Lovely

Conflicts

We ended up going to a fancy Brazilian steakhouse that I'd never heard of. When we parked, Niall opened the door for me.

Gentleman.

We walked in together and got showed to our table. When we sat down, my conscience went haywire.

Does my hair look okay?

I hope my dress isn't too nice!

What if he notices I'm not wearing makeup!

"If you'll excuse me," I said. "I need to use the restroom."

"Nope," Niall said. I stopped and raised an eyebrow. He just laughed. "I'm teasing! Of course, Pepper. But don't take too long 'fixing your hair'" he said using air quotes.

"How did you kno-"

"Please Pepper. I've gone on plenty of dates-"

Shocker.

"-and I know how they act. They think they don't look pretty and then they worry about their appearance the whole night instead of enjoying themselves."

I stopped and sat down again.

"Look Pepper. You're beautiful. No matter what your mirror says, you are beautiful."

HE JUST CALLED ME BEAUTIFUL! TWICE!!

"But I'm not wearing any makeup! My face looks awful!" I retorted.

"Awful?! How can you say that about your face?!" He said with surprise. "A girl's natural face is the prettiest. Girls who try to cover themselves are putting on fake identities."

Was he really saying all of this?!

Our waiter came and took our orders, and after he left, we continued our conversation.

"As I was saying," Niall continued. "Pepper, you are really pretty. No one can tell you enough. Promise me you'll accept that?" I bit my lip and nodded.

"Good," he smiled.

"Niall?"

"Hm?"

"I want to know more about your music life." He looked up and smirked at me.

"Well, I met four other boys my age when we were all trying out for the X Factor. We never made it very far, but we stayed in touch. Once a month, we get together. We're kind of a band."

"That is so cool! Where are they from?"

"Chesire, Bradford, Doncaster, and Wolverhampton."

"Wow. No wonder it's only once a month."

Our conversation went on for another ten minutes before our food came. We were mostly silent then because we were filling our mouths with delicious ribs.

Afterwards, we walked back out to his car and when we got in Niall asked:

"Pepper, my band and I are meeting together and my house this Friday. Would you like to meet them?"

"Absolutely!" I cried out. I immediately blushed slightly as I probably just made a fool of myself. He only smiled.

"Aren't you going to ask where I live?" Niall then asked.

"School directory," I said. "Duh."

"You're mocking me!" Niall said with offence. I laughed and nodded.

When we pulled up to my house, I thanked him for the ride and said goodbye. I walked in the house and changed into pajamas. As I was crawling into bed, I got a notification on my laptop that someone was FaceTiming me.

My parents.

I gulped and quickly answered the call.

"Hi sweetie!" They said unanimously. I waved and smiled cheekily.

"Hi guys!"

"How are you darling? We've missed you so much!" My mom said.

"I'm fantastic! How's work?"

"Business is booming," dad said with a smile. "How's school?"

"The usual," I said. "There's a new boy at school though. I haven't had a proper conversation with him, but he seems nice," I lied

If my parents found out about Niall, they'd kill me.

"Speaking of boys," my mom said. "We found someone here in Wolverhampton who seems to be your type!"

I raised my eyebrows. "Really? Mom, stop kidding around."

"No honey I'm serious! His name is James and he's coming to London on Friday and we want you to meet him." I swallowed hard.

"But mom, I have plans on Friday," I complained.

"What do you mean by plans?"

"Studying. Lots of studying," I lied.

"Well this time you have an excuse to not study," my mom said gaily. "You'll meet him on Friday after school gets out, okay?"

"Alright," I sighed.

"Okay sweetie, we have to go now. Babye!"

"Bye!" I waved and ended the call. I then threw my laptop to the side and grunted in frustration.

What am I going to tell Niall?