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When Emily meets Niall will it just be a lucky encounter or something more? |
Chapter Five I didn’t see Niall or the rest of the boys for the rest of the week. We called each other though as did the other boys to my friends. I worked hard at school and they worked hard with the album. Soon school finished, just before the end of November. The boys got more days off leading up to Christmas. They weren’t spending Christmas with their families this year, which Niall said was really hard. The boys were having their own quiet celebration at the hotel, but he said that none of them can cook a good roast. “Plus, it’s summer over here, so it doesn’t feel like Christmas at all!” I won’t say our relationship was romantic whirlwind when suddenly we were inseparable and everyone thought we were soul mates. We had a few awkward dates where went to dinner and a movie, a picnic in my favourite park and going for a walk on the beach. Romantic in name, but they seemed cliché and I had too many expectations. They were great, don’t get me wrong and Niall and I were still meeting up and getting to know each other. That was thing though. I knew too much and he knew too little. But we got over it. And it was about a week till Christmas when I asked him to finally come over to my house. We were sitting in his hotel room on a Tuesday, Liam somewhere off with Zayn and Harry and Louis down at the pool. We were watching bad soap operas on TV, laughing at the bad acting and eating out of a big bowl of popcorn. We had spent the day at the beach, so my hair was up in a ponytail wet and salty and I was wearing my white beach dress and a borrowed sweatshirt from Niall. I was staying the night, in the spare bed. Liam had claimed the double and Niall got the room with two singles. I was snuggled beside him, my head on his shoulder. Fans had come up to the boys during the day. They were lovely to them, chatting and taking pictures, signing autographs and it had been a really fun day. The air was cooling now and with him cuddled up beside me and the over-dramatic soaps on TV filling my head with unrealistic romantic fantasies I turned to him and said; “You haven’t met my parents yet. They know all about you but they haven’t met you!” “I haven’t. But you haven’t met mine either!” “Yours live in Ireland. It’s a bit harder…” I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, I am babysitting Evelyn and Flynn on Thursday, so you could come around for the day and have dinner with us. Plus, I am painting my feature wall! So, will you come?” I grinned up at him and he smiled back and kissed my forehead. “Yes, of course! I love Eve and Flynn. But, er, what’s a feature wall?” “Like a mural, in my bedroom. Have you watched Bridge to Terabithia?” I asked him. He nodded. “Yeah, I always imagined it like that, you know fun and crazy. Except it won’t be gold it will be all different colours. Are you in?” I rested my head back on his broad shoulders. “Most definitely.” He whispered into my hair. Another forty-five minutes of soap operas later, and we were starting to get restless. The others were not back yet and we were meant to have dinner with them. I switched off the TV, picked up a piece of popcorn from the third freshly popped corn we had just made and threw it up in the air and caught it with my mouth. Niall laughed and did the same. I took another piece and threw it at his mouth. It bounced off his forehead and he blinked twice before grinning evilly. Before I knew it popcorn was flying everywhere, some landing in my mouth and most of the bowl landing anywhere but my mouth. We were both laughing dodging the corn and the furniture. We were so wrapped up in our game; I accidentally tripped over the couch and fell on Niall. He was lying on his back and I fell onto his chest laughing, my hair loose from its hair tie. He swept some strands from my eyes and smiled. He leaned forward and kissed me. And that, ladies and gentlemen, how I received my very first kiss. Seventeen years old and never been kissed might seem ridiculous but it was so worth it after my first with Niall. We hadn’t just saved the earth. Or a friend. Or even ourselves. He was a famous singer in a famous boyband and I was a small town girl, unknown and not very special. It wasn’t the most romantic of places – on a hotel floor, covered in popcorn. But I really didn’t care. And after he kissed me, I rested my head on his chest and we stayed like that for a long time, his arms draped around me protective and warm. It couldn’t have been better. The doorbell went off. It was a Thursday morning and I was dressed in mini shorts and a large, cotton button-down shirt. Evelyn and Flynn were outside, building a fort on the trampoline. The day was hot, but not muggy, the sky a cloudless blue. And now Niall had arrived. I skipped to the door, opening it wide and jumping into his arms. “Hey baby” he laughed, hugging me tight and walking inside. Eve and Flynn ran upstairs and Niall opened his arms for a group hug. The twins had already met Niall, whenever we went on walks and they wanted to come. They loved him. I took his hand and led him to my room. My feature wall was plain white and I had old sheets on the floor. Several different cans of paint were mixed and ready to go. I put on some music handed him a paintbrush and nodded. “Go.” I whispered. And we went. The wall changed from plain white to all colour the rainbow. He waltzed me around the room and every time we went pass the wall he directed my arm in long strokes, squiggles and curvy lines, circles and spirals. We danced, using our paintbrushes to make new dance moves. He pulled me in at the waist, and kissed me, this one lasting more than a couple of seconds. I pulled away and smiled, taking his hand and painting a corny blue love heart above our heads. By five-oh-clock, after many food breaks and kissing stops the wall was finished. It was a canvas of crazy paint, but it was done so well that no colours were mixed together. Despite our crazy dances and lazy hands the product was beautiful. We stood back to admire our work, when my favourite song ‘Superman’ played out of my iPod. It wasn’t the Taylor Swift version, but one of my favourite solo artists Joe Brooks. Niall smiled and bowed, extending his hand. I took it and we started to dance, him whispering the words into my ear. “There are no words, to paint a picture of you girl, your eyes, those curves, it’s like you’re from this other world.” “If I could be Superman, I’d fly you to the stars and back again. Cause every time you touch my hand, I feel my powers running through your veins – but I can only write this song and tell you that I’m not that strong…cause I’m no superman. I hope you like me as I am…” *** “That is very cool. Are you excited for the new album?” My mum had been very nervous about Niall coming. She was worried about what to cook, how the house looked, what to wear and how to act. I told her that Niall was normal and that he grew up in exactly the same way Evelyn, Flynn and I did. It had been awkward when we first started eating but by the time we were halfway through our meal, (a traditional Kiwi barbeque we had decided on. Simple but effective) the conversation was flowing naturally as mum was generally interested in his album and the other boys. But then again, of course she would be, they were my favourite boyband for months and they were all I ever talked about. And now I was dating one of them. My dad had remained quite quiet during the whole dinner. He wasn’t usually a talkative guy but I knew that he was really a little sad about the whole ‘Boyfriend-To-Dinner’ ordeal. Who could blame him? He is my dad. “Yeah, we’re really excited to get it out there. And working in New Zealand has been fantastic, amazing people here, you know to work with,” Niall said. To mum, this meant his producers and what-not, but when he moved his hand under the table to squeeze my knee I knew he meant different. “So, when do guys head back up to the UK?” Mum asked. “Ah, well, not to January 25th…it’s…yeah, not till then…” I bowed my head at his words. It was a subject we had both refused to mention. It was quite hard to hear. ‘The 25th? Why is that familiar, OH YEAH!” My mum leaped off her char and walked to the computer in the lounge and back again, carrying a piece of paper. “Did Emily mention about her wanting to study in London for her last year?” My mum asked. Excitement swelled up in my stomach. “Yeah, briefly, she did…” Niall said professionally but underneath the table he gripped my hand. “Well, I haven’t told Emily yet, but this email came today…” Mum smiled as she passed me the paper. I skimmed everything, bar 'you have been accepted into London’s school of English Academies’ and ‘You will need to be in the UK as of 7th of February 2012, for the start of Term One.” I couldn’t contain myself. I WAS GOING TO LONDON! |