Then There Were Four

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Tall, non-fat latte with caramel drizzle."

I wonder how long Dee is going to take. It's almost one o' clock. Nando's shouldn't take this long. I mean, I know my order's complicated but she is definitely taking her time.

"Grande, iced, sugar-free vanilla latte."

I bet she got distracted on the way back. She's always doing that. I bet she saw something that she had to get from one of the shop windows. There's always something she 'has to get.' Or maybe she's still at work with Carly. She can chat for hours with her - I've seen it first-hand.

"Grande, quad, non-fat, one-pump, no-whip mocha."

All I asked her for was a double-breasted chicken wrap (medium spice) with peri chips, a medium corn on the cob, 5 chicken wings (hot) and a coke. I know it's a strange order but it's my favourite thing to get from Nando's - sort of.

"Iced, half-caff, Ristretto, Venti, four-pump, sugar free, cinnamon, dolce soy skinny latte."

"Sorry, what?" I ask, interrupted from my thoughts.

"Iced, half-caff, Ristretto, Venti, four-pump, sugar free, cinnamon, dolce soy skinny latte," Mark repeats.

I glance over at the person ordering and my confusion clears. She is dressed in all pink, carries a little Chihuahua in her hand (which is definitely against store policy - there's a big red sign on the door that says 'No pets') and is already talking on her glittery pink (obviously) cellphone in a voice that makes my ears hurt.

"Oh, okay," I say to Mark, giving him a look and getting started on the girl's order.

First things first, I don't work at Starbucks. I work at a café that is definitely trying to be a Starbucks. It's called The Star (as if that's much different) and its symbol is almost exactly the same, it's just yellow instead of green and it's sort of in a star shape. I'm surprised we haven't been sued yet.

Dee strolls into the store, carrying two bags of Nando's and one which says American Apparel.

"Finally," I mumble to myself. "Lunch," I inform Mark.

He smiles at me and my heart flutters a little. His blonde hair has fallen perfectly into place even with his awful yellow hat on. I wave to other employees working in the kitchen and I walk around the counter, taking my apron off and hanging it up on the way. Dee hands me a Nando's bag as we walk out the store and towards the park we always go to two streets away. She's a little bouncier than usual and her green eyes are wider than usual.

"You'll never guess who I saw as I was walking out of American Apparel!" she squeals.

"Was it someone from high school? Because if it was, I don't want to know."

"No, it was not someone from high school." She stares at me wide-eyed - but her eyes were already wide so they only became wider.

"Well, who was it then?" We find a park bench with a table and sit down opposite each other, taking out our food.

"Guess."

"I thought you said I'd never guess?"

"Just try, come on!" She starts pulling at my sleeve.

"But if you think I'd never guess, why should I try?" I smile at her. It's always fun to mess with her because we've been best friends for what feels like forever so she knows when I'm joking.

She groans. "You're painful, you know that?"

"Only because you tell me every day," I sing-song. "So, who did you see?" I start on my corn. She's opened her salad but hasn't touched it.

She smiles and her whole face brightens up. "So, you know how American Apparel overlooks Nando's?"

"Yeah... but quick question, how did you get distracted to go to American Apparel if it's so far away from Nando's?"

"There was a sale sign downstairs and - that's not the point. So I was walking past the balcony and..." She pauses and waits for me speak. I remain silent, completely clueless about where her sentence was going. "I saw Niall freaking Horan!"

I stare at her for a few seconds, blinking rapidly, while my brain tries to understand her sentence and then I raise an eyebrow. "You saw him?" I ask dubiously.

"Yes!" She grins even wider.

"You actually saw him?"

"Yes!" She pauses. "Well, I saw the top of his head."

"The top of his head, really? That's what you saw? Did you see any security around him? Any screaming girls? If not, did it look like he was in any sort of disguise?"

"Not exactly... but I know Niall's hair as well as I know my own and I'm sure it was him, okay?" She looks confusedly convinced.

"Is this like the time you saw the back of Caspar Lee at the tube station and when you caught up to him, it wasn't him?" Her smile falters. "Or like the time you were sure you saw Emma Watson in this park and when you went to speak to her, it wasn't her?" She looks away. "Or like the time you-"

"Okay, I get it, alright?" she huffs.

"Come on, Dee. Don't be mad, please." I pull my best puppy dog face. "I don't think they're back from Canada yet, anyway."

"I know. You're right." She lifts up the corner of her mouth in a half-smile. "It's just - imagine if we do meet them? It's what I've been dreaming about and with their concert coming so soon; it just makes me feel like we're losing our chance because once that happens, they'll be in and out and gone." She pushes her dark brown hair out of her face and starts eating her salad dismally.

I rub her arm. "It's okay, Dee. We will meet them, you know that. We have to stay positive, alright?" I take a bite of a chicken wing. "Oh, crap," I say, desperately opening my coke with my tongue hanging out.

Dee giggles. "Kell, I don't know why you always get that exact meal from Nando's if it never fails to burn your mouth."

"Dee, you know why I get it," I reply in between coughs.

"Yes, yes. It's because it's Niall's favourite." She imitates my voice, still laughing.

***

My name is Kelly Smit. I have light brunette hair with which I can never do anything, brown eyes and I'm exceedingly pale. I'm twenty years old and I live in a flat in Brighton with my lifelong best friend, Dee. I work at a café called The Star. I dropped out of uni a few months ago and I am still trying to find my feet. I dropped out because I decided I didn't like the courses I was taking and not because of the workload... okay, it was mainly because of the workload - but seriously I was getting zero sleep. I moved up here with Dee about a year ago from Bath. My parents are one of the few parents that I know who have not divorced. I have one 23-year-old brother, Tony, and one 17-year-old sister, Julie.

But I think the most important thing about me is that I am a huge Directioner.

~~~

Hey, everyone!

Thank you so much for reading this!! I really really appreciate it!

Just to let you all know about this, I started writing this book over six months ago (Aug 2014) and I'd been planning on starting to post it once I got to writing chapter 15 (so that there wouldn't be too much of a lag when I didn't have time to write). I am currently writing chapter 10 but then the news of Zayn leaving the band came out 2 days ago (still crying) and my first 1D concert is tomorrow (because, ugh, South Africa, but I'm sooo excited) and since this is on 1D and it was going to be a Zayn fic, I decided that this is the best time for me to start posting it!

My point is: this still has Zayn in the band, and the time frame is a little behind but I don't want to change it! It wouldn't feel right.

Anyway, this is my first actual book on here, so let's see how it goes!

Love you for reading!

~Rea xx