Her Song || Liam Payne

Chapter 17 [Julie]

Today was our trip to Eastbourne. Ms. Russo's Vocals class and Mr. Lawrence's Music class are taking a trip to the Eastbourne beach for us to get inspired. I'm kinda clueless on how this can relate to our classes but whatever. Our destination is Eastbourne beach so this is gonna be fun.

I woke up around 6 in the morning since we leave at 8 and I haven't even packed yet. I took a shower and put on my blue and white striped bikini. Then I covered it with a white shirt and a pair of beige shorts. I put on my gray jacket and grabbed my flip flops. I'm done dressing up so it's time to pack up.

I grabbed a notebook and a pen since Mr. Lawrence expects us to write a song on our own. I also grabbed an extra swimsuit, a shirt, another pair of shorts and another stuff that I needed. I also grabbed my iPad since the train ride's probably gonna be boring. 2 hours of doing nothing but sitting on the same chair, waiting for us arriving at Eastbourne.

Alright, good enough. I walked out of my room to grab some breakfast. As I made my way to the kitchen, I was expecting only the echoes of Alex and Nessy's laughter but I heard more. I dropped my duffel bag on the couch in the living room and went to the kitchen. There, I spotted Nessy, Alex and the boys of One Direction talking.

"Morning Jay!", Harry chirped. "Morning!", the others greeted in unison. "Hello.", I said. Well, I was feeling unsure on what to say.

"The boys brought bagels.", Nessy pointed at the table. I shook my head. "We're taking a field trip. I'd go with the malt cereal then I'll just pack a bagel since I don't wanna take time.", I said. The boys, except Nessy, looked at me confused.

"Spoken like a true New Yorker.", she smirked. "What's that supposed to mean?", Liam asked. "Well, you see..", Nessy began. "When we take field trips, we don't eat heavy stuff. We eat light stuff and we just bring some food in case we get hungry during the trip.", she explained. "Ooohh", the lads nodded in unison.

I grabbed some malt cereal from one of the cabinets and poured the powder on a mug then mixed it with warm water. "Why are you guys here anyway?", I asked. "They asked if we would like to ride with them in their tour bus so we can go to Eastbourne together.", Alex answered. "I thought we were riding a train together as a class.", I said.

"Well, Paul, our bodyguard, says that it's for our safety.", Harry said. "And Liam here, doesn't want to leave you alone.". I looked at Liam from the corner of my eye and saw his cheeks turned a little bit pink. What an adorable sight, and then he turned to me. "But I knew that you didn't want to leave Alex and Nessy alone so we dragged the 3 of you." , he added.

"That's very sweet of you guys.", I smiled. "Alright, we'll go." The lads cheered and I looked at Liam who had the biggest grin on his face. "I'm glad you're with us.", he said then he gave me a bear hug. I pulled away from him and smirked, "Really?"

He nodded and then Louis butted in. "He really is Jules! When we were talking to Paul he kept ranting 'Can I bring Julie?', 'Can Julie come with us?', 'Can we please let Julie ride with us?'", Louis mocked him.

I blushed and glanced at Liam. He was looking down and his cheeks were now tomato red. He was embarrassed too. I just smiled slightly and tired to keep my cool. I glanced at Nessy and signalled for her to help me.

"Hey guys, it's almost 8. You think we should go?", she asked. Alex and the boys agreed. We grabbed our bags and went out of the Flores building.

"How long is the trip to Eastbourne?", I asked Liam as we made our way to the parking lot. "An hour and 23 minutes.", he said. I nodded.

"You think we'll get lost again?", he asked. I smiled at him. "Liam, I'm 18. You're 20. I think our minds are mature enough to know what to do when we're lost.", I said. He laughed.

"Hey, wanna sit with me in the bus?", he asked. "We can talk about the old times or just chill." He laughed. I blushed and nodded, "Sure Li. That'd be great."

We smiled at each other as we entered their tour bus. Wow, this trip's gonna be totally fun.

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The trip was sort of slow. The other students went to King's Cross since they were gonna take the train. Mr. Lawrence and Ms. Russo gave us permission to ride with the boys so here we are, in a One Direction tour bus, on our way to Eastbourne. Well, specifically Eastbourne Beach.

Alex was teaching Nessy how to play the guitar, Larry Stylinson were both on the phone. Louis was talking to Eleanor Calder while Harry was talking to his mom, who kept checking on him. Niall was asleep on the seat behind me while Zayn was in the small bathroom, probably fixing his hair. Liam was nowhere so I was guessing he was with the driver or something.

I was reading the West Side Story script. Mrs. Roberts gave me and Rene our copies in advance since we're both the lead. My eyes didn't avert its attention when someone occupied the seat beside me.

"You've got to be joking.", a thick British accent said. I looked up to see Liam looking at me and the West Side Story script. "What?", I asked. "It's beach day. Take a break or something. West Side Story rehearsals don't start till Monday. You have the weekend to memorize this.", he said. I rolled my eyes. "Easy for you to say. You're a jet.", I snapped. He laughed. "Come on, Jules. Let's just talk. Please?", he smiled. I rolled my eyes and decided to give in. "Oh, alright. You know I can't stand you.", I said as I put the script back to my bag.

"What do you want to talk about?", I asked. Liam ran his fingers through his hair. "Well...", he started. "Yeah?", I asked while raising an eyebrow. "It's about Shirley.", he said. I felt my heart crack a little, but I can't show Liam how painful it is for me everytime he talks about his super model girlfriend.

"I want to break up with her.", he said. My eyes widened.

I don't wanna sound bad and all, but I really want him to break up with Shirley. Not because I love him and all, but Shirley can be a total skank most of the time. She's like a disastrous Kim Kardashian or some crazy Cassandra July from Glee.

"Why do you want to break up with her?", I asked him. He hesitated but then gave in. "I just don't feel the same feelings I had for her before.", he said. "And well, I've been noticing how she acts towards the lads lately." And Nessy. And Alex.

"Liam," I said. "I'm no love expert but I think you should do what you have to do. If you want to break up with her, then go. It will always be your decision. Not mine, not boys. It's yours."

I really wanted to say, "Go break-up with that bitch Liam!" but I knew it was wrong. I'm not the kind of person to ruin other people's relationships so if Liam wants to break up with Shirley then let him. I'm not gonna do anything dirty.

"Thanks Jules.", he said. I smiled. "Whatever your decision is, I'll support you.", I touched his hand. His fingers slowly laced into mine.

The warmth of his touch is enough to make me melt. Our eyes were lost in each other's. I couldn't conclude anything about this. It didn't make sense, but it felt right. This moment was so right. But then, I remembered why it didn't make sense in the 1st place.

Shirley.

Even if Liam wants to dump her, he still belongs to Shirley. I instantly let go of his hand and looked away from him. 

Awkward silence conquered until Liam finally spoke once again.

"Remember the day we went to Eastbourne?", he smiled. I nodded. Who would forget about that day. "Yeah, you dragged me with you since you didn't want to go alone, shopping with Ruth and Nicola.", I chuckled. His faced turned red a bit then he turned to me, "I remember every single bit of that day."

And with that, we started reminiscing the days before he became Liam Payne of One Direction and before I became Julie Watson, Broadway's rising star.