A New Direction
The Sleepover
Cecily's P.O.V
I sat on the couch, nervously. My four best friends from England were coming over soon. I haven't seen any of them in, like, 10 years. I didn’t really keep in touch. In Australia it was just me and Dad.
Dad came down the stairs.
“Have everything ready, Lilybear?" I giggled at his old nickname for me.
“Yep, food is ready, games are out, and the teli is set up.”
“Well just don't keep me up all night.”
“We won't." I looked around the living room. I had made sure to unpack all the boxes for this room and have it set up perfectly. We had just moved in 2 weeks ago. The boxes and packing paper were everywhere. It had taken forever for us to find a proper house.
When I heard the doorbell ring, I walked up to the door. Okay... happy face, Cecily, happy face! I put a smile on my face and saw Crystal standing there, shifting her feet, nervously.
“Crystal!” She looked up and smiled. I gave her a hug.
“Cecily! Wow, you've gotten tall, girl! Must be the air down under. How tall are you, anyways? How was Australia?” I laughed at Crystal’s rambling as I showed her to the living room.
“I’m 5’10 and Australia was amazing. It was beautiful and magical and I'm already sick of all the rain here.” We talked, catching up, until I heard the doorbell ring, again. I jumped up and went to open it. I saw Roksi standing there. I gave her a big hug.
“Hey, Roksi. Come in. I’m sorry about your parents, by the way. That’s hard... I would know.” Roksi stopped and looked at me.
“You know?” I gave a short laugh.
“Will our dads ever be out of the spotlight?” She laughed a bit and we headed into the living room. Roksi and Crystal hug and we all sat in a circle, on the floor.
“So, Roksi, when did you get your tattoos?”
“Oh, now and then. I don't even remember.” I see she still doesn't talk much. We sat on the floor till the doorbell rings a couple of times. I started toward the door when I heard arguing going on outside. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I stopped to listen, anyway.
“Dad, why do I have to go?”
“Dani, these girls used to be your best friends give them a chance.”
“But they're all younger than me. I don't want to hang out with a bunch of pipsqueaks.”
“Dani!”
“Okay, okay.”
I opened the door.
“Hey, Dani!” She looked at me with disdain.
“Hey, Cecily.” I went to give her a hug and she stepped through the door. I led her to the living room. Roksi and Crystal said hello to Dani but she just sat on the couch and pulled out her phone. Roksi and Crystal sent me inquiring looks but I just lifted my hands and shrugged my shoulders. I wasn’t about to tell them what I heard. Before I got the chance to sit down, I heard the doorbell ring again. It must be Kay. I went and opened it. I saw Kay standing there, more nervous than any of us. I gave her a big hug.
“Hey, Kay!” She hugged me back.
“Hey, Cecily! I’m so glad your back! How was Australia?”
“Australia was amazing! I’m sorry about your mom. I wish I could have been here for you. Did you get my letter, though?” The letter to Kay was the only communication I had sent to the girls. Cell phones didn’t work and we had sketchy internet so staying in touch was hard. Kay had quieted up but she nodded her head. I stopped her and gave her another hug. “Sorry if I made you sad. Cheer up. We're going to have a lot of fun tonight. The rest of the girls are here, already.” We went into the living and sat in a circle. Except Dani... wow. What got into her knickers?
“Dani come join us.” Kay called out. Dani grumbles and I sent her a knowing glance. A mixture of shock and confusion covers her face for a second before her mask of calm comes back down. Dani finally, reluctantly came to sit in the circle.
“So, did everyone bring their sleeping bags?” I asked. Kay, Crystal and Roksi nod, affirmatively and Dani shakes her head no. “Well, Dani, I think we have a spare. Let me go get it.” I went into the room where we were keeping all our unpacked boxes. Camping gear... camping gear. I finally found the box and opened it, digging inside of it for a sleeping bag.
“So, how much did you hear?” Dani says behind me, startling me. I handed her the sleeping bag.
“Enough.”
“You wont tell the others will you?”
“Did I tell them earlier? Your secret is safe with me. But, I would like you to know we aren’t as immature as you think we are. Most of us have grown up a lot in the past 10 years. We've had no other choice.” I walked back into the living room, leaving Dani standing there. I rejoined the circle started and we started catching up. A little while later, Dani walked back in and I looked at her. She dropped the sleeping bag by her stuff and, hesitantly, came to join us. I patted the place next to me and she sat down. We talked for about an hour, catching up on life.
“So, Cecily, how’s Daniel?” Crystal asked. Daniel...
