Indifference [One Direction]

1. Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Chapter 1: Chocolate-Chip Cookies

"Marika turn that disgraceful racket off!" I yelled at my best friend, Marika, who had One Direction's latest tune blaring out of her stereo.

"Al, it's not disgraceful! It's the best music in the world!" Marika was acting like a five-year-old, but that was how she always acted when she was defending One Direction.

"Telling lies is bad, Marika," I chuckled, moving swiftly over to the stereo and turning it off.

"Alice! What was that for?" 

Don't get me wrong, I had nothing against One Direction personally, it was just that I wasn't a fan of them or their music. Having gone to school with of their band members may have contributed to it, but also I didn't particularly like that genre of music. I preferred to listen to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Avicii and Bastille, not some bubble gum pop boy band. 

"Sorry Em, but if you're going to listen to One Direction then I suggest you use your iPod with earphones, otherwise you may wake up one morning with scorch marks on your merchandise," I threatened, causing Marika's mouth to drop.

"You wouldn't dare," she said, believing that I was dead serious.

"Try me."

That was enough to scare Marika out of her mind and in a couple of moments she had disappeared to her room, iPod in hand, and the flat was silent. Although she may have thought I was being serious, Marika should know that I would never do that to her most prized possessions. You'd have to be mad to think that I would do something as harsh as that.

Marika and I go way back, in fact, we've known each other our whole lives. Our fathers were childhood friends and ended up working with each other for a while, that was, until Marika's family moved to London when we were seven. Her family was well-off, so she went to private schools in London whilst I attended state schools in Homes Chapel, Holmes Chapel Comprehensive being one of them. 

I bet you've realised now that the band member I knew was Harry Styles. Much to Marika's disappointment, we weren't exactly friends. Sure, I may have helped him in maths class once, but apart from that we were in completely different social circles. Him and his band from back then, White Eskimo, wanted nothing to do with chubby nerds such as me. I guess you could say that the only we had in common was that we're Facebook friends. 

But things have changed. Harry gets even more famous by the minute, and me? Well, all that I've done is lose weight, graduate and start at university. Which university you may ask? Thanks to Marika and her family, who are fairly well-off financially and all received perfect grades at school, I got accepted into a BA (Honours) Graphic Design course, after completing my foundation diploma last year, at Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, which is part of the University of the Arts London. Marika is also studying her BA (Honours) Architecture: Spaces and Objects course there, hence why we're renting a flat together.

My thoughts and flashbacks were interrupted by faint singing coming from Marika's bedroom. "Marika! I can hear you, you know!" That did the trick. I checked the time on my fluorescent green watch: 2:10pm. That meant I had twenty minutes to get to work before my shift at the music store in our local mall started.

I sprinted to my bedroom, kept my black skinny jeans on but switched my t-shirt for my work shirt and then ran into the bathroom. I fumbled through my toiletries in frantic search of a hair tie, and was about to accuse Marika of stealing them when I finally found the packet.

After selecting a navy coloured one, I put my hair up into a messy bun and rushed back to my room to grab my Vans and bag. As I headed to the door, I shouted through Marika's closed door my goodbyes and told her that I'd be back by about five-ish.