Changing Everything

Chapter 2

Everything was happening so quick that my brain barely registered it. I was giddy and so were my bestfriends. What really had just happened? Was there a mistake, did Liam think I was someone I was not? Was he not even pointing to me, was it the girl in the row behind me he had been looking at the whole time? I turned around and my heart lifted when I found that in fact, there was no girl behind me on the next row, but a balding, middle aged man who had evidently been forced here by his 12 year old daughter! Something I can only describe as hope flared deep in my stomach. Liam really had been looking at me! I let out a small giggle and turned back to the front. Jenna caught my eye and wiggled her eye brows like a loon making me giggle even more. Liam really had been looking at me I thought again to myself. 

Suddenly I was pulled from this realisation by more action on stage. It was coming to the end of the first chorus of Last First Kiss and Niall's solo was next. This was one of my favourite parts of the song so I started to sing along. Niall was sat on the edge of the stage, legs swinging as he waited. He was sat facing the seating where I was and his eyes were scanning the crowd of singing, screaming girls. Just as his eyes landed on me I realised what was happening. He looked at me just the way Liam had but there was something else there. Something deeper. Something I didn't yet understand. He looked at me like I was the only person in the room with him. He put so much passion in to the words: I'm afraid you'll run away, If I tell you what I wanted to tell you. I almost fainted. My insides felt like liquid and my legs like jelly. I grabbed Madison's hand to try and hold myself up so I didn't look a complete fool! Just as his solo finished Niall stood, pointed to me and winked. He then turned his back and headed towards Zayn, Harry, Louis and Liam. Liam looked less than impressed by Niall's actions and attention towards me.  

This time I really did have to take a seat. I dropped down on to the hard, uncompromising foam covered metal and took a deep breath, no longer focussing on the stage. When I looked up Jenna and Madison were peering over me like mother hens, their faces giving only an inkling as to their worry for me. Then as I looked passed them I noticed that once again every girl in the arena had turned their eyes to me. This time nobody looked at me in awe. I felt the flush creep up my cheeks. I was not used to this sort of attention, sure I was confident and I was fine speaking in front of large groups of people but this was something else! As I sat trying to recollect my thoughts, One Direction headed back to the main stage and the audience's attention turned back to the front so the show could continue.

After a few cleansing moments I was back on my feet next to Madison and Jenna. "You have got to tell me your secret." Madison shouted over the music.

"I don't have a secret Maddy, I really don't know what happened there... First Liam was staring at me and then Niall and oh my that wink." I replied, still feeling slightly dazed.  

"Yeah we know," Jenna rolled her eyes, "EVERYBODY knows."

"You exaggerate! Nobody even saw."

"Oh we did!" chorused the girls from the seats to my left beyond Jenna.

"You are so lucky, I wish I was you" One girl squealed.

"Yeah, me too," another sighed, "Liam and Niall... wow"

So is this how it is going to be I asked myself. I turned back to my best friends. "Okay guys so something really weird but totally amazing just occurred but right now we're missing the rest of the concert! So lets talk about this later, agreed?"

"AGREED!"

So we put what had just happened to the backs our minds for now. Myself, Madison and Jenna sang and danced along for the rest of the evening. Every so often I would catch Liam or Niall looking my way. A few times I even saw them giving each other wary looks. It was a strange feeling knowing what happened earlier in the evening had escalated to this. It made me nervous. All the same we had wonderful time and the show was over before we knew it. We followed the steady stream of girls out of the arena. I heard a few whispering.

One said "That's her, that's the girl Liam and Niall both want."

To which her friend replied "What? Her?".

That stung. I was no Victoria's Secret model that much was obvious but I wasn't that bad! My chocolate locks fell either side of my face and had for once stayed as I wanted after styling it. I had kept my makeup natural but defined my eyes with eyeliner, just as I liked it. I looked down at my outfit, my gleaming white Dr. Martens were in perfect condition and I wore them with opaque tights and my new black skater skirt and my Take Me Home tour top. What was wrong with me? I turned to my best friends to ask them but they were looking past me towards the whispering girls. I followed their eye line. Of course! Jodie, who else could it have been! In her platform heels and those bottom showing shorts her legs looked even more twig like.

"Oh, hi Leila. Kimmy says you're the girl Niall and Liam were staring at. Is that true?" I opened my mouth to speak but before my lips could form the words she jumped back in. "Well, lucky them" she said as she sauntered off. "Until they see her up close that is." she cackled to her minion, Kimmy, loud enough for me to overhear. Jodie and Kimmy, go to the same school as myself, Madison and Jenna and are in a couple of our classes. They run the school or so they like to think.

I'm not really the confrontational type, until you put me in a room with Jodie. She goes out of her way to make me feel as small as possible. She isn't a bully, just stuck up and I was sick of her 'better than thou' attitude. Jenna could see this and gave me a look that said there really was no point. I smiled at her, grateful for her intervention.

"Thanks." I whispered as we continued to move along.

"No problem, that's what best friends are for, right?" and of course she was right. Jenna and Madison were my two best friends and they knew me better than anyone. I trusted them with my life.

"Come on, lets get out of here" Madison shouted back as she skipped off in front. "I'm hungry... Is Mcdonalds near here?" Madison, Madison, Madison, I thought to myself. She was always the one to lighten the mood, usually with her hunger for food. What I didn't understand was she ate more than me and Jenna put together but she was still so petite!

By now we were outside the arena and were heading towards the steps after catching up with Madison. "So spill then. What was all of that business with Liam and Niall?" Jenna gushed. I was about to reply but then I felt a large rough hand slip around my forearm halting me. Who was this?