Changing My Direction (Niall Horan) ON HOLD

Chapter 3

Can I set fire to my school?

Charley's POV

"Wait..." Niall said, clutching his stomach from laughing so hard. 'Y-you managed to BURN your desk down at school?" he asked, continuing to laugh hysterically.

I giggled a bit and said, 'I didn't  mean to!" 

"But HOW could you manage that?" he laughed.

"Well, it was first grade. I saw a pink lighter, so therefore, I had to have it. I mean, it was PINK. Pink was the shit back then. But anyway, I put it in my desk, and I started playing with it. I didn't know fire would come out...and then fire did come out and my desk caught on fire." I explained. 

"But...how did you burn JUST your desk?" he asked, wiping his tears away from his eyes from laughing so hard. 

"Well, I started screaming when I saw the fire was spreading, and that's when my teacher started screaming. And then everyone started screaming. My teacher ran down the hall to get the fire extinguisher, and by the time she got back, my entire desk was on fire. But we got it out before it could spread anywhere else. Then the fire alarm went off and the whole school had to wait outside for like an hour after that. I felt pretty proud." I said, smiling proudly. 

Niall was still laughing, clutching his stomach on the bed.

Basically, after about forty five minutes of trying to get me to talk, I finally caved in. I actually sort of...like Niall. He's a cool person. He's also really cute, and I'm a sucker for guys with accents.

And after a bunch of attempts to get me to open up, we started talking about random things, and we were currently on the topic of stupid things I did as a kid. 

"Well, I'm sure you did SOMETHING idiotic as a child, too!" I laughed.

"Actually, I did. I dropped my laptop out the window." Niall answered.

I started laughing, wondering how anyone could possibly do something so stupid. "How?!" I asked, eager to see what this young Irish boy had done.

"Well, when I was about thirteen or fourteen, I got my first laptop. I was grounded because I had gotten a bad grade on a test or something, so I couldn't leave my room at all. But, it was really hot in my room, so I decided to open the window. It felt really nice out, so I put my laptop on my window sill and sat in front of it in a chair. But, I turned the chair around to get up for a minute, and it knocked the laptop out the window...from the second floor. And then I was grounded for even longer. My parents came upstairs and asked me why they saw a flying laptop out their window. " 

I started laughing really hard and said, "Now THAT'S bad!"

"Not as bad as burning my desk at school down!" He laughed. 

"Whatever." I laughed. 

"Well, I think we have embarrassed each other enough...tell me about your family." He said. "I know you have your little brother, but what about your parents? Cousins? Anyone?" 

"Oh...umm..." I trailed off. I really didn't want to get into detail about my family. 

"Come on, tell me." He urged on, scooting closer.

"There's nothing to tell." I quietly lied. 

"Charley, there's gotta be something. There's nothing to hide." Niall pressed. I just remained silent, not wanting to get into detail with my messed up family. "Come on, Charley. Tell me about your parents. What are they like?" 

My parents? Well, I could go on forever. But, I won't. It's just too painful. 

My family in general? It's messed up. I'm a nobody because I'm not cared for. It's painful. Being in my "family" hurts. A lot.