“There are so many people here already. Do you think there will be a parking spot?” Brice said from the passenger seat. Chip and Liam were in the back seat. “Do you think I will have to wrestle for a good seat?”
“I’ll do the wrestling,” Liam guaranteed. I smiled as I pulled into a parking spot a good distance from the door. We call got out right as Mom pulled up next to me, getting out with Dad, Louis and El. Mom caused a big scene at the doctor’s office asking for a giant bandage or wrap thing to put over Louis’ skin thing to he could ‘attend his friend’s performance’ and ‘life his life the way a young man should’. Needless to say, she got the bandage and it was currently covering Louis’ entire back under his grey tank top. Why would he wear a tank top when he’s supposed to becovering his skin? I don’t know.
“Does Marcel look much like Harry?” Brice asked as we made our way towards the entrance.
“He looks just like him but he wears his hair different and he’s got glasses.” Liam responded.
I sighed, “I love Marcel. I wish he was my little brother.”
“I don’t think he would want his crush as his sister.”
“Crush?” Brice giggled. “He likes you?”
“Yeah…but…he knows I’m just a friend.” We reached the doors and I held it open as the group went in. I gasped a little when I looked around. I’d only been here once before to see a play our first summer, and I couldn’t remember it being this big—and we were just in the front lobby. There were concession stands and old video games like in a movie theater. Some people were already standing in a large blob by the doors, waiting to get in. This place must’ve been remodeled…I wonder what the actual stage looks like.
I looked at the crowd of people recognizing every face from one point in the past or another. There was a familiar quiffed hair-do that stood out to me and I ducked down a little to see if it was who I thought. A smile spread across my face when I realized it definitely was.
“Zayn!” I called running over to him. He turned his attention to me and crooked smile graces his oh-so-beautiful face. He opened his arms and bent down to give me a quick hug. “I didn’t know you were coming to this!”
He shrugged, “Everyone is. And my girlfriend is performing.” I smiled and clapped my hands together—telling him I was excited to see her. “Why is this the first time we’ve talked all summer? It’s basically over now…you could’ve met her months ago.”
“Hey, hey, don’t say that. We still have two solid weeks.” He smiled, but I don’t think he knew how completely serious I was being. Summer isn’t over until I’m on that plane back to New York, damn it.
“Well, I’ve seen the back of you a lot, you’re always walking in a different direction on the ave, or facing away from me and you know I’m not going to make a scene and try to get your attention.”
“You’re right; I should’ve sensed your presence.” I quipped.
“I’m glad you know this is your fault.” He smiled and glanced behind me. “What’s Louis doing out? In a tank of all things…”
I laughed, “My mom got the doctors to give him bandage to put over his medicine so the sun rays don’t cause it to react.” I waved a hand. “I don’t know; it’s medical shit that I don’t understand.”
“Oh cool,” He both turned around and watched him roll his shoulders a couple times trying to get comfortable in his new bandage. El laughed at him before kissing him on the cheek and lacing her hand with his. “That reminds me, your boyfriend, is he really up to all the hype?” I sighed at the word ‘boyfriend’ but I didn’t feel like getting into that conversation right now.
“Yeah, he’s good. He’s played for me before.”
“That’s adorable.” I rolled my eyes, “I’m actually looking forward to this. Should be some good tunes.” Louis, Chip and El came over to join mine and Zayn’s conversation. After talking for a bit I learned that that was some big band playing first and I wondered how they would fit a ‘big band’ into Emilio’s at first. I hope they don’t something boring like Mozart or some shit…
As the minutes passed more people started filling up the lobby area and a buzz of excitement could be felt coming off everyone. It was making me even more eager as the anticipation starting building. I looked around to see all who was here—the ratio of who I did and didn’t know was growing uneven with the more people that walked in.
I spotted Marcel and Gemma walking through the entrance and called them over, waving obnoxiously and jumping around. “Marcel! Gemma!” I laughed. They made their way towards me and I was greeted by a big hug from Gemma. Marcel and I exchanged awkward hellos before he pulled me into a hug. He hugged me. Cautiously I hugged him back, and this time he didn’t even flinch. When he pulled away his face was pink as he gave me a smile.
He looked down at his feet then back up to me, “We’re wearing the same shoes.” He said. I looked down too and smiled. We were both wearing white converse, and I laughed a little at how much bigger his were than mine.
“I glad you got my converse signal.” I joked, kicking at his foot a little. Looking up the rest of his outfit, I noticed he was dressed a bit like Harry again. He wore black jeans—which I was weirdly also wearing—and a tucked in blue button-up shirt. I smirked at him, “Button your damn shirt up. This isn’t Magic Mike, you animal.”
