Change My Mind (Liam Payne Fiction)

Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Thursday after school, Betty Lou and Hailey went over to Aria's house. They didn't have school the next day so they decided to go to the town carnival and hear all about Aria's date the night before with Betty Lou's distant cousin Dean who lived in the town next to theirs.

Now in her bedroom, getting ready for the fair, Aria gave Betty Lou and Hailey their usual iced tea. She put way more crushed ice in hers than she usually did and drank it quickly. She figured that perhaps a brain freeze would loosen her tongue, which she noticed seemed to be tied anytime even a thought of Liam Payne crossed her mind.

There wasn't much to tell about her date with Dean. They watched a movie, grabbed a quick dinner at the new seafood place, and then he dropped her home. He was polite, funny, smart, and handsome in a Ken doll sort of way. But throughout the entire night, Aria's thoughts kept drifting to Liam. By the end of the night, Dean had realized her being distracted the entire evening was an indication that there won't be a second date. He walked her up to the front door, gave her hand a light kiss, and told her he had a nice time, and that they should hang out again in the future as friends.

So now that her friends were grilling her about last night's date, Aria realized that she couldn't delay telling them about Liam any further. She needed to let the cat out of the bag. She needed to talk to someone about what she'd been going through.

"Okay, um, look guys – there's something I need to tell." She inhaled sharply, and then exhaled slowly. "So, here's the thing: Grams put me up to it, and I couldn't tell anyone because we signed a confidentiality agreement." Then Aria stopped herself, realizing it sounded weird and that her friends might take it the wrong way. Backtracking, she said, "Not that we don't trust you guys, but -"

"Jumping Jehosaphat ..." Betty Lou whispered. Her eyes were wide as saucers in disbelief. "Your grandparents are selling the ranch, aren't they?"

Aria shook her head. "Absolutely not. That's not it." She tried to reorganize her thoughts. "Anyways, for this special project, I had to work with someone. I was forced to work with someone, and help him -"

Hailey gasped enthusiastically. "Aha! You are dating someone, aren't you?"

Aria looked at her pointedly. "No. We are most definitely not dating. Well, we're not dating, but then there's this kind of thing and I really don't know where it's going ..."

She looked at her friends who wore identical puzzled expressions on their faces and realized they were totally lost. She regrouped. "Okay. I'm starting over. About a month ago, I had the chance to meet –"

Aria was interrupted by a loud knock at her bedroom door.

She held a finger up to Hailey and Betty Lou. "Hold that thought while I see who this is."

As she was walking to her bedroom door, she overheard Hailey whisper to Betty Lou, "What thought? She isn't making any sense at all. I thought we were going to talk about Dean."

Aria opened the door, and before she could react, Liam charged right in, all fired up.

"Where the heck have you been all day? Do you know how many times I tried calling you? Is your cellphone off? I'm so sick and tired of talking to my lawyers about whom I can sue over this. I met with Matt earlier today and we got back the movie poster mock-ups the studio is going to use for the movie."

Liam barrelled across the room and onto the bay window, so absorbed in his tirade that he didn't notice Hailey and Betty Lou. He did notice the pitcher of iced tea on the tray and helped himself to it, drinking straight from the pitcher.