Masquerade (Liam Payne)

Chapter 13 ~ Liam

Chapter 13 ~ Liam 

Alex called Ethan so we’re hanging with him tonight, too. And as we do every time we come to Manchester, we’re at the same club he brought us the first time we met him. It’s a nice place, we can really have fun here without having to worry about fans mobbing us or paparazzi sneaking into. We can let ourselves be here. The girls of Prodigy seem to approve the place, they look around with smiles on their faces, catching every little detail they can and they look excited. I stay near them, even more when I realise they start to relax around us. I also notice they hand Skyler many drinks.

“She is so fun when she is drunk. She changes completely! She turns into this outgoing, talkative, loud and horny girl when she is drunk. It’s so fun to see! Once she ended up dancing on her bra and trousers on the table. We had to join her, you know?” Leanne tells me when I see Tammy and Emma handing Sky another drink. “You know, we’re a band after all, we have to support her.” I laugh with her, imagining the situation.

Sky is so into her world, it’s like she comes to life only when it’s about music, but I can see the change now. She is laughing, she is joking with the girls and I see how Tammy and Emma enjoy this. Savannah, Moni, Ed —who also came to see us— and Mila are with them, having fun too. Zayn is also with them, having fun apparently. To be honest, everyone seems to be having fun.

Alex and Niall are in their world, dancing and drinking. As usual, Alex tries to teach some moves to the leprechaun. Hannah and Harry are playing darts. Poor Harry, he is obsessed with winning, but Hannah has a better aim than him. Belle is with Phebs, as Lucas and Dan couldn’t make it. Kay is dancing with a random guy, ignoring Louis who’s at the bar, drinking even more than Niall on St. Patrick’s Day. Ethan is with his girlfriend as well. Leanne has stayed with me, explaining me why Emma and Tammy seem so happy to have Sky with us.

I like seeing this Tammy, laughing out loud, with her nose crinkling as she smiles mischievously, jumping when Sky does a bottom up. She almost looks like a teenager in her first party and that’s kind of cute. Really cute, to be honest.

“Leanne,” I ask the blonde girl next to me. I don’t know why she hasn’t left my side yet, although Grimmy is around… I think. “Why is Tammy like that?”

The blonde girl looks at me a bit confused. “You mean like this loud?” She inquires and cue to her words, Tammy laughs out loud. Even louder than the music.

“No, I mean so… rude. I know she goes for the rebel look, but she can be so mean but then she is so kind with the kids. And she doesn’t like compliments. You know her, you’ve been with her for a long time. Why is she like that?” I clarify and Leanne sighs. I don’t hear her over the music, but I see.

“Let’s go to the bar.” I follow her and wait until we ask for some drinks. “We’ve been working together for over three years now, and she is still a mystery for us. We all have boundaries that we do not cross, Tammy’s past is that boundary. You just can’t ask her about that. When I met her, she was so cold and suspicious. It’s was like she was waiting for you to attack her and she was ready to fight.” Leanne tells me. “It took some time for her to start joking and teasing us; at the beginning she was only business.” I pay careful attention, trying to learn as much as I can. “She has never tell us anything about her life. We don’t even know where she is from and she has never mentioned friends or family. It’s like all what exists of her is what you can see now.”

So Tammy is not an enigma only for me.

“We asked her a lot at the beginning, but we learnt it was useless. So don’t even dream you’ll get her to tell you why she is the way she is. It’s hopeless. You just have to accept that this,” —she points with her thumb at Tammy who is cheering at Sky with Emma— “is all what we will ever get from her.”