“It was hot in my house…” He blushed.
“Oh my gosh, is this him? Marcel? Hello! Hi.” Brice said happily. “Oh wow, I said I would cry when I saw you and here I am tearing up. You are cute and small…but not small at all. Are you taller than Harry?”
Marcel glanced at me nervously before gulping and turning back to Brice, “Uh…he’s a bit taller than me.” I laughed at him.
“She’s harmless.” I whispered to him.
“You are just about the cutest thing.Oh mon Dieu!” Marcel looked at me surprised and I mouthed ‘she’s French’ to him. “When are these doors opening? I want to get a good seat.” Before anyone could answer her, the doors opened and the sea of people spilled into the theater. “Oh, there we are.”
——
“Are you excited?” I said enthusiastically to Marcel, sitting on my right. “Does Harry sing a lot at home?”
He shrugged, “Yeah, I guess.”
“Oh please, he wouldn’t shut up about it this morning.” Gemma said from the other side of Marcel.
“Shut up.” Marcel snapped. Oh my… Gemma only laughed. I smiled at them before looking behind me at the packed theater. Some people had given up finding a seat so they just sat in the isle. For some reason it made me proud of Niall and Harry and the girl Zayn’s dating and whoever else was performing. They all had the place spilling with people, here just to watch them. It was cool.
Turning back forward, I looked over the setup of chairs and music stands on the stage. There were a couple on precision instruments already waiting for the show to start. All of a sudden the lights turned off and we were all left in the pitch black. A confused murmur filled the room.Shit, what’s happening? Is someone about to attack? Is this how my fucking summer ends?! I heard footsteps on the stage and my heart was pounding with fear.
“What is this?!” Brice shouted angrily. I flinched away from her, into Marcel’s shoulder.
“Sorry, sorry.” I said. I felt him put a hand on my bicep, awkwardly rubbing up and down, I guess trying to sooth me. It made me smile a little. But before I could thank him, the lights on the stage turned on. It was now filled with musicians seated with their shiny gold-looking instruments. Oh. I looked at Marcel to see he had a big mocking smile on his face.
“You were scared.” He teased.
“Shut it.” He laughed and we both turned back to the stage to see a man in merely sneakers, jeans and a t-shirt walk on the stage. He looked out of place with so many shiny things around him with just jeans on. What is happening…?
Before I could say anything I heard the familiar drum beat of that fucking weird movie The Mask. All of a sudden the trumpets and shit started blaring out notes, scaring the shit out of me. I recognized the song as something my grandmom used to play over and over. I actually liked this song—and lots of other old songs. It made want to get up and dance, but for the sake of my own embarrassment, I didn’t.
I did do stupid little dances in my seat, bobbing my shoulders to the swing rhythm. Brice joined in with me and soon, the two of us were acting like completely idiots in the front row, wiggling in our seats. But we were just having fun and everyone around us understood that. Before the song was over our whole row was shimmying in their seats—C.L., Zayn, Liam, Gemma, Mom, Dad, Greg, and awkward little Marcel included. I looked behind me and saw basically the whole place was doing some sort of chair wiggle or another.
Oh, this is fun. Marcel laughed as I flipped my hair around and snapped to the beat. He did his own stupid dance movies, moving his shoulders and tapping his feet. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I was this giddy, but I’m embracing it while it lasts.
Too quickly though, the song was over and the room erupted in applause.
“Wow, that was fun!” Brice said to me over the clapping. “I want them to do it again.”
——
A dainty looking girl walked onto the stage and I immediately know it was the girl Zayn was talking about…because she smiled at him. She introduced herself to the crowd and said what song she was going to sing. She cleared her throat and then out of nowhere this voice came out of her. I expected her to sing like a little canary or even do some opera or some shit—but that wasNOT the case. The voice that came out of her sounded more like something you’d hear from a heavy black woman in a church choir…not her.
“Merde sainte!” Brice gasped.
“I know,” I laughed. I leaned forward and looked at Zayn a couple seats down, giving him the ‘not bad’ face. He bounced an eyebrow at me before we both turned our attention back to his girlfriend.
Although her strong voice didn’t match her pretty little face, I could not stress how fucking good she was. I wish I could put her voice in a glass and drink it with my breakfast. Actually, that’s probably weird—but I didn’t care. If someone’s good, you acknowledge it.
