Dancing In One Direction

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After one day, we already had one minute of the song choreographed. The boys were still raring to go because they really didn’t do much actual dancing, but all of us girls were sprawled on the floor, not wanting to move another muscle. Anytime one of the boys mentioned going through the routine one more time, we would all groan and threaten to throw things.

Yeah, it was safe to say we were exhausted. Granted, we did rehearsals all the time, but this one really seemed to kick our butts.

“Kor, get up, you have to help me,” Danielle said, dragging herself to her feet and coming to stand over me.

I groaned. “Nooooooo. Get Liam’s help.”

She rolled her brown eyes at me, laughing. “He can’t help me get dressed, loser. Get your lazy butt up and come tell me how my outfit looks.”

“But, Dani!”

“No buts. Come on.” She held her hand out to me.

With another groan, I grabbed her hand and yanked myself off the cool wooden floor. Niall chuckled from behind me as I stretched and all my joints popped. I turned around and stuck my tongue out at him before following Danielle into the changing rooms.

I sat on one of the benches, pulling my tight clad legs up to my chest while Dani headed to the shower. I pulled at the rip in my tights, letting my mind wander. For some reason, Niall was the first thing that popped into my head. I wondered what he thought of I Want so far and if he was liking it. I also couldn’t help but wonder if he liked being my partner. I know I enjoyed being his.

I glanced at the door behind me, knowing Niall was on the other side chatting with the rest of the band. Was he thinking about me?

I shook my head, dispelling the thoughts.

Riley, I reminded myself, grabbing my cell phone out of the bag under my bench.

I sent him a quick text. Hey, what are you up to today?

A minute later my phone dinged.

Riley: Nothing really. Why?

Kora: Do you want to hang out? Go out to eat or something?

Riley: I can’t.

Kora: But I thought you weren’t doing anything?

Riley: I just can’t, okay?

I glared at my phone screen, feeling the need to throw it at the wall but knowing that wouldn’t get me anywhere.

Kora: Fine.

I shoved my phone back into my bag, wishing more than anything that Riley would just be honest with me for once. Maybe Danielle had been right, maybe I was making a mistake.

I felt tears prick my eyes, but I ignored them. I shouldn’t let him get to me like this.

Danielle chose that moment to come out of the shower. She took one look at me and ran to my side, sitting next to me and throwing her arm around my shoulders.

“What’d he do this time?” She asked, rubbing my arm as the tears escaped my eyes.

I wiped at my face, frustrated. “I don’t know. I texted him to see if he wanted to hang out and he said he couldn’t, but wouldn’t tell me why.”

She held my at arms length, biting her lip while giving me what appeared to be a concerned look. “Sweetie, I think he’s cheating again,” she said, as gently as she could.

My world stopped for a moment before I shook my head vigorously. “No, no. He promised. He said he wouldn’t do that again.”

“Can you really trust him?”

The tears came more forcefully now. “No, no, no. Just… no. He said he wouldn’t!”

“I think we should get the guys’ opinion on this.” Dani stood up, grabbing her light blue crop to slip on over her black tank she was wearing.

Despite my protests of getting strangers involved, Danielle grabbed my hand and pulled me into the studio. The whole time I was trying to stop crying, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to believe Riley would lie to me again.

“Guys?” Danielle said, getting their attention while she hugged me to her side. I refused to look up from the floor, my arms wrapped around my torso as if I was protecting myself from anything they said.

“What’s wrong?” Liam asked first, standing up.

Niall came to my side, his hands flitting around me like he wasn’t sure what to do. “What happened?”

“I think Riley’s cheating on her…” Dani basically whispered, her voice breaking as if she was about to cry as well. I cringed at her words.

“What?” Niall snapped, his fists clenching and falling to his sides.

I looked up, surprised to see anger flashing across his face.

He saw the tears streaming down my face and grabbed me, pulling me into a tight hug. I buried my face in his chest, not caring about the tough act I usually put on. The truth is, I’m really sensitive, I just don’t want people to see it. I feel like it makes me weak because some things can make me so upset so easily, so I try to hide everything. But, in this moment, I just wanted a hug and someone to tell me it was okay.

Zayn joined in, coming closer. “Why do you say that?”

“She asked him if he wanted to hang out today. He told her he couldn’t but refused to say why.” Danielle paused, taking a deep breath. I could feel her eyes on me as she continued. “That’s what he did last time.”

I flinched again, causing Niall to tighten his arms around me.

“Do you think he is?” Niall asked me, running a hand through my hair.

I looked up at him, staring into his blue eyes. “I… I don’t know and that’s what scares me.”

The room went silent as everyone looked at each other.

It was so quiet, I heard my phone ring from my dance bag in the other room. I slipped out of Niall’s arms, going to retrieve my cell. I gasped as soon as I saw the name on the screen.

It was Riley.