To say we were the elephant in the room would be an understatement.
The room that was previously filled with laughter and chatter now filled with a suffocating silence, as people stared in disbelief.
"Umm... Hi?" Ashton greats but it comes out as more of a question. Finally some of the people turn away, but most stay still staring at us. Most going all heart eyes on the guys, but there was also a couple of evil glances being sent my way.
I awkwardly walked towards an empty table and was relieved to see the guys following behind me. As I sit down most of the people have stopped staring and I release a breathe I didn't know I was holding in.
"Boo." I hear someone yell in my ear, making me squeal and jump. In the process of doing so, I manage to drop my sandwich on the table making it splat everywhere.
I look back to see Jake and Zach behind me in fits of laughter. "You complete Jerks!" I groan as I look back at my ruined sandwich.
"That was payback for ditching me." Jake sasses as he sits down next to me.
"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot you have no other friends." I respond with a small smirk on my face.
"Oh no you didn't." Jake adds before pulling his leg back, ready to kick me under the table, but while doing so, manages to hit his shin against the table instead, letting out a yelp.
"Karma is a female dog." I sigh before taking a bite of what was left of my sandwich.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We walk through the double doors of the school for break, and immediately Calum and Luke sprint over towards the tree where I found Luke yesterday.
Calum attempts to climb it while Luke just hugs it like its a person. I giggle a little at the adorableness of the scene playing out infornt of me.
Ashton, Michael, Jake, Zach and I walk over to the tree and I sit down at its trunk while guys just stand there.
"A lot of great memories have been made by this exact tree." Calum, who was hanging from the tree, begins. "This is where I first met Luke and Michael, and also where we decided to make a band. Lukey also had his first kiss with Aleisha here." Calum lists.
"I don't think I would consider the last one as a 'great memory'." Luke mumbles sitting down next to me.
Calum swings back and forth on the thick sturdy branch of the tree like a little kid on a jungle gym.
"You should watch out dude. That branch looks too fat to hold on to and knowing your luck, you'll probably be on the floor, face planted within the next three seconds." Michael points out to Calum.
"I am not going to fa-" Calum begins before he swings backwards too hard, looses his grip on the branch and lands flat in his face.
"Stupid freaking psychic." Calum accuses, clutching his nose while the rest of us are just laughing our butts off. "Wow. What nice friends I've got." Calum sighs and I'm not sure, but I swear I could see Jake blushing from the corner of my eye as Calum called him his friend.
What a fangirl.
"How long are you guys actually gonna stay in Australia? Aren't you really busy?" I ask, curiosity getting the best of me.
"Why? Have you had enough of us already?" Luke asks, faking hurt.
"Yes. You guys are just ew." I respond making the best mean girl voice I could possibly make.
Ashton giggles his cute little giggle before answering. "We're back here for break and we'll leave for America in about two and a half weeks."
"By the way. This is completely off topic but there's a fare at the beach. Do you guys want to go with us?" Michael asks us and Jake doesn't even hesitate before saying, "Yes of course we want to." And immediately turns bright red and steps back trying to hide his face. The guys chuckle before Ashton confirms "Cool. We'll meet you at the beach at six." I ponder for a while trying to figure out where on 'the beach' it could be. As if he could read my mind, Luke suggests "We can pick you guys up if you want." I nod a little and smile.
"That would be good." I say just before the bell rings and we all stand up to leave and separate our ways.
"We should probably go now so bye munchkin." Luke bids his farewell directing it to me.
"Hey, I'm not that small. You're just ridiculously tall." I lecture him.
"Yeah sure," Michael chimes in.
"I love you guys!" Calum screams pulling all of us in for a group hug before they leave.
"Well that was interesting." Zach comments while Jake just stands there completely starstruck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Quiet down please." My math teacher, a young brown hair, brown eyed lady called Ms. Collins, tries to get us to settle down.
"So today we will be having a surprise test, so for those of you who have been paying attention to what I have been teaching you, you'll be fine and if you haven't, well, you can say goodbye to a good future if you keep it up." She announces cheerfully and with a hint of humor. "And for you Kathleen, this is to see how far you are." She adds looking at me and I nod in response. She hands out the test papers earning multiple groans.
I honestly like math. I think it's easy and fun. As she hands me my paper I mumble a quiet "Thanks ma'am.".
"Such good manners, child. The others should learn from you." She comments making me smile.
I wiz through the paper and before I know it, I'm done. The first one. I hand Ms. Collins my paper and she says that since it's the end of the day in fifteen minutes, I can leave early. I thank her before shyly walking out of the class, fully aware of the stares from the others.
As I walk out of the double doors of the school, I decide to just walk home so I send Jake a quick text informing him of this.
