Drama
Chapter 40: Step 1 Complete
Leila's P.O.V.
It feels so weird. It's Monday morning and I should be at the studio getting ready for Deep Secrets. But no, I'm here at my apartment in LA wondering why the hell I deserved this and why someone would want to ruin my life this bad just to get a guy. I mean, yeah, Niall's the best boyfriend you could ever ask for but I wouldn't go through this much trouble just to date him. The other thing I laugh at is that he doesn't even like her back, so even if Spencer did get him, Niall would get the fuck out of here.
I have so many emotions running through my body right now. The first one is anger. Pure irate anger. You can guess why. The second is gloomy and sad. Again, explanatory. The third, nervous. Niall and his uncle are currently at the police station pressing charges against Sierra. I don't know how this will all turn out since the event took place several years ago. Hopefully it works and Sierra is sentenced otherwise I'm never being admitted into "Red Light Studios" ever again.
Which reminds me...
The thought makes me smile and I quickly shower and change into something appropriate. As I do so, I hear Madison stirring in her bedroom and I knock on her door to remind her of our agenda for today. I make breakfast for us as she gets ready and once we're done eating, we clear off the dinner table and set it up with a few notebooks and plenty of writing utensils.
We're planning out how we're going to sneak into "Red Light Studios" to find the evidence of Spencer's dirty tricks.
"Step 1. Security," I start. "We need to figure out how to get past them since I was fired."
"Okay, um, don't you still have your pass?" Madison asks.
"Yeah, but I can't-"
"One of my friends knows how to make fake passes out of old ones. If we use your old one, he can make 2 different fake passes for us," Madison explains with a smile.
"But that's so cliche," I groan.
"How else are we going to get in?"
The imaginary lightbulb appears over my head faster than you ever thought it could.
"We can say that Niall's uncle called us for a meeting," I say.
"Wow, you're really thinking outside the box," Madison claims. "But don't we still need passes?"
"I can ask Niall if his uncle is willing to give us 2 passes to get in to meet with him," I suggest.
"Dang you're good! Do you think he'll do it?"
"If he agreed to go down to the station with Niall and press charges against Sierra, I'm pretty sure he'd give us passes," I reply.
"Wow, okay, well, that works! That's how we can get in," Madison responds.
"Wait. That's our excuse but the security guards still know who I am. I need a disguise," I point out. "You're easy since they don't know you, so you can just stay the same."
"Would you be willing to dye your hair?" Madison asks.
I sigh, "Not necessarily but if we need to."
"Okay, we'll worry about hair later. You wear contacts, right?"
"Yeah," I reply.
"Have they seen you with your glasses?"
"I don't think so."
"Awesome! You can wear your glasses! Okay, we're also going to have to use a different makeup style. One that's not your normal and what you had on the show."
"Geez, you know everything about this!" I chuckle.
"Trust me, Leila, I've had tons of practice. They weren't for doing anything bad, I promise! Just other things that I wanted to do but I didn't have money or a way of getting in," Madison informs.
"Sure," I respond sarcastically.
"Anyway, we'll figure out a disguise for you and get the fake passes. Step 1 complete."
"Okay, step 2 is finding the monitor room without getting noticed. I know exactly where it is and it's not that far from the main entrance," I deliver, drawing a simple diagram on the notebook paper. "If we just talk to each other, pretend we're extras or something, and try not to get in anybody's way, we should be able to reach it with no problem."
"Good, I'll just follow your lead," Madison declares.
"And step 3 is figuring out the monitor system. I have no idea how it works," I admit.
"Neither do I," Madison agrees. "If we can't do it, who can?"
"I know of some people, but I'm not sure if they'd help us or not," I reveal.
"Do you think Niall's uncle would? Since he's giving us the passes, it's a half-lie," she suggests.
"Yeah but I don't know if he knows how to work the monitors," I tell her.
"Oh man, this is going to take us forever."
"Maybe not," I announce, my eyes growing wide.
