Dedication to Louisa_Tomlinson12 :)
Chapter Twenty-Six
In the past five months, since my last injured body part, I had managed to forget how difficult it is to completely alter everything in my life to cater to that certain injury. It sucked. But I guess I couldn't really complain, seeing as it was only a sprain. I'd gotten off lucky, broken bones are much less fun to deal with.
"Hey, Al, we gotta get outside. We have about fifteen minutes before the filming starts for the voting off," Trinity poked her head into my room.
I made a face at her, to which she laughed at before continuing down the hall. I heard her relay the same message to Ariana and Andie. With great struggle, I forced my foot off the pillow that had been keeping it elevated. In a split second, I came to the conclusion that going on TV in only a bra would probably not be a good idea. So I flung my over-sized hoodie over my head.
"I.. I… I just think I'm going to get voted off!" A girl could be heard crying from her room, farther along down the hall.
Jeez, this show is totally making me a softie.. I felt slightly sympathetic for that girl. I mean, yeah, I'd still do anything to get out of this madhouse.. But for this girl, One Direction meant everything. It was hard not to be sympathetic.
"Al! There you are! Okay, so I was listening to Youtube covers and… Please tell me you haven't listened to Alex Goot's collab of One More Night? Because I would really like to be the one to tell you about something and ruin your life with it," Andie ran up to me in the living room.
We fell into step as we wandered through the double glass doors that had been propped open. As usual, cameras were getting rolled around, crew members were running around frantically, and the girls of the house were all fretting about their looks.
"Uh, no, of course not, is it good? I mean, it's Alex Goot, it's probably amazing.." I rambled off, doing a pretty horrible job at lying.
"Dagnabbit, you've heard it." Andie muttered, her slim arms crossing. "What about the Somebody I Used To Know cover by Pentatonix?"
"Watched it ten months ago." I said, feeling slightly bad.. It was obvious Andie had become determined to show me something mind-blowing as revenge for getting her into Sherlock, Marianas Trench and the VlogBrothers.
"I'll find something, just you wait!" She announced with determination, as the two of us came upon the setting for the night.
When it came to the voting off 'ceremony', they had decided to change locations every week. This time, the decision had been to hold it outside. Stupidest idea ever. But that's only my opinion. Anyways, the entire outdoor area had been decked out. Since the sun had already set, lights had to be strategically set up all around to keep the area bright.
"I'm going to go talk to Jules. See yah," Andie nodded towards me before flouncing over to the other girl.
I hopped over to the refreshments table, knowing it was probably the best chance of solitude. It was concealed by huge canvases that we'd stand in front of when the time came. Despite the fact I still didn't want to be here, I had come to know exactly what was going to happen every single day here. I grabbed a water bottle and brought it to my lips.
"How's your foot?"
"Jeez, do you guys ever stop sneaking up on poor innocent human beings who don't appreciate getting heart attacks?" I practically yelled, my water tipping over as I grasped my heart.
"Bad habit, sorry." Harry laughed, reaching his hand out to level my water bottle once again. I glowered at him before twisting the cap back onto it. "Are you going to answer my question?"
"My foot is fine. Doctor said I'll be kicking a soccer ball again in just a few weeks. I just have to stay off it.. Which seemed really easy in the beginning, but I forgot how much I freaking love my foot. I feel like we went through this tough break-up and I can't rely on it anymore."
"Um, are you okay?" Harry questioned, although an amused smile tugged at his mouth.
"Yeah, just a weird mood. Got absolutely no sleep last night," I frowned as I thought of all the happy hours of sleep I could have gotten.
"Ah, sleep deprivation makes for the best conversations!" Harry cheered, but once he noticed my grumpy expression, he toned it down. "Reason?"
"Just one of those nights. Wait.. What are you doing here? I thought there was that whole thing where we're not supposed to see you after Friday night until the actual ceremony begins?" I stepped back to look at him, half expecting to find out I had actually been talking to myself for the past five minutes. Lack of sleep can do that to you.
Harry grinned. "I'm not supposed to be talking to you. But no one's noticed my absence so-"
"Mate, we looked everywhere for you!" Liam ran up to us, his hand clamping onto Harry's shoulder. He turned to me and I could see an apology already written across his lips. "I'm so- Oh. Al! Hey. How are you?"
"Brilliant, great. Fantastic. True, not false." I said without thinking.
Liam looked to me, confusion written in his eyes. Harry answered for me, "Sleep deprived."
"And suddenly everything makes sense! Harry, we have to get back before we get yelled at. Apparently we were supposed to start filming like ten minutes ago.." Liam turned, hand still on Harry's shoulder, to inform him.
"You guys would make a cute couple," I muttered, and cursed to myself the second I realized what had spewed out of my mouth. Honestly, I should be forced to sleep eight hours a day, because things like this happen. "Yeah, okay, I better get going. Have to go get my name called and be forced to stay another week. See you."
Liam, with a small smirk, stopped me and raised an eyebrow. "You sure you can get there okay?"
"I might get lost, but oh well. Bye," I waved and started limping my way back to where I knew the populated area was.
"Girls! The boys will be coming in any moment now," Miranda said loudly over a megaphone. I laughed to myself, knowing that at the moment, Liam and Harry were getting a lecture for wandering off. "Please, get into your usual alphabetical line."
The fifteen of us all started shuffling along, and I knew exactly who I was going to be next to. Just fudging perfect.
"Allison! How have you been? Enjoying being the center of attention? Because it's all going to end tonight!"
"Hi, Simone." I replied before turning my back to her. I then muttered under my breath, "Purple dinosaur."
