It's All These Little Things

The Decision

Arianna’s P.O.V.                    

“Mom please I can handle this! It’s literally just sticking pie filling in the pie crust and putting it into the refrigerator. I honestly don’t think there is any way I could screw this up if I wanted to.”

My mom had been stressed all day trying to clean the house and make gourmet recipes for “One Direction”. I suggested just having fried chicken and sweet tea, classic southern comfort food, but apparently that menu was completely out of the question, as “celebrities had magnificent high class catered meals every day, so boring fried chicken simply wouldn’t do”. My mom clearly knew nothing about these 5 idiots coming to our house. Not only did the menu have to be perfect, but our house also had to be spotless. And by spotless, my mother means perfection down to the dust bunnies under the couch, and old shoes scattered throughout the coat closet. Since their house was an hour away, my parents decided it would be easier to have dinner at our flat rather than cart everyone up to them. Claire and Lexie had spent earlier part of the day shopping for outfits to wear at dinner tonight then dressing each other up. I on the other hand, grabbed a pair of skinny jeans, flowy shirt, and I was good to go. Sure I cared about how I looked, but I wasn’t one to over analyze every piece of clothing I owned. I tended to leave my hair in its natural waves, and I usually kept my makeup simple and minimal. A bit of foundation and a few swipes of mascara and I was good to go.

An hour later and many last minute fixes, the flat was finally ready, and the boys had just pulled up into the car park outside of the flat.

“They’re here! Girls go open the door for them! They are here!” My mother shouted throughout the flat. With an over dramatic eye roll, I sauntered over to the door and opened it to find five nicely dressed boys standing at my door.

“Wow you guys clean up nicely!” I joke, slightly surprised at my confidence around the 5 boys who took over my life.  

“Aw thanks babe you’re not too bad yourself!” Niall jokes back with a sly wink. We walked into the flat so they could meet my eagerly awaiting parents and friends.

“Hey Mr. and Mrs. Smith! I’m Louis, and this is Harry, Niall, Liam, and Zayn.” Exclaims Louis to my parents after their initial greetings. “Hey!” the other four boys chorus together after Louis’s introduction.

“Hi boys, it’s lovely to meet you. We have certainly heard lots about you from Arianna!” My dad says warmly while shaking all five boys’ hands. At the discreet mention of my “directionerness”, all of the boys tried to hide sly smirks, but failed miserably.

Throughout the dinner, my parents made light conversation with the boys, topics ranging from the rise to success and their families back at home.  I was quiet throughout most of dinner, but that partly resulted from the fact that being a directioner, I already knew lots of what they were saying. Actually, I was quite surprised that my parents hadn’t known everything they talked about seeing as Lex, Claire, and I talk about them ALL the time. All I could think about though, was the decision my parents were contemplating throughout this whole night. Would I be able to go on a world tour to open for one of the biggest bands of the age? Now that I think about it, I understand why my parents are having such a hard time making a decision. My life could change forever after this. But it was what I wanted, and I have never been surer of anything in my life.

“Hey Ari could you Lex and Claire take the dishes to the sink and bring out clean plates for the pie?” my mother asked.  We got up and collected all of the dishes and carried them to the kitchen while receiving sweet smiles and polite “thank you”s from the boys . In the kitchen, I could hear my parents muttering quietly to the boys. Clearly we weren’t supposed to hear. I motioned for the other girls to join me as we put our ears on the swinging door that separates the kitchen from the dining room. We could only make out a few quiet phrases, but I assumed my parents were discussing the more technical details of the possible future arrangments, such as chaperones, money, travel, and I had no doubt that my dad put in his two cents about any romantic feelings towards me. After a minute or two, the girls and I made our way back into the kitchen carrying the two chocolate pudding pies that I had prepared earlier that day. Small smirks sat upon all of the boys’ faces. I shot a glare at my father as if to ask what embarrassing things he had said to provoke such amusement with the boys, but all I received in return was a innocent, sickly sweet smile. I was definitely going to receive some teasing from the boys later about whatever had just occurred.

“So,” my father began, drawing out his words slightly, “We have come to a descsion about your request to tour with “the boys” across the UK and America as their opening act.” My dad was clearly trying to take as much time as possible after noticing my anxious expression.

“We have decided to allow you to go, but there will be a few conditions. First off, if you start attracting bad press for whatever the reason may be, the gig is off. Second, you must manage any money you make wisely, no insane spending sprees, and some must be set aside for college. Last but certainly not least, there will be no dating on tour, whether it is these 5 boys or some random boy you meet on the streets. Understood?”

“Yes dad of course thank you so much! I promise I will be good. I swear!” I squealed with excitement, earning a chuckle from everyone else in the room. I was beyond excited. I was going to be touring with 5 of the hottest and most talented European boys. Who wouldn’t be?

“So um, when do we leave?” I said, much calmer but still bouncing up and down slightly.

“Well the tour doesn’t officially start for a month and a half, but you will have to begin preparing a set, deciding what songs to cover, and contemplate recording your own singles as I assume Simon already talked to you about signing with the label.” Liam said, referring to his phone calendar for the tour dates.

“Oh, well he actually hadn’t really mentioned that yet…” I trailed off.

“Oops well I guess we ruined the surprise, but he wanted to sign you to the label so that before and during the tour, you can begin to record your singles and work on an album. Anyways, that can all be discussed in future meetings. Back to the main question, when will we leave? Simon said earlier today that if it was possible, he would like us back in London at the end of the week to start rehearsing as well attempting to work out technical details with you. Will that work for you?” Liam asked, smiling sweetly at the end.

I guess my parents had already spoken to the boys about all of these technical details, because they had no questions. London in a week? I don’t know what I had been expecting, but this all seemed to come much quicker than I thought. A record deal and a spot on a sold out world tour? And I would be leaving in a week? Even just the thought of it was overwhelming. But I couldn’t back down. Not right now. (A/N: Sorry, but did anyone see Camp Rock 2? ;))

“I guess I have to start packing!” I said to the boys, forcing a smile to cover my nervousness. After that, we each gave the boys hugs, Lex and Claire’s lingering a bit longer than mine, and proceeded to walk the boys and my parents out before going up to our rooms to crash. Our night had been exciting, to say the least, and we were all drained. I knew that sleep wouldn’t come easily though. The emotions and thoughts just kept racing through my head, and all I could think about was how much my life was going to change in 7 days. Just 7 more days.