-Shannon Chin-
••January 21, 2013••
I walked into the small London recording studio with my violin, taking off my heavy, full-length coat and hanging it on the coatrack. It was exciting to know that I had won the violin competition I competed in every year – not that I thought I wasn’t going to. I was clearly the best, it was just good that the judges could see that this time.
Last time I was here in London, the stupid blonde judge thought Kathy Anne was better than me. We were one point separated in the scoring. ONE POINT. That was just ridiculous - I was so much better than that Kathy Anne girl. Thank God the blonde judge dropped out after last competition and let a new judge take her seat. Maybe she read all the kind letters my parents, Faith's mother and I sent her…
Anyways, whatever. What really matters is that, for the first time, I am the 18-21 age group national champion, and with that came a pretty sweet recording contract. I finally held the champion spot that Kathy Anne had stolen from me for the past six years, and today was the first day of recording.
I had to admit it - I was a little nervous.
I let out a deep sigh, perching on the uncomfortable mini-couch in the recording studio lobby with my violin case resting on my lap. All I was to do left was to wait for my manager. Where was she?
I rolled my eyes, pulling out my iPhone out of my pocket. Some people are just so inconsiderate. Clicking the phone's on button, I was suddenly spammed with millions of texts, emails, and calls from Mrs. Gray.
My immediate thought was, “What the heck does Mrs. Gray want?!” I was on break, after all! But when I clicked on one of her texts, I panicked a bit.
Okay, so I'm going to get one thing straight. I wasn’t one to call Faith Gray my friend. Nope. Definitely not my friend. That would be so weird. She was so boring and unlike me; everyone knew that. Faith and her mum moved to my neighborhood a few years ago, right after some surgery that Faith had. One day, as I stood outside my family's mansion, Mrs. Gray walked over to my yard and told me about her daughter. She insisted that I would become Faith's best friend. I was skeptical at first, but when she showed me how much she would pay me every hour I was definitely up for it.
Working for Mrs. Gray was nice and simple. All I did with Faith was study or talk about my hobbies. It was actually pretty nice to have someone to just sit there and listen to me ramble for hours and hours. Anything that would keep Faith calm was all Mrs. Gray wanted – so that’s what I did. I didn’t know why. I just needed money to buy the newest trends, and if I had to babysit with this dull girl for my shopping money, whatever. Mrs. Gray would get mad at me whenever Faith and I would fight, though. It was just obvious that she wasn’t a likable person - unlike me, of course.
So when I turned on my phone, I got many messages from Mrs. Gray saying that Faith had run away! She was in London now. I took a few seconds, debating whether I should reply or not. After all, it was my break.
But Mrs. Gray was going to pay me so much when she found out I was already in London...
I opened the most recent text from Mrs. Gray, who was completely a wreck, insisting that I needed to answer. So I did, quickly typing a single sentence.
I’ll find her.
I smiled to myself, grabbing a water bottle from the table next to me and helping myself without asking.
##
"Shannon, let's try that again," my manager said to me after I finished my whole number, resting my arms in pain. It was my favorite - Allegro, from Mendelssohn's violin concerto in E minor.
Suddenly I heard the door click, making me flinch. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
Was someone watching me?
I set both pieces of my violin down, running out of the recording room and into the quiet hallway.
Well, quiet until now. I had run straight into a person, who must have been lurking, like, right outside the door to my studio. He grabbed my arms, making sure I wouldn't fall.
"Hey, be careful!" Was that an Irish accent? That was nice to hear, after these few days in the middle of London.
“Sorry,” I replied automatically, fixing my dark hair, which until now had been perfectly styled.
“No – I shouldn’t have been here…” he muttered, letting go of my arms and scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. I stepped backwards, taking a good look at the guy, who seemed to be around my age. I knew this person from somewhere, but I didn’t know exactly where. Maybe he used to go to school with me? Or maybe I met him once, a long time ago?
“You’re really talented,” he smiled, extending his hand towards me, even thought the space between us was very small. His hand hit my stomach, and he laughed nervously. “I’m Niall Horan," he introduced.
“Shannon Chin.” I took his hand, taking a step back so I could actually shake it.
“You’re famous, aren’t you?” I asked, as a possibility came to mind.
“I’m in a band called One Direction.” He nodded slowly as if he didn’t want to tell me.
“I know you!! This person I know – I guess you could call her my friend? – I’m not sure – but anyways – that’s not the point – rem…” I hit my forehead in annoyance. “I just wanted to say that she talked about you before.” I suddenly remembered one conversation that Faith had told me once, a few months back, during a study marathon.
*Flash Back*
“My hair is really annoying me right now,” I sighed in frustration as I fiddled with the end of my hair, spinning it between my fingers.
There was a long moment of silence. Faith looked as if she was completely occupied with the math homework, until she suddenly asked, “Do you ever wonder about your past life?”
I blinked away my confusion, trying to be the kindest, best-behaved girl imaginable today, considering Mrs. Gray was in the room next door watching over us. I did like getting raises when she saw how great I was with Faith.
