Taking The Chance [A Niall Horan Fanfiction]

// Chapter Ten //

I stared at the blonde boy in shock, tracing his movements with my eyes, and watched him walk away from the buffet and to his group of friends sitting at the table next to where we sat last night. I never caught a glimpse of who the boy exactly was, but it sure looked a lot like…

"Mara, what are you looking at?" I tore my gaze from the boy and turned to Eleanor, whose head was tilted to the side in confusion. She stood on her tippy-toes and looked around the dining hall, attempting to find what I was staring so intently at.

"Oh, nothing," I lied, "Just zoned out for a bit." I flashed a hesitant smile after taking one more quick glance back.

I also piled my plate to the sides with bacon, pancakes, eggs, and hash browns before sitting down with Eleanor at her usual spot, making sure I had a good vantage point of the blonde boy. "So," I said after taking my first bite of the bacon, which was the best bacon I have ever had by the way, "is it just the two of us again today?"

She shook her head, too absorbed in picking out the nuts in her muffin to look up at me. "I don't think so. They should be eating with us today."

My eyebrows furrowed while I constantly stuffing my face with food. I was too distracted with thoughts of the blonde boy and Eleanor's mysterious friends that I didn't notice we were joined by someone…

"Hello, love," a teenage boy said as he slid into a spot next to Eleanor. That voice was familiar…

Looking up from my half-eaten plate of breakfast, my jaw dropped seeing Louis sitting directly across from me and setting a plate with only pancakes down on the table. He was dressed in a similar white button-up shirt and blazer, but instead of a khaki pleated skirt he wore khaki pleated pants, similar to what all the other boys in the school were wearing. He looked more sophisticated than he did yesterday. He placed a small peck on Eleanor's lips. "Good morning, babe," Eleanor replied, smiling sweetly at Louis.

So they're dating… well, now I feel awkward… third wheel much? "Hi Louis." I greeted him. "I didn't know your girlfriend went here! Or that you had a girlfriend…"

He chuckled. "Why would I tell you that I have a girlfriend? You said my name wrong the first time we talked." I narrowed my eyes at his remark. Same sass, different day. "Besides, you never said anything about Niall so…" I blushed hearing Louis say his name, taking a quick peak at the blonde boy to see if he heard Louis say the name or if there was any reaction. Nothing.

Eleanor looked at both of us, confused once again. "You two know each other? And she knows Niall?"

Wait, Eleanor knows Niall too? I guess by association with Louis, since Louis and Niall are friends.

He nodded, picking up his utensils to cut his pancakes. "Yup. Mara's the girl I was telling you about… the one I had to drive from the train station." He poured jam onto his pancakes. "She knows Niall because they rode the same train to London. And she fancies him."

I choked on my pancakes when I heard his last comment. Opening my eyes wide, I sent daggers at him with my stare. "I do not fancy him!"

Well, maybe I did. I couldn't even convince myself that I didn't at least slightly fancy him.

Louis raised an eyebrow at me and gave me an all-knowing look. "Anyways, how do you know Mara?"

"We're roommates!" She squealed, grinning. "I guess I should've figured it was Mara you were driving though, since you said she was going to be late… and Mara was late to move-in… it makes sense!" She took a satisfied bite from her muffin.

"Yes, babe." He said absent-mindedly, fidgeting in his blazer and trying not to get jam on the sleeves. "Do you know where Harry is?"

Eleanor shook her head and rolled her eyes. "It's like you two are attached at the hip," she paused and spoke directly to me, "Louis and Harry are best mates." She took the last bite of her muffin before continuing to talk. "I have no idea where Harry is."

"Sulking about having a roommate, I presume. Probably won't come out until he has to pick up his schedule." Louis commented with a slightly irritated look. "I don't understand why Harry's mum and stepdad don't want him to stay with me. I'm not that irresponsible."

She laughed, patting his arm. "Babe, your flat is a pigsty."

I giggled along with Eleanor, watching Louis narrow his eyes at Eleanor, who flashed an innocent smile. "Whatever," Louis muttered, stabbing his fluffy pancakes with his fork. "What about Liam?"

She shrugged. "Probably with the Dean." My eyes widened as she peeled her orange. They were friends with Liam too? They knew everyone! "I'm saddened that Harry and Liam have to miss our first breakfast together, though."

Although I am ecstatic that one of Eleanor's mysterious friends joined us for breakfast, it would have been nice to see what an actual meal was between Louis, Eleanor, Harry, Liam, and possible other students in their group. Is it merely a coincidence that I've met Louis, Eleanor, and Liam the way that I have, and that they're all friends? Or maybe fate is playing with me again…

I stayed silence throughout the rest of the breakfast period while Louis and Eleanor talked to each other about their summer and the upcoming school year, deviating my concentration on my thoughts only to look at the blonde boy. Of course his back would be turned to me.

A click echoed through the hall before Dean Payne's clipped and poised accent rang through the speakers. "Good morning, students of Mullingchire Heights Academy," she chirped. "I hope that the breakfast made by our gourmet chefs was to everyone's liking." Oh, it definitely was. "In ten minutes' time, it is time for everyone to pick up their class schedules for the term. Students will line up in their alphabet bracket and wait patiently for their schedule. After you pick up your schedules, you have the rest of the day to prepare yourselves for classes tomorrow. When the bell rings, please head to the atrium. Thank you for your attention." The speakers turned off with another click.

I finished my breakfast just as the bell rang. And this bell wasn't a single, annoying note played over the speaker… it was the bell from the bell tower. Is there anything at this school that isn't so English and sophisticated?

I followed Eleanor and Louis to the atrium (the map the Dean gave me wasn't so great), where I stood in the G - L line. Although the atrium--a circular lobby with a stained glass dome ceiling and patterned marble floors--was enormous, it was crowded from wall to wall with approximately 300 students, each eager (or filled with dread) to receive their schedules. I would normally be anxious to receive my classes, but something else was on my mind: the blonde boy. It couldn't be Niall. He said he doesn't attend Mullingchire.

Then why was I praying to the heavens and wishing on my lucky stars that the familiar blonde-haired boy was him?

I stood on my tips of my toes, attempting to peer over the heads of other students to find the one head I'm looking for. Then I remembered: I'm short. Sighing in defeat, I relaxed my feet…

Only to accidentally step on someone else's foot.

"Sorry!" I exclaimed. I lifted my foot quickly and whipped my body around to face the person whose toes I squished. "I didn't mean to--"

Right as I looked at the person's face to apologize, I realized who it was. It was the blonde boy.