Sporty Princess

Mutual Attraction

Brittany’s jaw dropped to the ground, her eyes bugged out, and her heart started racing. This wasn’t anywhere in the concert rules or prizes. What could this boy be up to?

“Me? Go to dinner w-with you? And the boys?” she stammered.

“Yeah. Nothing too fancy, just a little get together.”

“I- we’d love to!” Brittany squealed. She jumped at Niall, throwing herself into his arms. He very willingly hugged her back.

“Great. We’ll pick you up at 6:30!” Niall called as he jogged back out to where Paul was waiting for him.

As Brittany walked back to her team, every face was lit up with curiosity.

Ashlyn, a soft-spoken sophomore, finally spoke up. “So… what did he say?”

Fifty-nine eager faces looked back, waiting for Brittany to spill the beans.

“Oh, nothing,” Brittany teased, twirling her hair around her finger.

“Tell us before we force it out of you!” another girl called.

“Okay, okay,” Brittany giggled. “He… he asked me out to dinner! With the other boys too!”

Cheers filled the air as everyone, even Coach Swartzentruber, jumped up and down for Brittany. The rest of practice passed in a blur. Practice ended at 4 p.m. – that would barely leave her enough time to get home, shower, and get ready for dinner. She had to look perfect. The boys were around girls with super model good looks every day and Brittany wanted to leave a lasting impression. As soon as the clock struck 4, Brittany was out the doors, not even bothering to say goodbye to anyone. She ran as fast as she could, making it home ten minutes later. She burst through her front door. Her mom’s head popped out of the home office to the left of the doorway, looking very worried.

“Britt, are you okay?” her mom asked, when she saw her doubled over, struggling to catch her breath.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she said, standing up, her breathing having returned to normal. “I won the competition, Mom! Mechelle and I got the Ultimate VIP tickets!”

“Oh, honey, that’s wonderful, but I thought they would be calling?”

“I did too, but I don’t really have time to talk! The boys are picking me up at 6:30… I have to get ready!”

“The boys? What are you – do you mean the One Direction boys? Brittany?” Her mom called after her disappearing figure.

Brittany ran into her room, shutting the door behind her. She jumped onto her neatly made bed, hugging her pillow – which had a One Direction pillow case covering it – and cried tears of joy. Wiping away the last of her tears, she jumped up and turned on her Up All Night CD before quickly getting into the shower.

After drying off, Brittany slipped into the new dress she had been dying to wear – it had an adorable floral print, perfect for summer, with a plaited brown belt around the waist. She paired it with her dark blue flats and feather earrings to complement the dark blue on the dress.

While she was combing out her long, light brown hair, she heard the doorbell ring. In a panic, she looked at the clock. It was only 5:57!

Niall must be early, she thought. What a gentleman.

While Brittany began to sing along to I Wish, Stephani answered the door. Seeing Niall Horan on her doorstep came as quite a shock.

“Oh, my!” she exclaimed. “Niall?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Niall said, reaching out for a handshake. “I’m here to pick your daughter up for dinner – the lads are still in the car. I realize I’m a little early…”

“Oh, that is quite alright, dear! Come on in, you can sit in the living room while you wait for her.”

Niall happily followed Brittany’s mother into the living room and was greeted by four bright, shining faces staring up at him.

“WHO ARE YOU?” One little boy shouted at Niall.

“Now Mason, where are your manners?” their mother scolded.

“I think that’s Neil. He’s the boy Brittany’s always talking about… the “sexy” one,” Tyler, the eldest, stated.

“Tyler, mind your manners! This is Niall. He is here to take Brittany to dinner… I’m assuming because she won the ticket competition?” Stephani looked to Niall for help.

“Oh, yes. We thought it would be a fun way to get to know Br- err, the winner better.”

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

“Oh, excuse me, that’s my cake!” Before Stephani ran into the kitchen, she turned around looking at her sons and said, “Now boys, mind your manners! Niall is a guest in our home.”

Once their mother had left, the four boys ran up to Niall, asking all sorts of questions. Chuckling, he gladly answered them all. Satisfied with themselves, Brittany’s brothers all scampered outside to play a game of 2v2 football. Now alone, Niall leaned back and sighed. In the quiet of the house, he could faintly hear the beginning of Up All Night. Humming along to himself, he realized it wasn’t just Liam singing. He could hear a faint voice, a girl’s voice, singing as well. He sat there, mesmerized by the mysterious voice’s beautiful tone – she could hit all the notes perfectly and her breathing was spot on. Sitting there for a few moments more, Niall realized he had heard that voice before – it was Brittany! He couldn’t believe that such a powerful voice could come from such a small body.

No matter what I do, he thought to himself, I have got to get the lads to hear her.

Upstairs, while she sang along, oblivious to the fact that Niall was listening to her, Brittany was carefully curling her long, light brown hair. After having spent almost twenty minutes on it, she was finally satisfied. Reapplying her coral pink lip gloss and touching up her black eyeliner, Brittany gave herself the once over in the mirror.

I look pretty dang good, if I do say so myself.

(Brittany’s outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=53075348)

Smiling to herself, Brittany looked at the clock: 6:32. Making sure everything was in place once more, she turned off her music and raced down the stairs. Walking into the living room, she was astonished at how breath-taking Niall looked in a pair of blue jeans, Supras, and his favorite blue t-shirt. When Niall saw her, he couldn’t help but look her up and down. She looked absolutely phenomenal and he wished he could be taking her out as more than a friend.

Why can’t she be mine?

“Ready to go?”

“Yeah, let me just go say bye to my mom,” Brittany replied.

Returning quickly from the kitchen, Brittany said, “I’m all set.”

As Niall smiled at her, Brittany felt herself go weak in the knees and she could feel the butterflies in her stomach.

Why can’t he be mine?

She realized Niall was holding out his arm, so she quickly recovered and slipped her arm through his.

This night was going to be perfect.