“My past life? I don’t know what you mean,” I replied honestly, trying to brush off the subject by picking up her math notebook. I pointed at a question, asking, “How do you do this one?”
She looked up at me, puzzled. “We already discussed that question, Shannon.”
“Oh. Right…” I said, biting my lip, awkwardly.
“Do you like Niall Horan?” She suddenly blurted out in a whispering tone.
“Who’s that?” I asked, with a baffled facial expression.
“Nothing,” she looked back down at her book, “he’s just a kid from a band, but anyways, let’s get back to math.”
*Flash Back Ends*
“Are you Irish?” Niall asked excitedly with a huge grin plastered on his face, pulling me back to reality.
I shook my head automatically, still half in my memory. Then, I realized what he had said. “Oh. Yes, I am!”
“I am too! Do you want to hang out later?” He asked, all in a rush.
He was famous - which meant rich - plus sort of hot, in a cute little puppy-dog way. I wouldn’t mind hanging out with him today.
I smiled. “Sure.”
We exchanged phone numbers, then Niall Horan headed off down the hallway. I went back into my recording studio, ignoring my furious manager. I smiled as I picked my violin back up and went through a couple of scales to warm up.
I had a lot to think about.
- Harry -
••January 23, 2013••
The Asian girl Niall had just been snogging - Shannon - extended her hand towards me, pushing her dark hair behind her shoulder and putting on a fake smile. Niall stared helplessly from the couch, looking like a little kid who had just been caught pinching a candy bar from a corner shop.
I looked down at her hand, but before I could decide what to do, I heard a muffled gasp behind me. I spun around, guilt crashing into me like a wave.
“Oh my God,” I groaned, rushing away from Shannon, whose hand was still outstretched. I barreled back through the dining room, heading towards the door as fast as I could.
Faith saw. She saw everything...
“Mate!” Niall’s voice called from behind me, but I ignored him, completely drenched in panic as I followed Faith back out into the cool London afternoon.
Just a moment ago I was so excited to finally introduce Faith to Niall again. The plan was perfect; I never imagined Niall was seeing someone. I thought he told me everything. I reached the foot of the stairs to our flat, breathing hard as I looked left and right along the busy sidewalk. Where did she go?
I let out a sigh as I chose to go right, searching for Faith in the crowd. I tried to act cool and relaxed - making sure to hide whenever I saw anyone who looked like they recognized me - but inside I was completely terrified. What if she hated Niall now? I thought I was finally getting this right and fixing things, but now this. Who the hell was Shannon Chin, anyways?! Idiot Asian bimbo. She was obviously not the right person for Niall. Sure, I'd only just now met her, but I knew Niall better than a lot of people, and she just didn’t seem right. Not right at all. And Niall! I thought he was in love with Faith? He sure got over her quickly. I needed to have a serious talk with that boy when I got back to the flat.
I turned a corner, relief pouring into me as I finally laid eyes on Faith. She was sitting all alone on the curb of a little city park's parking lot, her bright yellow coat making her easily visible against the gray city. Most would be relieved to finally find someone they’ve been looking for, but this moment was definitely not a happy one.
As I neared her I noticed her red, puffy eyes and messy hair, but the thing was, she was still as gorgeous and perfect as ever.
She didn’t wear make up or try to look beautiful. She just was herself. There weren’t many girls like that in the world anymore.
I walked over to Faith as quickly as I could, taking a seat next to her and wrapping my arms around her body as tightly as I could, trying to somehow communicate how sorry I was. For everything. Sniffling, she rested her chin on my shoulder, not letting go of my embrace for a few minutes until we parted, listening to the laughter from kids on the playground.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted when she glanced up at me, her brown eyes puffy and bloodshot. “This was all my fault. I shouldn’t have brought you to the flat. And I didn’t know Niall was seeing anyone. You probably hate me. I am so sorry. This was just a massive wreck and it was my entire fault. I completely understand if you hate me.”
She choked out a giggle, smiling shakily as she watched a few toddlers squealing as their babysitters pushed them higher and higher on the swing set.
“It wasn’t your fault…” Faith trailed off, looking down at her cold fingers on her lap. I had a sudden urge to take her hands in mine, to warm them up, but I just pushed my hands deeper into my pockets instead. Faith shuddered. “I just didn’t expect any of it. I guess I shouldn't have been spying but I wasn’t ready and Shannon was there and –,”
I cut her off by closing my eyes and smashing my lips onto her warm, soft, surprised lips.
“Sorry, again,” I said nervously as I pulled away from the kiss.
I could see shock on her face, but that soon changed to a wide smile as she rested her head on my shoulder. I laughed in relief, wrapping my arm around her tiny frame. Now I completely understood why Niall was crazy about this girl. She was perfect in every single way, and the thing was, she didn’t even try to be.
I put my hand in Faith's hand, entwining my warm fingers with her icy cold ones. Faith flinched, but she quickly relaxed again, leaning against me as we sat there together on the cold parking lot curb, watching the little kids swing higher, higher, higher into the infinite sky.