I had tried to push him as far from my mind as possible but the wave of sorrow hit me. Kay, who was next to me and sending me a knowing glance, clapped her hands together. Kay was the only one who knows what happened to Daniel as I told her in the letter I sent her.
“So who wants to actually do something?” I sent her a thank-you smile.
“Well, we have movies galore. I have an X-BOX and Wii set up. And, I have board games?”
“Let's watch a movie.” Roski says. I walked over to the movie cabinet next to the T.V.
“So, what do we watch?”
“Love Actually.”
“Grease.”
“Abducted.”
“The Godfather.”
“Well, my vote is for Anastasia.” Dani groans.
“You would, Cecily, you would.”
“At least I didn’t say Toy Story.” I said, with a laugh.
“Well, how about we watch Love Actually, now and Abducted, later, when it’s dark?” The girls nodded their head in agreement and I put the movie in. We all settled on the couches and chairs to watch the movie. As the opening credits started, I look around. We've all changed a lot in 10 years. Most of us have been forced to grow up a lot faster than we should have. We're so different than when we first met my mind wanders back to the first time we met.
*Flashback*
My parents walked me to the park, with me hanging between them and them swinging me.
“You ready to make some new friends, Cecily?” I looked up at him and nod. My mother laughed.
“I don’t know who’s more excited Liam. You or Cecily.” My father beamed at my mom. We walked up to the park and Dad let's go of my hand. He ran up to a group of guys, huddled on the lawn. They hug and cheer and act crazy. I walked up to the group of girls playing in the sand.
“Hi, I’m Cecily. I’m four.” I said, holding up four fingers like my dad taught me. The other girls stopped playing and looked at me.
“I’m Roksi and I’m five. I’m in kindergarten.”
“I’m Crystal. I’m four and I think you can be my new, best friend.” I laughed at her remark and gave her a hug.
“I‘m Kay and I free.” The littlest girl said, holding up three fingers.
“And I’m Dani. I’m six and I say sand fight time!” She said, throwing sand at me. I threw some back at her and soon were in a full-fledged sand war.
“Girls! Girls, it’s time to go get something to eat.”
“Food?” Kay perked up. The dads laugh and say something along the lines of 'like father like daughter'.
We head to lunch and go get ice cream, too. When Kay falls and scrapes her knee, later, I help her up and help her wash her wound. That started what was years of Kay being like my younger sister. From that day forward, we were all best friends and practically inseparable. Saying good-bye when we moved to Australia was one of the hardest things I ever did.
*End Flashback*
When the movie ended, I looked outside. The sun was setting but it still wasn’t dark, yet.
“Does anyone want to play video games?”
“Do you have something other than war games?” Crystal asked.
“Yep. I have a ton of music games.”
“Sure!” I turned the TV onto the right mode.
“So what do you want to play?”
“What do you have in?” Roksi asked.
“Sing 5.” I said, looking a bit embarrassed.
“Well, let's just play that.” I turned on the game.
“Well, we'll have to go one at a time for now. I have to find the other mics.” I handed the remote to Roksi and hunt around in the box for the other microphones.
"Who wants to go first?”
“I will!” Crystal says. They set up the song and Crystal started to sing. Roksi went afterward and they even got Dani to sing.
“Kay, do you want to go next?” I asked. She shook her head, violently. At the bottom of the box, I finally found the rest of the microphones. I pulled them out.
“Found them!”
“Cecily, now you have to sing something!” Crystal says handing me the mic. I sighed and grabbed the remote. I pulled up one of my favorite songs. Putting it on play, I started to sing.
“Don't look at me
Every day is so wonderful
Then suddenly... it's hard to breathe.
Now and then, I get insecure
From all the pain, I'm so ashamed.
I am beautiful no matter what they say.
Words can't bring me down.
I am beautiful in every single way.
Yes, words can't bring me down... Oh no.
So don't you bring me down today……”
As I finished singing, I turned to the girls.
“You have a big voice, like your dad.” Crystal comments.
I blushed and said, “Thank you.” I plugged in the rest of the microphones and handed one to each of the other girls.
“So, what do we want to sing?”
“Torn!” Roksi calls out. I turned to Kay and whispered in her ear.
“Actually, sing, Kay. Please. We're all friends here. There's nothing to be afraid of.” Kay nodded her head. I selected the song and started it. I let the song auto-choose who was going to sing what and the music started to scroll.
