Care For You // n. h.

2

"Oh, I never got your name." I told the man.

"My name is Jim. Jim Hopper. I thought you saw that on the card." He explained as I realized I should've noticed that. I looked out the windows and watched us approach a huge mansion. I took a huge gulp and began to nervously pick at my nails.

"Um, this place looks a little fancy for me. I look like a bum. Well I kind of am one." I said once again embarrassing myself.

"The meeting doesn't start for a bit, I'm sure you can quickly shower and borrow some clothes from someone temporarily." He said as he parked the car. I nodded and climbed out. I had my backpack slung over one shoulder and I followed him to the door. I looked down at my old skinny jeans, and the blank tank top I had on and grew more nervous that I looked stupid.

He opened the door and was greeted by a woman who looked to be in her early 30's. She saw me and was immediately surprised.

"Hi, my name is Lisa. You are?" She said with energy. I was surprised she accepted me.

"Oh, I'm Alice." I said shaking her hand.

"Alice would really appreciate it if you would let her shower and if she could borrow some clothes." Jim said in a very professional manner.

"Oh of course! Follow me, darling." She said leading me up a spiral staircase.

We traveled to her third floor and she showed me how to operate the shower. I nodded and locked the door after she left. I slowly took off my gross clothes and climbed into the shower.

Now, I can't even begin to describe how amazing that shower felt. It was one of the best feelings in the world. The warm water washed against my face and I started to clean myself with shampoo.

-

After my shower I opened the door and found a note attached to the door.

I left some clothes for you on my bed, which is the room two doors to the right. If they don't fit use the intercom and I'll try to find you something else.
- Lisa :)

I walked to her room and saw a cute sundress laid out for me. I gulped and was worried it might not fit. Lisa was really tiny. Probably like 5'2. I was 5'6 and probably slightly bigger around the hips too.

I slipped the dress on without a problem, and then noticed the tag and it said "Petite Large", and realized why it fit. I doubt that this fit her at all.

I brushed my wet hair with a brush that Lisa put on the bed for me and tried to make myself look acceptable.

After that I walked downstairs and found Jim, Lisa, and some other people sitting on the couch drinking coffee.

They all stared at me as I approached and I quickly started blushing.

"Oh how rude of me, would you like anything to eat?" Lisa said standing and walking to the kitchen.

"Oh, yes please." I said following her. I followed her and heard conversation quietly continue in the other room. I'm sure they were talking about me.

"How about a hamburger? I'll have some friends bring In-N-Out over on their way here?" She suggested seeing she had not much in her kitchen.

"That would be great. Thank you for being so kind to me." I said shyly. I felt so bad. She was such a nice lady and I'm so weird. She never would want to associate with me in a million years. She walked into another room and made a call to someone.

"Alice!" I heard Jim call from the other room. I quickly walked over and smiled at him. "Here sit down." He urged and I sat.

"Alice, meet Abigail, Cole, Lucy, and Leo." I looked around the room at the four very sophisticated people.

"Hi, I'm Alice." I said nervously sitting back.

"Hello darling." Lucy said with a British accent. "Tell us about this book of yours that has this amazing writing." She looked at the table where my book sat wide open. They'd read it. Oh my gosh. This is terrible. I have so many private things and thoughts in there, I can't believe they just went through it.
I sat at a loss for words, just staring at the book. I looked around at the people who were waiting for a response from me. Then right before things grew even more awkward, I heard the door open and quickly spun my head around. I watched as 5 young boys walked in holding In-N-Out. Lisa quickly ran over and took the In-N-Out from them and put it in the kitchen where she got some plates.

Everyone greeted the five boys, and I watched in confusion. As they all stood from the couch and said hello, I sat like an idiot. I stared and watched their movements, looking at their clothes.

Out of them all, the blonde boy stood out to me, because he was blonde, had a different accent then the rest, and seemed to be the most laid back. He was wearing sweatpants and a white t-shirt.

He looked at me confused and I looked away. I stared at the seams on the white dress Lisa had given me.

"And... Who are you?" The blonde boy asked me walking towards me. I looked up embarrassed and stared at him. He was actually quite cute. I recognized his Irish accent quickly after hearing him.

"Uh... Alice. I'm Alice." I said nervously.

"Well then Alice, I'm Niall. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but what are you doing here?" He said laughing at himself. I stifled a smile but it quickly faded.

"I'm not really sure. Jim uh, found me and told me to come with him and he could use a writer like me on his team." I said not meeting his eyes. He walked around and sat down next to me staring.

"Oh, your a writer!? Wow, I'd love to read some of your work." He said not taking his gaze off me. I saw Jim keeping a sharp eye on me and Niall. I gulped hard and looked away.

"Yeah. I'll show you sometime then." I said brushing my hands through my still wet hair.

"Niall, Alice is a writer. That book has some of her work, feel free to read." He said as I felt panic strike me. I opened my mouth to say no but was distracted by the fact that Lisa had brought my hamburger.

"Here ya go, doll." She laid it down on my lap.

"Thank you." I said suddenly noticing Niall was reading my book. I panicked and grabbed it from him immediately regretting that. He looked baffled by my rudeness and I had no idea what to do now.

"Uh, I... Um its private. I wish Jim hadn't showed it but um, he did." I said wanting to slap myself for that horribly put together sentence.

"I can respect that. Jim sometimes does things that I don't agree with but what can I do, he's my manager." He said running his hands through his hair. Wait a second, manager?

"Wait, he's your manager?" I said as I noticed the other people starting to sit down.

"Yeah...?" He said giving me a confused look. "I'm in a band." He said realizing I had no idea who he was.

"Oh, thats cool. He manages the whole band?" I asked noticing that another one of the five boys was staring at me. He had dark curly hair and light eyes.

"Yeah. I'm in the band One Direction." He said awaiting my response. To be honest, I had no idea who they were. I didn't know if I was supposed to or not, but I really didn't know. These past couple years I've been so caught up in myself, I hadn't really paid attention to the pop culture around me.

"Their currently one of the most popular bands in the world. Their bigger than The Beatles." Jim said proudly. I have never felt more stupid than I did then. I still had no idea who they were but I sat there baffled.

"Wow... Thats-thats um, incredible." I said grinning at Niall. He laughed at me and it made me feel better.