One Direction is After Us

Chapter 20

*Margaret's POV*

I wondered what time it was. 

Every hour seemed to have an extra six hours stuffed into it; it didn't help that there were no windows to see if it was still light out or not. 

When everyone started settling down to sleep, I wondered how in the world they planned to sleep while we were being held captive. I knew for a fact I had too much on my mind to possibly sleep for even a few minutes. 

Wondering what time it was was driving me nearly insane. Though I had plenty of other things I could be worrying about, it was what was bothering me the most. 

When Niall came in to give us all pillows, I assumed it was somewhere between 10 and midnight, but who could tell? It was really sweet of him to give us the pillows, though, and it took my mind off of it for a minute. 

I curled up into a ball on the floor with the pillow under my knees to block the coldness of the floor from reaching them. 

I must have, somehow, fallen asleep at some point, because suddenly Niall was opening the door again, and he took the pillows back. He winked at us before exiting again, like it was our little secret. Which it absolutely was. 

We all got up and stretched in unison, and since there seemed to be no actual reason to get up, we sort of made a circle and sat in the middle of the room, staring at each other. 

It was weird how we did that a lot, knowing each other for less than 24 hours and yet we still could think the same things. 

"I'm Eleanor," said a tall, thin, blonde girl sitting across from me. "And, um, Cassandra's my cousin,"

The other blonde girl, though much shorter, sat on my left. The two exchanged a smile.

"Seriously?!" the third girl with the dark skin and curly black hair exclaimed. "That's so awesome! And lucky, since you knew someone from the start," 

They seemed to nod in agreement. Eleanor continued: "Well, um, I ride horses, I sing, I love to read, and Cassandra was the one who convinced me to read Harry Potter. I'm so obsessed with it now."

Cassandra smiled to herself, clearly proud of her accomplishment. I didn't say anything. 

"Well, yeah, I mean, I'm obsessed with Harry Potter and basically every book I've ever read. I like a book with a good ending," Cassandra said, "and a hobby of mine is acting. It's just kind of fun," When we looked at her expectantly, she went on, "Uh, I go to Allegro High, freshman," she said, and something lit up in my mind. 

"Wait, you do? Oh my gosh, so do I!" I exclaimed. 

Her eyes brightened as if something had clicked. Maybe she also vaguely recognized me but couldn't figure out why. 

"That's so weird!" she said. "Am I the only one afraid of Mr. Augustine?" 

I laughed, because I was severely terrified of him, too. At everyone else's confused expressions, I took the opportunity to introduce myself. 

"Well, hi everyone! I'm Margaret, and... Well, redundantly, I'm obsessed with One Direction," I laughed a little, and so did the other three. "I like to draw, but I don't think I'm very good. And, don't hate me for this, but I'm not a fan of Harry Potter,"

I regretted saying it after it had already hung in the air for a few seconds. All three of them gasped dramatically and gave me a look. Eleanor looked shocked, Cassandra upset, and the one whose name I didn't know yet thoroughly depressed. I blushed. 

"Well, uh, I have an older brother named David," I said, changing the subject. 

The sad-looking girl looked up at me as if examining my face. "By any chance is David recently married to a girl named Lana?"

I looked at her suspiciously, trying to match her expression. "Yes...?"

"That's my older sister's name!!" she exclaimed. "That makes us sister-in-laws and we didn't even know it!!" She paused. "I'm Kaya," 

That's when I recognized her. She had been one of the bridesmaids at the wedding, but we never had a chance to chat during the reception. I had merely seen her face. "Margaret," I said. 

All four of us laughed. It was almost impressive that our siblings had been married for almost two months and we still hadn't properly met. David's more of a distant person with us, and I had only met Lana once before the wedding. I guessed my parents didn't really care if the sister approved of her brother's spouse. 

"It's so weird how we all seem to be connected somehow," Kaya mentioned, nodding approvingly. "Well, I'm Kaya, a huge Potterhead and reader, and coincidentally Cassandra's neighbor."

She got high fives from all of us. She seemed pretty cool. 

After that comment, though, we all just sat and stared at each other. It was Cassandra who broke the awkward silence. 

"So... when do you think we will find out what our 'special abilities' are?" she said, smirking as if it was a joke. 

"Hopefully soon," I said, "The curiosity is eating me alive,"

Kaya and Eleanor laughed nervously and Cassandra just nodded grimly.