Chapter 10
Like every other morning I got up for school at the same early hour of 5:30. It was Thursday. Tomorrow was the party. I don't know why, but I was nervous. Very nervous. I had to calm down.
I showered quick, washed my face and got dressed. My dark wash skinny jeans, long sleeve white tee with the navy stripes, my silver dog tags and my olive Toms. Very casual. I put on a bit of dark green eye liner, and some mascara and I began walking downstairs.
"Care?" I heard Ana say from her room.
I was halfway down the stairs but running pretty early so I went to her.
"Yes Ana?" I asked her.
She had on a pretty ruffled white top, navy blue blazer, and her dark green colored jeans. A bit of eyeliner and mascara too. And sparkles. Too many sparkles. Wow. She looked, different.
It was not until this moment that I had seen how old she had suddenly become. Completely transformed. She wasn't my kid sister. She is her own person, completely new. A, and I hate to say it, typical teenage girl. Like Lainey, or Ava, or Belle. She was an equal to them now.
"Is this something like what Lainey would wear?" she asked me.
And she pinpointed it. That's exactly who she reminded me of. The hair color, the ruffles, the height, the glitter. It wasn't Ana standing before me. It was Lainey.
"Actually, yes. You look and lot like her." I said.
I was just hoping there were no heels.
"Good, she is everything I aspire to be. I really like Lainey." she said to me. "I really love her clothes."
God I hope she doesn't find a jackass like Elaine managed to. Oh but she did have Will.
"Will is stopping by the house before school to walk me. So I figured I should look cute and girly on the walk." she said to me.
I honestly think I threw up a little.
"Well you look adorable." I said to her. Trying not to show my pain.
It was still pretty damn annoying that my little sister has had more action with boys than I have. I know that my boys give me cheek and forehead kisses, but those mean friendship. Not love. I wanted a relationship like Liam and Danielle's. In love with each other. I am in love with the idea. Not to sound cliché.
"Thanks!" Ana said giving me a squeeze.
"Does Mum know about Will?" I asked her curious.
"Yes, I told her last weekend while you were in your room most of the time."
Crying over you I thought to myself.
"Good." I said satisfied.
My phone buzzed and I got a text.
Appointment this morning. Start walking whenever. - Zayn.
Oh wonderful. Looks like I'll be walking alone this morning. Then I got another text.
Hey Care can I stop by and pick you up to walk this morning? I'm gonna be alone otherwise. - NH
Well my morning is already better.
Do you have my address?
Yes. You gave it to me last week.
See you soon then.
Be there in a bit. Got any bagels?
Why Niall?
I'm still hungry.
Just hurry up and get over here.
Alright, fine.
Do you want cream cheese?
Thank you!
What a man. Always eating he was. Well, I better go get those bagels.
"Who are you texting?" Ana asked curiously.
"Zayn, he's not walking this morning." I answered.
"I'm starting to like Zayn. Who are you gonna go with?"
"Well, I think Niall is stopping by…"
"Oh my god! This is great. Does he love you yet?"
"Just go downstairs and get breakfast. When's Will getting here?" I asked completely avoiding the question.
"Soon I think." she answered me.
She pulled out her little Nokia and texted him.
"Then go and eat. Niall's coming over for breakfast I guess, so don't make a fool of me." I said to her.
Ana smiled at me as a response.
She started downstairs. I went to my room an grabbed my bags and my navy peacoat. Then went down to get the bagels going.
It was a cooler morning. The days were starting to get crisp with autumn chill. I loved fall and winter in England. It was always so beautiful. The snow sparkling on the ground, the fireplace pouring out heat. It was just so cozy. I loved it.
The bagels popped out of the toaster, I had to make another for Ana though. She was pouring juice when I heard a knock at the door. And the dogs barking from the mud room.
Butterflies. So many butterflies right now.
My Mum was reading in the front room when I went to answer the door.
"Who's over so early? Isn't it 6:45? That's early. Right?" she asked.
"It's my friend Niall, I invited him for breakfast." I answered.
"Alright." she said back to me.
I went to open the front door. There was Niall, with his glittering blue eyes, crooked smile, and that beautiful wool coat of his. His cheeks red from the cold air.
"Good morning Caroline." he said giving me a kiss on the cheek.
I could feel the butterflies all throughout my body. My cheeks flushed bright red. I returned this gesture of his with a hug.
"Morning Niall." I said.
I think my cheeks had cooled down a little. And I invited the lad in.
We passed through the living room to get to the kitchen and I remembered my mom was there.
"Hey Mum, this is Niall Horan." I said to her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Holden." Niall said in his amazing accent and shook my Mum's hand.
"Lovely to meet you as well Niall. Very nice accent. Irish?" she asked him.
"Correct." he answered.