[Cecily]
I thought I saw a girl brought to life
She was warm she came around
She was dignified
She showed me what it was to cry
You couldn't be that girl I adored
You don't seem to know or seem to care
What your heart is for
But I don't know her anymore
[Crystal]
There's nothing left, I used to cry
My conversation has run dry
That's what's going on
Nothing's fine
[Crystal, Dani, Kay]
I'm torn
I'm all out of faith
This is how I feel
I'm cold and I am shamed
Lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed
Into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see
The perfect sky is torn
You're a little late
I'm already torn (I'm already torn)
[Crystal]
There's nothing left, I used to cry
Inspiration has run dry
That's what's going on
Nothing's fine
[Crystal, Dani, Kay]
I'm torn
Torn
I'm torn
[Crystal]
Nothing's fine
I'm torn
[ALL]
I'm all out of faith
This is how I feel
I'm cold and I am shamed
Lying broken on the floor
Illusion never changed
Into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see
The perfect sky is torn
You're a little late
I'm already torn
[Roksi]
I'm already
I'm already torn
[ALL]
Torn
Oooh
Torn
When we finished the song, we turned to each other and high-fived.
“We sound awesome together! Just like our dads did!” Crystal exclaims.
I quiet up a bit.
“Have you guys ever thought of living your dreams, like our dads did?”
“And be famous? Please, it would never happen!” Dani exclaims. The other girls laughed, until they realized I was being completely serious.
“Like... start a band?” Kay asked. I nodded my head. They all stopped for a moment, considering it.
“I like the idea.” Crystal says, exactly when Dani exclaims, “No way!”
“I think we should give it a try. At least if we don’t make it we'll know we tried.” Roksi added. The other girls nodded their consent, except for Dani.
“Well, we all know that in about a week, there's gonna be a very public 20th Anniversary Reunion of One Direction. What do you say, we perform and surprise our dads?”
“That’s a great idea.” Crystal said.
“Well, we need a name for our band. Any ideas?”
“A New Direction!” Crystal exclaims, “After our dads.” We all kind of laugh.
“The Angels.”
“The Keys.”
“Already been used.”
After about 15 minutes of brainstorming, we couldn’t come up with anymore ideas. They were all already taken or lame.
“So, the only one left is Crystal's idea. A New Direction... does that work?” The other girls nodded their head. I put my hand out.
“To A New Direction.” Roksi, Kay, and Crystal put their hands on top of mine. I looked at Dani. She was looking at us in that same disdainful stare as earlier.
“Come on, Dani! We need you!” She huffed and puffed, but put her hands in, anway.
“Fine... until the reunion. Then, I’m done.” We bounced our hands.
“To A New Direction.” I said.
“To A New Direction!” The girls said as we threw our hands up.
This is going to be fun.
I sat on the couch, nervously. My four best friends from England were coming over soon. I haven't seen any of them in, like, 10 years. I didn’t really keep in touch. In Australia it was just me and Dad.
Dad came down the stairs.
“Have everything ready, Lilybear?" I giggled at his old nickname for me.
“Yep, food is ready, games are out, and the teli is set up.”
“Well just don't keep me up all night.”
“We won't." I looked around the living room. I had made sure to unpack all the boxes for this room and have it set up perfectly. We had just moved in 2 weeks ago. The boxes and packing paper were everywhere. It had taken forever for us to find a proper house.
When I heard the doorbell ring, I walked up to the door. Okay... happy face, Cecily, happy face! I put a smile on my face and saw Crystal standing there, shifting her feet, nervously.
“Crystal!” She looked up and smiled. I gave her a hug.
“Cecily! Wow, you've gotten tall, girl! Must be the air down under. How tall are you, anyways? How was Australia?” I laughed at Crystal’s rambling as I showed her to the living room.
“I’m 5’10 and Australia was amazing. It was beautiful and magical and I'm already sick of all the rain here.” We talked, catching up, until I heard the doorbell ring, again. I jumped up and went to open it. I saw Roksi standing there. I gave her a big hug.
“Hey, Roksi. Come in. I’m sorry about your parents, by the way. That’s hard... I would know.” Roksi stopped and looked at me.
“You know?” I gave a short laugh.
“Will our dads ever be out of the spotlight?” She laughed a bit and we headed into the living room. Roksi and Crystal hug and we all sat in a circle, on the floor.
“So, Roksi, when did you get your tattoos?”
“Oh, now and then. I don't even remember.” I see she still doesn't talk much. We sat on the floor till the doorbell rings a couple of times. I started toward the door when I heard arguing going on outside. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I stopped to listen, anyway.
“Dad, why do I have to go?”
“Dani, these girls used to be your best friends give them a chance.”
“But they're all younger than me. I don't want to hang out with a bunch of pipsqueaks.”
“Dani!”
