A Time Forgotten (Niall Horan)

Chp 4

NIALL

Slick leather booths bordered the brick walls of the Cute and Sweet Ice Cream Parlor. Ali had texted me the address, saying only that Becca, her and I should get together. She wouldn't care if Liam tagged along, would she? Besides, I needed another guy to even out the ratio.

Liam and I entered the parlor. Overhead, bells jingled as we pushed open the glass double doors, and peppy pop music played softly. Ali waved us over. She looked strange. As soon as she saw Liam, her smile disappeared. She bit her lip. Liam punched me in the shoulder.

"I'll be right back." and he ran towards Ali.

He whispered into her ear. Her eyes widened. I felt a pang of jealously. What? Then, turning to me, he said "I'll leave you two alone..." Liam winked at Ali, and walked off.

I slid into the booth across from Ali. She looked at me, and gave me a small smile.

"I have something important to tell you, and-" I heard the door swing shut as the bells jingled wildly. I glanced to door and did a double take. My eyes widened.

Standing, confident yet modest, under the fluorescent lighting of the parlor, was a girl. She had long blonde hair, that curled and caught the light, shiny and voluminous. She was tall, slim and curvy, with the most amazing eyes, brown and framed by thick long lashes. I didn't notice, but I felt my jaw drop at her beauty. I didn't feel it, but she had already stolen my heart. She was, in short, a goddess.

ALI

“Remember my secret weapon?” Liam whispered into my ear. My eyes widened. What could it be?

“I’ll leave you two alone...” he said and winked at me.

Niall and I sat down. I coughed.

"I have something important to tell you, and-" Suddenly, the door closed with the bells jingling loudly. I could see that Niallr’s attention was diverted as I was talking. He was glancing at the door when suddenly, his eyes widened, drawing away from me and to the side. I heard the bells jingle again, and I turned around.

   My heart sank. In front of me was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She had long, wavy blonde hair, that cascaded down her back and bounced as she walked toward our booth. Her eyes were huge and luminous, edged with thick dark lashes that defined the milk chocolate hue of her irises. She was tall and slender yet curvy, a dancer's body, and her confidence drew every eye in the room. She smiled at Niall, a smile so sweet that anyone would fall under her spell. Yet, as I watched her, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of danger coming from her.

“Hi, I’m Elena.” Her voice sounded like a soft wind chime, lovely, clear and slightly higher than mine. “I just moved here from California. Your friend Liam told me that you knew your way around. So...can you maybe...give me a tour of this town?” She asked. Her fingers twisted her hair as she flashed him her stunning smile. I glanced at Niall expecting him to look at her weirdly as I had done, but Niall’s mouth hung wide open. I looked into her eyes. She was completely avoiding my gaze.

“Uh.....um.....uh...” Niall stuttered. What could I do? I could only pretend to be nice.

“Sure, he’ll show you around.” I said. I barely managed a smile to meet her gaze.

“Great!” She replied. Niall looked at me. I nodded encouragingly, and he stood up. As he and Elena walked out, I sighed. Just then, Liam came in. He looked at Niall and Elena with a confused look, and hurried towards me.

“Why are they together?” He asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe somebody said that Niall was a great person to show the new girl around town.” Liam stared at me blankly, then looked down, sheepish.

“Oh......oops? I just thought it would show Becca that he liked you when he rejected her.”

“Yeah, and we know that totally worked out. Becca didn’t even come. And he totally fell for Elena.”

He lightly laughed. “Okay, okay. Why are you so flustered anyways? You’re meant for each other.”

“Oh Liam, don’t lie to make me feel better. She’s perfect in every way. And me? I’m just... well, I don’t know.” I looked down at my black Converse and fiddled with my fishtail braid. “I’ll never win against her. She’s way too pretty. Did you see the way the room stopped when she walked in? I bet every boy in this room has already fallen for her.”

“I haven’t. I don't notice any girls except Sarah anymore. Come on, Ali."

"If only Niall could remember me...I didn't even get to explain my feelings for him because he left. With your secret weapon...." I glared at Liam.

"I-I’m sorry... I didn’t know he would like her...”

“Why would he not like her? Sure, maybe before he forgot everything, he would have rejected her, but he doesn’t care about me anymore.” I turned around, trying to hide my dampening eyes. “I-I just need some space, okay?”

I picked up my purse and walked away.

NIALL

“So, tell me about your school,” Elena giggled as she pranced around the big mall, looking at the stores.

“Oh, well, I don’t know that much about it. I only started going back to school the day before yesterday.” I replied.

“Oh, what happened to you?” She said with a pout.

“Uh...” She made me feel woozy when I was around her. Maybe that was because of her shimmering eyes. Or maybe her gentle waves of blonde hair that floated delicately down her narrow shoulders-

“Uh-huh?” She said, urging me on. She flashed me a dazzling smile.

“Um... the people there are really nice, you’ll like them.” I replied, changing the subject.

“Really? I hope you’ll be my friend, too.”

Her chocolate brown eyes stared deep into mine. But a layer of something lay behind those glassy warm eyes. I couldn’t put my finger on it. But it wasn’t something I had ever seen before. She turned away before I could figure out what it was.

“Hey, let’s go in there!” She pointed into Topshop.

“Okay.” I felt that wooziness as she giggled.

She spun around the racks like a ballerina. Looking at shirts and then flicking them away. Finally, she found a blue shirt. She smiled up at me, then pushed the shirt into my arms flirtatiously.

“Try this on. I think it would look good on you. Here, I’ll buy a matching shirt to go along with it. We should wear them on Monday together!” She smiled and batted her impossibly long eyelashes.

“Uh, okay.” I said, trying to friendly.I stumbled towards the changing room, then came out when she was done.

“I was right. It totally looks good! I’ll take both of these.”

A girl had magically popped up next to her to do her bidding. I wondered how that happened, but my questions were answered when I saw the black credit card that could pay for anything.

“My daddy loves giving me presents.” she answered, noticing my questioning glance. She was, ideally the perfect girlfriend, and it looked like she was interested. She was perfect in every way. But why did my heart keep questioning my feelings? I had to make a decision. To ask her out or not, that was the question. My mind said yes, yes, yes, but my heart said no, no, no.

“Were you going to ask me something?” she said innocently.

“N-no, uh, I mean, uh, will you go out with me?” I spit out, flustered and blushing.

“OMG! Yes! I’d love to! Thanks, Niall.” She said my name familiarly like she had met me 2 years ago. I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding as we walked out of the store together. She took my hand and smiled at me. I smiled back.  But something in me still said no, no, no.