Sentiments in the Sand (ON HOLD)

Chapter 12: The Concert

Niall POV

I was in the make-up room, sitting quietly while Amanda, my make-up artist did my-well, make-up. I heard girls from the other room, and Lily say, "We'll take the soundproofed one,". Who is she with, and why is she going into the soundproofed room? I thought to myself. About ten minutes later, I heard Lily and a girl laughing and sniffing. I heard them talking, but it was all muffled. I'm nervous. After this concert, I'm going to have to talk to Annikka. I don't know what to say. I'll just have to tell her I'm sorry and wait. "Don't take her first answer if it's no."  I remembered Liam telling me. It will most likely be no. It's only fair. I heard heels tapping in the floor. Lily and a girl. I heard a girl gasp. I turned around. Annikka. She's so beautiful, with her hair all made up, her pretty pink dress. She's lovely. She froze for a moment, then ran out of the room. I heard her crying. I heard Lily trying to calm her down. "I can't take it!" I heard her say. "Lily, it's killing me!" she sobbed. I can't believe I did this to Annikka. I broke her heart. She's not like the Annikka I used to know. The young Annikka was always happy, always cheerful. Now Annikka's so sad. So broken. And I  did this to her. I'm killing her. I'm a fool, such a fool. I never should have left. I would give up all this fame, all this money, all my fans. Maybe even the lads, if I could just have Annikka happy again. I felt tear roll down my cheek. "Now, now," said Amanda. "No need to cry over some silly fan. You're ruining my perfect make-up. It's just some stupid fan." she said, rolling her eyes. I wiped my tear and stood up. "I don't need your make-up, Amanda. She's not some stupid fan. She's my best friend and I love her." I told her. Amanda's always had a crush on me. She would embarass any fan, any girl, anyone who likes me. "I will never, ever  like you, Amanda. So let me and everyone be. I could have another make-up artist. I'm never going to fall in love with you, so quit being such a jerk." I said coldy. She glared at me. I shrugged. "I don't care if you glare at me, Amanda. I don't care what the heck you do with yourself. So if you're used to guys falling at your feet and kissing your hand like a princess, then forget about it. I and the lads will never, ever want to date- much less marry-such an awful person." I got up and left the room. I found the lads in the lounge. "Hey, mate." Louis smiled. "Hey." I said quietly. "Did you hear Annikka crying with Lily? Niall, she loves you. So much." Zayn said. I shook my head. "Niall, mate, listen." Harry said. "She in love with you like crazy. She's heartbroken and confused." he told me. "I heard her and Lily talking." he added. "Time for the concert, lads!" I heard Paul say. "Niall, look happy for your fans." he said. I nodded and made myself smile. I grabbed a mic. "I'll just go get my guitar." I said. They all nodded. I went to the soundproofed room and grabbed my guitar. I was about to leave when I noticed a red light on the keyboard. Something had been recorded. I pressed the 'play' button. I heard Annikka singing. I dropped my guitar and sat down. "Let's talk this over, it's not like we're dead. Was it something I did, was it something you said? Don't leave me hanging in a city so dead, held up so high on such a breakable thread. You were all the things I thought I knew, and I thought we could be! Cause you were everything, everything that I wanted!  And we were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it. All of our memories so close to me, just fade away! All this time, you were pretending. So much for my happy ending. Oh, oh. You've got your dumb fans, I know what they say, they tell you I'm not worth it-"  I turned it off because the door opened. It was Zayn. "Come on, Niall! We've got a concert!" he said. I grabbed my guitar and ran to the stage. Girls were screaming. I looked behind me. Annikka was there, backstage with Lily, Allyssa, Skylar, and her friends from the mall the other day. And a girl, dressed up as Jessie from ToyStory.  Liam's gonna love her for that. Annikka was crying, and all her friends were comforting her. I felt someone elbow me. "Niall, focus!" Liam whispered. "Right, sorry." I said. "Which song are we doing first?" I asked. "Little Things." he replied. I sat down and started plucking the guitar strings, and Zayn sang, "Your hand fits in mine like it's made just for me, but bear this in mind, it was meant to be..."  I tuned him out and focused on the guitar. Liam elbowed me again. "Niall, your solo." he whispered. "Oh, yeah." I said. "You'll never love yourself half as much as I love you, and you'll never treat yourself right darling, but I want you to. If I let you know I'm here for you, maybe you'll love yourself like I love you." I sang absent-mindedly. We sang KissYou, What Makes You Beautiful, Up All Night, Live While We'reYoung, Best Song Ever, and One Thing. "We'll be right back! Just gonna take a little break, and we'll sing more songs for you!" Louis said. We heard them "Aww," then scream, "WE LOVE YOU ONE DIRECTION!" as we went backstage. "Good job, boys." Amanda greeted us, batting her eyelashes at me. I rolled my eyes. "Niall, your make-up needs a re-do." she said, pulling my arm. I yanked it back. "No, Amanda. My make-up is fine. Quit flirting with me. I'm not interested. I'll stay with the lads." I said coldly. She gasped. "Listen to me, Niall. I want you, and I always get what I want. You will do as I say. I want you to be my boyfriend. Or not. I don't care. Just kiss me." she said, pulling me closer by my shirt. "I know you want me, anyway. I'm hot." she said, batting her eyelashes at me again. "No, Amanda. For the last time, no. I don't want you, stay away from me and the lads. I'm talking to the management about this. I'm going to get you fired." I told her. "Silly boy! Whos's going yo do your make-up?" she laughed. "Lily can do it. I don't need your stupid make-up. I don't care if I look like a pale idiot on stage and television. I just want to get rid of you." I said. I turned around and went back to the lads. "Woah, Niall. You okay? You look mad." Louis said. "I'm fine, it's just Amanda." I replied. "Oh, she flirted with you again?" Harry said. I nodded. "I'm talking to the management about this. She's really pissing me off." I said. I took out my phone and called. "Hello, Niall. What's wrong?" Debby's cheerful voice answered. She's in charge of me, and all the staff assigned to me. "Hey, Debby. I'm just gonna ask, can we fire one of the make-up artists and hire my cousin Lily instead?" I replied. I heard her giggle. "Amanda's getting to you? Yeah, she's been fired for that a lot. No problem. Just get your cousin on the phone, then I'll talk to Paul so he can make sure that Amanda doesn't come near you guys anymore." she said. "Sure, thanks Deb." I told her. "Lily, come talk to Debby. I'm having Amanda fired and you can be my make-up artist instead." I called Lily. We had talked this over before. If any time at all I get really annoyed by Amanda I would fire her and hire Lily. Lily walked over, nodded and took the phone. "Hey, can we fire Tiffannie and hire Allyssa?" Zayn said. "She's like Amanda, but worse. She tried to kiss me once." he added. "Ask Allyssa if i's alright with her first, then call Daisy, Zayn." I replied. Daisy is in charge of Zayn. He nodded and walked over to Allyssa.