the girl in the stands - shawn mendes

chapter four

lauren,

we walked into the school side by side.. me and shawn did. i could feel his eyes on me as we walked.

"where's your locker? i'll walk you there" he said.

"follow me" i said and he did.

we reached my locker and hailey and blake were standing there talking to each other. i got nervous about this whole thing with shawn as i neared then.

"morning" shawn said.

"hey" hailey said.

"morning" blake said unphased by his appearance.

"i'll text you later" shawn said to me and walked off leaving me alone with my best cousins.

"so how was your date?" i asked hailey.

blake started to laugh. like so much and so loud. i looked at him confused.

"what? what's so funny?" i asked.

"you're literally going out with the guy and you're asking how her date went with him?" blake asked.

"i'm not going out with him" i said.

"well i hope you do" hailey butted in.

"why? don't you like him?"

"no. i thought he was cute and hot obviously so i went out with him but i dont like have feelings like him. it was just a silly date. i can tell he likes you anyways, i mean all he did was talk about you. please tell me you'll go out with him." hailey smiled.

"he did?" i asked surprised but i also smiled a little.

"yes! don't be so surprised. anyone could like you! you are beautiful and any guy would be lucky" she said.

"he asked me on a date tonight" i said.

"i hope you said yes" she said.

"i did" i said.

"good but when he leaves, i hope i'll be hearing from you"

"you will, hailey"

—

"hey, i bought you lunch" shawn said leading me to a whole other table that wasn't with blake and hailey.

but it wasn't with his friends either.

"you did?" i asked him.

"yeah." he said and i sat across from him.

"so what are we doing tonight?" i asked.

i didn't like secrets or surprises. i get curious and like to know what i'm doing.

"i was gonna invite you over. and we just talk and hang out"

"talk? you just wanna talk?" i asked feeling my heart beat a thousand times faster feeling maybe that's not all he wanted to do.

"yeah, usually i would go to a movie or just to like dinner for the first date but, lauren i want to get to know you. i just want to talk" he said.

i just smiled. "it sounds perfect." i said.

"i can't wait" he smiled at me.

his smile was so perfect. it made my heart basically explode inside my chest.

—

i parked my car on the side of the road, i don't like parking in other peoples driveways anyways. i was really nervous about it, i don't know why but i've been with shawn before and we've talked but this seemed different now.

—

i walked in shawn's room where there was sandwiches and chips and other foods. i looked at him and just smiled. it had lights around the room and candles. it was dark in here.

"you made this?" it was stunning.

"yeah. i thought you might like it" he said.

"it's perfect. it's beautiful. i love it" i smiled and sat next to him.

"i've never done anything like this before" he admitted.

"then why did you do it?" i asked him.

"because you are different. i like different" he smiled.

i smiled too. and we started to talk.

"where's your parents?" i asked shawn.

"i don't- i don't live with them anymore." he admitted.

"oh why not?" i asked.

"they got into some pretty bad habits and are in prision. well my dad is anyways, my mom is somewhere. she calls once a month. so i got emancipated and i live here and i have a job. i work at that cafe by the school" he said.

"really? i got there all the time. it's beautiful inside" i said.

"it really is." he nodded.

"what about you?" he asked.

"what about me?" i asked.

"what's the story with your parents.." he asked.

"well my parents both went to yale. my mom works in a business office and my dad's a lawyer" i shrugged.

"there's something else, you didn't let even come in saturday"

"their not normal. i love them and my whole life they have pushed me to be this person.. this person that's not me. i have prefect grades, and i read all these books and you know, they want me to have all this extra stuff so i'll get into yale.. but that's not my dream, it's their dream and it sucks living in that house sometimes" i said looking at him.

i never really talk about this with anyone but with shawn it felt so easy.

"well you can always stay here if you need a getaway" he said.

i nodded my head. "thank you"

"my parents aren't in jail. i don't have it that bad" i shrugged.

"maybe not but you still have it hard. i think you're smart.. not so you can get into yale but for yourself" he smiled.

"what's your dream?" i asked shawn.

"my dream?"

"yeah.. what's something you wanna do for you.. not something for your parents or your friends.. but for you. something that makes you happy"

"i want to sing. i want to get up on a stage in front of millions of people and sing, i want to inspire people and make them smile. be the reason they smile. i want to travel the world" he said.

"so no football? cause you're really good" i said.

"no. no football." he said looking at me. "what's your dream?"

"dance. i love to dance and i always have. my aunt used to teach me and hailey to dance when we were younger. she's like a professional dance teacher. she teaches kids and some older kids and when my mom found out she literally was so mad. she banned me from ever dancing again but i love doing it. i still have secret sessions with her without my mom knowing. dancing makes me feel happy. not yale, not studying for a chemistry test or reading thousands of books a day.. dancing." i smiled at the thought of myself being a professional dancer.

"then i think you should follow your dreams" he said.

"you should too, shawn." i smiled at him.