"What are you thinking?"
"You'll see," I say with a smile.
.
A few hours later, Niall enters the apartment with a huge grin on his face, eager to tell us the news. Madison and I were just relaxing on the couch watching some chick flick that we weren't even paying attention to and as Niall sits down next to us, we lean in ready to know.
"Well?" Madison pushes when Niall doesn't say anything.
"They're arresting her," Niall starts, his face slowly growing wider. "She's going to court."
"YES!" I scream, high fiving Niall.
"Oh, my God! We did it!" Madison exclaims.
"This is really happening," Niall swallows, looking at me very pleased with those bright blue eyes.
"You did it, babe," I encourage. "Just so you know, you also did the right thing."
"I know. It just feels kind of weird, I guess. It happened years ago but they're still going to do something about it and I can't believe it," Niall informs.
"Well believe it!" Madison shouts. "Pizza on me tonight in this celebration!"
"Really Madison? You'd really do that?" I ask.
"Yeah! Trust me, Leila!" Madison insists, pulling out her phone and dialing the nearest pizza
restaurant. She stands up and heads into her bedroom to order.
"So, Madison and I made a plan to sneak into the studio," I begin. Niall doesn't answer at first and continues to stare into thin air. "Niall?" I wave my hand in front of his face and finally he responds. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just kind of nervous now that this is going to go public. I don't know how management is going to take this," Niall replies.
"Oh, my God, I totally forgot about them," I relate, remembering how strict One Direction's management is.
"Hopefully this'll just blow over because I don't want people saying more shit about me," Niall admits. "I don't want too much attention put on this because it will distract me and so many others from what we need to be doing." He pauses and looks at me. "Leila, I'm doing all of this for you."
I knew that all of this was to set things right, tear down the bullies, and get me back to where I belong, but now that he's said that, I feel guilty. I'm basically using his story for my own good.
"I feel horrible now, Niall," I reveal.
"Don't be. I insisted that this should be done. You even tried to stop me, remember? But I'm the one who kept pushing it and finally did it, so don't feel guilty, please?" Niall explains.
He's right to a point, but I still feel terrible. Even though what he did was right, the entire objective of all of this is to bring me back to the place where I can live my dream in peace.
"Anyway, what were you telling me before? Sorry, I just got lost in all of my thoughts," Niall adds.
"Oh, um, Madison and I figured out a way to sneak into the studio to look at the security cameras," I answer, wiping the guilty feelings out of my memory and focusing on the plan.
"Oh, really? And how does it all work?" Niall asks, smiling. Just as he spoke, Madison trails in the living room again and we describe to Niall our whole strategy.
"Do you think your uncle would do that for us?" I question Niall about the fake passes.
"Yeah, I think he'd be okay with it," he answers. "I did tell him you were innocent."
"Seriously?" I exclaim.
"Yeah. I think he believes it since he didn't even realize he accepted Sierra into the studio," he responds.
"Woah, how did he not notice it?" I ask.
"Long story. Anyway, yeah I can totally get you the passes."
"Awesome! Okay, next question. Do you know how to work the security cameras and get the footage we need?" Madison interrogates.
"I don't know it that well, but I can play around with it. If need be, I'm pretty sure my uncle knows how and that will also help with the passes and prove your innocence to him," Niall informs.
"That would be amazing," I breathe, completely flabbergasted at how this is all working out.
"Can you talk to him tomorrow about all of this?" Madison questions.
"Um, yeah, I've got to meet with him to discuss more about the case anyways, which reminds me, you might see me in court," Niall reveals.
"Oh boy," I groan.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine, I promise," Niall assures me.
"I hope so," I say.
"Trust me," he urges, giving me a look. I back off and Madison continues.
"Anyways, that's great news! It doesn't look too sketchy now."
"Well, it all depends on how well you can change Leila's look," Niall tells her.
"Oh, that's not a problem. Unless Leila becomes picky on stuff and she's the problem,"
Madison replies, looking at me.
