Taking The Chance [A Niall Horan Fanfiction]

// Chapter Three //

I froze, head tilted to the side in confusion. “Fate? What do you mean?”

He chuckled. “Well, you were behind me in line at the phone booth and at the coffee booth. And you were sitting in my row in the waiting area in the train station. I don’t know… it’s just a thought.”

So I wasn’t the only one who noticed. I blushed and shrugged. “Coincidences happen, I guess.”

Yeah, coincidence and fate really do like both of us today. Is he seriously sitting within arm’s length of me? I looked up and saw him putting his own bags in the rack above our seats. I guess he really is. I quickly sat in my seat and looked out the window, staring at the window of the train next to ours and attempting to hide the pink tint in my cheeks. I heard the rustling of his bags diminish and saw him crawl into his seat in my peripheral vision. He set his hands on the table and overlapped them, then looked at me, tracing my glance to the window of the other train. “What are you looking at?” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before facing him. He gave me a warm smile, blinking his eyes in concern. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, returning a small grin. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

See, the thing I hated about meeting new people is the awkward silences. I had no problem talking to people I knew… I talked like a madman about almost everything when talking to my friends or family. When it comes to strangers, I don’t want to say anything that might tick them off or think I’m just another obnoxious teenager. I can tell blonde boy is attempting to make the conversation comfortable, which is sweet, but this awkward atmosphere cannot be avoided.

“So, um, my name is Niall,” he said, extending his hand, “Niall like mile.”

I raised my eyebrow, intrigued at his name. I haven’t heard a name like that before, but I like it. It’s a really cute name, actually. I took his hand and lightly shook it, slightly blushing and smiling. “My name is Mara, nice to meet you.”

He released his hand from the handshake and I instantly felt lonelier, as if his hand was meant to be there. I don’t want to jump to conclusions; it has been a while since I’ve held anyone’s hand. I placed both of my hands on the table awkwardly. I found myself gazing at him as he looked out the window. He was obviously taller than me and had a nice build: not scrawny, but not too athletic and buff. His hair was almost fully blonde, with the roots of his hair a dark brown color. He had a pair of serene blue eyes that made me feel more relaxed and less anxious about the awkward silence between us. His skin was a milky white and he had a cute butt chin. I found him very attractive, to my surprise; even I wouldn’t have expected myself to find interest in him. But I found myself constantly checking him out. And being around someone attractive meant I would become a completely introvert…

“Is there something on my face?” He asked me, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

I snapped back to reality and shook my head. “No, nothing.” Just your cute face.

The train jerked forward; we were on our way to London. I observed then that no one took seats 20 and 22 and there was no one in the four seats across the aisle from us. That meant I was basically completely alone with Niall for about three hours. This will do great things to my nerves.

Both he and I silently stared out the window, watching the scenery pass us by. I gulped, breaking the silence. “Why are you going to London?”

He took his attention away from the scenery outside and faced me. “I go to school in the London area, just on the outskirts.”

My eyes widened. He’s going to school in the London area? Mullingchire Heights Academy is in the London area… what are the chances though? They’re very little… “Where are you originally from?”

“Ireland,” he replied, and I nodded in acknowledgement. So he’s Irish. Not Scottish. That makes sense; Ireland is a part of the UK and a neighbor to England, after all.

“Why are you going to school in London?” I asked curiously.

“Better schools there, I guess. My mum and dad want me to get myself out there and explore and live a little, too.” He glanced out the window again before bringing his attention back to me. “The town I’m from isn’t too exiting, besides the fact that it’s between two bridges. So going to school in London is a good thing for me.”

“Then what were you doing in Paris?” I prayed I didn’t seem too pushy asking all these questions, but my questions were the only thing keeping our conversation afloat.

“A mini-vacation I owe to myself. I’ve practically been living in London for the past two years already because of school, and only go back home before fall term begins. Just taking my mum’s terms of ‘getting myself out there’ seriously.” He chuckled. “Well, what about you? Why has fate arranged me to have an escort as lovely as you to London?”

I felt my cheeks flush and I looked down at my lap to avoid more embarrassment. “I was in Paris for a small vacation too. With my family, though. Last-minute bonding time before I’m gone for nine months. I’m also going to London—”

A lady dressed in a black pencil skirt and a matching blazer with the Eurostar logo etched in the pocket approached us. “Good morning, may I please see your boarding passes and passports?” she asked in a thick British accent. Both of us rummaged through our backpacks and pockets to get the required items. She inspected and validated our boarding passes before flouncing over to the next row of seats in the car.

The time she took to look over our boarding passes and passports gave me time to cool down and relax my heartbeat to normal beats per minute, thankfully. Only then did I realize how chilly our car was. Is there a draft in here? I took out a crumpled hoodie with the Mullingchire Heights Academy crest printed large on the front from my backpack and stealthily put it on, while Niall was busy returning his boarding pass and passport into his backpack. I played with my hair and waited for him to finish.

“So, why are you going to London again?” he asked while he closed the zipper in his backpack. He looked up and noticed that I changed into my hoodie. “Whoa, you’re attending Mullingchire Heights Academy this year?”

I instantly stopped playing with my hair, frozen at his question. He recognized the school’s crest… does he go to Mullingchire too? “Yeah… my parents are shipping me across the pond and into the school.” I was half-scared to ask if he was going there as well. I started to imagine: what if we went to the same school, and what if we got to see each other every day? I wouldn’t mind at all… “Do you attend Mullingchire?”

He paused for a moment too long, looking down into his lap. Finally speaking, I heard an answer I did not want to hear. “No, I don’t go to Mullingchire; I attend another school in proximity to it, though.”

Fate stopped working in my favor, and all the fantasies I started to concoct in my head the minute he didn’t say a word came crashing down to reality. So I wouldn’t get to school with him, I wouldn’t get to see him every day, I wouldn’t get to know him better…. I frowned and attempted to shrug off my disappointment. I dug my arms deeper in my sleeves. “It’s okay; maybe we’ll see each other around London or something.”

He nodded, staring out at the landscape rushing by us outside the window. “Yeah, maybe.” He looked deep in thought, eyebrows furrowed. I yawned, concentrating on the lullaby of the landscape outside of the window, the hum of the train against the train tracks, the silence encompassing Niall and me. Slowly, my eyes began to close; the last thing I remembered was a hazy image of Niall resting his head against the wall of the car and my conscience constantly pushing away the thought that Niall and I had to part ways at the train station in London.