When she was finished, I resisted the urge to stand up, and a loud applause filled the room. Zayn and C.L. whistled at her and she gave them a small wave before trying to quiet the crowd. “Okay, there’s one more act for this evening, I’m sure you know.” She smiled a bit, “Please welcome our closers Harry Styles and Niall Horan.” I got a little too excited and let out a small squeal when the boys walked on the stage, giving Zayn’s girl a hug as they passed.
I bit my lip, trying to hold back a smile. Niall was holding his guitar by the neck as he walked alongside Harry. They paid no attention to the loud welcoming applause as they whispered to each other.What could they POSSIBLY be talking about right now…? Once the clapping died down, they situated themselves in two chairs that were set up for them.
I looked at Marcel excitedly, wanting to see his face. He held back a smile when he realized I was watching him. “What?”
“I’m fucking pumped!” I whispered. He chuckled and shook his head. I heard Harry cough and I turned to see what the two of them were doing. They wore serious expressions as they settled. The whole place was dead silent apart from the sound of Harry taking the microphone off the stand and Niall tilting his down. Is Niall going to sing too?
“Hello!” Harry finally said, smiling at the crowd. “I’m Harry and this is Niall…and we don’t have a cool group name or anything. We’re just Harry and Niall.” There were chuckles in the crowd…sparse chuckles. “So basically, we’re gonna do some songs, then you all can leave.”
There was a beat of silence as he looked at Niall, before Niall started quietly strumming and Harry started sing. “It’s alright to cry, even my dad does sometimes.” I glanced at Marcel; he was intently watching his brother, his face just as serious. I looked back at the stage, “So don’t wipe your eyes, tears can remind you you’re alive. It’s alright to die; that’s the only thing you’ve ever tried.” My heart constricted. Is that true? “But just for tonight, hold on.” Marcel shifted in his chair. I glanced at him quickly before taking action, pushing away my doubts. I rested my hand on top of his on the armrest, squeezing a little as stared at Harry. He didn’t flinch away from me, but he did squeeze back, telling me appreciated the gesture.
“So live life like you’re giving up, ‘cause you act like you are. Go ahead and just live it up. Go on and tear me apart.” Harry eyes lifted from the spot on the floor that he was singing to scan over the eerily silent crowd. There was so much…emotion in his face. He wasn’t crying, but I knew this song meant a lot to him. Oh, Harry.
“It’s alright to shake, even my hand does sometimes. So inside we’ll rage against the dying of the light. It’s alright to say that that’s the only thing you ever tried. But just for today, hold on.”
Niall’s guitar was echoing into the eerie silence making the effect that much more hypnotizing. He finally glanced up from the floor, making eye contact with me for a second and giving me a small smile before lowering his eyes again.
“So live life like you’re giving up,” Harry’s voice cracked a little and I saw his eyes getting wet.Oh no.Tears started to fill my own eyes and he went through the chorus again. I thought about how much Harry must love Marcel to write this song about him—a song to encourage him to keep going for one more night and one more day at least; to hold on, as Niall said at Brice’s dinner. Stop crying.
The song ended softly and there was a beat of deafening silence. No one moved or spoke—I even think everyone held their breath—before a thunderous applause ripped apart the silence. Without thinking I stood up as I clapped, Brice and Gemma following my lead.
Niall smiled at me as he shook his head and mouthed, “Stop crying.” I laughed, wiping my eyes, as I turned to Marcel. He was smiling up at the stage as he clapped for his big brother and I wanted to just curl up into a ball and weep. I couldn’t handle all the love.
I latched out and hugged Marcel’s long torso. He didn’t flinch away, but instead threw an arm around my shoulders, his hand rubbing at my arm. “You’re so sappy.” He teased. I pretended to be insulted as pushed him away from me, trying to hold back my smile.
“So, I wrote that one for my brother. He knows my reasons.” Harry winked at Marcel before continuing, “We’ve got one more song… I’ll let Niall talk.”
A smirk crossed Niall’s face as he stared at me while tuning his guitar, “I really like this song we’re about to play. Last time I played it ended up being the, top of the list, best night of my summer. So, here we go.” He started strumming again, “Feel free to get up and dance,” he said staring at me. “I’ll try not to laugh.”
A happy mood bounced around the room as Niall plucked the guitar strings. My mouth fell open when I recognized the song. The ‘let’s be crazy’ song! The best night of his summer?! I glanced at Brice, startled to see her staring at me, along with the rest of our posse. They all know I was obsessed with this song—I’d played it enough.
“Best night of his summer?” Louis laughed over the crowd as they sang along to the verse. I blushed and looked back at the stage to Niall. He laughed a little as he and Harry sang. The mood had shifted considerably, and they were both dancing a little in their chairs and smiling and laughing as they looked at the crowd.
