It's Just... Me (One Direction Fan Fic)

Chapter 3

            I followed dad through our front door, shutting it behind me. The smell of my mum cooking something in the kitchen made me want dinner soon, but I ignored my stomach and went up to my room. I took the stairs two at a time before finally getting to my bedroom down the hall. I pulled the curtains over the big window that looked over the street and turned my lamp on. I took a seat on my bed, pulled out my CD player and went back to doing the demos until mum called me down for dinner.

            It didn’t take long before there was a knock on my door. When they didn’t tell me dinner was ready, I assumed they wanted something. “Come in!” I shouted at whoever was there. The door creaked slowly open and my dad popped his head through the opening.

            “Could we talk?” he asked simply and I nodded, pressing pause on the demo that was playing through my speakers quite loudly. “I wanted to talk to you about the boys. I meant it when I said you seem to know about the music style they were going for; I’m just not sure if you could handle the work load that comes with helping them.” He said and I prepared to protest but he stopped me with a wave of his hand. “I know you need to focus on your school work, but I would really appreciate it if you invited the boys over here or to the office to work on writing a few songs. We are only going to need one, maybe two, for their single; but they are going to have to be good.” He said sternly, but gently at the same time. Confusing, right?

            “I know dad. I don’t know if I’m completely comfortable with inviting them over here so soon though. You know how I feel about boy bands; although I have to admit, these guys aren’t what I expected.” I told him and he nodded.

            “Are you comfortable spending hours upon hours with the boys though?” He pressed and I thought for a second, but ended up nodding. The boys weren’t really that bad and I actually enjoyed spending time with them today; on occasion.

            “Yeah, I am. They’re not as bad as I thought they would be. I do want to help them get better and more fans though. They deserve it.” I told him and my dad nodded. I looked around the room for a distraction as I could feel the air between us turning awkward. I saw a band poster that was falling down and I stood up to go fix it. Pressing against the corner, I stuck it back up as dad began talking again.

            “You’re welcome to go into the office to meet them again tomorrow, but I want your homework done tonight if you have any. If your grades start to slip because of this arrangement, I’m pulling the plug.” He told me and I nodded in understanding. “Okay, well enough business chatter; it’s dinner time. Clean yourself up and meet us downstairs.” He finished and I nodded obediently.

            “Yeah sure.” I said as I stood up and walked towards the bathroom to wash my hands for dinner. Dad followed me out of the room but instead of walking with me to the bathroom, he went down stairs. Washing my hands in the soapy water, I looked at my face in the mirror. My eyeliner had smudged a little bit, but not that much that I looked like the walking dead. After washing my hands, I grabbed a make-up wipe and got rid of the smudged area underneath the thick line.

            I walked back downstairs after I finished in the bathroom to see my mother, father and someone else sitting at the table. Like I’ve said earlier, having unknown company in this house isn’t a surprise and usually isn’t a problem. I took my seat at the table before looking over at the person sitting next to me. When they turned to meet my eyes, I noticed it was the boy’s manager. I offered him a polite smile, but I didn’t receive one back. Well then… slightly rude.

            “Lexi, we have invited this lovely gentleman to dinner to talk about One Direction’s new album. He has a few concerns and your father thought that he wanted to give you this opportunity to explain what you were thinking?” My mum explained. I nodded and turned to the man next to me.