Finding, Finding... Found.

Chapter 8

But Alyssa couldn’t help but wonder if her revelations changed everything.

***

“Thanks for doing our interview; you guys were incredibly lovely guests,” the interviewer, Paige, shook the five boys’ hands, one after another.

“No problem Miss,” Niall answered, grinning. “You had a buffet table – it made the whole process very… enjoyable.”

“So the rumors were true,” Paige teased. “You really do eat a lot, huh?”

“A lot would be an understatement,” Liam rolled his eyes. “I’m really sorry Paige, but we do have to go.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Paige smiled warmly as she waved the boys goodbye.

After signing a few autographs and taking a few more pictures, the boys clambered into their van, with the edge of Harry’s shoe hitting Niall in the forehead.

“What’s the rush?” Their driver teased before reminding them to buckle their seatbelts, as if they were kids. “So where are you guys headed next?”

“We have no more interviews!” Harry cheered as he stretched his arms out. “We can go anywhere! We’re free!”

“You make our jobs sound really bad Harry,” Louis teased. “Anyway David, we’re free for the day so bring us anywhere you want-”

“Kindergarten,” Niall muttered as his eyes lit up and his lips curved into a boyish grin. “We could go to the kindergarten and spy on Alyssa.”

Liam couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at how creepy Niall’s statement sounded.

“Spy?” Zayn laughed. “We’ll just go visit her when she’s home – the kindergarten’s too… public, and I don’t want to climb through the windows again.”

“I know her address!” Harry and Niall piped up at the same time, and Harry simply grinned when Zayn shot him a warning look.

Don’t push it. Zayn was telling Harry with his glare. You know how Niall gets.

Harry shrugged Zayn’s concerns off and placed his head against the leather seat.

“So we’ll visit her when she reaches home,” Harry finalized. “Now, who’s up for lunch?

***

Alyssa waved goodbye to the last of her students as she started packing up her stationery and some worksheets. Once she finished, she walked towards Karla’s classroom, only to find it empty. Groaning, Alyssa walked out of the kindergarten in a rather annoyed manner, only to have cameras shoved up her face.

What in the world? Alyssa couldn’t comprehend what was going on around her.

“Is it true that you met One Direction at-”

“Do you fancy any of the lads-”

Karla. The name came to her head before she felt anger and betrayal surge through her. Karla must have told the paparazzi about my meeting with One Direction.

Looking at the swarm of paparazzi, Alyssa knew she wouldn’t be able to shake them all of by herself, and ran into the kindergarten, hoping to get out through the back door.

She tried opening the back door, but it was locked, probably by a teacher who has to suffer the wrath of over-active children. She groaned as she sat on a chair, watching the paparazzi snap her pictures from the window. Did they not know anything about the invasion of privacy?

She stalked towards the window and closed the curtains, before settling down on a chair behind the counter. She still couldn’t believe that Karla would call the paparazzi out of spite.

Angry tears streamed down her face as she took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She knew she wasn’t entirely angry at Karla – she was unhappy about her lack of luck in finding a proper friend… a true friend.

Niall. She remembered how he would always ruffle his brown hair, trying to impersonate the celebrities they saw in magazines. She remembered how blue his eyes were – so much so that even at a young age she felt some sort of intensity just by looking at them. But if anything, she remembered that he said he would come back for her. She breathed out loudly as she wiped the tears off her face, refusing to let the paparazzi snap any pictures of her with swollen eyes.

She could hear the incessant shouting from outside, and she contemplated calling the police, only to realize a second later what a silly idea it was. What could the police do? She wasn’t some famous celebrity, they wouldn’t care-

Famous celebrity.

Although Alyssa didn’t like asking for help, she knew when she had to. The paparazzi would probably never leave until she gives some sort of statement, and even though she had only known the boys for a while, she knew it’d be awful if whatever she said was twisted and reconstructed into something that was derogatory to them.

She did read some magazines, after all. She knew how a few simple words could be twisted and changed into a whole new meaning.

Fishing out her phone from her bag, she contemplated how she would text Niall without sounding too demanding.

Hey Niall, it’s Alyssa here (sorry it’s a little impromptu). There are some paparazzi outside my kindergarten and I have zero idea on how to deal with them. I’m the only one left in the kindergarten and the back door’s locked, so I don’t actually have an escape route too. Can you tell me a way to escape them? Reply ASAP please. Thanks.

She placed her head against the wall in silent agony as she waited for Niall’s reply.

***

“So then Harry tried to act like a walrus, and totally failed as usual,” Louis’ eyes crinkled into a smile as he recounted the story.

“I didn’t fail, it was actually a pretty good impersonation,” Harry rolled his eyes. “You just refuse to admit that-”

“Guys, please just stop,” Zayn groaned as he started cutting the fried chicken on his plate. “We can’t eat with such noise.”

Liam nodded in agreement as he sipped on his soup and winced at how hot it was.

“Niall?” The boys questioned as they saw their Irish band mate looking at his phone with an incredibly worried expression. “Why aren’t you… y’know, eating?”

“There’s paparazzi outside the kindergarten, and Alyssa’s stuck inside,” Niall’s eyes were wide with worry as he spoke quickly. “She used to get panic attacks when she was young… I’m scared that-”

Harry interrupted by placing a hundred-dollar bill and motioning for the boys to follow him out of the restaurant. Once they were on the sidewalk, Harry immediately hailed a cab and motioned for the boys to get in before any of their fans spotted them.

“There are only four seats, Harry,” Louis pointed out, and watched in shock as Niall immediately climbed into the front seat and gave the driver an address, oblivious to his band mates who were watching the cab speed off.

“Did Niall just-” Liam commented, and Harry immediately nodded.

“Niall just went to the kindergarten himself,” Harry confirmed as he looked at the boys. “It could either turn out to be a good situation where the two of them spend some quality time together...”

“…Or incredibly bad,” Zayn continued. The previous time they were mobbed by a group of journalists, Niall had a little anxiety attack due to his claustrophobia. They didn’t even want to think about the fact that Niall and Alyssa were going to face the paparazzi alone.

In the cab, Niall’s stomach was churning with anxiety. He knew he couldn’t deal with the paparazzi well, and he was cursing himself internally for not bringing at least one of the boys along. But he had been too anxious to get to Alyssa as soon as he could…

B there in 2 mins. Niall texted back as he sighed and placed his head against the window, ignoring the driver’s curious and star-struck glances.