The hot Australian air hits me hard so I decide to take off my flannel and tie it around my waist, leaving me in my plain black singlet. I can feel my pale skin slightly burn at the exposure to the sun but it feels nice. I look down at my bracelets covering my scars and smile because I know I'm stronger now and will not do it again.
I pull out my phone and plug my earphones in and immediately So Long Soldier by All Time Low blasts through my ears.
I walk through the door to be met with my empty new house. "I'm home." I yell hoping to get a response from my mom. Just then my mom comes dancing down the stairs with earphones in.
"Hey Katie." She yells as if I'm half deaf and I scrunch up my face and cover my ears in response.
She pulls out her earphones and eyes me suspiciously. "School only just ended about a minute ago. How are you already here?" She interrogates.
"I finished my math test early and the teacher said I could leave as soon as I finish."I say dropping my bag onto the ground. "By the way mom, can I go to a fare with some friends?" I ask her trying not to make it a big deal.
"With friends." She repeats with air quotes. "Who would those friends be? Is it possible that they're boys?" She asks wiggling her eyebrows.
"Yes mom. They are and I'm going with Jake, Zach, Luke, Calum, Michael and Ashton." I respond with a sigh. It's not a big deal. I'm going to the fair with some guys, not getting married.
"Fine missy. Have fun." She gives in with a cheeky smile.
"Thanks mommy. Luke says they'll come pick me and Jake up at six." I tell her before running up the stairs.
I let down my black hair that was previously in a high ponytail and shake it out. I groan when I realize how greasy it is, so I go to the bathroom to step into the shower. Since it was only four o'clock I would have time.
The cold water feels amazing on my boiling skin as I run run my fingers through my drenched hair.
Once I finish I step out of the shower, put on my undergarments and start blow drying my hair. Unfortunately having long hair means it takes longer to dry.
After I finish drying my hair, I take my toothbrush and brush my teeth so I would have bearable breathe. Since my hair is boringly straight from blow drying it, I take out my curling iron from the bathroom cupboard and plug it in.
While I wait for it to heat up, I apply my make up which is pretty simple consisting of mascara, eyeliner, light eyeshadow and a bit of lipgloss. After that I curl my into loose waves.
I pick up all my clothes and head out the bathroom door.
I walk out the door to be met with a familiar pair of beautiful blue eyes. Immediately after realizing that Luke is currently seeing me in nothing but my black lace underwear and bra, I cover up my body and run into my room shutting the door.
My face is boiling hot now and it takes me a while to snap back to reality. I waddle over to my walk in closet and pull out a pair of black skinny jeans and a red flannel where I had cut off the sleeves so I could where it as a shirt. I also take my all black converse and walk towards the door. I take a deep breathe before opening the door to see Luke still standing exactly where he was before. His face was a slight crimson color as he looked down to the ground.
"Nice bra." He whispers as I walk past him to the stairs.
"Stupid pervert." I whisper yell back at him, punching him on the shoulder. He chuckles before jokingly urging me to continue walking.
After saying goodbye to my mom we skip to the black van. Before getting in I yank him back by his arm.
"Nobody finds out that you saw me on my bra and underwear." I tell him with a little bit of humor.
"No worries child." He responds with a wicked smirk. We step into the car and buckle up. As soon as Luke's done he yells; "I just say Kathy in her bra and underwear!" I look at him in disbelief as their stares go from me to Luke also in disbelief.
"Really? What color were they?" Michael asks perversely, sounding too interested for my liking.
"Black lace." Luke states proudly still wearing a smirk.
"Good job mate." Calum congratulates him with a bro handshake.
"Perverts." I sigh turning my head to the window.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fair is amazing. There's lights everywhere, they actually play good music and the rides look fun and safe.
"Hey Kate, let's go to the Ferris wheel!" Zach exclaims. I didn't really low Zach that well before coming to the fair but now I see that he's actually really sweet and nice. He naught me cotton candy, soda and even won me a unicorn cuddly toy.
"No thanks. I'm not that keen on heights." I confess shyly.
"Kathy! You wanna go to the carousel with me?" Luke asks walking over to me.
"Sorry mate. We're about to go to the Ferris wheel." Zach interjects slinging an arm around my shoulder. An unreadable emotion flashed through Luke's eyes, but it was gone as fast as it came.
"Okay. Have fun you two." He says before stalking off towards the other guys.
Me and Zach walk over to the Ferris wheel and my stomach churned at its height.
"It's alright you little guppy." Zach chuckles as we get into a carriage thing.
I gasp and grab onto Zach's arm as the Ferris wheel starts to turn.
This shall be an interesting ride.