“Okay, okay.”
I opened the door.
“Hey, Dani!” She looked at me with disdain.
“Hey, Cecily.” I went to give her a hug and she stepped through the door. I led her to the living room. Roksi and Crystal said hello to Dani but she just sat on the couch and pulled out her phone. Roksi and Crystal sent me inquiring looks but I just lifted my hands and shrugged my shoulders. I wasn’t about to tell them what I heard. Before I got the chance to sit down, I heard the doorbell ring again. It must be Kay. I went and opened it. I saw Kay standing there, more nervous than any of us. I gave her a big hug.
“Hey, Kay!” She hugged me back.
“Hey, Cecily! I’m so glad your back! How was Australia?”
“Australia was amazing! I’m sorry about your mom. I wish I could have been here for you. Did you get my letter, though?” The letter to Kay was the only communication I had sent to the girls. Cell phones didn’t work and we had sketchy internet so staying in touch was hard. Kay had quieted up but she nodded her head. I stopped her and gave her another hug. “Sorry if I made you sad. Cheer up. We're going to have a lot of fun tonight. The rest of the girls are here, already.” We went into the living and sat in a circle. Except Dani... wow. What got into her knickers?
“Dani come join us.” Kay called out. Dani grumbles and I sent her a knowing glance. A mixture of shock and confusion covers her face for a second before her mask of calm comes back down. Dani finally, reluctantly came to sit in the circle.
“So, did everyone bring their sleeping bags?” I asked. Kay, Crystal and Roksi nod, affirmatively and Dani shakes her head no. “Well, Dani, I think we have a spare. Let me go get it.” I went into the room where we were keeping all our unpacked boxes. Camping gear... camping gear. I finally found the box and opened it, digging inside of it for a sleeping bag.
“So, how much did you hear?” Dani says behind me, startling me. I handed her the sleeping bag.
“Enough.”
“You wont tell the others will you?”
“Did I tell them earlier? Your secret is safe with me. But, I would like you to know we aren’t as immature as you think we are. Most of us have grown up a lot in the past 10 years. We've had no other choice.” I walked back into the living room, leaving Dani standing there. I rejoined the circle started and we started catching up. A little while later, Dani walked back in and I looked at her. She dropped the sleeping bag by her stuff and, hesitantly, came to join us. I patted the place next to me and she sat down. We talked for about an hour, catching up on life.
“So, Cecily, how’s Daniel?” Crystal asked. Daniel...
I had tried to push him as far from my mind as possible but the wave of sorrow hit me. Kay, who was next to me and sending me a knowing glance, clapped her hands together. Kay was the only one who knows what happened to Daniel as I told her in the letter I sent her.
“So who wants to actually do something?” I sent her a thank-you smile.
“Well, we have movies galore. I have an X-BOX and Wii set up. And, I have board games?”
“Let's watch a movie.” Roski says. I walked over to the movie cabinet next to the T.V.
“So, what do we watch?”
“Love Actually.”
“Grease.”
“Abducted.”
“The Godfather.”
“Well, my vote is for Anastasia.” Dani groans.
“You would, Cecily, you would.”
“At least I didn’t say Toy Story.” I said, with a laugh.
“Well, how about we watch Love Actually, now and Abducted, later, when it’s dark?” The girls nodded their head in agreement and I put the movie in. We all settled on the couches and chairs to watch the movie. As the opening credits started, I look around. We've all changed a lot in 10 years. Most of us have been forced to grow up a lot faster than we should have. We're so different than when we first met my mind wanders back to the first time we met.
*Flashback*
My parents walked me to the park, with me hanging between them and them swinging me.
“You ready to make some new friends, Cecily?” I looked up at him and nod. My mother laughed.
“I don’t know who’s more excited Liam. You or Cecily.” My father beamed at my mom. We walked up to the park and Dad let's go of my hand. He ran up to a group of guys, huddled on the lawn. They hug and cheer and act crazy. I walked up to the group of girls playing in the sand.
“Hi, I’m Cecily. I’m four.” I said, holding up four fingers like my dad taught me. The other girls stopped playing and looked at me.
“I’m Roksi and I’m five. I’m in kindergarten.”
“I’m Crystal. I’m four and I think you can be my new, best friend.” I laughed at her remark and gave her a hug.
“I‘m Kay and I free.” The littlest girl said, holding up three fingers.
“And I’m Dani. I’m six and I say sand fight time!” She said, throwing sand at me. I threw some back at her and soon were in a full-fledged sand war.
“Girls! Girls, it’s time to go get something to eat.”
