Spaces | Niall Horan

Sixteen - Who are you?

I've been staring at her for a full minute. I don't know what to say and how to react. Her face, nose, mouth, everything is similar to mine. I take a step back and she smiles. Does she know me? Because I'm damn sure that she does after seeing the look on her face. "Do I know you?" I ask. Why did I even ask that? I obviously don't know her! Without waiting for an answer, I left the place immediately and stop when I'm out of the cemetery gates. I look back and see that there was no one. Maybe it was my imagination? If it wasn't then who was she?

Walking into the restaurant, I spot the table Denise and Mia were sitting at and sit beside Mia. I give Denise the flowers and she smiles, smelling them.

"They smell amazing!" She exclaims, putting them on the empty chair beside her. I take out my phone from my back pocket and switch it on, worried that someone might be calling me.

"What took you so long?" Mia asks, knowing something is up with me but I try to make it look like it isn't a big deal and try to shake whatever I saw just now out of my mind.

"I lost my way." I lie and began eating. We ate quietly until Denise checked he phone and jumped up in surprise.

"I forgot! I have spa appointment today at four!" She tells us and grabs her bag and hands Mia the flowers. "Sorry guys, I need to go."

"We'll come along!" I say. I'm trying to avoid Mia's questions as much as I can by avoiding talking to her. I know it's the stupidest thing to do but I she wouldn't listen if I tell her on point anyways.

"No, no! it's fine, I'll go by myself!" She laughs and forces me to sit and eat. I'm not even that hungry anymore looking back at what I saw just now. Who was that girl and how does she know me? How did I not know who she was?

Not long till we told Denise our goodbyes and she left. We sat there eating in silence until my phone started buzzing and vibrating on the table. I look at the caller ID and it's him again. Mia glances at the phone screen and there was a small smile playing on her lips. Not again.

"Pick it up" She orders and I ignore. "Please."

"I don't want to cry" I snap, playing with my food. I'm just waiting for the wedding to finish so I can leave this place and never come back.

"You're going to cry when he talks to you face to face, which will be a lot worse." She mumbles, taking a bite of her chicken. The phone goes off leaving three miscalls from him and I realize that what she says is the truth but I really don't want to talk about him or to him at the moment.

"When I was walking back from the florist stall, I went to visit my father's grave." I change the topic. "While I was there, I came across this girl who looked exactly like me." I tell her and her body tenses.

"What? What do you mean?" She asks. One second, her eyes are on me and the next she's looking away as if she's hiding something.

"As in, she looked like me! She had my nose, eyes, mouth and everything! My question is that have you somehow seen her before? I mean because you've lived here all your life." I question. She nervous fidgets with her fingers and shakes her head.

"N-no I haven't"

"Are you sure?" She just stuttered. Maybe she knows something about this? "You don't stutter unless you know something"

"Maybe you should ask your aunt about this."

"Why my aunt?" I ask, confused. I raise an eyebrow for an answer but she doesn't say a word. "Where is my mother?" How did I forget to meet my mother the second I came here? Fuck, she must be waiting for me! "I have to go." I look at the time on my phone and get up. It's thirty minutes to five, she must be home from work by now.

"Where? I'll come along"

"No! it's fine. I can take a cab, it's not that far anyways." I grab my bag and give her a quick hug before leaving.

"But where are you going?"

"Home. My home" I mumble and walk out of the restaurant. I stop a cab and gave him my address.

Two years back before leaving for London, Aunt Ivy shifted into our house due to her sickness. The house isn't very far from this place since it's located in the same area as the florist, cemetery and a little ahead from Niall's old rented house. The driver stops in front of a brick house painted in white. I climb down and paid the cab driver. I walk up to the door and peek through the window but couldn't see a thing because of the curtains. The porch wasn't in a good condition and neither were the plants. It didn't even look like a home to me with all the dead flowers and grass filled with wilted leaves. The only question I have in my mind is; where the fuck is my mother?

I knock on the door but no one opened. I knock twice, thrice and yet no one answered. The wooden door had scratches all over it as if someone has tried to break into the house multiple times. I turn to walk away but stop when I notice the wooden tree house Niall and I made because we wanted our 'privacy.' Weird because throughout our friendship, no one tried to come in-between us so technically we had privacy all along.

I step on the wood steps and climb up the ladder and push the door open. I walk in to see a huge pile of mess. Mess that we probably made. Whenever we didn't have the janitor's closet, we used to come here whenever we felt low or angry at each other. I remember almost stabbing Niall's hand with a screwdriver because I was angry at him for not calling me back. Oh look how the tables have turned.

There was a bunch of clothes in a huge box on one corner and a bunch of papers and books on the other. I pull the box of papers towards me and took a look inside. There were bundles and bundles of envelopes tied up in tens and I can't help but wonder who put them here. I don't remember stuffing empty envelopes in a box. I push them back to the corner and climb back down.

I should try knocking on the door once again. Maybe someone would answer? As I was about to knock, my phone starts ringing again and I pick up. "Hello?"

"El! We found an amazing venue for the wedding! I'll text you the address, come over and look at it!" Greg yells from the other side of the phone. His excitement can be heard from his voice and I smile.

"I'll be there soon" We hung up and now I'm on my way to the venue.