"Hey, just don't make me look like a fool, alright?" I defend.
"I won't," Madison responds, laughing.
There's a knock at the door and Madison jumps up to answer it. The scent of pizza wafts in from the doorway as she opens it and pays the employee. Shutting the door, she walks back and sets the 2 boxes of pizza on the table.
"Dig in," she announces, grabbing plates from the kitchen.
I take the boxes into the living room and place them on the coffee table, settling myself on the couch. Niall comes and joins me and Madison appears with the plates and towels. Turning on the TV, I do as Madison says and dig in. My stomach growls as I continue looking at the pizza and my first bite is heavenly.
The news pops up when the TV finishes loading and I see a girl being taken from a building and forced into a cop car. As I watch, the girl seems familiar and so does the buidling. The headline appears and I almost drop my plate.
Sierra Guildman Charged, Arrested
"Holy shit," I exclaim, my eyes opening wide. I turn the volume up and focus on the TV like never before.
"Oh, my God, I wasn't expecting this," Niall reveals.
The scene ends quickly but we've seen enough to know. I exchange glances with Niall and continue eating my pizza, shocked at what my eyes just detected. I had a feeling something like this was going to happen, but so soon? I take a few deep breaths and it helps the surprised thoughts calm down. This is what we wanted, right? Be happy! She's been arrested and charged! Does it really matter how long it takes because we won anyway. Wait. We won. We just fucking won.
"Niall," I speak.
"Hmm?" he answers with his mouth full of pizza.
"We won. We just won against Sierra," I repeat, smiling. I see his lips form a smile and his blue eyes stare into mine. He looks away and back at the TV, finishing his piece of pizza. I proceed to finish mine too now that the happy news is the only image in my brain right now. We won.
Now that's an accomplishment.
It feels so weird. It's Monday morning and I should be at the studio getting ready for Deep Secrets. But no, I'm here at my apartment in LA wondering why the hell I deserved this and why someone would want to ruin my life this bad just to get a guy. I mean, yeah, Niall's the best boyfriend you could ever ask for but I wouldn't go through this much trouble just to date him. The other thing I laugh at is that he doesn't even like her back, so even if Spencer did get him, Niall would get the fuck out of here.
I have so many emotions running through my body right now. The first one is anger. Pure irate anger. You can guess why. The second is gloomy and sad. Again, explanatory. The third, nervous. Niall and his uncle are currently at the police station pressing charges against Sierra. I don't know how this will all turn out since the event took place several years ago. Hopefully it works and Sierra is sentenced otherwise I'm never being admitted into "Red Light Studios" ever again.
Which reminds me...
The thought makes me smile and I quickly shower and change into something appropriate. As I do so, I hear Madison stirring in her bedroom and I knock on her door to remind her of our agenda for today. I make breakfast for us as she gets ready and once we're done eating, we clear off the dinner table and set it up with a few notebooks and plenty of writing utensils.
We're planning out how we're going to sneak into "Red Light Studios" to find the evidence of Spencer's dirty tricks.
"Step 1. Security," I start. "We need to figure out how to get past them since I was fired."
"Okay, um, don't you still have your pass?" Madison asks.
"Yeah, but I can't-"
"One of my friends knows how to make fake passes out of old ones. If we use your old one, he can make 2 different fake passes for us," Madison explains with a smile.
"But that's so cliche," I groan.
"How else are we going to get in?"
The imaginary lightbulb appears over my head faster than you ever thought it could.
"We can say that Niall's uncle called us for a meeting," I say.
"Wow, you're really thinking outside the box," Madison claims. "But don't we still need passes?"
"I can ask Niall if his uncle is willing to give us 2 passes to get in to meet with him," I suggest.
"Dang you're good! Do you think he'll do it?"
"If he agreed to go down to the station with Niall and press charges against Sierra, I'm pretty sure he'd give us passes," I reply.
"Wow, okay, well, that works! That's how we can get in," Madison responds.
