Just Another Prank (A One Direction/Larry Stylinson Fan Fic)

Chapter Twenty

OOH! Cliffhanger! sorry, please dont hate me :/

I watched the car pull away from Café Corneille, almost in disbelief in how much I have changed since I was last there. I mean, the last time I was in there, I was performing for a living and the only one who knew about my personal situation was Jess. And now, I’m all… soft. Eh, Max won’t make that big a deal of it.

            I took a deep breath and walked into the establishment, a bell sounding my entry. This place looked just as I left it, with its distressed hardwood floors to its cream colored walls. Not a single ‘modern’ painting was added or removed from the walls. The place still even smelled like Febreze.

            “Hello, welcome to Café Corneille, how may I – PIPER!” Max greeted me with a bone crushing hug. I managed to wrap my arms around his torso this time.

            “Max! Someone lost some weight.” I poked his stomach jokingly.

            “We had so many customers come in since you were last here that I was able to hire some more waiters!” He beamed and walked us over to an empty table.

            “Is that so?” I cocked an eyebrow at him.

            “This place has become a tourist attraction for teenage girls since you became the famous Pipes!” He gushed. Wow, I didn’t know I was that popular—or good!

            “Wow! That’s incredible!” Max and I talked for at least three hours. I checked my watch and saw that it was ten fifteen, and that I needed to head over to Jess’ soon. “Listen, it’s been great catching up, but I need to head over to my friend’s house before it gets too late!” I stood and turned around, but Max, grabbing my wrist, took me by surprise. I turned to see his pained face and sad eyes. Okay, what up with the complete mood swing?

            “Piper, there’s something you should know. Your friend….she’s dead.” She’s dead? No, that can't be! The last I talked to her, she had a bad fever. That’s all! Nothing more!

            Max’s mouth kept moving, but he could have been speaking in another language for all the good it did me. Your friend….she’s dead played on and on in my head as I ran out of the café and into the pouring rain. No. I refuse to believe it. But what if he’s right?

            That’s the thing that scared me, though: Max had never lied to me before, so why do it now?

            I took off the way I came, not caring that it might have been too late to walk. Why should I care? Jess was dead. The girl who had been my best friend, practically my sister, since first grade was dead and I couldn’t have even been there to see her one last time.

            I came up to the top of a hill and tripped, twisting my foot painfully in the process. I toppled down the hill, my momentum barreling me forward. Each time any part of my body hit the wet pavement, I wanted to cry out in pain. I probably did when the side of my head banged against the curb. I laid there, motionless, for what seemed like hours. It was probably a few minutes though, until I realized that it’s not safe to be alone, in this part of town, at this hour.

            My vision blurred and I could feel a warm substance flowing down the side of my head. My vision kept slipping in and out, and let me tell you, that isn’t fun. One minute I was limping across the street, then there was blackness for a few seconds, and then I was coming up to the hotel.

            I limped into the deserted lobby and saw blackness once again. My vision returned, barely, when I was leaving the elevator. Damn whoever decided to put our room on the end of the hall. Damn them to Hell.