Chapter 20
"Let me tell you something about love. It doesn't knock often. And when it does, you have to let it in."
Kelsey POV
He glared at me and kept quiet for a few seconds. "Hi, I'm Tom." He held out his and for me to shake it and I did so.
"You're from the North, right?!" Tom gave me a weak smile and nodded.
"Yep, that's right. You haven't told me your name yest." Something about him was interesting and it wasn't his good looks. No it was the way his eyes lit up every single time he opened his mouth to say something.
"I'm Kelsey. Nice to meet you." I finally shook his hand and scanned his toned body. Good God, he sure was perfect. Maybe too perfect for my liking.
"Tom?" There was another boy coming closer and we turned around to check who it was. "Kelsey? I have to go. See you tonight?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, maybe. You better go. Your friend doesn't look very amused. " He turned around once before he held up his hand, telling his friend to give him one more second. "Yeah looks like it. Was nice to meet you. See you later." He winked at me and walked off.
That was awkward, I thought and grabbed my book to read a bit more. There was still no sight of my mum but she would be back anytime soon, that's what I knew. I caught myself thinking about Tom. I hoped I would see him again later but without his friends. I didn't like that other guy who was calling Tom to hurry up. He could have at least come over and say hi to me. Anyway, I didn't want to think about boys anymore. All they do is messing up and destroying girls' lives.
I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew was waking up to the voice of my mum. She was back, obviously.
"Kelsey?" Ugh. Yes sometimes she could be annoying. "What's wrong?" I asked her not opening my eyes.
"Who is Niall?!"
What the hell was she talking about? Niall? Niall was with his friends. There was no way he would be here.
"Kelsey?" She asked again this time a little bit louder. Okay I must have dreamt. Shit.
I opened my eyes and stared at her. "Who is Niall? And often have I told you not to sleep in the afternoon. You won't be able to sleep tonight."
"How do you know his name? And it wasn't my intention to fall asleep. I'm tired. Long day." I rubbed my eyes. I knew that she was right but I couldn't help myself. My eyelids were getting heavier and a nap was the best option I had.
"You were talking about him. In your sleep. So now tell me. Who is it?" Did I really say his name? I couldn't remember anything.
"He's a boy I met at bootcamp. He helped me when I was sad. That's all, mum." I got up and pulled my stuff together. I needed a shower as soon as possible and I was hungry. I seriously couldn't wait to have dinner.
"You like him, don't you?" She giggled. Why the hell did I say his name, I asked myself.
"Mum, he's a friend." She nodded but giggled again. "Honey, you haven't brought a boy home in months. It's about time." I gave her a look and got up. There was no way I was going to talk about any boy with my mum. Not now.
"Mum he lives in Ireland. And I know. I prefer the single life. And you should be happy. I'm perfectly fine. Now, let's go. I wanna get ready for dinner." She didn't move so I grabbed her arms and pulled her up.
I checked my appearance in the mirror. I took a look down at me and was happy that I already got a tan It made the new blue dress look even better on me. I normally wasn't so conscious about myself and my body in particular. I don't know what had gotten into me. But something had changed. I still had to do my hair and my make-up and I wanted to look good in case I might run into Tom. I hate to admit it but I somehow wanted to impress him. I didn't even know him but a flirt couldn't be wrong, right?
"Kelsey, get ready. I don't wanna wait any longer. You've been in there for ages." My mum knocked at the bathroom door, apparently trying to get me to hurry up. "Give me 10 more minutes." I yelled and plugged in the curling iron.
"You look stunning." My mum told me when we took the elevator to get downstairs. "Trying to impress someone? You haven't worn that much make-up in a long time." I gave her an annoyed look.
"Would you please stop. I decided to put some effort into my appearance since we're on a holiday and this is a 4* hotel. I don't wanna look like someone who just got out of bed." The doors opened and I stepped out.
"What the .." Someone ran into me. I looked up and blinked. Not someone ran into. Tom did. Was he following me? Creep. "I'm sorry. You okay?!" He asked.
I nodded, my eyes glued to the floor. Talk about embarrassment. My cheeks were probably red since I could feel that I was blushing. My mum cleared her throat and got my attention. Earth to Kelsey.
"See you later, I guess." I grabbed my mum's arm and dragged her with me. I wanted to get away as fast as I could, letting him standing there. I could feel his eyes on my body and it made me feel ... wanted. Yes I could affect boys, and it was a completely new feeling.
