Everybody Knows
Chapter 17
“The Scaredy Cat and Wannabe Cupid…No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”
“Can someone please explain why I’m here?” I whined as I tried my best to keep balance with all the shopping bags and boxes in my possession. I had about three heavy bags hanging off each of my arms. In them were various sweaters, blouses, and jeans. In front of me I held four boxes that contained shoes and hats. They were all stacked on one another and were threatening to block the view in front of me.
I was currently in a gigantic mall located in north Akujamora with Reira and Liam. I woke up this morning to Liam asking me if I wanted to tag along somewhere. At first I said no because I wanted to get some more sleep, I mean, it was a weekend for heaven’s sake. But of course Liam was persistent and before I could fully realize it he had convinced me to get up and get dressed. A little later on I discovered we were going to the mall to meet up with Reira and go shopping with her.
Now, I didn’t have a problem with that, I was actually kind of excited by the idea. Reira was an awesome person. Over the past week I had put in more effort into getting to know her and what I learned was nothing but positive. She was funny, confident, and quite smart. She was the type of person to get things done and not complain about doing them. Plus, she was brutally honest and spoke her mind, which is a good trait in a person. The only thing that bothered me about her was the fact she was Liam’s girlfriend, but I decided to get over that. There’s nothing I can do it and even if I could, I shouldn’t. Who am I to interfere with someone else’s relationship just so I can come out ahead? With that in mind I decided to just ignore my feelings for Liam and hope that they would just fade away.
So, yeah, I was okay with the whole idea of spending the day with Reira and Liam. What I was not okay with was me carrying all of Reira’s bags along with Liam. I could understand why he was holding them, he was getting some action from her. What I couldn’t figure out was why the hell I was holding the ones I had! This was too much work for someone I just started liking!
“Seriously, did you think I would be okay with this?!” I harshly whispered Liam’s ear as we walked through the cluttered mall. He was having just as much of a hard time walking with all of his crap as I did, if not harder.
“It wasn’t his idea in the first place.” Reira stated. She was walking beside Liam carrying only one miniscule bag with an overpriced bracelet she purchased in it. “It was mine.”
I scrunched my face up. “Okay, then what makes you think I’m okay with this? I don’t remember me ever telling you I wanted to be you pack mule.”
“I never planned on you being one. I only invited you because I know how bored Liam can get when he comes shopping with me. He tells me so all the time. I thought it would be nice if he had someone to keep him company while I’m off trying on things, so I suggested you should come too.”
“Yeah… about that…” Liam started to talk with a look of shame on his face. “I might have been telling a little white lie…”
Both Reira and I stopped walking causing Liam to stop too.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Reira asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, I may have been using the whole being bored thing as an excuse to not come shopping with you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Because I...” Liam paused for a second and I could tell he was choosing his words carefully. “Well, you see, I thought if you thought I was bored when we went shopping together you would stop inviting me to come along…and therefor I wouldn’t have to carry the mountain-load of crap you usually buy.”
In my mind an incorrect buzzer noise went off. Wrong choice of words, Liam. You should’ve went for another word instead of crap. No girl wants to hear somebody call the stuff they put on them to make them look nice “crap”. I could tell by his look of regret that Liam agreed with me.
Reira’s face held rage for a moment as she glared menacingly at Liam. It then suddenly changed expressions when she sighed and folded her arms with a frown. “My god, if you had a problem with carrying my stuff you could’ve just told me instead of making up excuses. I’m more than capable of carrying my own stuff. I just thought you were being chivalrous like the guys in the books I read.”
There it goes again. Another thing I learned about Reira recently is that she is almost obsessed with romance novels. She can be seen reading a new one every other day and always have one on her. She also has this habit of projecting certain aspects of the story onto her own life, meaning she expects Liam to act like the kind gentlemen in the stories that saves the abused and mistreated female protagonists. She wants him to constantly be romantic and thoughtful, which is asking for a little too much if you ask me. I mean, she does know who she has for a boyfriend, right? I’m sure she does though and it’s just the drama queen in her that has these high expectations.
“I couldn’t say anything though!” Liam reasoned.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m a guy! I can’t complain about carrying a girl’s stuff! Especially not my girlfriends! I would seem like a punk if I did!”
