out of the blue / n.h

Chapter 5

NIALL HORAN

I shake my head then turn my head to the book. I barely focus. I keep my eyes on looking at her. At least not blatantly. By the tail of my eyes. She doesn't even bother to look at me.

I roll my eyes at my thoughts. Why do I care so much? Just because she looks like the other girls who flirt with me, doesn't mean she acts like them. Why do I really care about how girls react about myself? I scoff then chuckle. I think about how people thought about me. Mostly for girls. I slept with the hottest girls on campus, yet, I still hoped for this girl to like me. Maybe she does have a boyfriend and she stays loyal and shit. I don't even care. Why am I discussing this by myself?

"Hey," The girl pokes me by my arm. "here. Have some of the Smiths." She offers the earbuds and her phone to me. Gotcha.

I timidly smile and take the earbuds to my ears. Then the flash of This Charming Man plays.

"That's my favorite." She says as she continues writing. Without bothering herself to see me.

"You don't want to hear it?" I ask her while the song plays through the vocal.

"No, no." She chuckles. "By the way, I bought the whole album on iTunes. I'm still looking for the real records, you know. The antique casettes. I got a whole collection of the 80's. My mom's brother gave them to me. He doesn't like the Smiths, that's why I'm still looking for it." She taps her book by her pen.

"I love the Smiths! I never thought a girl like you, would like an antique band such as the Smiths." I laugh.

"Tell me about it."

"What more do you like? Other than Morrissey."

"Joy Division! My favorite. And, Jonathan Richman and the Modern House. Elvis Costello. Modest Mouse. Michael Learns to Rock, obviously. The Cure. U2! Well, a lot actually." She informs. "What about you?"

"The Eagles!" I laugh. "I love Joy Division also. And, U2! They just released their newest album this year. They're amazing."

"I know! I love the song that called Every Breaking Wave." She nods.

I nod, by the beat of the song. "I stopped fantasizing over them because I had no one to talk to about them. Then I found you, at last." I tease. "And a-girl?" I shake my head. I talk too loud and a shush from the other side of the room warns us.

She laughs. I realize, she's not the antagonist. She's the kind of girl in a movie that was once bad and then turned to the other side of the character to be the protagonist. "What's wrong for a girl to like the Smiths?" She whispers, glaring.

"Nothing. Girls are not allowed to know them." I laugh back, hoping for her to think the same like I did about being a protagonist.

MELANIE RICHARDS

I stop for a while to think what was he saying. His accent is difficult to process. "Hey, where did you get your accent from?" I ask. His accent is so fun and sharp. I like how it sounds. It's not british, obviously.

"Ireland. I'm originally from Ireland. I'm Irish." He nods, by the beat of the song.

"Oh, I thought you're british, then british don't really sound like that. It's so confusing." I shake my head.

"What about you? Where are you from originally?" He asks.

"I'm half asian. My dad is originally from Southeast Asia."

"Hm. I'm not that good in geography but let me guess, that's where you got all your perfect skin from, yeah?"

"Yeah, probably, I don't know." I answer and quickly tilt my head to the side and look away.

"Here." He says unplugging the earbuds from his ears, then hands it to me.

I smile. He smiles.

He looks so cool.

"Have you ever heard of Misfits?" He asks.

"I love the Misfits. They are amazing."

"I know. Wow. You really are into 80's, huh?"

"Yeah, everything. Movies, music, but I'm not a big fan of it's fashion trends." I chuckle. It's nice to have a talk with someone that has the same taste as yours.

I realized I just finished the whole assignments Mrs. Parker and Mr. Dane handed. I close all my books and shove it into my bag.

"What are you doing?" He asks with confusion flashes on his blue eyes.

"I need to go. But it's really nice talking to you!" I stand up. "See ya." I smile and quickly walk away.

"Wait!" He shouts with a whisper"

"Bye!!!" I reply, keeping up my pace, avoiding any further contacts with him.

NIALL HORAN

She didn't ask for my number. Not even my name.

God, Niall, not everyone is into you.

I finish my assignments Prof. Q gave me. I exhale in relief then pack all my things into my bag. I walk back to my apartment through the quite streets. The weather smells damp and I just want to lay myself on my bed with my comforter and watch the football match.