I feel something on my forehead and a hand around mine. My head is pounding. There is no sound but the sound of two breathing people, me and someone else. My eye lids feel heavy. The red colour of my eye lids irritates me. I open them slowly, trying not to get blinded. My head spinns. I should've eaten. Being beaten by Christina made it worse. I look down at my hand, seeing a burn covered hand. Niall's eyes are focussed on his phone. His eyes wandering across it quickly. I close my eyes a little, just letting a small slit open to read the texts. I'm not that bad person. I'm just nosy.
Josh: Is she okay again? I should come over.
Niall: No, she's unconcious. I hope she wakes up soon or I have to get her to the hospital...
Josh: Make sure she's okay. I told Luke and he said you can take care of her alone. He says you should bring her home when she's better. Make sure she's home before her parents are there.
Niall: Okay.
I close my eyes fully. I pretend that I wake up slowly, moving around a little, then just pulling my hand from Niall's. He smiles at me.
"It's been one and a half hours. I was getting worried", he exclaims, making my head pound from the loud noise.
I scrunch up my nose. The smile on his face disapears slowly.
"Are you okay?", he asks quieter and softer.
I shake my head slightly, pulling the cold towel off of my head. Niall takes it from me. I sit up slowly on the couch. My hand finds my face. The area around my eye is swollen.
"I should bring you home. Luke is worried but I already told Josh and him what happened. Luke doesn't want your parents to know anything about it."
I nod, getting up from the couch. Niall holds me, so I don't fall while walking. He helps me put my shoes on again. I thank him a few times but he only says: "It's my duity as a best friend."
I blush at his words. Just as we want to leave, the front door opens and in come his parents. Mrs Horan already has a bright smile on her face.
"Oh, Alexandra! What a pleasure to see you again", she smiles widely, pulling me into a friendly hug.
Niall's dad nods towards me, looking at my eye suspiciously. Mrs Horan sees it now, too.
"What happened?", Mr Horan asks carefully.
Think about something you idiot!
"Oh, I'm very clumsy. I just bumped my eye on the corner of a table while picking up a pen in school. I know it sounds weird but I'm that clumsy", I lie, smiling at them.
Niall tries to hold in his laughter behind me, so I step on his foot, trying not to make it too obvious.
"Where are you two love birds going?", his mom asks, a slight smirk on her face.
Love birds... hahahhahaha.
"I was about to drive Alex home. We were working on some things for Prom. I think we really need to leave", Niall explains to his parents.
"Oh, it's okay. Just make sure to bring her home safely. We don't want our new apprentice to die before her first day", Mr Horan hints.
I stop grabbing my school bag, realizing what he just said. I'm really going to work here? That... That is amazing!
"Thank you, Mr and Mrs Horan. It's an honnor to work for your company", I say calmly.
Inside a whole concert, dance club and zoo are partying.
"Call us Leigh-Ann and Paul", Mrs Horan smiles at me.
I nod and thank them again. Niall and I get out of the house shortly after that conversation. He hugs me to his body, burrying his face into the crook of my neck. I hug him tightly.
"Congratulations, birdy. We're unstoppable now!", he tells me.
We're staying together as friends. I'm going to be his personal assistant. He kisses my cheek quickly before helping me get in the car. The cold air makes my fingers shake. Curse you, Alex, for not packing any gloves. The car only warms up slightly on the ride to my place. He gets out of the car, walking me up to my door. We hug quickly before holding me back, as I want to open the door.
"Wait a second", he smiles.
I look up at him, feeling the warm sensation in my stomach and my cheeks blushing.
"So, since we're going to be boss and employee, I wanted you to know that I'm like that Christian Grey. Just to let you know", he jokes.
I laugh along with him, hiting him in the shoulder playfully. He hugs me one more time before letting me go inside. I have a job. I mean... I HAVE A JOB! I run up the stairs, ripping Luke's room door open, seeing him laying on his bed. My feet lift off of the ground, as I jump at him. I hug him tightly.
"Alex? What is going on with you? You were beat up! Look at your eye", he says quickly, pushing me off of him.
"I have a job!", I exclaim, hugging him again.
This time he huggs me closely. His warm body engulfs mine. The feeling of his strong arms around my body makes me feel like I'm back to the good old times before bullemia, anxiety and depression. Maybe this could be the start to a new age.
*****
Miranda forces me to go dress shopping with her. It's still 5 weeks to Prom. We didn't even start building up stuff. I could be learning at home like I've done the past days but no, she forces me to decide what she should wear. We've been to two stores and she didn't find anything yet. I almost let her stick me in a dress, too but I don't even know who I'm going with. It's way too early. I'll probably get my dress last minute. Miranda comes out of the dressing room with a long light blue dress on her body. The material is silky, making her body stand out really good. The corsage and the short sleeve type of thing are dusted with glitter. I really like it on her. It makes her look really beautiful.
"And?", she questions, looking at me.
"I love it. You look so good in it", I tell her the full truth.
She looks into the mirror, her eyes sparkeling at herself. That's the moment she knows that it's her dress. My eyes scan across the other racks of dresses. I find a mannequin wearing a dark blue dress without straps and an a-symetrical cut skirt. That dress is really nice. I think Miranda catches me staring at it.
"Excuse me, Miss. My friend would like to try on that dress on the mannequin", Miranda tells one of the sales women.
"What? I thought it was about you", I exclaim, watching the lady come over to us.
"It is but I want you to find your dress, too", she giggles.
The sales woman stand in front of us, looking at me with a smile.
"Which size do you need?", she asks me.
"Uh... I think 2 but I'm not sure", I tell her honestly.
"It's okay, we can try on a 2 and then see, if you need it smaller or bigger", she grins, walking off to the storage.
Miranda gets changed quickly, placing her dress at the checkout station, so she doesn't have to carry it around the whole time. The lady comes back with my dress soon, so I get into the dressing room. I pull off everything and get the dress on. The zip is on the side which is pretty practical. I look at myself in the mirror. The dress makes my legs look longer and my waist thinner. Size 2 fits me perfectly. I step out, being greeted by the sales woman and Miranda. They both look at me with smiles on their faces.
"That is stunning on you, darling", the woman speaks.
"Take it, Alex! I know you want it!", Miranda squeals.
I check the price tag, seeing it only costs 76$ which is pretty cheap for a dress like this but I can't I don't even have a date yet. I just can't.
"I can't. I don't even have a date yet. Maybe I should just not buy it. No one's going to ask me anyway."
"But you look stunning in it, girl", Miranda smiles.
"You look amazing", the shop assistant tells me, grabing my shoulder.
"I can't", I whisper.
Miranda hugs me tightly before making her way to the check out to pay for her dress. Meanwhile I get dressed in my normal clothes again. After we finish in that store, we get some makeup and other necessities for Prom. I don't get anything today. No one even asked me to go with them. Maybe I just go as a third wheel to Sam and Miranda or not at all. But deep inside I do hope someone asks me out. It's just a dream.