“What about Niall? He just complained about carrying my bags.” Reira countered with a straight-face.
“He doesn’t care if someone think he’s a punk!”
“Hey! Keep me out of this!” I warned.
Reira opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but she just closed it and sighed. She seemed irritated now. “You know what? Never mind. Just follow me.” She huffed before walking off.
Liam gave me a questioning look and I just shrugged and returned one that said “You brought this upon yourself”. Liam ended up jogging after Reira and I followed after.
Reira had brought us to this lingerie store that I was hesitant about entering. I stood at the entrance nervously wondering if I should really enter. Reira was already in the store and at the cashier desk talking to a cashier. I looked at my feet telling them to move, but they refused to. It was starting to feel embarrassed when Liam came from behind with bags in hand and shoved me forward, nearly knocking me down.
“What are you standing there like a scarecrow for? Move it!” He said eagerly. It was obvious where his mind was at.
When we both reached the counter Reira told us to drop the boxes and bags on it.
“They’ll watch them while I shop here.” Reira explained.
“So you are getting something from here?!” Liam asked with a sly smile. He got close to Reira and grabbed her around the waist. “I hope its something lacy.” He suggestively moved his eyebrows up and down in a fashion made me want to gag.
Reira scoffed, folded her arms defiantly, and tilted her head up. “Heh, too bad you’ll never see it.”
Liam’s jaw dropped. “Why not?!”
“That’s what you get for not being honest about holding my bags. Now, you two can go walk around the mall while I do some shopping here. Take Niall to look at the rest of the shops, he might find something he wants to buy.” Liam was about to protest when she continued. “Niall, be a darling and take Liam away.” She waved her hands in shooing manner.
I grabbed the back of Liam’s shirt and proceeded to drag him out of the store and into the mall. He put up a little struggle, but not enough to stay in place.
“Reira, I’m so sorry!” Liam pleaded loudly. “I’ll carry your bags from here on out! You won’t hear any complaining from me! I swear!”
“Have some dignity!” I scolded him as I kept dragging him away. I noticed all the curious and confused eyes on us and felt like shrinking in a corner. “You’re causing a scene!”
“I just need a hat and some gloves. Nothing over the top.” I told Liam as we explored a store called Winter Wonderland. It was located on the other side of the mall from where we left Reira to shop for her unmentionables. It was a store that specialized in winter-wear and stuff alike. They had fancy hats, expensive fur coats, elaborate and colorful scarfs, and everything in between.
After a few minutes of perusing through their selections I came to the conclusion that they didn’t have anything for me. Either their stuff was way too exquisite for me or just too damn simple. Nothing I had seen so far screamed ‘me’.
I was about to give up when Liam returned to my side from searching another part of the store.
“You find anything yet?” He asked with an innocent smile. I noticed he was hiding something behind his back.
I shook my head. “Nah, none of this stuff is anything I would wear.”
“I was hoping you would say that! Close your eyes!” His grew wider.
I instinctively took a step back. He could be trying to mess with again. There’s no telling what’s behind his back.
“W-why?” I asked nervously while eyeing him suspiciously. “What do you have behind your back?”
“Just close your eyes! Trust me!”
I just stared at him for a moment then sighed and complied. “Okay, but I swear if you do anything funny, I’ll make you regret it.”
Liam scoffed. “As if you could hurt me. You forgot, I can bench press you.” True fact. He did it before.
I waited patiently in my darkness. I quickly felt something being put on my hands and on my head. It felt like it was made out some kind of fur.
“You can open your eyes now!” Liam said enthusiastically.
I opened my eyes and immediately looked down at my hands, which was now wearing some black and white paws or mittens of some kind. I observed the items with curiously before Liam turned me around to face a mirror that was hanging on a wall nearby.
“What do you think? Its totally you!” He stated with a proud look on his face.
In the mirror I could see me wearing a fur hat with huge ears that I guessed was supposed to resemble a panda’s. That would also explain the matching paw/gloves. I studied my reflection closely.
“You like it? I bet you do.”
