Goodbye » n.h.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Desirah's POV

I set up my tripod, an aching pain in the back of my neck. Fridays were usually my good days, but I had been too stressed during my Graphic Arts class. I had strained my neck too much, so now it hurt.

I gently put my iPod vertically on my tripod. I sat down on my bed and crossed my legs. No, I wasn't doing anything special. Saint Patrick's Day was already passed. I was just going to Skype Niall again.

I wiggled in excitement. I loved this new advancement in our relationship. I got to see him at least five out of the seven days of the week. He was sometimes busy as a famous person, and if that was the case, we'd just DM each other over Twitter. Niall knew a lot about me, and I knew a lot about him. We were true friends.

Niall still didn't know what I looked like, and I knew that irritated him. But I was doing him a favor. He didn't want to see my ugly face. He wouldn't want to make contact with me again, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to live with myself if that ever happened.

I reached over to touch the "call" button on the Skype app on my iPod. I waited patiently for Niall to pick up. I was so excited to see him again!

Someone barged into my dorm, the door slamming against the wall. I jumped thirty feet in the air in surprise. I lurched forward and detached my iPod from my tripod. I stuffed it under my thigh as Linda came into view.

"Oh, you're still here," she said gruffly. She plopped down on her bed and began to tap on her smartphone.

My heartbeat steadily slowed down and my breathing returned to normal. I watched Linda nervously, hoping she would get up and leave sometime soon. Since she was on her phone, she probably wasn't going anywhere for the rest of the evening.

Wait, what? What was I doing? Why did I want to keep Niall a secret from Linda? Now was the perfect opportunity to rub my accomplishment in her face, to prove I was worth something. I achieved something that would never happen to her in a million years. So why was I hesitating?

I knew why. I was scared. What if Linda didn't believe me? She most likely wouldn't. She would think I was lying.

But even if I had proof, she might tell Isabelle. And if Isabelle found out, she would be my ultimate undoing. She would probably bully me more and make me feel miserable because I was friends with a celebrity and she wasn't. I didn't want that to happen.

I would just have to wait until Linda left before calling Niall or sending him a message saying that I couldn't talk to him today. But what if Niall didn't wait? What if he called me or messaged me while Linda was still here? That wouldn't be good either. I had to do something fast.

"Hey, Linda," I said quietly.

"What?" she asked impatiently.

"Where's Davis?"

"Hanging out with his soccer friends. They have a game later on tonight."

Dang it, so I couldn't use Davis as a diversion.... Wait a minute, diversion. That gave me an idea.

"Do you know what movies are out currently?" I asked Linda.

She made an exasperated noise. "No. How am I supposed to know? And why would I care?"

I ignored her questions. "I know you're a huge fan of 'Divergent', and Isabelle is too...."

"So?"

"Didn't you know 'Divergent' is out in theaters? It's supposed to be really good."

Linda's head shot up and she stared at me. "Have you seen it?" she asked.

I lied and nodded. "Yeah, it was really good. A couple things were off, though. Like--"