Night Air

Chapter 67

Wednesday afternoon came around slower than ever and I had more thoughts on my mind than I wanted. Ryan's words the night before were still swirling around in my confused brain and I was starting to question everything. I just wanted to know what was real and what wasn't anymore. I thought Niall and I were real, but then with Niall not telling me things and with what Ryan said to me, I wasn't so sure anymore.
I sighed and scratched my dry scalp under my curled and sticky hair. I was waiting for Stephany to get the food from the front counter of the Wendy's we were in. As I sat there in the booth all alone, I looked around the restaurant. There weren't many people there since it was just before 3:00 on a Wednesday afternoon. There was an old man, who looked like he was possibly homeless in a corner, happily munching on a burger and some fries. There was a couple a few booths away from me who were laughing and silently speaking to each other in French. I smiled at the two, silently wishing I could have something like that.

Stephany set the tray down on the table, disrupting my thoughts in the process. "The serving sizes here are so much smaller than they are at home," she complained with a huff.
I laughed as she sat across from me, an upset look etched across her face. "I mean, everything in America is bigger than it is in Europe," I reasoned. Stephany's face suddenly turned sly as she sent me a knowing look. "What?"
"Everything?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "You know, Niall's from Europe." She kept her smirk wide, but I wasn't sure what she was trying to get at.
I shrugged and grabbed my sandwich from the tray. "And?" Stephany kept smiling, but never answered. Instead, she wiggled her eyebrows at me in a suggestive way. It didn't too take long before my brain cells clicked. Once I realized what she was getting at, I let out a groan as my cheeks filled with blood. I dropped my sandwich back onto the table so I could use my hands to hide my face. "Oh my God," I mumbled into my palms.
I heard her burst into laughter at my embarrassment. It was still odd to think that someone like me did that with a guy like Niall. Most people would see us as total opposites, and I guess we were, but we worked; you know, when we actually talked and didn't hide things.
Either way, it was still a strange feeling to think that I was no longer a virgin.

"I'm not even going to continue this conversation with you," I told Stephany as I finally removed my hands from my face and grabbed my sandwich again.
Stephany laughed one more time and I heard her say, "Oh come on, Alyssa. What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't tease you about that?"
"A loving one," I mumbled into my sandwich. Just as I took my first bite, I felt something hit my forehead. "Hey!" I looked up and saw Stephany smirking and a French fry in front of me.
"Hey, yourself!" She laughed. "If I didn't love you I wouldn't tease you." I guess she had a point.
"So what are you going to do after the tour ends?" I asked, quickly changing the topic.
"I'm not sure," she said after a moment or two. "I'm probably going to find somewhere else to model at if I don't decide to try to earn my wings with Victoria's Secret." She gave a shrug and I smiled. I was excited to start that. "What about you?"
I also shrugged and looked around. "I'm probably most definitely going to go ahead and earn my wings. I'm not sure what my plan is yet, though. I mean maybe we could roommate if you decided to go for it?" Stephany smiled as I said that. Maybe there was an idea. That was honestly the only plan I had really come up with. "I don't really have a plan, either," I confessed. "Who knows? Maybe something official could happen between Niall and I?"
I watched as Stephany's happy face slightly started to alter to an unhappy one. She tried to play it off like she never showed sadness in her facial expressions, but it was obvious she was now forcing herself to appear happy.
"Yeah," she said quieter, "maybe." She added in a laugh (again, to make herself sound happy for me) but something was off.

*Niall's POV*

I sighed and slumped my back against Alyssa's door. Slowly, I slid down against her door until my bum hit the carpet under my feet. I was starting to get tired and discouraged being as that was the second day in a row I came to talk to her after I got off just for her to be gone. I wanted to talk to her during her shoot, but I felt it was a bad time to be frank with her and tell her everything I wanted her to know. Texting her seemed inappropriate as well. The only good time, it seemed, was after I got off for the day, but that didn't seem to work with her schedule. I should have text her telling her to stay in her room.
Thursday was the going to have to be the day. I was going to do it then. I had to. I was running out of time.