"Oh wait a second, you're the new kid this year! You've told me about him Caroline. Oh it is really a pleasure now. I knew the name sounded familiar." my Mum said. "Very nice to formally meet you Niall. I'm Katherine Holden. My husband Edward is over in America. He would've loved to meet you."
He smiled at both of us. Wow. He truly was adorable.
"Let's go to the kitchen." I offered.
He nodded. It was becoming a very nice morning.
"Hello there Miss Ana. How are you?" Niall asked my sister.
She was beaming. She loved being acknowledged.
"Great and you?" Ana asked him.
"Better now that I'm with you guys." he answered.
She smiled. He smiled. I laughed. He laughed. We all laughed. The exchange between them was just so cute. Maybe my kid sister still had some little kid qualities.
"You want coffee?" I asked Niall.
"Please, and thank you for the breakfast." he said.
"Irish creme in it? That's how I take mine. And did you miss breakfast or something?" I asked him pouring a couple of cup.
"Yes please, and no, I had a few waffles this morning, but I was still hungry… so I decided to ask you." he said with a smile.
That smile, that adorable, crooked, cheeky smile. It never failed to put me in a good mood.
I brought the coffee cups over and sat down next to him on the barstools at our breakfast counter.
"Thank you." he said to me.
Ana was on the other side of me and she kept nudging me. I was going to kill her. We ate our bagels while watching the morning news. Then Ana suddenly stood up.
She looked at her phone. "Will is outside waiting for me." she announced.
She ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She looked so nervous and worried. Niall glanced at me. He wasn't quite sure of what was happening.
"I'll see you after school alright?" she not so much asked but demanded.
"Hey Ana, before you leave, just calm down. If he likes you, it's for you. Be yourself. You're beautiful. Remember that." Niall said with a smile.
She ran up to him and have him a hug. Wow, Ana barely knew this kid and she hugged him.
"Thank you Niall." she said and left.
"But nobody is as beautiful as you Care. You've helped her through so much. She loves you, I can tell. Looks up to you. Doing all the little things for her? That's what makes you beautiful Care." he said. His eyes shining.
Boy. Could Ana pick them. She was right. I did like him. A lot.
Wow." I said to him while blushing.
He looked at me puzzled.
"What?" he asked.
"The advice you gave her, if I had said that she never would have listened to me. But thank you for that. She was a wreck there. And you helped her more than anyone. Not just me. You didn't have to add that last part."
"Hey, if I had any younger siblings that's how I would talk to them. I would want to protect them. But looks like the only person I need to protect is you now. And I wanted to add that." he said and gave me a wink.
I blushed and smiled. We were finishing up, I downed my coffee, and we started off.
"Wait a second, I have a car now." I said mostly to myself.
"Is it that black Audi like Harry's I saw in your driveway? I didn't know whose it was." Niall said to me.
"Yes. A gift from my Pop. It's for not seeing him in who knows how long." I answered him. "Want to ride there instead? I only got it yesterday so I keep forgetting its mine."
"Sounds good to me." he answered.
We climbed into the car. It was still so strange. My own car.
"Did your Pop get Ana anything?" he asked me. "This is a pretty big gift ya know?"
"VIP backstage passes for Justin Bieber."
"That's insane. I really like his music. He actually got me into singing a bit."
"You sing?" I asked him as we pulled down my driveway.
"Not so much in public but a little bit. I know how to play the guitar too. Well you knew that from band. And not to brag, I'm pretty damn good at it."
"Well I would love to hear you play sometime. Without the band." I said to him.
His face flushed red. It was adorable.
He plugged in his iPod and began playing some music. It was Kings of Leon.
"I love this song. It is such a good one." I said. "Use Somebody, right?"
"That's correct." he said with a smile.
He started singing along to it. And his voice was so different. It was rugged, and just melodic all and the same time.
"Why don't you sing along?" he asked me cocking his head to the right kind of like what my dogs do.
"My voice is awful. I'm not even trying to get a compliment or anything. It's just bad." I admitted.
"I'm sure it's not that bad." he said.
"Oh it is. Nothing compare to yours."
He smiled. And nudged me to sing along. I gave in. It was those eyes, and the smile I couldn't resist.
We were both singing at the top of our lungs. We pulled into the school parking lot. And shut off the music and we both started laughing. His laugh is hilarious, it is just so, jolly. And mine is just really funny. I laughed until I went silent and there were tears in my eyes.
"Not to be mean, but you are a pretty awful singer." he said with a wink.
"Oh don't even add the damn wink. I know I'm horrid." I said with a smile.
This moment in time was perfect. Me and Niall, laughing to tears. Niall and I. Friends, maybe soon to be lovers. Oh boy did I wish that it was me who he could love. He handed me his handkerchief to dry my eyes from laughing so hard.
We got out of the car and I didn't realize how cold it was. Niall took my hand, our hands intertwined with friendship at the moment.
Maybe love.
