The Girlfriend Project

04: Chapter Four.

-Dedicated to @UnicornsInTheAirport for her endless support to me in life and writing, she's been my bestie and my sista from another mista since we were the wee age of eleven. (Okay all of that sounded cheesy, but for real though). I love youu. x

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The Girlfriend Project

Chapter Four

~Niall’s pov.~

I was clad in a tank top that showed off my arms, white Supras, khaki shorts, and I was fresh out of the shower when I first saw her, my hair still wet and sticking to my forehead. Pepper Clarke, was her name. She had wavy and thick brunette hair, with a little flower tucked behind one ear. Her green eyes were practically sparkling as she looked up at me, happy as could be. Pepper seemed a bit nervous, but I didn’t blame her. So was I. This young girl was absolutely stunning, this girl from the lawn that Stella had brought me. Stella knew me well, but this – how did she figure I would have such a reaction to her?

As we admired each other, (or so what I thought she was doing), I finally decided to speak up a bit. “Hi Pepper, I’m Niall Horan. I’m pleased to meet yeh.” My Irish accent was thicker than usual, and I knew why. This girl – even though I didn’t know her, she was breathtaking. All I could hope for was that she was just as nice on the inside as on the outside – and if she was, she may have a shot at being my princess. There was just something about her that intrigued me so much.

“H-hello.” Pepper stammered almost nervously, meeting gazes with me. “It’s nice to meet you as well.” I figured that she would probably be somewhat nervous – but poor Pepper, she seemed like she was downright scared. “How are you?” she continued on, a bit more confident than before. I liked that in American girls, they were a bit shy at first, and then they always turned out to be really confident.

I took a seat next to her on the cream colored sofa; “wonderful, what about you, love?” I asked in response, not being able to take my eyes off of her. I hope she didn’t think I was creepy, that wouldn’t be a good start for someone I may potentially be dating soon.

“I’m alright.” she was looking down now, back to being timid, and she was fumbling with her hands in her lap. Pepper’s voice was quieter, and she lost the assurance that she had a minute ago. “You’re my favorite, you know. I mean – out of all the boys.” I blinked a few times, I was her favorite? Well, this should be a bit easier then.

“Awe, that’s very sweet of you to say.” I replied, slinging my arm over the back of the couch. She seemed very nice, so far anyway. “You seem nice as well.” Once again, it was incredibly unclear to me if she was scared or sure of herself. Pepper seemed to rock between the two, like one minute she knew what to say and the next she was afraid of being absolutely humiliated.

That’s when I noticed she almost looked close to crying. “Why am I back here? Why did you pick me, out of all people, out of the crowd to meet you?” her words were a slur, but I could tell what she was saying. Instinctively, I started to rub her back. Pepper sniffled, and kept back her tears.

“I wanted to meet a few fans, and so did the other boys. We wanted to greet some who may not otherwise have the chance. You’ll get to meet them soon, but I wanted to get to know you personally first.” I hoped that sounded like a good reason, I didn’t want to tell her about my project just yet, or ever. The idea of it might upset her, so I decided it was best to remain quiet.

Not even the other girls that I had taken out on dates from other concerts knew about the project, they had been just as confused. It seemed like it was getting harder and harder to use the same excuse each time though, especially when I had almost been papped on the last date. I couldn’t let the paps know about the project either, or else it would be ruined altogether from the attention. I couldn’t bear to think what the press would say about me, ‘player’, ‘man-whore’, or maybe even ‘desperate’. I shuddered at the thoughts, pushing them away completely.