This is a short chapter, but it includes my favorite paragraph I've ever written so far! Happy reading!
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Our exploring was short lived since my jet lag was still awful. Even though we were only out for two hours, it was stunning to see the old and new buildings all lit up. The only place we really saw up close was Buckingham Palace. I had always loved hearing about the royals and it seemed as if any moment now the Queen would walk out on the famous balcony.
I was still staring at the palace when it became eight o'clock. In the distance I could faintly hear Big Ben's bells ringing over the commotion of traffic. The sound was truly magical. It felt like a dream that I was already experiencing the sights and sounds of London with a great friend.
But I knew it was also a dream to be one of the few students selected to be educated in a British school. What an honor it was to be in the foreign exchange program! The excitement from it all was thrilling, and I couldn't control a crazy smile to be displayed on my face.
The way walking back to the flat, my heart was beating so quickly I thought it might burst! I was buzzed on the new smelling air. Lottie did her best to hide her laughter due to the stupidly happy expressions I made, but I heard her snicker faintly once or twice.
Back in the flat and lying on my bed, I was reminded of just how exhausted I was. Time zones were difficult issues to adjust with. Within a few minutes, I fell asleep before I had changed into my pajamas, brushed my teeth, or even got under the covers. Asleep at 9:30, a first for me on a Saturday night.
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The next morning, I woke at ten to an empty flat, meaning Lottie was gone. Wondering where she had gone, I rubbed my eyes and put on my red glasses. Venturing out to the lounge, I found a note on the dining table. It read:
Chasteny-
Good morning! I hope you slept well! I'm at church and won't be back until noon. There are some crepes and strawberries in the refrigerator. Since we didn't yesterday, we can do some shopping today.
<3 Lottie
I had a delicious breakfast that morning, to say the least, and washed it down with a nice, cold glass of milk. Later, realizing I forgot to Skype my friends and parents, I did just that. They were overjoyed to see and hear from me and, of course, they questioned me on everything that happened so far. 'What have you seen?' 'Who's your roommate?' 'What's she like?' 'Show us the apartment!' 'Have you ridden a double decker bus yet?' Have you seen Emma Watson? Adele? Ed Sheeran? One Direction?!?!
After about two hours of catching up, Lottie came back and I introduced her to everyone. Then, after another hour, we finally hung up. One would think that I hadn't talked to my loved ones back home for years after our long Skype session. They all demanded at least one call weekly. Even though I pretended to be all annoyed by the weekly call, I was glad. Hopefully, it would feel that I was still, in a way, closer to home.
Lottie made us a lunch of vegetable soup and salad before hitting the city to shop. We both planned on getting a few items to decorate the flat. On Lottie's list of things to buy were decorative items like pictures and posters, while I wanted some more useful items like a desk for studying and a comfy chair. Of course, I couldn't say no to a 1D poster!
We shopped around until seven, our numerous shopping bags stored in a small trolley, and our stomachs growling with hunger. We had a good bundle of stuff. Lottie bought two small paintings, three One Direction posters (one for her room and two for the lounge), a cute polka dot bed set and a new spatula. I had purchased a small desk (some assembly required), a little bed side table, and my own One Direction poster for my room. Unfortunately, I didn't find any chairs I wanted so I decided to look for one later.
Lottie offered to take our merchandise back to the flat while I got a reservation at a café only a block away. I put in our reservation and waited for an open table. Since the lady said it would be a half an hour wait, I decided to walk around a little. I wasn't accustomed to many of the streets in London so I made sure to stay close by.
Slowly, I made my way down the narrow street lined with shops, cafés, and apartment buildings. The night was as quiet as a city could be. The faint hum and honks of cars could be heard in the background as well as the constant chatter from the people. Streetlights casted a warm glow over the walkway. A young couple passed by linked hand in hand as happy as could be.
What would it be like to be in love? I had never experienced it. Not even the innocent grade school or middle school "relationship". Sure, I was familiar with crushes but I was always too shy to act upon them. You could probably even call me the forever alone type not because of a bad personality but because of the bashfulness I had always possessed. The wing women or the odd one out ,whichever you prefer, I was the one that obsessed over my friend's relationships because I knew I'd never have one of my own.
But why was I thinking of this now? I was happy for the cute couple. And it wasn't like I was going to find my prince charming here in London. I was an American, not even staying here a whole year! My looks were plain: light brown hair and hazel eyes framed with red glasses. My bashfulness would hide any of my personality away to the average person.
Suddenly, yelling and screaming broke me out of my thoughts. Wait. Not screaming. Fangirling. At the end of the street I could barely see a person running from a large group of, no doubt, girls. Squinting to see the person better, I stopped in my tracks. What person could make girls go crazy? Any member of One Direction. Yah, right! Why would they be all the way over here? They were on their North American tour right now.
As the person neared closer, I couldn't help but notice how fast he was running. Yes, he. It most definitely looked like a guy. The streetlights spotlighted it's light on him so I could now see better. It looked like he had on a dark blue hoodie and jeans. He had a square shaped face and his hair looked like it was growing out from a buzz cut. Oh...my...gosh!
The realization of who it was hit me so quickly I nearly passed out. Liam Payne! Liam freaking Payne!!! My mind blanked out, I froze, and I soon realized I was hyperventilating. Insanely star struck, my mind put all the pieces together again. No wonder he was running so fast; he used to run track when he was younger!
My heart went a million miles per minute. Liam Payne! Liam Payne, coming towards me at lightning fast speed. Liam Payne, looking behind him. Liam Payne, was I dreaming? Liam Payne, still racing nearer. Wow! Can he run or what?!
SLAM!
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Muah ha ha! CLIFFHANGER, hanging from a cliff! And that's why he's called cliffhanger! (Sorry, reference from a segment on a kid's show I used to watch when I was really little!)
Okay, so I know I said that the next update would be next week but I clearly lied. It's not next week yet. However, I felt like the plot hadn't really started in the story yet until this chapter and I wanted to give you readers a reason to continue on with my story, so I thought that me posting chapter 3 this week was necessary. I'm sorry if I just ruined your waiting time! But, I solemnly swear that I will wait until next week for chapter 4 to be posted!
Anyways, thank you so much for the reads (16 when I last checked)! There is honestly no way to explain the joy I obtain when I find my sweet, darling fan fic has another read or vote. This fan fic is my baby, written all down in a little notebook before I decided to type it up on here. It makes me slightly sad though that, for example, eleven pages of my notebook equals three pages on Wattpad, but oh well! Once again, thank you so much for reading and if you like it, share it with your peoples! Also, if you could comment your thoughts, I would love to read them!
-Luna :)
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The Beginning of the Middle (A One Direction Fan Fiction)
FanfictionI was a plain Jane; a normal girl with a love of dance and for a certain boyband: One Direction. That's just how every story seemed to start out. It's insane how one day during my school year in London that all began to change. I always thought that...
