I Can Make Your Heart Slow

I Am Done With My Graceless Heart (Chapter 3)

I applied the finishing touches to my eyeliner and stepped back to take a look at myself. I didn’t think I looked awful, which is a plus, but my fringe hadn’t quite sat right when I’d blow-dried it earlier and I was regretting leaving it how it was. There wasn’t much I could do about it now; it was nearly 6pm and although I had planned on being fashionably late, an hour would be pushing it a little. I didn’t want to seem like a dick.

The outfit I’d decided on after about 30 minutes deliberating was a plain black vest dress with a cream and brown Aztec print thick cardigan over the top, and cream woollen tights with brown ankle boots to finish. I’d left my hair down, and attempted to make it look like I hadn’t really tried with it. In reality I’d spent almost an hour trying to get each bit of hair to sit just right, and enough volume to make my hair look big and sexy but not so much that I looked like a cave girl. I hoped in general that I didn’t look like I’d put too much effort in because let’s be honest; boys will be boys. I don’t think I’d ever been to a party or to a boys house and they’d made more effort than smart shoes instead of trainers paired with their jeans.

I made sure I had everything I would need; I even had bread in my bag in case they thought I was being serious and a bowl of leftover potato salad that my mum had made to go with my parents’ lunch that day. My mum assured me it was always polite to take some food with you to a barbecue, even if it was being held by 5 teenage boys.

As I trudged down the path to Harry’s bungalow I was appreciative of my shoe choice for the day. The lights were on in the house and I could hear some faint voices when I arrived but I wasn’t sure whether to knock on the front door or to just walk round the back. My dilemma was solved when a football came flying over the roof and within inches of the bowl I was holding, and the blonde Irish boy that I hadn’t been introduced to yet jogged round the corner.

“Oh, hi!” He said in his lovely little accent. “Harry said we’d have a visitor.”

“Just one?” I asked, bemused. I had assumed I wouldn’t have been the only person to have been invited. The boy ignored my question and gestured for me to follow him round the back once he had retrieved the football from the bushes.

“My name’s Niall.” He said, smiling at me. “Who did you say you were again?”

“Amy.” I said, returning the smile. “I live next door. If you count that tiny house in the distance over there next door.” He laughed at me, shaking his head at my terrible attempt at being funny.

“Well, Amy, this is where the party’s at.” He announced as we reached the garden. I couldn’t help but look in awe at the swimming pool. I wasn’t expecting it to be so big, but even more so I didn’t expect there to be somebody in it. The culprit was the final boy to be introduced to me but that didn’t make his upper body any less impressive. I think he caught me staring because he raised an hand and waved in greeting, snapping me out of my musing.

“Liam!” He shouted, referring to himself, before I could open my mouth to speak.

“Amy.” I replied gratefully, and Liam nodded at me cheerfully before Niall booted the football towards his face.

Deciding that near a body of water, lots of splashing and a football was not the best place for me to be, I spotted Harry next to the smoking barbecue and edged my way over to him.

“I brought food.” I presented the bowl of potato salad to him in greeting and he laughed, putting it on the table nearby where a pile of plates and some half full glasses were sat.

“Good thinking. We didn’t think of buying anything other than meat.”

“Well, I have bread too, if you need it.”