S T E L L A
I was laying on the beach with Liam and Sophia for the third time this week, but I wasn't there to socialize with them. I only went so I could surf with Niall.
For whatever reason, Liam hasn't caught me talking to 'the town's bad boy' (my dad's words), so I just run off with Niall while him and Sophia talk about politics or shit.
"Niall, who's this lil lady?" A fairly short, tattoo-covered, boy pointed at me while he sat upright on his surf board.
"Oh right, I forgot. This is my friend, Stella," Niall paddled over to my side and placed his hand on my upper thigh, giving me a chill up my spine. "She's not the best at surfing but she's cool so it make's up for it." He teased.
"Hey!" I brushed his hand off my leg and quickly splashed him. The unnamed boy moved away from us, clearly uninterested in who I was.
"Relax, Stella, I was only joking." Without me noticing, Niall slipped his foot under my board and tipped me over. My entire body was submerged in water and I kicked back up to the surface only to find Niall laughing at me. "That's what you get for splashing me." He spoke in between breaths.
I attempted to flip him over, only my arms were too weak and Niall was too heavy. I could only rely on karma to get him back.
"Uh," Niall reached out his hand to help me back onto my surf board, "I was wondering if you wanted to make tacos with me tonight?" He broke eye contact with me, his eyes were focused on his hands running through the water.
"Sure," I attempted to hide the smile on my face, but the redness in my cheeks gave away how excited I was.
"Wait-shit. Fucking Liam." I muttered to myself but Niall overhead me.
"Who's Liam? Is he your boyfriend? Because we don't have to call it a date or anything, it can be a casual thing, or we can just not do it all together-" Niall ranted on and I giggled at how fast he spoke when he's nervous.
"No, Liam's my step brother. Except he's a bit of a snitch and he doesn't really like you so he'll just go running home and tell my dad that I was with you. And if that happens then I won't ever be allowed out of the house again." I said and Niall listen attentively. He always seemed to have an interest in what I was saying, when if I was somewhat offending him. I really tried my best not to hurt his feelings by saying that Liam and my father both don't think he's the best influence.
"Why does everyone in this town have to know who I am," Niall groaned, "Never mind that, I guess we just have to work around Liam and your dad. Are you any good at sneaking out?"
"Fairly decent at it, if I don't say so myself." I've been through many adventures of sneaking out with Harry at my mom's house. With Harry. My boyfriend, of which I decided I shouldn't worry about because he's almost two hours away and has no idea that I have in a way been cheating on.
"Alright, do you think you could meet me on the corner by WaWa at around 6? We can walk to my house from there." Niall recited the plan and I thought about how I was going to get past Liam.
I looked over at Liam who was on land, building a sandcastle with Sophia. I covered my mouth with my hand to attempt to hold in my snicker of how geeky they both were. But in a way they both were perfect together, even though their relationship makes me sick.
Sneaking out tonight might not be that hard, if I'm right in front of Liam's face now then how difficult could it be to walk out a door without him or my dad noticing?
"Sounds like a plan." I smiled.
We continued surf for a few more hours, continuously trying to knock each other off their boards just for the pleasure. I got the award of choking and almost drowning, while Niall was praised for catching the most waves.
His friend Louis, of who I now know, mostly sat behind everyone else and remained very quiet. At one point I decided to talk to him and formally introduce myself, and in those few short minutes I learned that he has a steady boyfriend and he hates surfing. I chose not to tell him that I as well have a boyfriend of who is not Niall, due to the fact that he could possibly tell Niall and ruin all my chances with him. But I have decided that going on a so called date with him tonight does not really count as cheating because I could bet all my money that Harry is back home hooking up with a different girl every night. And for some reason I felt pretty okay with that, although he did plan to come down and visit me for a few days next week.
I made it home an hour before I had to meet Niall, which gave me just enough time to shower and put makeup on. Niall managed to pick a time when no one else in the house was home, so sneaking out this time was one of the easiest tasks I've ever been told to do.
At exactly 6pm, Niall was standing at the corner by WaWa with a newly shaved face covered by a pair of sunglasses. He was almost unrecognizable, I was used to seeing him with stubble covering his chin and his hair matted down. This time Niall managed to mold his hair into a quiff, showing off his thick brunette roots.
"You are looking beautiful, as always." Niall greeted me and the balls of my cheeks slightly reddened.
"Uh, as do you." I shyly said and Niall took my hand in his. His touch made me nervous, I felt cliche and icky when I thought that he made forget about everything, but he did. I tried to convince myself that I actually have no feelings for Niall, that it's actually the size of his hands that are making me feel woozy, but I truly felt that being here with Niall made me happier than where ever Harry could take me.
"My house is right around the corner, I live with my brother but I don't know if he's home right now. We just have to hope he's not." I assumed that Niall's brother was around our age, if he was any older I would have expected him to be either in college or married.
"What's your brother like?" I tried not to sound too noisy, but I really wanted to know every single thing about Niall. The only thing I know for sure is that he likes to surf and he has a brother and a friend named Louis, other than that we are almost strangers.
"He's cool, I guess. His name is Greg, except he's kinda older than us but he's planning on moving out soon because he has a girlfriend and they're in love and all that. Fun fact: he bought her a ring two months ago but he still hasn't proposed, he's suck a weenie." Niall's voice was a little shakier than usual, and his palm grew sweatier by the second. I didn't mind all that much, I took it as a sign that he somewhat had feelings for me.
"Have you ever thought that he's just scared to pop the question?" I suggested, although I have no clue as to the thoughts of Niall's brother.
"Well my theory is: she's cheating on him and he knows about it but he doesn't want to break up with her because he's ever so deeply in love with her. But he's not dumb enough to ask her to marry him because she'll either say no or divorce him. And he can't return the ring because he bought it for $10 off an illegal Chinese website." Niall spoke faster, clearly he has premeditated this theory before.
"That's an interesting thought, pal." By now I couldn't tell wether it was my hand that was getting sweaty or it was Niall's sweat that was rubbing into my palm. It was clear to say that both of us were slightly more nervous around each other than when we are surfing.
"I'm a pretty deep thinker when it comes to situations like that. I should get paid for it." Niall cockily flashed me a smile.
We arrived at his house shortly after we went into a further conversation about illegal Chinese websites. He lived in what looked like to be less than half the size of my dad's house, but it seemed cute and cozy in a teenage boy kind of way.
this chapter made me really uncomfortable idk