"What was that all about?" My mother finally had the guts to speak. She hadn't said a word since my run in with Mr Beachboy. I guess, she was surprised and didn't know what to say. And neither did I.
"Nothing. I'm starving. Let's see what I have for dinner." I brought my eyes to the menu hoping she would let go off. But I knew my mum.
"You better tell me or I won't leave your side tonight." Ugh. I took a deep breath and told er about earlier. She looked at me. And it seemed that she was.. happy? For me? I didn't get it. "What's wrong with your face? Why are you smiling?"
"He's handsome. Go and have a drink with him." She took the menu and studied the offer. She was serious and I didn't want to argue with her. "You know I'm 17, mum? And you say I should go and have a drink with him."
"Yes, that's what I'm saying. You're a teenager. Go and have fun. I'm having an early night. But promise me not to come home too late. I don't want to worry about you." And with that it was sealed. My mum had gone crazy.
Niall POV
When we came back, the three others were lounging on the couch. I hadn't expected them to be awake by now. I hadn't expected them to be still alive, to be honest.
"Where have you been?" Liam looked up and waved. "Went out to grab something to eat." Zayn held up a box with pizza.
"Brought something for you. We figured you'd be mad if we hadn't thought about the three of you." We plopped down on the couch and Louis snapped the pizza boy out of Zayn's hands.
"Thanks, lads. You can call yourself true friends." He opened the box and handed a slice to Harry and Liam.
"I don't wanna go home tomorrow." Liam finally said after he finished eating. "Same. But we'll see each other again soon." I smiled at the boys.
"We sure had fun. Literally can't wait for Marbella. It's gonna be amazing."
"Niall it's about time you tell Liam, Louis and Harry what the fuck happened last night." Zayn laughed. #
"Should I?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Well Liam danced on the pole, you Harry snogged with a girl and Louis I don't know where you were all evening. Every single time I saw you you had a new drink in your hands. Being more drunk from hour to hour." I sticked out my tongue and laughed.
"You sure had fun. You only live once." I couldn't hold in my laughter when I saw their faces.
"I can't even remember her name." Harry whined and hid his face with his blanket.
"C'mon Harold. You will snog with even more girls when we're getting through." Louis pulled a face.
"Shut up, man. You have a girlfriend. I'm going back to bed. Wake me up in an hour or so. It's your fault I'm so tired." I got up and walked out of the living-room before falling onto the bed
I grabbed my i-pod and put my headphone into my ears. A few minutes later I caught myself thinking about Kelsey. My thoughts kept wandering of, wondering what she was doing. I really hoped she could enjoy herself and have a bit fun. She deserved to be happy but I couldn't help myself hoping she would text me or call me. I was even hoping we could meet up soon. I came to the conclusion that I liked her. A lot. I didn't even know her that well. I've met her twice. It can't be happening. Why was I thinking about her like every day, better said all day? And was it a good thing? I needed something to distract me but first I needed some sleep.
"In two weeks we're going to fight to get into the live shows. That's sick boys." I heard Harry talking a bit too loud. I dragged myself out of bed and made my way out of the room.
"I'm gonna have a shower. Anything planned for tonight ?!" I got their attention. "Go have a shower and bring your guitar when you're done. We agreed on rehearsing a bit more before we leave tomorrow." Liam smiled. Yes rehearsing, singing, being as ready as we could, that was his world.
"Okay. Got it. Gonna hurry up."
-
"I don't want to say good-bye to you lads." Louis pulled us into a group hug once more. He was being sentimental. And so were we. I couldn't believe how close we had gotten over the last few days. It had been the best decision ever to meet up at Harry's to spend some time together. We didn't practice as much as we wanted to but we got to know each other. There was a bond between us now and I had the feeling that bond would help us to reach every goal we would set in the future. It would help us to take every single step we had to take and bring us closer and closer.
"Two more weeks. I'm so fucking excited. Simon Cowell is going to be our mentor. How crazy is that?" I jumped around. Harry gave me a weird look. And so did the others.
"We have to go." Louis was clearly upset and grabbed his bag. "Let's go". He nodded to Liam and Zayn and we hugged each other one last time before waving them off.
"Now it's time for me to go to the airport." I put my arm around Harry's shoulder and we bumped fists. "Let's go dude."