cautious | niall horan

o n e

rachel's perspective•

In my opinion, the month of October is the start of the best time of the year. The colder weather, warm drinks, better fashion, and better yet, Halloween! Which means I can watch scary movies with candy even more than usual. And after October, is November which means that Christmas is coming! Which means–

My train of thoughts was cut off by my phone ringing. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair as I grabbed my phone from my back pocket and slid my finger across the answer button thingy.

"Hello?" I said into my phone as I walked into Target.

"Did you put milk on the list? We need milk. Also AJ wants pizza tonight, do you mind ordering some for him? You can get whatever you want for dinner for yourself."

"Yeah, I'll get milk," I said as I yanked at a cart from the cart line thing but it seriously would not bulge. "Yeah it's fine, I'll get pizza for him. Is there anything else I need to buy?" I asked, still struggling to pull the cart away from the other ones.

"Umm, I think that's it. AJ will text you if he thinks of anything we need. I'm about to leave for football night with the guys, so if you need anything text me, okay? I won't be home until late, like usual."

"Okay. Love you." I said and he did the same, hanging up as well. My dad went out most Friday nights, to go to sports bars and stuff with his friends. I usually just go buy food for me and AJ, like I'm doing now and then when I get home, my brother will most likely be playing video games in his room all night.

I was still trying to yank the cart away, and then I realized I could just get a cart from the other line, instead of making a fool of myself by yanking at the stupid cart.

"Ya need help?" I heard a deep husky-ish voice from behind say, chuckling a little bit. I looked up to see a boy who looked around my age, smiling down at me, his hand on my shoulder, sending a weird zap through my body. He was about 4 inches taller than me, with blonde hair that I assumed was not his natural color. He had clear braces on his teeth that were almost unnoticeable, and his eyes were the brightest blue I've ever seen. I noticed he sort of had a big nose, but I found it to not look bad on him. His hair was tousled to the side but it gave him a little more personality. After a while, I realized that I was just staring at him and maybe I should say something instead of just observing every aspect of his face.

"Nope. I think I'm good." I said, pulling a cart away from the other line, backing away so his hand was no longer on my skin.

He then pulled the cart that I was trying so desperately to get away with such ease that it was so embarrassing that I couldn't seem to get it unstuck.

"You loosened it." He said, smirking at me. I just realized he had an accent that wasn't one I've heard in real life before. He definitely wasn't from around here, I don't even think he's from America. British, maybe? No. I think it's Scottish. Maybe Irish?

"Huh?" I said, confused by what he was trying to say. Was that a dirty joke or something?

"The cart. It was stuck. You loosened it. Thanks." His smile still didn't disappear and I noticed him starting to check me out in the way that I was just doing to him. Okay, I'm going to assume it's an Irish accent. Is that his actual voice? Why is an Irish guy talking to me in a Target in Florida?

"Oh," I said, not really laughing even though I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be funny.

I didn't really know what to do, so I just pulled my cart away and I made my way to the food section of the store. That was an incredibly awkward encounter. Who was that boy? Was he my age, or was he much older? The braces kind of confused me, cause I couldn't tell his age. I know I haven't seen him around my school, but I also don't know if he's out of school yet. I went to most school functions at my school and even other schools, so I think he would have stood out to me. Does he even live here? It was all very mysterious.