Your Song

Chapter 2

            “So now that we’ve got our smoothie gear, where to?” Behind me, all five boys held Jamba Juice cups in their hands.

            Slurping the final remains of his cup, Liam shrugs. “Well, you are our tour guide for the day. You choose.”

            Everyone nods in agreement. I look off into the distance and shield the sun from my eyes, thinking of the possible places to go. With all honesty, there isn’t much to do in this city, especially in this weather. Perhaps a place with a nice air conditioner would do, right?

            “Well,” I announce, “ we could go to the mall, the park, the library, the book store, anywhere in that area of town, maybe downtown—we can even go to my house afterwards if you guys want.”

            Harry’s face instantly lights up. “Brilliant! We should definitely go to your house later.”

            A hand hits the back of Harry’s head, but he accepts the blow proudly.

            “Wow, that’s an all-time low for you,” Louis chuckles. “You just met her and you think she’ll let you crawl in into her bedroom?”     

            Harry smirks and takes another sip from his smoothie nonchalantly, looking up at me. Once our eyes meet, I look away. I feel my cheeks redden.

            “Besides, I only meant hanging around in my backyard,” I sputter. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

            “Yeah, don’t worry, we know what you mean,” Zayn assures.

            “Harry’s just a little cheeky, that’s all,” Niall adds.

            “I can tell,” I say flatly. “But, uh, anyway, it’s up to you guys where you wanna go. I’m fine with anything.”

            The boys begin to talk amongst themselves for a while, except Liam, who seems to be scanning the whole perimeter for a trashcan.

            “Liam,” I snicker, pointing a few feet from his right. “The trash is right there.”

            “Oh, right,” he says. “I knew that.”

            “C’mon, I’ll walk over there with you,” I giggle. “I’m done with my smoothie anyway.”

            Once we reach the trash, he looks up and continuously stares at the rows of houses in the distance.

            “Dang, those are houses?”

            I nod. “They don’t look like it, huh? I was terrified to move here at first, because, y’know, the setting.”

            Liam glances over at me. “You really live there?”

            “Yeah,” I say, trying my best smile. “It wasn’t my choice or my mom’s. It was more like my dad’s.”

            “Because of his job?”

            “Pretty much.”

            “Are you at least happy here?”

            I shrug. “Sort of, I guess.”

            Liam nudges my shoulder playfully. “Well, cheer up, Dani. You’ve got a lot of potential in your hands. If anything, the boys and I are here for you.”

            I grin and toss my cup into the trash. “Thanks, Liam. It means a lot.”

            “No problem,” he smiles back.

            For a while, we just smile at each other. Even though we were totally exposed to the sun and the heat was slowly killing me, Liam somehow made me feel better. Well, until a large Styrofoam cup clashes into the metal trash in front of me. A laugh rings from behind.

            “Sorry about that,” Harry says sheepishly. “The trash was too far, so uh, yeah.”

            “Wow, Harry. That throw was way off,” Niall says, shaking his head. “If anything, you throw it like this.”

            We all watch as the cup bounces off the rim of the trash.

            “Wow, you definitely showed us,” Zayn winks.

            “The wind obviously blew it,” Niall says in defense.

            The minutes begin to pass as they argue on how to properly throw a cup into a trashcan. Louis begins to lose patience and throws his cup directly into the can.

            “There,” he says resolutely. “That’s how you throw a cup into a trash.  Can we go to the park or something, Dani?”

            Everyone applauds him, as do I. The sun was raining over us. The park seemed like a pretty good idea. Tree’s, shade, lake, why not?

            “Sure, that’s not a bad idea,” I say. “It’s right over there anyway.”

            Their eyes follow to the direction I point at.

            “Oh, there’s a park in your neighborhood?” Liam says impressed. “Dang, that neighborhood has everything.”

            “It’s where I do most of my song writing,” I explain.

            Harry pokes his head out from behind Liam. “You live there? Which house?”

            Louis slaps the back of Harry’s head again.

            I chuckle and begin to walk towards the grey houses. “Well, I could probably show you guys my house on the way there. The park’s beside it anyway. When we get there, I’ll just blow up a couple of lyrics, yeah?”

            “Sounds good,” Zayn says in finalization.

            “Oh, and maybe afterward we can hit downtown, just so I can give you guys a proper tour.”

            I glance at my watch. 5 o’ clock—definitely more than enough time to get these boys situated into this odd little city.