"What did you just call me?" Simone demanded to know, tapping me on the shoulder.
As I pivoted to face her, I noticed that every single blonde strand was in place and there was enough make-up on her face to cover Africa.
"I wasn't calling you anything, I simply said 'purple dinosaur', you know, like Barney?" I smiled sweetly towards her.
"Ugh, whatever." Simone tossed her hair and looked away. And yes, that happened exactly as how you pictured it in your head.
Fifteen minutes of pure boredom occurred, as I tried my best to avoid Simone. It was quite hard to do when I was practically forced to be shoulder to shoulder with the devil herself. But finally, the boys had arrived looking dapper (Words that Teresa whispered into my ear) and started to give off their weekly spiel. It was their usual, and it almost made me laugh. They no longer even attempted at sounding at all cheery or sincere.
"If we say your name, please come down and accept the signed cd of Take Me Home." Zayn motioned to the ten CD's that were lined up all fancily on a table.
"First girl is Cara," Harry picked up a CD and gave the girl a hug.
"Simone," Louis announced, although I swear I saw him grimace. Now that I knew that the remaining contestants hadn't been chosen by the boys themselves, it all made a bit more sense. But after Niall had revealed that fact, he had sworn me to secrecy. So I was the only one in the house to know. Yay secrets.
"Katie," Niall smiled towards the girl. I concealed a smile, the girl practically fainted as she stepped down the stairs and attacked Niall with a hug.
"Trinity!" Zayn said, his eyes lit up as the girl descended.
Liam eyed us all, taking his sweet time to announce the next name. Although, they all were. I felt his brown eyes land on me and I mentally prepared myself for my name to be called. But then he smirked at me and looked towards another girl. "Jules."
"Andie."
"Teresa."
"Natasha."
I couldn't help but think.. I might not actually be chosen this week. I could go home. Maybe I was going home.
"Rebecca."
That's when I realized.. Nine names had already been called. It was Ariana or me. Or one of the other girls.. But I felt like it had been narrowed down to either Ariana or myself. I wanted to go home.. That I knew without a doubt. But I had, despite things I've said, I had been having a good time here. Yet, Ariana deserved to stay, she loved the boys and had been a fan of them since the beginning.
Louis, the one announcing the very last name, took forever. Finally, he held up the last CD. "Al."
The minutes that followed that announcement, were crazy. I had to get a proper goodbye in to Ariana, who had tear-filled eyes. "One of you better win this thing," she choked out to Trinity, Andie and I.
"Even if we don't, it doesn't matter. I'm so glad I met you, Ariana. You're such a happy person and you've uplifted my spirits on more than one occasion. I'll text you all the time, okay?" Andie embraced the girl tightly.
I was next, giving her an awkward hug. Still not used to having girl friends. "I promised Caleb I'd introduce the two of you. When the show is over, you can come hang out with me. You'd fit right in with the guys and I."
"Thanks, Al." Ariana smiled briefly at me before turning to Trinity, who gave her a heartfelt speech. The kind that only Trinity could give.
"Let me in," Niall tapped me on the shoulder, passing us all to also hug Ariana. "It was great getting to know you. Thanks for being so amazing and keep in contact, okay?"
"Of course," Ariana beamed, the pads of her fingers wiping away at the tears trailing down her cheek.
After everyone said goodbye, to the other girls as well, we were ushered into the house. They had a fondue fountain, beverages and other snacks littered around the living room and dining room. I really didn't feel in the mood to party, as I was still feeling guilty. Ariana deserved to be here so much more than I did.
"Hey, I really need to talk to you." Niall nudged me after thirty minutes of 'socializing.' My eyes were wide as Niall shoved his hands in his pockets.
If I had been any other normal teenage girl, I'd say he looked adorable. His hands were deep into his pockets, his blonde hair tousled as if he had just ran a hand through it, his eyes looking down and his shoes scuffing the ground nervously. Only if I had been a normal teenage girl.
"Yeah, sure. Go for it," I shrugged, shoving another chocolate covered strawberry into my mouth.
"Can we go outside?" He tilted his head to the side precariously. I nodded, resolving myself to silence. I followed him and we passed Louis, Jules, Teresa and Trinity.. Trinity, of course, widened her eyes and mouthed 'WHAT' as I hopped past. I gave her a shrug of uncertainty and continued to play 'follow the leader'. Niall led me past the pool, to where Harry and I had talked that very first night. Hard to believe that had happened just four weeks ago. He motioned for me to have a seat.
"How did you manage to bribe the cameramen not to follow us?" I joked, trying to break the awkwardness that had enveloped us.
"I have my ways," Niall laughed before his face settled into an extremely serious expression. "Listen, Ali.."
I opened my mouth to protest, but fell silent. I had to get over the fact Eli was the first one to call me Ali. He was just a stupid boy. A stupid boy I had known since diaper days. A stupid boy that had been my best friend for six years of my life. A stupid boy who didn't know that trying to impress his friends would result in losing me as a friend. He was just a stupid boy.
"You okay?" Niall noticed my silence, and probably the way I stared off dramatically into the distance. Stupid Eli.
"Yeah. Sleep deprived," I managed to say. "You were saying? It's cold out here and I want more fondue.."
"Yeah, well.. Uh.. I think you might already know this.. I just really think you should hear it from me.. Ali.. I like you… And more than just a friend."
~
*Dramatic music fades into the background.*
LOVE YOU GUYS MORE THAN I LOVE LISTENING TO ALEX GOOT, LEGACI, PARACHUTE AND PENTATONIX.