Elodie’s POV
“Fucking shit. That princess keeps following me ev—woah am I interrupting something?” I ask as I burst onto the One Direction bus to see Lauren straddling Shorty on the couch, pinning his arms above his head. Their laughter subsides as she releases him, and slides onto the couch next to him.
“No,” she says with a grin. “I was just proving a point.”
“Yea, I don’t even want to know what point that is,” I say, shaking my head.
“Nothing like that,” she laughs. “He just didn’t think I was strong enough to pin him.”
“Bro, girls are stronger than you think,” I say.
“You tricked me!” he protested. “You were saying I was hurting you.”
“Yea, we’re also smarter,” she says with a grin.
“Some of us,” I say with a frown, returning to the reason I’d burst into the room. “The princess shows up everywhere I am. Jesus Christ. I’ve resorted to hiding out on this bus because I can’t even go onto my own. What is her problem?”
“She’s trying to befriend you. Thinks if she does, then she’ll get in some newspapers whenever you guys go out clubbing.”
“The only thing that will be in the newspapers is her obituary if she doesn’t quit it,” I growl. Shorty chuckles as I flop down onto the couch across from them. “God it’s been so long since I’ve gone out,” I sigh, looking up at the ceiling.
“I’m taking it you’ll be going out tonight then?” Lauren asks and I quickly nod my head.
“For sure. If people are going out, you can bet I will also.”
“Elodie! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!” the Princess announces as she bursts into the room, instantly souring the atmosphere.
“Well you found me,” I say flatly. “What can I do for your highness?”
“I‘m not royalty silly,” she titters. “I was wondering if you wanted to go get some dinner before the show?”
“Depends, are you going?”
“You’re so funny. Of course I would,” she laughs.
“Then I’ll pass,” I say, kicking my feet up on the table and pulling out my phone, hoping she’d get the hint and leave. But of course she doesn’t. Instead she just flops down next to me.
“Where’s Mr. Polite?” I ask, hoping maybe she’d go find him and leave me alone.
“Who?” she asks, her eyebrow furrowing in confusion.
“Mr. Responsibility? Muscles? Boy-toy?”
“She means Liam,” Lauren has to explain with a roll of her eyes when she still doesn’t get it.
“Ohhh,” she giggles. “He said there was a meeting he had to go to. Shouldn’t you be there Louis?”
“Oh um well…” Shorty says, trying to mask his surprise. “We’re only allowed an even number of people at meetings so we each sit out one at a time,” he lies. What a horrible lie. I shake my head, figuring she’s not going to buy it, but she nods her head as if she understands.
“Oh my god,” I mutter under my breath. “Well I’m going to go see how that meeting’s going.” I say standing up quickly. “They’re allowed one girl,” I say to little Miss Princess when she looks at me in confusion. I roll my eyes as soon as my back is turned to her. What an idiot. Soon I find myself opening the ‘Do Not Enter’ sign to the roof.
“Hey,” I say in surprise when I see Mr Polite standing by the edge, resting his arms on the ledge. He jumps slightly before turning around. “Shouldn’t you be entertaining the Princess? She’s been bugging me all day.”
“Sorry,” he apologizes as I walk over next to him, pulling out the box of cigarettes and pulling one out. “I just needed to get away to relax before the show,” he adds as I light it.
“Oh, sorry. I can leave,” I say gesturing back towards the door. There were other places I could hide from her if he wanted to be alone.
“No, it’s fine,” he says shaking his head. I nod, putting the cigarette back between my lips and inhaling. “Why do you smoke those things?” he asks with a frown. “They’re horrible for your lungs. I keep telling Zayn.”
“Yea well, I’m not making a living off my voice now am I?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
“No, but you could get cancer,” he says.
“Yea well I’ll take the risk. I try not to think about the future. I mostly live day to day.”
“I’ve noticed,” he says in a tone that puts me on the defensive.
“Don’t act like you’re any better,” I snap. “You’re so preoccupied with how lonely you are, you don’t even realize when you’re getting scammed. You think she cares about you? All she cares about his how big your pocketbook is.”
“At least I have people that care about me. Can’t say the same about you. Even your Dad shipped you off.” His words bite into me. “Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—“ he says instantly, his expression turning guilty.
“Fuck you,” I snarl, flipping the remainder of the cigarette off the roof. “Fuck you and your idiot of a girlfriend.” His expression loses the guilty look as it turns back to anger, but I don’t care as I turn on my heels, stalking back to the stairs.
