Masquerade || Niall Horan

6 ♥ Theatre Geek

 Not proofread :p sorry babes!!

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“I don’t get it,” I said, dropping my pencil and taking a big deep breath as I leaned back in my seat. My brain hurt and my bones ached from sitting on that uncomfortable wooden chair for two hours straight. I wanted to get up and take a break to stretch and relax a bit, but Jackson wouldn’t stand for it.

“How do you not get it?” he asked. He tried to mask the frustration in his voice, but it was hard. He had been explaining postulates and theorems to me for approximately forty five minutes, and we still hadn’t made a single bit of progress. Jackson wasn’t one for patience, but I desperately needed the help.

“I just don’t. I’m sorry.”

“Of course you are,” he muttered, adding some colorful words under his breath. I rolled my eyes.

“Can we take a break yet?” I asked for about the fifth time. He looked at the watch on his wrist.

“Sure,” he said sarcastically. “Whatever you want, princess.”

I shot him a derisive smile in return, and he simply rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

“I don’t even know why I agreed to this. I’m not even getting anything in return,” he grumbled.

“Because you’re not an asshole,” I reminded him. He smirked.

“Right.”

“Are you coming out tonight?” I muttered quietly, even though there was hardly anyone within earshot.

“Nah,” he said, shoving his books into his bag.

“Why? You like, don’t have fun anymore.”

“I never have fun. I only go for the booze.”

“I don’t believe that,” I said, smiling as I rolled my eyes. He kept smirking, the closest thing to a smile that I’d ever seen Jackson produce.

“Okay, maybe I have a little fun. Sometimes. But only sometimes. But I can’t tonight, maybe after this weekend I’ll join you guys.”

“What’s this weekend?” I couldn’t help but wonder.

“I have a thing,” he shrugged, suddenly hesitant.

“What thing?” I was really just curious, but he got irritated. Classic Jackson.

“Not really much of your business, yeah?”

I thought hard for a moment while he stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder.

“I have to get going, but good luck on that test coming up.”

And then it hit me.

“Play practice!” I accused, a pretentious grin on my face. He glanced back with a rather adorable smirk as he tried hard to hide his smile. “It’s true! Oh my gosh, you’re a theatre geek!”

“See you later,” he sang, exiting the room.

I sat back in my seat feeling rather accomplished. A moment later, his head poked back in.

“And by the way, its auditions,” he informed. Then he was gone for good, but the all-knowing sensation didn’t disappear at the success of guessing correctly.

That night, I was more than ready to escape the confines of these campus walls because it meant I would get to see Niall again. It’s hard to remind myself that Niall and I are just friends, because that night…that one stupid night with that stupid masquerade party. It was ingrained in the back of my mind, and I loved the fact that I got to know him before even knowing him, if that makes sense. Sure, it pissed me off that he left without revealing his true identity to me, but I got so much more than a name could’ve offered. I got to see what was really behind that mask. Behind that perfect smile and those blue eyes. I got to know the person he is, and that person happens to be completely amazing. If I had known him as Niall Horan, international superstar, I may have not gotten quite the same opportunity. For that, he’s smart. Incredibly smart. Smarter than I gave him credit for when I found out who he was.

Granted, we’re still just friends.

Irritating as fuck, but I can live with it.

“Ready?” Ida asked as she checked her makeup in the mirror one last time.

“Yeah,” I said, grabbing my purse from my bed.

I followed her out of the room, quiet as ever. The routine I’d grown used to at this point. We snuck downstairs and to the back door of the house, but we soon realized the major problem we’d have to face tonight.

“It won’t open,” I whispered to Ida. She glared and held a finger to her lips, indicating for me to shut up even though the volume of my voice was equivalent to that of a pin dropping. She waved me out of the way and tried to open the door for herself. She fiddled with the lock for about five minutes before pointing to the opposite side of the Copeland House. There stood the front door. The riskier door.

She gave me a look that said “It’s okay, we got this.” I let her lead the way through the halls because I was unfamiliar with this. Much less familiar than she probably was, and I didn’t know where to step. I didn’t know what would get us caught and what wouldn’t.

Apparently neither did Ida because as soon as she laid a finger on the knob of the front door, the upstairs light went on. We both froze, and Margaret (the Head of House) started creaking her way down the stairs before we could even think about hiding or running or abandoning the situation at all.

“Girls?” she spoke, sternly yet curious.

“Shit,” Ida muttered under her breath. Only I could hear, thank God.

“Where do you two think you’re going?”

AUTHORS NOTE

Okay so I was originally going to make this so much longer, but then I decided to just end it on a cliffhanger since the longer version wouldve taken me a few more days and ITS ALREADY BEEN A MONTH D: sorry about that. I'm a shit updater. i love you all so much for still reading, and I really appreciate your patience and understanding. You da best and ilysm<3 thanks lovelies ..xxxx