Sair:
“Stop with the books Sair, you look like a nerd”, Dawn hissed as we stood in line. I couldn’t help it, I could just leave them here on the ground. But they were wobbling all over the palce, stacked up in my arms. People were pushing and pulling and swaying in every direction so I could barely see Dawn next to me. One of the books fell from my arms, but she caught it.
“I’m sorry”, I whimpered, clenching onto them.
“Here, let me take some”, she said, and took about half, stuffing them under her coat. I looked at her, and at the same time was thrown forward by someone forcing from behind. “Do the same”, Dawn hissed at me, and lifted my jacket up. I did as she said, and tucked them safely underneath there. It was freezing, and my cheeks and nose were burning off by the time we got to our seats.
“Thanks Dawn”, I breathed as she handed me the books back. We were late, and I had just put them down when the lights dimmed down. I thought I would die with guilt and excitement at the same time. Dawn was jumping again when I stuffed my ears, laughing at her.
“You’ll be fine!”, Dawn called loudly over the screams around us. “Just forget about everything for a little while!”. I smiled at my best friend. “Live a little!”, she called happily, even louder this time. I nodded, taking her hand.
Niall:
I hadn’t talked to Louis since yesterday, but I knew he wasn’t mad at me. We were thrown on stage as soon as we got to the arena, and exploded with the song straight away. He caught my eye though, Louis, and mouthed if I was ok. I nodded, trying not to think about how not ok I really was. I’d just tell Don afterwards, tell him that there was no girl and that this was my life. He, and no one else, had any business poking around in it.
It was halfway through the show when Liam was singing, his arm around my shoulder, and the crowd still booming towards us that I caught Don’s eye this time. He stood all the way to the left from the front row, and had been trying to make contact with me all along. I could see he wasn’t happy. He pointed to me with a determined finger.
“Shit”, I mumbled. Liam sent me a surprised look while finishing up his solo. I laughed so he wouldn’t get it, and luckily Liam didn't ask. But looking back at Don I knew I was in trouble. Don pointed to me again, and signalized very clearly that we were going to talk.
“Niall, mate, pay attention”, Liam said his lips inches from my ear. It was my turn to sing. I sang and really did try to focus on the crowd. I tried to make faces, and I really tried to keep Don out of the corner of my eye. But he was there, and he kept his stare just as firm the whole concert through, and his arms crossed. I went dry in the throat more than once, and gushed down about five bottles of water because of pure nervousness. And also more than once did the other boys send me a questioning look. When we were done on stage for the evening I was about to pee myself. Literally.
“What was going on with you out there today mate?”, Liam asked me, again his arm hanging over my shoulder as we hurried backstage. Don was on his way, I knew it, and he’d soon catch me.
“I need to pee”, I mumbled, looking for somewhere to go. Louis walked right behind us, and he’d heard what Liam had said.
“Yeah Niall, what’s wrong?”, Louis asked. He was demanding an answer, probably feeling like he deserved one after yesterday's hunting me down. I stopped, and Louis almost bumped into me from behind.
“I really need to go pee”, I repeated. Don appeared at the bottom of the corridor, his eyes fixed on me. I froze for a second, and the others noticed.
“What the fuck is going on?”, Zayn asked noticing Don trotting like a bull towards us. He was the bull and I was the red piece of cloth.
“I really really need to go pee”, I whimpered and snuck between the others, running the opposite direction, heading for the men’s room.
“Niall”, several voices called me from behind, but I had already turned the corner and dove through the nearest door. The silence of standing there, finally letting all that water go, made it easier to think. I had my fist against the wall, chewing my lip until it was swollen.
“Come on Niall, get a grip, just tell him it’s none of his business”, I told myself. “Tell him there is no girl, and tell him you won’t go out announcing anything at all”. I zipped up and headed out, happy to see no one had tracked me down yet. I threw my hood over my head and continued down the hall until I could see out on the lot. It was dark outside, and freezing. Everyone was going home, thousands of girls whimsically trying to talk to their friends as well as getting out of there. I opened the glass door, well shielded by the darkness, and the pillars. The line went rushing past just a few feet away from me. Why not one of these girls? Is that what Don wanted? I scolded at them from behind my pillar before casting a quick glance over my shoulder. No one was follwing me at least.
“Shit! Not again”, a voice from right below me made look down. She sat on her knees on the probably ice cold pavement, almost being run over by the others trying to walk past. She’d lost a whole lot of books down there. “Hey! Watch it!”, she snapped at another girl who almost stepped on her hands. The guards were catching on down the line, and made their way towards her. She was right there, in front of me. I couldn’t see her face because her hair was loose. It was blonde, falling in her face. Why would she have a books?
“Hey!”, the guards called from further down the line. The bookworm tried to gather up her things, only making herself act even more clumsy. “Hey you there! Get a move on!”, the guards called again. Quicker than I could even quite understand myself I bent down and helped her pick the books up, gathering them in one arm. She looked up at me, shocked. I knew she saw who I was. She was prettier than I expected. Different than what I had managed to imagine, only though I’d seen her about ten seconds ago. Everything happened so quick, before the guards could reach us. As I said, she knew who I was, and her mouth popped open. I grabbed her wrist, and her books, and pulled her with me under the plastic barrier and behind the pillar.