“You already tried but I turned you down,” he yells at my back. All he gets is the finger in return.
Two hours later and the last thing I wanted to do is see him, but I have no choice. Since I’d asked Lou to let me work for her, I was expected to help in the dressing room before the shows. I’m not sure who’s more surprised that I actually go. Me, or the boys. Especially when Irish got pelted by the flying pants that I tossed at him to get ready. At least he got his pants. I was seriously tempted to slice a hole through Mr. Polite’s, but that probably wouldn’t get me a good grade if this was supposed to be a class. Instead, I just ignored him completely, making sure the others were ready to go and leaving Lou to make sure he was ok. It was probably the only time I was thankful that Princess was around as she kept him from trying to talk with me, distracting him with all her petty concerns. I almost slapped her when she asked Lou to do her hair also. Like Lou had time to do hers while she was busy making sure the boys, their band, and the Aussies were ready for the show. Lauren actually had to grab my arm to stop me, which was saying something as she was staring murderously at her also. I hated it when people took advantage of others. I hung back while Lauren and Princess left with the boys to go watch, and used the opportunity to slip out the back. I did it often enough that a car was waiting already to take me back to the hotel. I’d found out the hard way that they’d been instructed to only take me there when I’d tried to get them to take me to a club a week or so ago. That had been a bad day. But it didn’t matter now. We were going to the club tonight. When I get back to the hotel, I dig up one of the suitcases I hadn’t had much need for yet. The one I’d stored most of the outfits that wouldn’t have been approved by Christian Military. I knew that the others wouldn’t be as dressed up since they’d be going straight from the venue to the club, but when I went clubbing, I went hard. I wanted to look my best. I drag out the process of getting ready for as long as I can. There was nothing else to do after all. I wasn’t going to be allowed to go to the club early. Unless… I pause as I put on my lipstick and look towards the door. There was minimal security here now. Most of it was with the boys. There was just one or two here to make sure no crazy fans broke into their rooms. It probably wouldn’t be that hard to sneak out… I set down the makeup kit and slip on my heels, glancing at the clock to check the time. If I managed to sneak out, I’d only be gone an hour longer than they would. My mind immediately begins formulating a plan. I’d gotten good at it after all the practice of sneaking out of boarding schools and my home. Soon, an idea has formed and I slip out the door. The easiest plan would be if I could just walk out the front door. But when I walk past one of the security’s rooms, the door opens.
“Where are you going?” he asks. Guess it’s plan B.
“The roof?” I say with a roll of my eyes. “I want a smoke.” He frowns but nods his head.
“Just a second,” he says to me and his door closes. Soon it reopens and he steps out, shoes now on his feet. I head to the elevator, hitting the button to the top floor. I knew the security guards on duty right now. They didn’t approve of smoking. They wouldn’t actually go on the roof. They were in all honesty, babysitters. Here to make sure I didn’t sneak out. What a fail, I think with a smirk as I step out onto the roof, letting the door close behind me as the security stays just inside the door like I’d expected. I take out the cigarette I’d claimed I was here to smoke and light it, taking a quick drag as I look around. There it was. I stamp out the smoke before heading over to the fire escape. I wasn’t stupid. I wasn’t planning on trying ot go all the way down this way. That’d be ridiculous. Instead, I would go down a flight or two and then take the elevator. Our guards wouldn’t be on any floor except ours. Still, I had to take off my heels as I step out onto the escape, the stiletto heel going through the grate.
“Shit,” I mutter as I struggle getting them off without making a loud noise. I cautiously walk down two flights, trying to make as little noise as possible before pushing open the window and stepping inside. I smirk as I put on my shoes. I get downstairs and have the concierge call me a cab. I wondered how long it would take them to realize I was gone. Probably not too long. The guard on the roof would be out to check on me in the next few minutes.
Went to the club early. Meet you guys there.
I send Cheekbones the text just for the hell of it. He wouldn’t get it until after the show was over and by then, hopefully, the security would be freaking. I turn my phone off after that. No need to be bothered by security’s constant calls. When the cab gets to the club, I skip the line, heading directly to the bouncer. The trick to getting in was to pretend like you belonged there. Granted, I did belong there and was probably on the list since they’d been notified the boys would be making an appearance later, but it was still fun to see if I could get in without name-dropping. I did. Of course. It had been a long time since I’d had to pull any kind of authority to get into a place like this. I make a beeline for the bar, flashing my fake id as I order the drink. Tonight was going to be fun. I wasn’t going to let some stupid boy-bander with his judgmental mindset wreck my night.