Walking in the Wind One Direction EDITING

30. Escaping the interview

I stand with my back against the wall answering the endless questions from the interviewer, the camera's big lens pointed directly at my face. It's something I don't think I'll ever get used to.

"Honestly, I'm so grateful my sister signed me up for this," I say, grinning at the camera. "I'm learning so much, and on top of that, I've made some amazing friends."

"We understand that you've made a friend over spilled tea. Could you elaborate on that?" the woman behind the camera asks, her tone light but probing.

"Oh, sure, I guess..." I smile awkwardly. "The first time I met Liam was at the auditions. I accidentally bumped into him, and he spilled tea all over my jeans."

"And you made a connection? How did you become so close?" she presses.

This is awkward. It's obvious Nicole has put her up to this, hoping to get something juicy. My cheeks heat up as I fumble for the right words. "We, uh... we've become close friends. And we actually got to sing a duet together today, which was—"

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Louis walking down the hall.

Perfect.

"Oh! Here comes one of my friends now. Hey, Louis!" I call out, waving him over and silently begging him to save me. The camera swivels toward him.

Louis strolls over with his usual easy grin. "Hey, Amber."

"Have Harry and Jade finished their performance yet?" I ask curiously.

"Oh yeah, the judges are now discussing. Everyone just went off doing their own thing. We're meeting back up later." He explains.

"Louis, would you join us for the remainder of the interview?" the interviewer asks. "I'd love to hear about the friendship you two have built."

"Yeah, we were just talking about you," I say, trying to pull him into the spotlight.

He slings an arm around my shoulders as we both face the camera. "This girl is the best," he tells them with a wink.

"What did she say about me? Only good things, I hope," he teases, raising an eyebrow.

I laugh. "I was just saying how amazing my friends are."

"Man, you got me all excited there for a second. I thought you were talking just about me."

"Oh, Louis, how could I ever stop talking about you?" I fire back with mock sincerity, momentarily forgetting the camera is rolling.

"Ha-ha, you funny girl." he says, his cheeks reddening slightly.

That's weird, i've never seen Louis embarrassed. Wait... Oh, no. The camera! People watching this might actually think I'm serious.

"Louis and I joke around a lot, don't we?" I say, scrunching my nose and rubbing my knuckles into his hair.

"Oh, yeah. The laughs we have are endless," he chuckles, running a hand through his hair to fix it.

Crisis averted.

"You were just telling me about your duet today. Could you share a little about that?" the interviewer asks, steering the conversation back on track.

"Well, this morning, Nicole paired me with Liam for a duet," I say.

"And you're friends with Liam too?" she asks, turning to Louis.

"Oh, definitely. He's great," Louis responds, his smile warm and genuine.

"So, Nicole paired us because she thinks Liam and I have great chemistry and wanted to see if that translated on stage," I add, fidgeting with the hem of my sleeve.

Louis glances at me with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Great chemistry because the two of you might be in loooveee," he mocks, bursting into laughter.

"We're just friends," I retort, probably too sharply.

Fantastic. Dragging Louis into this was a terrible idea.

"Yeah, it's nothing like that," Louis says, then turns to me with a smirk. "Because this one right here"—he pinches my cheek—"is already madly in love with me. Aren't you?"

"Absolutely. Head over heels," I reply dryly, rolling my eyes.

Oh, this must be payback for making that comment earlier.

"I'm sorry," I laugh, waving a hand. "This is all so ridiculous. That's just what happens when you put us together."

"Yeah, we should probably cut this before we embarrass ourselves even more," Louis says, laughing as he grabs my hand. He gives me a pointed look, then glances toward the door.

I know exactly what he's thinking.

"But—" the interviewer begins, but we're already bolting for the exit.

"Sorry! Gotta go!" I call over my shoulder as Louis and I race through the door, laughing the whole way.

Outside, we sprint down the steps and around the corner, finally stopping to catch our breath.

"That was brilliant," Louis says between gasps, hands on his knees.

"You absolute idiot," I laugh. "Now all of England is going to think we're in some weird love triangle."

Scratch that—the entire world will think that. Once One Direction takes off, people will dig up this interview and dissect every second of it.

"At least they'll think we're interesting," Louis quips, his grin unstoppable.

"Yeah," I mutter, lighting a cigarette. "What an impression we've made."

—
Uploading schedule is a little slower than usual, sorry. December is a busy month with the holidays coming up and I haven't found enough time to write. Hope you're still enjoying the story, and please remember to vote it would help out a lot! See you in the next chapter!