I still had no clue what Harry was implying the other day by saying i better look good in front of the blonde one.
We walked up to the school and entered Global still holding hands.
He smiled at me and said "Would you care to go to lunch today? Liam is going to go with us if that's alright. And if you'd like to join."
"I think that Louis might be joining us too. If that would be fine."
"Of course. The more the merrier."
He pressed my hand to his lips and then went to talk to Liam and Harry.
I stood there blushing like an idiot. Lainey, Ava, and Belle were in the room already. And they obviously saw everything that just happened. From walking with our hands locked together, to the kiss to my hand. It was Belle who came over first.
"Huh." she said and smiled.
"What?" I asked her.
The other two were walking over beaming at me.
"What!" I repeated more as a demand.
"Niall. You fancy him. It's easy to see." Ava said to me.
"It's true Care, your face, it's flushed. You have been blushing for the past minute. It's not going away." Lainey said.
"He's just too nice. I can't help but be flattered by his compliments. Nothing more. He's my friend. One of my best friends now." I said to them.
I really didn't want to talk about it so I went to sit down in my seat. To avoid further conversation I took out my text book and started to put on my glasses. Then a hand snatched them from me.
"Don't hide behind them. Not until you have to." Niall said with a wink.
I smiled and took my glasses back. Niall took his seat as the bell was ringing.
"Alright class. We are going to be doing group projects for the next chapter." Mr. Greyson started.
Global projects were always simple. Especially in groups. There was never much work, and he gave us a while to complete them. Like up to 2 weeks for a simple report.
We had been studying European history for a little while so it probably had something to do with that. I would probably work with Liam and Lainey. That's what we normally did. Got work done. It was nice.
"Your groups have been assigned. A spreadsheet will be coming around with your group members on it."
And we all let out a groan. This was going to be awful. With my luck I will be working with Jack and one of the kids who does absolutely nothing.
The sheet came to me and I took a deep breath closed my eyes for a moment. I really needed good partners. I was not going to be happy if I didn't have ones that will work.
I opened my eyes and saw there were countries too. I looked for my name.
Country: Ireland
Leader: Caroline Holden
Partners: Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan
How convenient. Having Ireland and having the Irish lad.
"This project is going to be your big project of the year. There must be a written report, and presentation to the class. You will hand this in after winter holiday at the beginning of November. This will be half of your winter term grade." Greyson said very seriously. "I will give class time every Thursday and Friday until it is due."
I guess he was cracking down this year. He then dismissed us to talk with our groups for the rest of class.
"Care, who's in your group? I'm with Belle and Ava. I can't believe you got left out!" Lainey said.
"Louis and Niall. It's fine. What country do you have? We got Ireland." I answered her.
"Sweden. I'm partly Swedish though so that's good. And Niall is full Irish! Not fair!" she said to me.
I guess she forgot the conversation from earlier. Good thing. I didn't want to get back into that. She went to talk, actually I should say flirt with Jack. I was still awaiting my apology.
"Harry, Zayn, and I. I think this will go well." said Liam to me. "You, Lou, and Niall?"
"How did you know?" I asked sarcastically.
He broke into a smile.
"Are you joining us for lunch today?" he asked me.
"Me and Lou will be. If that is alright with you."
"Of course Caroline." he said with a smile.
Louis and Niall waved me over. They looked pretty darn excited.
"Brilliant plan. This kid knows what he's talking about." Louis said.
"Caroline. Over winter holiday, do you want to go to my cottage in Ireland? You guys could get the full experience and we could do our report there during the week we have off."
Denying an invite to spend one on one time with Niall (and Lou), or a whole week? There was no way I hell I was going to deny that.
"Absolutely. Sounds fantastic." I answered.
"Let's start counting down the days!" Lou said excited.
This was going to be so amazing.
"Less than a month until we leave." Niall said with a smile. "You guys can meet my family and friends from back home in Mullingar. We'll be about an hour away in the cottage but it will be so much fun. I'm sure we'll have a great time."
I was thrilled. That was an understatement. A whole week with my boys. Well, one half of them.
Lou got up and went to talk to Liam.
"I'm thrilled we can spend the week together." Niall said.
I stole a look at Harry and he gave me a motivating wink.
"Same here." I said with a smile.
"It should be, entertaining. We can make our own fun." he said to me.
I had no idea what he was implying now, maybe some old Irish thing to do, but this was going to be a amazing week. Only a month. That was all I had to wait. One month.
There was lunch with him today.
And I almost forgot. The party with the boys tomorrow.
End of Chapter 10.
Thank you all for continuing to read!
I really want to know what you all want to see in it, so please comment or message me or tweet me @Ellie1DHearts!
Happy early (by 55 minutes) anniversary Niall, Harry, Liam, Louis, and Zayn! We love you One Direction! Thanks for coming into my life.
I love you all.
xx.
El.