Getting in shape... with Liam Payne

'Friendly' Conversations

Chapter 12:

“Is he cute? How cute – like, on a scale of one to ten?” Terry was being even more egocentric than I anticipated she would be – she started her viciously thorough interrogation the moment she spotted me at the gym’s entrance.  What surprised me the most was that she wasn’t even bothering to cover up her unnatural interest in ‘that guy Steve told me you met’.

Is it really that weird that a guy shoved interest towards me?

Well… yeah.

I shrugged at the obvious and harsh truth before answering what seemed like Terry’s thousandth question.

“Terry I don’t know. He’s just average… so a five, maybe even a four.”

A five… MAYBE EVEN A FOUR?!

OH FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND PURE ON THIS UNIVERSE!

What do you want me to say? That on a scale of one to ten, he’s a flippin twenty?

“Oh, average.” My answers were clearly not what Terry had wanted them to be and that fact was making her frustrated. I was beginning to hope she’d just give up and believe my assurances that he is just some non-muscular, average-to-the-bone guy who most certainly cannot afford to enter her exclusive boyfriend-material sphere.

“Average is umm… yeah, whatever no matter. You guys must have been on a date, right? How was that?”

Oh, it was only thee most fantastically amazing day of my life, thank you very much.

“It was nice, nothing too fancy. We just went to the movies and then for a walk in the park. So yeah…” It was taking me all my self-control not to start blabbing to her about all the amazing things Liam and I had done together in the surprisingly short time we had been dating. It’s only been three weeks and we’ve already been on more amazing dates than I thought I’ve ever be in my entire life. How does one appear bored and unexcited whilst talking about the world’s best boyfriend? Especially when he also happens to be your boyfriend?

“That seems a pretty cliché sort of date. Not very creative of him.” Boredom was settling into Terry’s voice as she picked up her phone and began fiddling with it. She touched her index finger a few times to the large touchscreen and then settled the sleek phone on her lap, giving me a pitiful smile.

Oh my god I think it’s working! Terry is getting bored with her annoying interrogation! If all goes well I shall be off the hock in no time.  Also, we might actually make it inside the exercise hall which would be really nice – we have been standing in the changing rooms for some twenty minutes now and I can literally taste the sweat-saturated air in my breath.

Yesssss!!

“Yeah I guess you’re right Terry. But it’s just like I told you – nothing serious, in all honesty I only went out with him out of courtesy.” I was always good at lying, not that that’s anything to be proud of, but even though I was surprised at how easily I was making all of this up. Now, don’t get me wrong – I wasn’t enjoying myself but I knew that coaxing Terry into believing Liam to be the world’s biggest loser was the only way to make sure she never thinks of him again. Ever.

By now Terry showed a mixture of boredom and disappointment and just as I was starting to believe that avoiding my boyfriend to be snatched right away from me would be doable, Terry asked the one question I dreaded the most.

“You said his name was Liam, right? What about his surname? He goes to my daddy’s gym regularly so if you’d tell me his full name I could find out some stuff about him for you Ally-doll – if you know what I mean.” Terry winked as she said the last sentence, interest flickering back into her eyes in a way that made her look slightly evil. I was a mixture of angst and confusion – how do I steer her away from trying to find out anything about Liam, his full name included, and what stuff had she just meant anyway?