Dating Game

Chapter 9

L I Z

They're narrowing the girls down to 12 now and it's going to be 1 on 1 dates with the guys who picked the girls. "Ladies, please dress nicely." Harry asked from the bottom of the stairs. I pulled on a red long sleeve with a black skirt thing that MJ packed for me. What a butt. I slid on black flats and put my hair in a messy bun on top of my head and walked down stairs and slid my phone into the pocket on my skirt. I slid my glasses up the bridge of my nose because my contacts went bad yesterday, unfortunately. I walked down stairs and got funny looks from Ashton and Harry. "I didn't know you wore glasses." Harry said, walking over to me. "I normally wear contacts, but they expired yesterday so I'm stuck with glasses." "They look cute on you." He complemented and I felt my cheeks heat up. "Alright, your files are back on the table and you will either see one name, two names or no name. If you don't see a name you need to pack your bag and go out to a car so you can go home. It's been great getting to know all of you." Liam said and we all made our way to our files and I picked mine up, seeing two names in it. HARRY, ASHTON. I was kind of expecting that, since Luke is pissed at me for a pretty dumb reason, if I might add. I saw girls leaving and crying. I walked up to Ashton and smiled at him. "So what do we do now?" "We figure out who's going out on what day and in one week we send 4 girls home and it'll be the final 8 for two weeks and at the end of the two weeks each girl will pick one guy, which should be fun for you." He added to the end. "Well, I'm kind of glad Luke took himself out of the running. He was a bit too controlling for my liking." I said honestly and Ashton grinned slightly. "So it seems like my chances are pretty good." He said and I shrugged. "We will see, Irwin." I said and winked at him before walking away to find a couch. I don't know why I don't wear this skirt more often, it's got pockets, it's not a leg prison, it's comfy. Hmmm. I think I might need to wear it more often. The eliminated girls left and I was playing with the end of my skirt absentmindedly. "Only two names? I guess that means one of the boys came to their senses." Lisa said, looking at me. "What does it matter to you?" "Well, I know Luke did because his name was in my file." "Okay, congratulations." I said and was waiting for her to walk away. "Oh, Luke! Hi!" She said in an extremely ugh voice and moved over to Luke. I ignored them until I heard my name. "You were really too hot for her anyways." Lisa said, with her hands on Luke's arm. *gagging noises* "I think you're right." Luke said and I felt uncomfortable and shocked. Ashton plopped down on the couch next to me and smiled. "So hi." He said with a goofy grin and it made me smile. "Hi." I said and we just had a goofy conversation. About 20 minutes into the conversation the boys were taken away to go figure out dates and all the details. I stood up from the couch and decided to explore the house more. I ventured down a hallway that I'm pretty sure we aren't supposed to go down and was peaking in doors. I saw music stuff and slid into the door. I was in the middle of learning a new song on guitar before I left so why not practice while I've got the time to? I picked up an acoustic guitar and started playing with the strings before deciding it sounded right and practicing the chorus of the song, which is the only part I know.

"And I think you should be somethin' I don't wanna hold back
Maybe you should know that
My mama don't like you and she like's everyone
And I never like to admit that I was wrong
And I've been so caught up in my job
Didn't see what's going on
But now I know
I'm better sleeping on my own
Cause if you like the way you look that much
Ohhhh baby you should go and love yourself
And if you think that I'm still holdin' on to somethin'
You should go and love yourself

When you told me that you hated my friends
The only problem was with you and not them
And every time you told me my opinion was wrong
And tried to make me forget where I came from"