“Well, I can’t say I hate it.” I said unsurely. I turned back to Liam. “But don’t you think this is a little childish?”
“What do you mean?” He blinked.
“I mean, this is something a thirteen year old would wear, not someone my age.”
“You think so?”
I returned my attention to the mirror and frowned. “I know so.”
I did like it, but it just seem so immature. It was too cutesy for a guy my age. I know I have a baby-face, but I wasn’t trying to embrace that image.
Liam folded his arms and closed his eyes. “Get it.” It wasn’t a suggestion, it was a demand.
“Huh? I told you, its too childish.”
“So? You’re childish.”
I scowled at him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean!?”
“It means you’re the type of guy who can’t go into a women’s lingerie clothing store without blushing.” I lowered my head in shame. “But its nothing wrong with that though. Everyone has their thing, rather they like it or not. Louis is the nerd, Zayn is the jerk, Reira is the diva, Cici is the collected one, and Harry and you are the innocent and childish ones.”
“And what exactly are you?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
He coolly combed his hand through his hair, “I’m the lad of course.”
I facepalmed myself. “More the like the one that’s full himself.”
“Anyway,” Liam said in an offended tone. “The point I was making was that we all have our thing and instead of fighting it we might as well embrace it.” I thought about his words for a moment in silence. “If you don’t but it, Niall, I’ll buy it for you.”
I looked at the price tag on one of the paws and my face went deadpan. “Have you seen the price for this set? You can’t afford to buy this for me.”
“It’s the thought that count, rights!?” Liam said in mock-agitation. “Just buy the damn thing! You know you want to!”
I rolled my eyes and sighed. “You’re right. C’mon, let’s go and pay for it.”
As we made our way to the front where the cash register was we passed this girl who was up on this ladder trying to reach this one hat that was high up a shelf. I would say she was about fifteen feet up on the last step. She had this wild and eccentric blonde hair with various streaks of color added to it. She was on the short side though, which explained why she was on her toes trying to reach the hat she wanted. Something about her made me uneasy and I realized it was the fact she looked really unbalanced on the ladder. I could tell she was in for trouble when she started trying to balance on one leg.
“Holy crap!” I shouted as I jetted towards her, leaving Liam puzzled.
I didn’t know what I was doing, I just knew I had to do something fast.
“Be careful!” I said when I got closer. That was when the girl had finally slipped off the step she was on and came tumbling down to the ground. Luckily for her I had managed to jump underneath her at perfect time so I could break her fall. Unluckily for me… I had managed to jump underneath her at perfect time so I could break her fall.
I groaned in pain while the girl just sat on top of me, obviously in shock. Liam rushed over to us and helped the girl up then tended to me.
“Niall, are you okay?!” He asked worriedly as he helped me sit up.
I arched my back in discomfort. I thanked god she was such a small girl because if she wasn’t that could have hurt much worse. “Nothing I can’t handle. How about her?”
We both looked over to the girl who just stood there with wide eyes. She looked frightened. She had fair skin and big brown eyes. She was wearing this whole edgy back get-up accompanied with some wicked-looking designer silver rings. She had the whole Goth thing going for her.
After what seemed like forever of her just standing there looking at Liam and me, she gasped and covered her mouth.
“Oh my god! Did that just happen?!”
“That’s an interesting reaction.” Liam mumbled while he helped me up onto my feet.
“Yeah, that definitely happened. I think I’m gonna have a bruise that proves so.”
“Are you serious?!” The girl glided behind faster than I could react to and rashly lifted the back of my shirt up as high as she could. A shiver went down my body due to the sudden breeze “I am soooo sorry! I can’t believe that just happened!”
“Hey!” I regrettably shrieked as I tugged my shirt back down and jumped away from her.
“Please forgive my clumsiness!” The girl apologized multiple times repeatedly bowing.
Okay, I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. I raised my hands up defensively and shook them. “Ummm, no problem. It’s not a big deal. Don’t mention it…”
“Not a big deal!? You saved my life from out of nowhere!” She got really close to my face. I looked at her uneasily. Haven’t she ever heard of personal space? “Just like one of those superhero-types in the movies!”
And she had officially lost me there. She was OVERREACTING.
