Erchiel looked into the mirror at her reflection, disgusted at what she saw but was working too hard to care. Her blue and white sports bra had a trace of sweat between her breasts, one leg on her sweatpants had unrolled, and her coffee brown hair was tied up on top of her head, but falling out and sticking to her face. She had kicked both of her shoes off hours ago so they were strewn about the room. Her heart was pumping, she could barely breath, and the music was blasting so loud that she didn’t hear the door open. Erchiel knew she needed to work hard and stay in shape if she ever hoped of staying on The X-Factor for weeks to come. She threw all she had into every movement she made, she spun and jumped and grinded until her body was screaming to stop. Her hair flipped and twisted all over, covering her face. She hadn’t noticed that Niall had walked in and was watching. He had talked to Erchiel a few times, but not enough for him.
Whenever he saw her it was usually from across the green room or when she was on stage performing. Niall wanted to show his teammates her moves so he snuck back out and ran to get them. Meanwhile Erchiel was still working hard and pushing herself as far as she could go and beyond. The song ended and she heaved as she leaned against the mirror. She slid down the mirror and chugged a bottle of water. The CD had ejected itself from the player so she crawled over to her bag and grabbed her iPod out. Erchiel popped in the headphones as she searched for a song; she came across Only You Can Love Me This Way by Keith Urban. She wanted to dance to it but found her legs were too weak to keep herself upright so she laid in the middle of the floor, facing the mirror, and shut her eyes; imagining graceful movements to go with the balled she fell asleep. A few minutes later she awoke to the sound of boys chattering while someone held her up and forced water down her throat. The boys took notice as she stirred. “Hey Hun, are you okay?” one asked in his Irish accent. She tried to remember where she was and realized she fell asleep in the studio. “What?” she asked scratching her head. The boy holding her went to give her more water but she pushed it away. “You need water, just drink it.” He said. She looked into his beautiful green eyes. She was taken back at first and then realized who it was. “Niall?” she asked. He smiled and tossed his blond hair. She didn’t know what to say so she stared at him while he held her. She suddenly became self-conscious because of the sweat that had covered her body. “Are you okay?” the voice chimed again. When she took her eyes away from Niall she noticed Louis standing nearby. “I'm okay Louis. Thanks.” She said shyly. She tried to stand up but Niall held her down. She gave him a confused look. “You shouldn’t stand.” “Why not?” “Well we found you fainted on the floor. I don’t think you walking to your room is a good idea.” Niall said clearly concerned. “I didn’t faint. I fell asleep. I was working really hard and when I finally took a break, I fell asleep. Everyone does it.” She explained. “Liam can you carry her to her room?” Zayn asked from the back of the group. “What, I can’t do it?” Niall asked slightly offended. “No offence man, but you are scrawny. Liam is the only guy buff enough to carry anyone.” Louis commented. Niall just gave a defeated look and handed her over to Liam. Erchiel insisted she could walk herself and that she was perfectly fine but they wouldn’t believe her so she cuddled up to Liam as he carried her to her room. Erchiel and Liam rarely ever talked but since he was so sweet all the time, she had formed a baby crush on him. Nothing that she would ever carry out, but she still flirted with him when the chance presented itself. Niall was the last one to leave her and the first to come back. He needed to make sure that none of them noticed he left. They had all sat down to eat dinner with the other groups when Niall realized Erchiel hadn’t come down. He wondered where she was the entire time, pacing the dining hall and watching all the doors just hoping her figure would appear. Should I bring her some food? What if she passed out again? What if something else happened to her? Niall psyched himself out thinking about all the things that could have gone wrong while she was alone; Niall sneakily made a plate of food for her and slipped out of the room. Erchiel was laying on the floor with her feet on her propped up on her bed. With her headphones in she didn’t hear Niall enter the room. Niall was glad to see she was relaxing and was okay. She had her left arm draped over her eyes and her fingers twitched to the beat of the music; Erchiel was too tired to move any other part of her body. Practice had been long and hard and she wasn’t sure if she would make it through. Niall slid down beside her and copied her position, tapping her foot to let her know he was there. She jolted awake. “Did I scare you?” he asked smiling. “Just a little.” She said sadly. “What are you doing?” “Relaxing…or trying to anyway.” “Long day?” he tried to comfort. She continued to reply with short quick answers. Harry began to wonder if it was his presence bothering her but he was persistent and asked her what music she was listening to. She didn’t answer; she just took out an ear bud and handed it to him. Niall wanted her to move her arm so he could look into her eyes, but there was no such luck. Louis always told Harry that, next to Niall of course, Erchiel had beautiful light blue eyes. They were like the ocean; dark and calm and if things were just right, they sparkled like the stars. He put in the headphone and heard ‘Gimmie That Girl’ playing. Niall wasn’t much for country music, it must be an American thing, but if she liked it he could learn to.