"Wait. That's our excuse but the security guards still know who I am. I need a disguise," I point out. "You're easy since they don't know you, so you can just stay the same."
"Would you be willing to dye your hair?" Madison asks.
I sigh, "Not necessarily but if we need to."
"Okay, we'll worry about hair later. You wear contacts, right?"
"Yeah," I reply.
"Have they seen you with your glasses?"
"I don't think so."
"Awesome! You can wear your glasses! Okay, we're also going to have to use a different makeup style. One that's not your normal and what you had on the show."
"Geez, you know everything about this!" I chuckle.
"Trust me, Leila, I've had tons of practice. They weren't for doing anything bad, I promise! Just other things that I wanted to do but I didn't have money or a way of getting in," Madison informs.
"Sure," I respond sarcastically.
"Anyway, we'll figure out a disguise for you and get the fake passes. Step 1 complete."
"Okay, step 2 is finding the monitor room without getting noticed. I know exactly where it is and it's not that far from the main entrance," I deliver, drawing a simple diagram on the notebook paper. "If we just talk to each other, pretend we're extras or something, and try not to get in anybody's way, we should be able to reach it with no problem."
"Good, I'll just follow your lead," Madison declares.
"And step 3 is figuring out the monitor system. I have no idea how it works," I admit.
"Neither do I," Madison agrees. "If we can't do it, who can?"
"I know of some people, but I'm not sure if they'd help us or not," I reveal.
"Do you think Niall's uncle would? Since he's giving us the passes, it's a half-lie," she suggests.
"Yeah but I don't know if he knows how to work the monitors," I tell her.
"Oh man, this is going to take us forever."
"Maybe not," I announce, my eyes growing wide.
"What are you thinking?"
"You'll see," I say with a smile.
.
A few hours later, Niall enters the apartment with a huge grin on his face, eager to tell us the news. Madison and I were just relaxing on the couch watching some chick flick that we weren't even paying attention to and as Niall sits down next to us, we lean in ready to know.
"Well?" Madison pushes when Niall doesn't say anything.
"They're arresting her," Niall starts, his face slowly growing wider. "She's going to court."
"YES!" I scream, high fiving Niall.
"Oh, my God! We did it!" Madison exclaims.
"This is really happening," Niall swallows, looking at me very pleased with those bright blue eyes.
"You did it, babe," I encourage. "Just so you know, you also did the right thing."
"I know. It just feels kind of weird, I guess. It happened years ago but they're still going to do something about it and I can't believe it," Niall informs.
"Well believe it!" Madison shouts. "Pizza on me tonight in this celebration!"
"Really Madison? You'd really do that?" I ask.
"Yeah! Trust me, Leila!" Madison insists, pulling out her phone and dialing the nearest pizza
restaurant. She stands up and heads into her bedroom to order.
"So, Madison and I made a plan to sneak into the studio," I begin. Niall doesn't answer at first and continues to stare into thin air. "Niall?" I wave my hand in front of his face and finally he responds. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just kind of nervous now that this is going to go public. I don't know how management is going to take this," Niall replies.
"Oh, my God, I totally forgot about them," I relate, remembering how strict One Direction's management is.
"Hopefully this'll just blow over because I don't want people saying more shit about me," Niall admits. "I don't want too much attention put on this because it will distract me and so many others from what we need to be doing." He pauses and looks at me. "Leila, I'm doing all of this for you."
I knew that all of this was to set things right, tear down the bullies, and get me back to where I belong, but now that he's said that, I feel guilty. I'm basically using his story for my own good.
"I feel horrible now, Niall," I reveal.
"Don't be. I insisted that this should be done. You even tried to stop me, remember? But I'm the one who kept pushing it and finally did it, so don't feel guilty, please?" Niall explains.
He's right to a point, but I still feel terrible. Even though what he did was right, the entire objective of all of this is to bring me back to the place where I can live my dream in peace.
"Anyway, what were you telling me before? Sorry, I just got lost in all of my thoughts," Niall adds.
