Summer Love | Charlie Bushnell

lp

—real life—

Atlas's day was going great. They'd gotten the scenes set up and started shooting for the day. She went back at forth between the volume and the training room, making sure everything was going smoothly.

They were working a little later that day, and she'd done so much running she wasn't on her phone. While some of the kids were shooting, the others were in the training room. Either practicing or sitting down on the mats in the corner on their phones.

She walked over to Daniel who was sitting down in the chairs on his phone. "Is this seat taken?" She asked and he looked up at her. "It's yours." He said and she sat down. "I heard about you and Austin, I'm sorry." He said.

She smiled at him. "It's fine. We're better friends, and who told you that?" She asked and he tilted his head. "Walker." He said and she nodded her head. "He can't keep his mouth shut. He's always telling everyone my secrets." She said.

He chuckled. "Yeah. He's told me so much about everyone. I feel like I know everybody by now." Daniel said and she raised her eyebrows. "You get used to it. At this point, I don't care as much. I used to get so angry at him but then I realize he's just a kid."

He nodded his head. "True. But I think he does it to feel important. That adults trust him with something and he has to tell his friends." He said and Atlas smiled.

Daniel's phone went off, along with a few others in the room. Atlas left hers in her trailer so she couldn't see what it was. He looked at it, reading something and looked at her. He looked over at Charlie and Dior who were already looking at the two of them.

Atlas looked where Daniel was looking and saw the two staring at them. "Um." He said. "What?" She asked and he looked back at her. She looked at him. "Hang on." He went back on his phone and typed something. He was actually texting Charlie to come over to them.

He got up from the mat and walked over to them. "Can we talk for a second?" He asked and she looked at him. "Uh, sure." She looked back at Daniel. "Sorry." She said, standing up. "It's fine." He said and she walked away with Charlie.

Dior walked over to him. "Altas is going to be heartbroken." She said and he nodded his head. "That's why I texted Charlie to come over." He said and she sadly smiled. "Better to hear the news from someone she loves rather than find out on the internet."

Charlie lead her out and into the hallway. He looked around to see that no one was there before looking back at her. "What's going on? Everyone's phone went off. Did something happen?" She asked him.

He sadly nodded his head. "You're not going to believe me but it's true." He started to say and she furrowed her eyebrows. "What's true?" She asked him and he breathed in deep before letting it out.

"It's Liam Payne." He said. "What about him?" She nervously asked. "He died. He fell from his hotel balcony in Argentina." He said and she shook her head.

"Did Walker put you up to this because this is a fucked up joke. He's my friend and it's not funny." Atlas said and he shook his head. "I wish it were." He handed her his phone. She took it and started looking on all the news outlets.

She shook her head and her eyes started tearing up. "No, no, no. This—it can't." She stuttered. "I'm sorry." He whispered. She looked up at him, tears leaving her eyes. "But I just FaceTimed him the other day. He—"