Louis growled as he dragged himself down the stairs. He had hoped that this was all just a bad dream, like the ones he sometimes had like he drank too much. His feet scuffed in the hallway as he pushed open the kitchen door. Eda looked up. “Good afternoon, Louis.” She greeted. Louis didn’t answer—he simply collapsed at the kitchen table and put his head in his arms. He heard a plate clatter not far from his head, and he lifted his gaze to see a stack of pancakes in front of him. His stomach immediately grumbled, but he pushed the food away.
“Not hungry.” He muttered, then put his head in his hands again. Eda said nothing, just picked up the plate, covered it, and placed it in the refrigerator.
“If you plan on going somewhere, please let me know ahead of time.” She said. She walked out the door, and Louis heard her bedroom door close. He immediately got up and opened the refrigerator door, and, glancing over his shoulder, grabbed a handful of pancake from the plate and jammed it into his mouth. He chewed, swallowed, then grabbed the gallon of milk and unscrewed the lid, chugging down like there was no tomorrow. He slipped the gallon back into the fridge and closed the door softly, then hurried back to his room. He changed into a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and walked downstairs again. Eda was back in the kitchen, and he didn’t acknowledge her as he walked out the door to the backyard, where Chyna and her friends were kicking a football around. Louis pulled the hood of his sweatshirt on over his head and plopped down on a lawn chair, determined to sulk. If Simon was forcing him to be here, then he was going to make him regret it.
It isn’t so much that Simon left me here. He thought to himself. It’s that I don’t belong here. I didn’t belong in Doncaster either. I don’t know where I belong, but I know that it’s where the spotlight is. That’s what I was made for. It’s the only place I feel…like I am someone, not just another kid from a small town in England.
He watched Chyna kick the ball to the blonde boy. That girl’s another thing. If it was any other girl, she’d be begging to go out with me, or to hang with me. But Chyna doesn’t want anything to do with me. Not that I mind—I’ll be out of here in no time anyway.
Ever thought that maybe there’s a reason she doesn’t wanna hang out with you? Look at her, and then look at you—why would she even want to be seen with you? That mocking voice again, in the back of his head. The voice of his father appeared when he was just thinking about life—he hated it. It made him feel worthless. Louis shook his head and tried to focus on the football game that was playing out in front of him. The blonde boy stopped the ball, and popped it up into the air, then kneed it to the Spanish girl across from him. She jumped for it, but missed. The ball bounced to Louis and knocked against his feet. A slow grin came across his face as Chyna groaned, and walked toward him.
Should I be nice and give the ball back? Maybe we can be friends—I don’t have many of those.
“Give it here, McStupid.” Chyna snapped, not approaching him, but standing about a yard away.
Nope. No nicey-nice Louis today. Not like there ever is a nice Louis anymore…
Shut up! Louis stood and towered over the short blonde girl.
“Come and get it, India.” Chyna growled and jumped for it. Louis tapped it out of the way, and Chyna sprawled in the dirt. She looked up at him, and he grinned at the glare on her face. She got up, and hissed.
“So that’s how we’re gonna play, is it?” She snapped. “Sonya, you're with me. Niall, you're with McStupid.” The blonde boy jogged over and held out his hand.
“Niall Horan.” He introduced himself.
“Louis.” Louis responded, stretching and knocking his hood off. “You any good?”
“I’m okay. I don’t play much. You?”
Louis laughed. “You’ll see.”
With a growl, Chyna suddenly rushed him. Louis jumped into action. He nudged the ball between her feet, and took it down field. Niall raced next to him, and Louis passed him the ball. Niall stumbled a bit, but found his feet again, tripping down the yard. He kicked the ball to Louis, and Chyna suddenly intercepted, stealing it and kicking it to Sonya. She looked scared, and yelped as Louis charged her. She kicked the ball as hard as she could, and it flew at Louis. He jumped and chest bumped it, making it fly toward Niall again. Niall aimed, then kicked it hard. The football soared between the two trees that Chyna and Sonya were using as goalposts. Chyna whirled around and glared as Niall and Louis cheered. They slapped each other on the back, and Louis grinned.
“You're not that bad, Horan.” He panted, smirking at Chyna. Niall grinned.
“Thanks. You're great! You’ve got to teach me how you did that one move with your feet when you, like, stepped on the ball and then kicked it…or whatever you did there.”
“Yeah, sure, no problem.” Louis nudged the ball toward Chyna. “Here. Have your football back.”
“Soccer ball.” She snapped, grabbing at the ball. At the last second, he tapped it out of the way and she tripped, falling. With a grunt she jumped back to her feet, and his heart gave a little jump as she turned her big blue eyes to him. She looked like she was going to say something, but then she whirled around and stomped toward the house. A ping of guilt nearly made him call her back, but he straightened his shoulders, and turned away. Chyna’s friend followed her, and Niall cleared his throat.
“Hey, uh… see ya later, man.” He said, then jogged after Chyna. Louis stood alone in the yard, the football at his feet. He shoved his hands in his sweatshirt pockets, and hunched his shoulders against the slight wind as he walked around to the front of the house and down the driveway to the road.
Good job, Tomlinson. You didn’t have to be a jerk about it.
Shut up! Louis kicked a rock as hard as he could down the road. Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!
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Ollie xo
YOU ARE READING
A Thousand Miles Away (Book 1 of the HOLLYWOOD HEARTS series)
Fanfic✨"Have another drink and drive yourself home I hope there's ice on all the roads And you can think of me when you forget your seatbelt and again when your head goes through the windshield ✨ The one where the American pop star who doesnt want to b...
