Chapter 3:
I smiled up at Niall. He's quite beautiful. He's about 5'10" with a lanky build. His eyes are a brilliant blue color. His hair is blonde, but I could tell he dyes it. After years of living with Megan, I could tell. From the way he acted, I could also tell that he doesn't know how beautiful he is. He smells incredible as well, despite being out hiking. Despite these things, I wasn't interested. I don't know why, I just wasn't. Not the time for a boyfriend I guess. "I'm Alex, in case you didn't catch that earlier." "I got it," he replied. We walked in silence for a little while. It wasn't awkward, just serene. After a minute or two, he dropped back to talk to Liam. I could hear them talking. Liam knew I could hear them. "I like your friend, Liam," I heard him say. "What do I do?" "What are you, four? You've liked girls before. Just go talk to her." I laughed to myself. "Boys..." I muttered. Niall appeared back at my side. He breathed out a "Hey." "Hi there," I said with a laugh. Liam broke out in song from behind us. "DON'T STOP BELIEVING!" I joined him. "HOLD ON TO THE FEELING!" Niall's jaw dropped. Liam gently slapped him on the face a bit. "Niall, dear, it's not polite to drool." Niall quickly came to his senses. Oh, did I mention that I can sing? Like the best of them. Me and Haley could probably both go professional if we wanted to. But neither of us wanted to. I sing with Liam all the time. Niall had recovered. "So you sing?" he asked. "Some," I replied. I was going to exaggerate, but Liam interrupted me. "She sings like an angel, don't ya?" he said, putting his arm around my shoulder. He was just being his over-protective self. Even if it was just his friends. I poked him in the side, right where I know he's ticklish, and he spazzed out. I kept walked with Niall. He asked me about my family, all my siblings. He told me about his brother, and some of the adventures they'd had together. I told him about Cody getting married and Josh trying to move out already, despite the fact that he was only 17. He told me about his mom and how much he loved her. I didn't tell him about my parents. No reason to down the mood. He asked me about my best friends, so I told him about Andy and Mason and Zach and Derek and Haley. I left out Patrick. Again, no reason to damper the mood. "Most of my friends graduated this last year, so I miss them all a lot. Mason and Zach have already moved into their college dorms," I told him. He told me about some of his friends, and how they always went around and tried to pick up random girls in restaurants. "I-I'm sorry. That was inappropriate," he apologized. I laughed, "Don't be. I've been with Mason and Zach and Andy while they did that before. It's one of the funniest things ever." I sighed. "What?" he asked. "It's, it's nothing." "No, I want to know." "It's just that I had a friend that used to come with us too. Josh. Not my brother, someone else. He was one of my closet friends." "Was?" "He moved away after our freshman year. To chase his dreams or something. I haven't seen him since. I call him almost every week and we Skype about once every other week but he hasn't been back." Somedays I miss that boy so much it hurts "If you were my best friend and I moved away, I'd visit every chance I had." That made me smile. It seemed he knew just what to say. He put his arm around me and gave me a squeeze. "Have I told you that I'm in a band?" he asked, clearly trying to change the subject. I was grateful. "No I don't believe you have." He told me about how they had come in 3rd place in the UK's version of the XFactor. "Color me impressed," I said. He blushed a bit. He told me how even though they didn't win, they were still getting a recording contract. "Who all is in this band with you?" I asked. "These 5 boys here," he replied. Well DUH. I knew Liam had just got a record deal from the XFactor. "LIAM!" I hollered. "What?" he called back. "You didn't tell me that these were your bandmates!" "I figured you knew!" Well, I probably should have. Oh well. I turned my attention back to Niall. "What all do you play? Instrument wise." He told me about learning how to play guitar from his dad. "You ever tried any classical instruments?" I asked. "No." "Me and Liam can show you a thing or two on the trumpet." He looked confused. "Liam has the instrumental talent of a horsefly," he said. "Well, horseflies must be pretty talented, because Liam can rock that trumpet." "Huh. You learn something new everyday," he said. Liam heard us talking and flashed us a smile. We reached a sign reading 'One mile left!' Haley called out from the front. "WOOO!!" She was still walking with Harry. He looked like he was about to take her hand, when she turned around and hollered out, "HEY ALEX, THE USUAL AFTER?" I yelled back. "ROCK THE DQ BABE!" I snickered to myself. Dairy Queen was our tradition after a hike. Wait until I told her that Harry tried to hold her hand and she jerked away. She'll be thrilled with herself. I laughed out again. "What?" Niall asked. "Nothing," I laughed. "Just Haley." We walked in silence for a little while. Liam started softly singing. "One bright morning when this life is over, I'll fly away. To a place on God's celestial shore, I'll fly away." I joined in on the chorus, in a soft voice. "I'll fly away, oh glory, I'll fly away. When I die hallelujah bye and bye, I'll fly away." I hummed while he sang the verses and sang the chorus with him. Haley joined me on the second time through the chorus. Liam started humming the guitar intro to Love Like Fire, which he knows is my favorite Hillsong song. I started singing this time. "And I am desperate for your touch. A glimpse of heaven through the glory of your son. And in a moment you can turn a life around, forever to be found in you." Liam joined in. "And I am reaching out to find. There's nothing greater than your love that holds my life. Your grace and mercy that have saved me by your blood and swept away my shame oh lord." Haley sang with us now. "Your love is like fire that burns for all to see. My only desire is to worship at your feet. So let this fire consume my life." We reached the end of the trail and saw the parking lot as we bellowed out the last part of the chorus. "Let your love take me deeper. Draw me closer to where you are. Cause all I want is more of you. Where you call I will follow. At the cross I surrender all. Jesus I belong to you." We finished our song and I gave Liam a hug. We started saying our goodbyes. I looked over and saw Harry giving Haley his number. I squealed on the inside for her. I'm sure she would have plenty of stories later. Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned. There stood Niall. "Umm, I was just wondering if you wanted to go get some ice cream or something?" he asked. "Actually, I'm going with Haley right now. It's an after-hike tradition. You're more than welcome to come," I replied. "No, that's okay. I don't want to interrupt your girl time," he said with a smile. "Here's my number anyways, just in case you want to some other time." He handed me what looked like a business card. And that's exactly what it was. His number was written on the back. "So I can see your good penmanship?" I asked. His face went red as a beet. I laughed. "Liam taught you that, didn't he?" Niall nodded a little, still confused. I laughed again. Nice one Liam. Way to get your pickup tricks from Psych. A tv show. Me and Liam always watch the new episodes of Psych together. No matter where we are, even if we're not together. We'll stay on the phone and talk about it during the episode. It's a tradition. "Tell Liam I said 'Don't be a gooey chocolate chip cookie.' He'll know what I mean," I said. "Okay?" he said, and started to walk away. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. I kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for the company today. And for listening." He blushed a bit. "Of course. And I meant it when I said to call me. Even if it's just for no reason." I smiled at him. "I'll keep that in mind." "See ya." "Bye." I walked away with a smile on my face. Haley was waiting for me at the car. "Boy, do I have a lot to tell you," she said, the biggest grin on her face.
