The Bucket List (A Niall Horan Fanfic)

Chapter 4: Airplanes, Auditions And Affirmation

 I sighed as I leaned back in my first class chair that would be taking me to London. I looked down at my newly coloured hair. It was golden brown with highlights. It was as close to my original hair color as they could get. I fixed my side bangs as I got out my journal from my bag that was stowed underneath my seat. As I was flipping through, I stopped on a page. It was my bucket list. As I skimmed through the list I instantly remembered the tour dates that Mss. Carol had given me the day before. I got them out of my bag and skimmed the page. It started in London. Ride a double decker bus in London. The next date that caught my eye was Australia. Learn to surf in Australia. Then there was China. Go to Tianamen Square. I also saw California. Meet Mickey Mouse. Last I saw New York. Take a picture with someone I love in Time Square. I remembered what Annabelle had told me about a year ago. “Go do the things you’ve been yearning to do.”

            Maybe I was finally going to be able to do these things.

            The only thing I was terrified about was that the boys would take one look at me and laugh saying, "Really? You thought you could fool us that easily. I was also terrified of playing again, but I figured that digging up some of my past would be worth opening up a new future.

                I rubbed my eyes as I awoke to the sound of the captain telling his passengers that they had arrived in London England. It was six in the morning Toronto time and ten in the morning London time. I took a compact mirror out of my bag to check the damage. I sighed when I saw my reflection. I started rubbing smeared makeup off my eyes and reapplying new makeup.  I took my hair and pulled it into a side braid. I definitely didn’t look my best, but I looked alright.

                As I walked down a long hallway to the pickup area, I scanned the room of people waiting in anticipation for their loved ones. I looked for my name until I realized that my name was not actually my name. Finally I found a sign that said Hope Carter. I walked over to the man holding the sign and smiled, offering my hand.

                “Hi, I’m Hope Carter.”

                “Welcome to London,” he said, shaking my hand and smiling, though his smile was grim. He was a tall man with greying hair, who looked to be in his late forties. I wasn’t sure who he was in this whole operation, except that he was my taxi for the day.

                ‘I’ll be dropping you off at your flat. You must be tired. Then tomorrow, I’ll be bringing you to the stadium at eight in the morning,” he said, handing me a schedule and a pass that I assumed would get me into the stadium.

                “How far away is the stadium from the flat?” I asked, as I followed the man out the doors of the airport.

                “Twenty minutes, why?” he asked.

                “No reason.”

                Once I got to my flat I had a shower, redid my makeup and called a cab. There was something I needed to do before tomorrow.

                As I walked down a long hallway in the stadium I poked my head into each room. I just needed a piano. That was all. All of a sudden, I saw a room with my name on it. Well, my fake name. I popped my head in and saw piles of clothes. I had my own dressing room! It was all I could do to keep walking, since technically I wasn’t supposed to even be in there. When I reached the end of the hallway I saw a small empty room with only a piano in it. I took a deep breath as I checked to make sure no one was watching me and walked in, closing the door. I walked up to the slick black piano as if it was some identified object I had never seen before. My hands began to shake and I felt my heart race fast as I sat down in front the instrument. I wasn’t sure what I was going to play. It was like not being sure of what to say to an old friend you haven’t seen in a long time. I remembered the first really difficult piece I played. I was ten years old. My mother walked up to me and handed me the piece. I remember flipping through it and telling her that I couldn’t do it.