Sentiments in the Sand (ON HOLD)

Chapter 11: The Only Way Left Is Up

Annikka POV

We got off Jessica's car and pushed through the crowd. My hands were sweating. I was nervous. We finally got to the back. I looked around. Nobody in sight. "Hello?" I called. No answer. "How do we get in?" I asked. We walked further, to the back. We got to a small door, with a sign on it that said, "VIPs and Authorized Personnel ONLY". I knocked on it and heard a girl call, "Coming!". I shivered. It was Niall's cousin, Allyssa. We used to have tea parties in my backyard whenever she and her twin sister Lily come over. Sometimes Skylar would join in too. They look a lot alike, except Allyssa looks a little older, since she's the older one. I haven't seen them since I left Mullingar. Which is four months after Niall left. She opened the door and stared at me as if a was a ghost of some sort. "Annikka? Is that you?" she gasped. "Allyssa!" Skylar exclaimed. "Who's she?" Anna asked. "Everyone, this is Niall's cousin Allyssa." I said. "Allyssa, this is Anna, Jessica, Sarah, Kelly and her boyfriend Beck, and-" I said, pointing to everyone as I said their names. She interuppted me just as I got to my cousin. "Skylar!" she almost screamed. "Oh, my gosh." she said, hugging me, then Skylar. "I missed you so much. You never gave me or your parents your address!" she scolded. "I wanted to be alone for a while," I said. She looked at me with understanding eyes and nodded. That's one thing I love about Allyssa. She always understands. She never bugs me about anything. She's really sensitive and very sweet. "Lily! Come see! It's Annikka and Skylar Mason!" she yelled. I heard Lily's heels tap on some stairs, getting louder as she ran down the steps. "Annikka? Skylar? Oh, my goodness!" she cried. "Oh, Annikka I missed you so much!" she said as she hugged me. We walked inside. It was a lounge. Very nice, cozy and fancy. "The concert starts in fifteen minutes." Lily said. "We need to talk, Annikka. But introduce me to your prettily dressed friends first." she said. "Well, this is Anna, Sarah, Jessica, Sarah, Kelly, and her boyfriend Beck." I said. " Everyone, this is Allyssa's twin sister, Lily." I told them. "Hi," everyone said at the same time. "I's nice to meet you all, but do you kind if Ally and I steal Annìkka and Skylar for a bit?" Lily said. "I don't mind," Kelly said. "If she doesn't mind, I don't mind." Beck added. "Please, sit down. We'll be back in fifteen, more or less. There are cookies on the table, and a coffee maker in the next room. Help yourselves." Allyssa said, and we walked into a different room. There were two doors on the wall in the small room we entered. "We'll take the soundproofed one." Lily said. I'm known to be noisy when emotional. Isn't everybody? Allyssa nodded. Lily and I walked into the door on the left. Allyssa and Skye took the right room. Allyssa and Skylar have always been the best friends. Lily and I were best friends. Well, all four of us are best friends, but Skye and Allyssa are closer friends while Lily and I are closer friends. We got into a small cushioned room with a piano, a guitar, and five seats in it. The walls were cushioned. Soundproofing, I thought. Just Niall's and my music tree house. We took the seats closest to the piano. "So, how have you been? Niall's been heartbroken since he came home for Christmas and you weren't there. He brought you a dozen purple roses, you know." Lily said. He brought me a dozen purple roses? Why? You give your valentine a dozen roses. Not the best friend you kiss before you leave, then ignore. "Why would he? He doesn't care." I said coldly, turning my head away to hide the little tear rolling down my cheek. "He loves you, Annikka. He always has. All this time. I promised not to tell. Since you two were fourteen. You both started telling me you had secret crushes on each other, and both made me promise not to tell. Someday, I would have to tell one of you, if not two. So instead of breaking my promise to my best friend, I broke my promise to my cousin. Breaking my promise to my cousin is no big deal." she grinned at the last part. "But seriously. I thought you should know first, after all, he broke your  heart. Listen to me, Annikka. Please, forgive Niall. I know it's going to take a while, but it's killing him. You know how sensitive and emotional Niall can be." Lily said. "Oh, he's so sensitive to my feelings. He ignored me for months, Lily. I saw him at the mall. He saw me. I told him my name and he walked away. I can't stand being hurt like this." I told her. I didn't bother hiding my tears. They were all over my cheeks. She opened her purse and handed me some tissue. I took it. "Thanks." I sniffed. "I know, Annikka. I'm so sorry. I know it's only fair if you ignored him forever. It's only fair that you're upset. But please, it's killing you too. I'm not just saying this for my cousin. What do I care about my cousin?" Lily joked. "I'm saying this for my best friend." she said. "Give him one more chance. Let him make it up to you. It can't get much worse than this, anyway. You've hit rock bottom. The only way left is up." she said. "You have no idea how much he talks about you, and how sorry he is." she told me. "You have no idea how much I think of him. How much I love and hate him at the same time. It's driving me insane. I'm mad at him, I don't ever want to see his face, but I also miss him. I miss his voice, his face, his eyes, oh! I love him so much, Lily. So, so much!" I cried into her shoulder. "I don't know what to do, Lily! I just want to scream at him, hug him, slap him, kiss him, kick him, and marry him all at the same time!" I sobbed. She sighed. "I know-" she started, but I screamed. "No, Lily. No, you don't  know! You don't know at all! You don't understand it! You have no idea how much it hurts. You don't know!" I yelled. "I do, Annikka. I do." she whispered. "What?" I said. "I fell in love with a boy. I fell so in love with him. I kept it a secret. He called me his best friend and then left me to become famous. He never called me while he was away. He came home for my birthday. He kissed me, then introduced me to his girlfriend. I know how it feels, to be so in love and so broken, so hurt and so mad. I understand you. I wouldn't forgive Niall if I were you." Lily said, tears rolling down her cheek, just like me. "But fortunately, I'm not you. Anniika, you can forgive him. I know you can. Please, forgive him for me. Forgive him for yourself. You're only going to kill yourself this way." she told me. I wailed and nodded. I had to give him another chance. Everyone deserves second chances. I hugged her tight. She sniffed then smiled. "Now, I'm pretty sure you wrote a song about him, and I wanna hear it." she laughed. I smiled and nodded. Choosing to try to forgive Niall already let me breathe easier. I moved closer to the piano and played the song I wrote a few days ago, "My Happy Ending".  She smiled when I finished. She glanced at her watch. "Alright, we've got five minutes to re-do our make up. Let's go!" she giggled, and pulled me out of the room."I like your outfit, by the way." she said. I giggled. "I like yours too." I said as I hugged her. We walked over to the make up room, and I gasped, sitting there right before me was....