Asking for Directions (One Direction fanfic)

Chapter 4- Restrictions

What just happened?

            Paul asked me to go on tour with the boys. It would only be a month as they were already halfway through- but still. This was the chance of a lifetime to be sure, but I couldn’t just say yes!

“Wow... that’s a huge honor Mr. Higgins,” his eyes seemed to light up at the mention of his formal name- good I had impressed him! “But I’d like to talk to my parents first?” I said hesitantly, but loud enough that he could hear over the boys’ angelic voices. I looked back at the stage briefly where several of the boys were shooting me glances... they had planned this! That’s why they were exchanging weird glances with Paul earlier; it all made sense now.

“That is absolutely okay Ms. Evelyn... would you mind calling them right now though? We are on a tight schedule and need to leave as soon as the concert ends.” I nodded and walked farther behind the stage where the music wasn’t so loud. My mind was buzzing with excitement; I was just managing to contain it very well. The numbers on my phone were spinning as I punched in our own familiar home number. The tone rang a few times before my mom’s subtle voice filled the space.

“Hello?”

“Mom!” I said probably sounding a bit more rushed than I had intended.

“Clarisse? Aren’t you at the concert? Are you okay?”

“Mom yes, I’m at the concert. Sorry, don’t worry! Uhmmm... some interesting news...” I paused tentatively, wondering how she would take it. “I met the boys, they really like me, and their manager invited me to go on tour with them- but it’s only a month until the end of summer!” I said it all so quickly that I was unsure if she had even heard everything that I had said.

“Wow... I can’t believe you met them! Are they nice boys?” Her voice seemed happy.

“They are amazing mom... super kind, funny, not stuck-up celebrities in the slightest.” There was a quiet moment before she spoke up again.

“You know I don’t think it’s a good idea to hang out with 5 boys for the whole summer.” I sighed.

“Yeah I know mom...”

“But I do think that it would be an amazing thing to do. Tour the West Coast and all...” My head snapped back up.

“Does that mean yes?” Mom’s sigh rang through the phone.

“On two conditions!”

“Okay! Okay? What is it?”

“One... you call EVERY day. And I’m serious about this alright?”

“For sure! You know I won’t forget.”

“And Two... Do NOT- and I mean DO NOT fall in love with any of them.” My heart sunk a little, but I never really was expecting to fall in love with any of them in the first place.

“Alright Mom... Thank you so much!” We chatted away quickly with our goodbyes before I hung up, and when I spun around, five grinning boys were standing behind me.

“Uhm... aren’t you guys supposed to be on stage?”

“Quick break before the last song,” Zayn said with a huff.

“So you can come?” Harry’s cheerful voice asked impatiently.

“You were eavesdropping? How much did you hear?” I said crossing my arms.

“Oh only the part about how ‘amazing, kind, funny, and not stuck-up’ we are,” Louis gave a toothy grin.

“Lou!” I said with a huff. These boys were hopeless; there was a lot of work that needed to be done in order to get them back on track.

“Maybe I never should have agreed...” I said with my best acting voice. Their eyes glowed.

“You’re coming with us!” Liam said ecstatically, running up to me and wrapping me in a hug. The other boys were quick to follow.

“Hey! You are supposed to be on stage!” A stage manager came running up behind us, shoving the boys off of me and towards the stage. I gave them all sympathetic glances before joining Paul at ‘my chair’.

“Well Ms. Evelyn?”

“My mom said that I could come- she gave me a couple of restrictions but I can come. I don’t want to feel like a burden or anything.”

“Trust me... if anything you will do these boys some good. They need a nice girl to whip them into shape,” a chuckle escaped his mouth, “So if you don’t mind me asking- what were the restrictions.” I turned to watch the boys and Niall leaped off the ground excitedly. All of the boys suddenly seemed to have twice as much energy as they did in the previous song.

“She said that I have to call her every day... so I guess that means I need access to wifi or any signal.” He nodded. “And she said that I can’t fall in love with any of the boys.” Was I imagining things or did Paul just chuckle?

“Don’t worry Ms.-“

“Just call me Clare.”

“Clare. It would be for the better if you didn’t love them- maybe I will have a talk with them about not liking you. But I won’t mention that it was your mom who came up with the rule.” I nodded.

“Thanks Paul...” As much as I hated being restricted from crushing on the boys, it was for the better. Life was about to get a lot more complicated with 5 boys and one girl on a small bus.