I heard the door open and stopped when I saw Luke standing there. "You know you shouldn't be here." "Actually I didn't." I snapped at him and pushed past him out the door. I went down the hall and I heard him follow me until he grabbed my arm and turned me around. "Don't snap at me like that." He said, sounding mad. "Why not? You kind of deserved it. Or are you to "hot" to even talk to me like a normal human being?" I snapped and put air quotes around the word "hot". His face dropped. "You heard that?" "Kind of hard not to when she's the loudest person in the room." I said and walked away successfully. I went out by the pool and saw a crowd of girls so I went to the beach. I sat at the edge of the water with my feet straight out in front of me. "Why did I know you'd be out here?" I heard Ashton ask and I looked over my shoulder and shrugged. "Because you know me decently well." I said and smiled at him, leaning on his shoulder once he sat down. "So what do you want to do for our date?" "Can we watch a movie on the beach?" I asked, looking at the water, feeling his arm wrapped around me. "All the other guys are talking about girls wanting to go to a club or a party or some fancy diner and you want a movie on the beach. I think I made a good choice." He said and I felt my cheeks heat up. "Clubs aren't really my thing. I'm more of the watch a movie read a book type." I said and he smiled. "You really are something else." "I'm great." "Very true." "It's getting late. We should probably go inside." I suggested and started to stand up. "We probably should. But if Luke says anything else to you, just let me know. Okay?" "So protective." I said and he put his hands on either side of my face and smiled at me. "Just looking out for you." He said and kissed my forehead. He laced his fingers through mine and we started walking up to the house. I expected him to let go of my hand when we got closer to the pool but he moved me closer to him and kept walking. He walked with me all the way up to my room and kissed my cheek before I went through the door. "Good night, Ashton." I said and he smiled. "Good night, Liz." He said back before making his way down the stairs. I stayed in my room until about midnight. I decided I needed a snack so I made my way down the stairs. I walked quietly to the kitchen and saw the light already on and the fridge open. I didn't think twice before going to join whoever of the boys was in the fridge door and by the time I realized it was Luke he'd already seen me and it was too late for me to go back to my room. "Shit." I muttered under my breath before turning towards the pantry in a search for chips or something I can grab and go. "Liz, can we talk?" "About what?" I asked casually, not turning around. "Earlier." "What about it?" I asked getting on my toes to look for the bag I wanted. "Well, I was being dumb and I just wanted to say that I hope you still considering me, because I'm still hoping you choose me." My eyes went wide and I didn't say anything. "I know I've been dumb recently, but I really do like you a lot and I hope me being a jerk didn't completely ruin my chances with you." "Luke, I don't know." I said and abandoned the search for food, my appetite suddenly gone, and I tried to leave the kitchen as quickly as possible. Luke followed me to the stair case and grabbed my arm. He turned me around and kissed me. No warning, not caring if I wanted him to or not and I pulled away as fast as I could and ran up the stairs to get away from the awkward situation and then I started to think about how Ashton or Harry would feel, knowing Luke just kissed me. I don't think either would be very happy. I opened my door and looked to see if Luke was still out there and I walked down stairs and sat by the pool with my feet in the water. What the hell was he thinking? He can't just be a jerk and then decide that he still wanted to be with me. He certainly can't just kiss me out of no where. I kept my feet in the water and just sat there thinking, not paying attention to the time and by the time I even thought about going inside the sun was coming up. Well, looks like I'm not sleeping today. Great. I stood up, pulling my feet out of the water and dried them off before going inside. "Hey, what are you doing up so early?" I heard Liam ask and I shrugged. "I was outside thinking and lost track of time." "So you didn't sleep?" "Nope." "What were you thinking about?" "Well.... I'm not really sure if something happened that breaks the rules or what the deal is here because I only skimmed through the rule thingy." I said and he nodded. "Well, what happened?" "Well, I came down here for a midnight snack and Luke was in the kitchen but by the time I realized it was Luke it was too late to walk out without seeming rude, you know? Well, I decided to just carry on getting my snack and he told me that he still wants a chance with me and was saying that he hopes I'm still considering him and all that jazz. Well, I gave up on my food and I cleared out of the kitchen and I got to the stairs before he actually caught up to me and when he did.... Well, this is the part that is probably breaking some rule." I said and Liam looked at me questionably. "Did he kiss you or something?" I just slowly nodded and Liam made a disappointed face. "Did you kiss him back?" "No I pulled back and started freaking out after I ran up the stairs and sat in my room until I thought he was gone." "But you didn't even want to come here in the first place." Liam said and seemed genuinely confused. "Yeah, but I really like... Someone and I not want to get sent home all because Luke kissed me out of the blue because he wanted to." I explained and he nodded. "So who are you leaning more towards?" "It's a secret." I said and he pouted. "Oh come on, if I guess will you tell me?" "I'll whisper it to you but you can't say anything to anyone." I said and whispered a name in his ear.

AN: so the story itself is 2016 words long so I felt the need to stop there. Who do you think she's going to pick? Who do you want her to pick?