It was Tuesday morning when Simon arrived to pick the boys up at Louis and Harry's flat. They were all half-asleep, groggily drinking tea and eating scones when Simon arrived.
When Louis answered the door for Simon, Simon immediately noticed the bags under Louis' eyes and said "I thought so. Come here boys, I have something for you." He handed them each a venti Starbucks coffee with an extra shot of espresso.
"All right, get in the car. We have a ways to drive."
After arriving at Westminster an hour later, the five of them were very hyper and very excited, making Simon note to stick with the tall size in the future. They went through security check and then entered a brick building which Simon told them was the gym.
The building was large inside with two basketball hoops, an area for lifting weights and an area with about five punching bags set up. There was a small stage at the far end, where the boys were to perform. They quickly dashed up the sides of the stage, jumping up and down like monkeys.
"All right boys, settle down" Simon said. After finally calming down the riled up boys, Simon ran them through their sound check. It was about ten o'clock and time to bring in the audience.
The boys remained behind stage for a few minutes, doing vocal exercises, taking deep breaths and drinking lots of water. One minute before the performance, Louis gathered all the boys in for a huddle.
"For Perrie" he said as they broke off. They wished each other good luck as there was a tap on the microphone from the other side of the curtain.
"May I present to you, the boys of One Direction" a warden spoke into the microphone as the curtain rolled up, revealing the five of them. There was no cheering, just minor applause. which Zayn was sort of uncomfortable with. It was easier to perform when he knew the audience loved them.
Zayn took the microphone from the warden as the other boys stepped forward to the mike stands to retrieve theirs.
"Hi I'm Zayn."
"I'm Louis."
"I'm Liam."
"I'm Harry."
"And I'm Niall. But before we sing our first song, I have a short story to tell you all. When I was ten years old, I remember quite vividly when my brother Greg got arrested for underage drinking. First off, my mom was right pissed at him, and my dad was pretty cheesed off as well-" he paused as the audience chuckled a bit. "I watched and said to myself, I really hope I never get caught doing that" he laughed as did the audience. They were really enjoying Niall. "Did I have a beer before I was of age, of course I did! I'm Irish! Don't arrest me! But learn from my brother and even my own mistake- there's that one thing that will keep you from getting in trouble, choose to do that one thing" he said, which was a clever lead into "One Thing."
After the song was over, there was minimal applause as Harry took the mike.
"Hello, I'm Harry and I have a story for you as well. Years ago, these new cookies came out called Kitties. They were very good. They were long and basically wafers filled with chocolate creme and coated in this rich, heavenly caramel sauce. It was every kid's dream to have a whole cupboard full. Luckily for me, this was somewhat a reality, as we had about three sheaths of them in our pantry. Unfortunately for me, they were at the top of the pantry. So naturally, being the mischevious little bugger I was-and still am- I climbed to the stop and stole a sheath. It didn't take long for my parents to notice they were gone and I got punished. They bought two more sheaths on their next trip to the store. This was good for me, and basically meant "yay, more cookies to steal!" so I stole another sheath. I didn't understand the consequences, so I was punished again. After repeating the same blunder countless times afterward with various sweets, I finally realized that my actions have consequences. Making the same mistake over and over again is just stupid, because you always get punished. So, don't make the same mistake twice" he finished. Another clever lead into "Same Mistakes."
Liam took the mike when the song was finished. "Hello. I'm Liam and here's my story. About three years ago, my uncle was sent to jail for robbing people of their life savings. No, he's not Bernie Madoff, but his sentence was pretty rough. Jail for 60 years. He had wasted his life away by a few simple mistakes. He was only 35, which despite what culture says is still pretty young. Because of his mistake, my uncle couldn't live a life filled with fun. He couldn't be young."
After they finished "Forever Young", Louis took the mike and sort of spazzed out on people. "Hello. I'm Louis, and you all know quite well now that I have a story for you. I love parties! I love people who go to parties! I just dont really love what goes on at parties. Like underage drinking, or grinding, or unmentionable stuff...you know. What, Louis?! What?! Isn't that every guys dream, especially unmentionable stuff? Sure, but there's a time and a place for everything! And I encountered this problem at a party when I was only 14. At this party, all the above was going on, even more. One of my friends was really tempted to drink, but I told him no. He ignored me and drank anyways. Then he tried to pressure me into drinking, but I resisted. I told him no, and when he threatened me I stood up to him. I left the party and later my friend apologized. Doing the right thing may make you seem like a wimp, but it's really the best thing for you and everyone around you. Don't be afraid to stand up to people for what's right!" Louis encouraged as the boys started "Stand Up".
After Stand Up, Zayn took the mike. He was more nervous than any of the other guys could've been. He swallowed a tight lump in his throat as he opened his mouth.
"I'm Zayn. My story goes like this. I lost someone I love very much in a DUI accident not too long ago. I was heartbroken, not only because she is gone forever, but because someone was daft enough to make the stupid decision to drive drunk. You don't realize how precious the moments you share with people are until you lose them. Don't take away those moments from someone else by making a stupid decision" Zayn finished, tearing up as they delved into "Moments." After the song was over and they said their goodbyes, Zayn ran offstage as the waterworks started.
