out. It wasn't that I didn't like their music, it was just that I had never really understood why people were so obsessed with them. Or why Maya felt the need to put up with long lines and an insanely crowded space just to hear them sing, which you could do anyways for a couple bucks vBulletin on iTunes.

"We've talked about this Emma." Maya rolled her eyes at me, a bit annoyed. It's just one concert, then after that you can explore the city to your hearts content." I smiled at that. Maya knew I had a huge soft spot for New York, even if I wasn't too fond of big cities

"Yeah. We should probably get going." I sit up, and Maya does the same. We walk out to my car, a black minivan that used to be my mother's and is already packed with our stuff for the trip. I open the drivers side door and take a seat, starting the car before Maya even opens up her door. She rolls her eyes, and as soon as our seat belts are safely fastened I start driving. The trip is a long one, and I'm anxious to get it over with. I keep my eyes on the road as I navigate the city streets, and the car is silent until we're safely outside of city limits. That's when Maya starts to get restless.

"Can I turn on some music?" she practically begs me. I shrug, indifferent. What else is there to do?

Maya grins and pops in her favorite CD, belting out the lyrics I've heard a hundred times. This is what I get for being friends with a directioner.

"Do you really have to listen to their music on your way to their concert?" I ask. I'm a bit annoyed, but mostly just amused.

"This is part of your training. We can't have anyone thinking your not a fan." She tells me, and I roll my eyes. Over the past few months she had been trying to prep me for the concert by forcing me to listen to One Direction songs. By now, I know most of the words And I have to admit that most of their music isn't bad.

"Whatever." I turn my eyes back to the road and Maya continues to sing, occasionally quizzing me over who sings what part of the song. Not that I don't know the answers by heart by now.

It's hours, and several repeats of the same pablum later when we finally roll into New York. Maya turns the music off so I can concentrate, but immeadiatly derails my concentration by letting out a high pitched scream.

"Stop the car!" Maya squeals. I slam on the brakes a bit too hard in shock and Maya doesn't even apologize as she rushes out of the car. I sigh and pull to the side of the road, ignoring the no parking sign hanging right above my car. It takes me a second to find Maya, and when I do, my eyes widen in surprise.

"What are you doing?" I ask, jogging over to where Maya is holding someone hostage by the strings of their hoodie. I pull the hood off the boys head to reveal a blonde boy, nervous blue eyes shining at us. I laugh out loud when I realize what happened and Maya's face dropped when she saw it wasn't who she had no doubt assumed it was.

"Sorry," I apologize when I manage to stop laughing. "My friend here just can't wait to see One Direction perform and got a little over excited."

The man smiled, and I admit that I can see the resemblance that Maya had been so quick to jump on. He was about the right age and had a lot of simular features. But he was definitely not Niall  Horan.

"Let me guess. I look just like Niall?" He asked, not looking too annoyed.

"Yeah." Maya muttered, and the man laughed.

"I get that all the time. My name's William." He seemed nice enough.

"Well William, I'm sorry about the inconvenience." I apologize.

He smiled one more time. "Not a problem. It's actually reassuring to think that I'm as attractive as one of those guys. And if it doesn't work out with them, You can always swing by here if it doesn't work out." Maya nodded and pulled me away, obviously embarrassed by the entire ordeal. I laughed as I pulled the car back onto the road.

"That was funny, you have to admit." I laugh, and Maya laughs a little in return.

"Okay, yeah." She admits "But you still can't tell anyone about it."

"And risk you letting out my secret? Maya, you know I'm not that dumb." I smile, thinking about my top secret plans to get a book published. This time, it seemed like it might actually go through, and I was counting on Maya to keep it secret until it was confirmed. Not even my parents knew about it yet, though I was planning in telling them the second it went on sale.

"I suppose so." Maya admitted. She turned on the music and began singing again, obviously more confident in my driving skills now than 5 minutes ago. I smiled, and didn't say a word until we got to the hotel. Maya grinned, back into her overly hyper mood. I was honestly never sure that she had left it.

"C'mon, C'mon!" Maya called, pulling both of our suitcases from the trunk. I wasn't sure why she was so excited just to be at the hotel, at least until. Remembered her mentioning some thing about one direction staying at this very place. I rolled my eyes as she bounced on her feet and got out of the car, locking the doors. It only took me a few minutes to check us in, and we were in our room in no time. Maya flopped on the bed closest to the door and I wet down my stuff on the other mattress. We unpacked a bit and I showered, and before long, we had both settled into bed. Maya's voice pulled me from my thoughts after several seconds of silence.

"Are you excited?" She asked me, and I could practically hear the excitement in her voice.

"No," I smile in the dark, "You're just overly excitable."

And at that, Maya laughed and the room fell into silence once more.