Once the chorus hit, I could contain myself anymore. I turned to Brice, “Let’s dance.” She laughed before standing up with me. We jumped around in the isle like idiots, but I guess we were encouraging people because within a couple minutes there were lots of people standing up and dancing. Brice and I giggled as we shimmied with El and Gemma, Marcel covering his face in embarrassment trying his hardest not to laugh.
Once Harry and Niall finished the cheers and shouts went on for minutes before the other acts came out to do the final bow. I was pretty sure I wasn’t this proud since C.L. won their first college soccer game.
——
I lingered in the lobby as I waited for Niall to come out. Most people left already, but there was a good amount still here. My family, as well as Brice and Liam, left with the cars so I was stuck here. I didn’t mind though, Greg and Zayn were still here so I just talked to them as we waited for Guitar Boy and Zayn’s girlfriend.
Greg told us stories about when Niall was first learning guitar and refused to put it down for three months. “It was so aggravating.” Greg chuckled. “But I guess it was good for him, because look at him now! Going to college and doing what he loves. I’m proud of the kid. I’ve got a feeling he’ll make it big.”
“He’s on Chip and Louis’ soccer team yeah? Is he gonna play in college?” Zayn asked him. I tuned out of Greg’s response as I remembered Niall admitting to me how nervous he was about college.Oh, poor baby. I excused myself to get a drink from the water fountain, walking past a cluster of girls my age.
For some reason, tension spiked in the air as I bent over to sip from the stream of water. I could feel them staring at me and hear their voices whispering. When I straightened up, I turned around and found they were indeed looking right at me. But that wasn’t what made me mad; it was the smirk onEileen’s face as she stood in the middle of them that did it. What the FUCK are you doing here?
I watched as she turned to the side, her mouth to another girl’s ear, and I read her lips as she whispered, “…the one that fucked my boyfriend…” She said something else, but nothing else was relevant after that.
“Excuse me?” I said, shocked, marching over to her. “Did you just say I fucked your boyfriend?” She stepped towards me, a smug smirk plastered over her face, as she looked down at me in her high heels.
“Well you did.” She smiled.
I scoffed, “No, I didn’t!”
“Oh? So you’re saying you,” her voice rose, “didn’t fuck around with my boyfriend? You’re saying you didn’t cheat with him?” The whole lobby fell silent and all eyes landed on Eileen and me. She gave me a smile before her face completely fell, her eyes watering up. “I loved him, Hunter. I love him with all my heart and you had to go and rip him away from me!” She is NOT doing this right now!
“Cut the shit, Eileen. You didn’t give a fuck about him!” I snapped.
She let out a sob, “What makes you so sure? You weren’t there when we were alone.” I glanced around, seeing all the disapproving looks that everyone was giving me. No! Don’t fall for it! A fake sad smile crossed her face as she looked off distantly, “Like when I would teach him how to braid my hair, or when we cuddled on the couch as we watched movies. You weren’t there when we kissed in the rain,” she sobbed a couple times before continuing. Although she was ‘crying’ her eyes still held that evil Eileen stare. She knew what she was doing.
Her voice lowered and she whispered, “You weren’t there when he fucked me in his bed, on his floor, in his bathroom, on his couch.” She stepped closer; speaking so only I could hear. “On his kitchen counter, in his backyard on those swings, in the hallway…did I mention his bed? It happened there more than five times definitely. And that’s only the places in his house.” My chest heaved to drag air in and out. I didn’t want to believe her. I wanted to know she was bluffing and just trying to piss me off—but I knew she wasn’t.
“And you just had to ruin the best relationship I ever had!” She sobbed suddenly, so everyone else could hear again. I flinched away from her voice, but she kept going. “I told you to leave us alone, Hunter. I told you, just let me have one guy since you’ve stolen everyone else I’ve ever had.”
A gasp went through the room.
I shook my head, “I never—”
“Hunter, please!” She cried. “Just admit that you fucked him and stole him from me. I need that closure, and I think that’s the least you could do.” Her voice lowered again so only I could hear it again. “Say it; in front of these people. Tell them what a whore you are.” I looked around again, stricken by everyone frowning at me judgmentally. My chest tightened when I saw the confused look on Greg’s face. “Tell them Hunter.”
“I never had sex with Niall.” I choked out.
“She said it!” Eileen shouted—lying. “She admitted to—” There was a laugh before a door opened and the situation only got worse. Alec walked into the room, oblivious to the dramatic silence around him. I stopped breathing as his eyes landed on me. Eileen chuckled in the back of her throat as she watched the blood drain from my face.
“Oh look! It’s the little prude!” He laughed.