“I don’t think you would’ve died from a fall of that height.” Liam said casually as he rubbed his shoulder and looked up at where the girl had fallen from. “Probably a sprain or, at most, something fractured, but then again you would have to have major bad luck…”
“Which would mean my life.” The girl stated, now having calmed down. “You see, I’m a dancer. It’s what I do for a living.” She did this odd pose that I think was supposed to support her statement.
Liam nodded. “Ahh, I can totally see it see it. You definitely have the build for it.”
“Why thank you.” The girl said brightly. “My name is Noa. Wonderful to meet you two.”
“I’m Liam. A pleasure seeing you fall.” He waved once. I looked at him questioningly and elbowed him in the side.
“And what do I call my hero?”
It took me a second to realize she was referring to me. “Oh! My name is Niall Horan. Hello.” I awkwardly extended my hand for a handshake, but I guess Noa missed signal because she embraced me in a hug.
“Thank you so much. Niall. You don’t realize how thankful I am right now.”
I politely pushed her back and halfheartedly smiled. “Don’t you think you’re kinda making this way bigger than what it really is?”
“Absolutely not! I have this really important performance on Halloween night that I can’t afford to mess up or miss.” Noa then gasped really loud as she put a finger in other air and smiled. “That’s it! The party! I can invite you to the party!”
“Party?”
“Yeah! See, I’m performing at this huge party here in north Akujamora. Its all the talk around the city and everyone wants to go, but its really difficult to get tickets to it. There’s supposed to be incredible food, phenomenal music, and even a haunted house located near the site of the party!”
“Sounds cool…” I said dismissively. Actually, it didn’t sound all that appealing to me. I’m not the type of person to go to parties. I was way to socially awkward for that type of stuff.
“So you’ll come?!” Noa was beyond eager. Crap, I had to get out of this without seeming ungrateful for her offer. I mean, she seemed like a nice girl, but she seemed a bit too…hyper.
I scratched the back of my head nervously and began to look around in random directions. “I would like to…but you see…I’m kind of spending Halloween with my friends.”
“Don’t let us stop you from having fun.” Liam said bluntly. Apparently he wasn’t picking up on the fact I didn’t really want to go.
“They can always come too! The more the merrier!” Noa announced cheerfully.
I had to try really hard to hide my disappointment.
“Really?” Liam asked. He smiled like a Cheshire cat and wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me close to him. “Then count us in! We’ll be more than happy to come and see someone as beautiful as you dance!”
“Beautiful?” Noa suddenly blushed and her eyes shied away from mine. She cautiously returned them on me as she timidly twiddled with her fingers. “Thank you.”
“No problem?” I said awkwardly. I then mumbled under my breath, “Its not like I was the one to who said it…”
After that Noa and I exchanged numbers. She promised to call me with the details later. She said her goodbyes and left.
“By the way, that hat is just too cute on you!” She shouted unreasonably loud as she ran off waving.
My cheeks were beginning to burn.
“Told you. That hat is perfect for you!” Liam said with a grin. He rubbed my head playfully and a quickly slapped his hand away.
“Don’t touch me.” I growled.
“Huh? Why are you in such a bad mood all of the sudden? You just saved a girl and got free tickets to an awesome party out of the deal. Not only a party, but there’s also going to be a haunted house! I can’t wait! The whole group can go through it together. It’ll be a blast!”
I sighed dejectedly and allowed my body to slump over. “I was afraid you were going to say that…”
A/N: I love the feedback I’m getting on this story. Its really amazes me! I thought it wasn’t going to be that well liked because its moving kind of slowly (pairing wise), but it seems like everyone is okay with the pace so far.
The new story arc has officially started! Its holiday themed and quite a few of the arcs are. So there will be Thanksgivings, Christmas, and New Year’s story arcs. A lil heads up.
Before I end this I have one question: How do everyone feel about my OC’s? I know sometimes they can be annoying and overstay their welcome in some stories, but how about mine? Are you okay with them so far? Do you like any of them? Are you okay if I add a few more (because I’m going to need to in order to keep the story flowing)?
Anyway, everyone have a good day/night! Don’t forget to vote, add, comment, and fan!