"Oh, um, Madison and I figured out a way to sneak into the studio to look at the security cameras," I answer, wiping the guilty feelings out of my memory and focusing on the plan.
"Oh, really? And how does it all work?" Niall asks, smiling. Just as he spoke, Madison trails in the living room again and we describe to Niall our whole strategy.
"Do you think your uncle would do that for us?" I question Niall about the fake passes.
"Yeah, I think he'd be okay with it," he answers. "I did tell him you were innocent."
"Seriously?" I exclaim.
"Yeah. I think he believes it since he didn't even realize he accepted Sierra into the studio," he responds.
"Woah, how did he not notice it?" I ask.
"Long story. Anyway, yeah I can totally get you the passes."
"Awesome! Okay, next question. Do you know how to work the security cameras and get the footage we need?" Madison interrogates.
"I don't know it that well, but I can play around with it. If need be, I'm pretty sure my uncle knows how and that will also help with the passes and prove your innocence to him," Niall informs.
"That would be amazing," I breathe, completely flabbergasted at how this is all working out.
"Can you talk to him tomorrow about all of this?" Madison questions.
"Um, yeah, I've got to meet with him to discuss more about the case anyways, which reminds me, you might see me in court," Niall reveals.
"Oh boy," I groan.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine, I promise," Niall assures me.
"I hope so," I say.
"Trust me," he urges, giving me a look. I back off and Madison continues.
"Anyways, that's great news! It doesn't look too sketchy now."
"Well, it all depends on how well you can change Leila's look," Niall tells her.
"Oh, that's not a problem. Unless Leila becomes picky on stuff and she's the problem,"
Madison replies, looking at me.
"Hey, just don't make me look like a fool, alright?" I defend.
"I won't," Madison responds, laughing.
There's a knock at the door and Madison jumps up to answer it. The scent of pizza wafts in from the doorway as she opens it and pays the employee. Shutting the door, she walks back and sets the 2 boxes of pizza on the table.
"Dig in," she announces, grabbing plates from the kitchen.
I take the boxes into the living room and place them on the coffee table, settling myself on the couch. Niall comes and joins me and Madison appears with the plates and towels. Turning on the TV, I do as Madison says and dig in. My stomach growls as I continue looking at the pizza and my first bite is heavenly.
The news pops up when the TV finishes loading and I see a girl being taken from a building and forced into a cop car. As I watch, the girl seems familiar and so does the buidling. The headline appears and I almost drop my plate.
Sierra Guildman Charged, Arrested
"Holy shit," I exclaim, my eyes opening wide. I turn the volume up and focus on the TV like never before.
"Oh, my God, I wasn't expecting this," Niall reveals.
The scene ends quickly but we've seen enough to know. I exchange glances with Niall and continue eating my pizza, shocked at what my eyes just detected. I had a feeling something like this was going to happen, but so soon? I take a few deep breaths and it helps the surprised thoughts calm down. This is what we wanted, right? Be happy! She's been arrested and charged! Does it really matter how long it takes because we won anyway. Wait. We won. We just fucking won.
"Niall," I speak.
"Hmm?" he answers with his mouth full of pizza.
"We won. We just won against Sierra," I repeat, smiling. I see his lips form a smile and his blue eyes stare into mine. He looks away and back at the TV, finishing his piece of pizza. I proceed to finish mine too now that the happy news is the only image in my brain right now. We won.
Now that's an accomplishment.
Notes
Hey guys! I'M BACK! These past 3 weeks have been INSANE with the end of the school year, graduation, and I also started a new job this past week! Also, this job has a tight schedule so I'm hoping I can continue writing and updating every Sunday and Wednesday! If I miss an update day, DON'T FREAK OUT. I'm working on it!Thank you for being so patient with me these past few weeks. I've been running around doing a million things and it hasn't stopped, but I took some time to write and update at least!
Rachel :)
Make a Sequel please.
9/13/14