“Food?” Kay perked up. The dads laugh and say something along the lines of 'like father like daughter'.
We head to lunch and go get ice cream, too. When Kay falls and scrapes her knee, later, I help her up and help her wash her wound. That started what was years of Kay being like my younger sister. From that day forward, we were all best friends and practically inseparable. Saying good-bye when we moved to Australia was one of the hardest things I ever did.
*End Flashback*
When the movie ended, I looked outside. The sun was setting but it still wasn’t dark, yet.
“Does anyone want to play video games?”
“Do you have something other than war games?” Crystal asked.
“Yep. I have a ton of music games.”
“Sure!” I turned the TV onto the right mode.
“So what do you want to play?”
“What do you have in?” Roksi asked.
“Sing 5.” I said, looking a bit embarrassed.
“Well, let's just play that.” I turned on the game.
“Well, we'll have to go one at a time for now. I have to find the other mics.” I handed the remote to Roksi and hunt around in the box for the other microphones.
"Who wants to go first?”
“I will!” Crystal says. They set up the song and Crystal started to sing. Roksi went afterward and they even got Dani to sing.
“Kay, do you want to go next?” I asked. She shook her head, violently. At the bottom of the box, I finally found the rest of the microphones. I pulled them out.
“Found them!”
“Cecily, now you have to sing something!” Crystal says handing me the mic. I sighed and grabbed the remote. I pulled up one of my favorite songs. Putting it on play, I started to sing.
“Don't look at me
Every day is so wonderful
Then suddenly... it's hard to breathe.
Now and then, I get insecure
From all the pain, I'm so ashamed.
I am beautiful no matter what they say.
Words can't bring me down.
I am beautiful in every single way.
Yes, words can't bring me down... Oh no.
So don't you bring me down today……”
As I finished singing, I turned to the girls.
“You have a big voice, like your dad.” Crystal comments.
I blushed and said, “Thank you.” I plugged in the rest of the microphones and handed one to each of the other girls.
“So, what do we want to sing?”
“Torn!” Roksi calls out. I turned to Kay and whispered in her ear.
“Actually, sing, Kay. Please. We're all friends here. There's nothing to be afraid of.” Kay nodded her head. I selected the song and started it. I let the song auto-choose who was going to sing what and the music started to scroll.
[Cecily]
I thought I saw a girl brought to life
She was warm she came around
She was dignified
She showed me what it was to cry
You couldn't be that girl I adored
You don't seem to know or seem to care
What your heart is for
But I don't know her anymore
[Crystal]
There's nothing left, I used to cry
My conversation has run dry
That's what's going on
Nothing's fine
[Crystal, Dani, Kay]
I'm torn
I'm all out of faith
This is how I feel
I'm cold and I am shamed
Lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed
Into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see
The perfect sky is torn
You're a little late
I'm already torn (I'm already torn)
[Crystal]
There's nothing left, I used to cry
Inspiration has run dry
That's what's going on
Nothing's fine
[Crystal, Dani, Kay]
I'm torn
Torn
I'm torn
[Crystal]
Nothing's fine
I'm torn
[ALL]
I'm all out of faith
This is how I feel
I'm cold and I am shamed
Lying broken on the floor
Illusion never changed
Into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see
The perfect sky is torn
You're a little late
I'm already torn
[Roksi]
I'm already
I'm already torn
[ALL]
Torn
Oooh
Torn
When we finished the song, we turned to each other and high-fived.
“We sound awesome together! Just like our dads did!” Crystal exclaims.
I quiet up a bit.
“Have you guys ever thought of living your dreams, like our dads did?”
“And be famous? Please, it would never happen!” Dani exclaims. The other girls laughed, until they realized I was being completely serious.
“Like... start a band?” Kay asked. I nodded my head. They all stopped for a moment, considering it.
“I like the idea.” Crystal says, exactly when Dani exclaims, “No way!”
“I think we should give it a try. At least if we don’t make it we'll know we tried.” Roksi added. The other girls nodded their consent, except for Dani.
“Well, we all know that in about a week, there's gonna be a very public 20th Anniversary Reunion of One Direction. What do you say, we perform and surprise our dads?”
“That’s a great idea.” Crystal said.
“Well, we need a name for our band. Any ideas?”
“A New Direction!” Crystal exclaims, “After our dads.” We all kind of laugh.
“The Angels.”
“The Keys.”
“Already been used.”
After about 15 minutes of brainstorming, we couldn’t come up with anymore ideas. They were all already taken or lame.
“So, the only one left is Crystal's idea. A New Direction... does that work?” The other girls nodded their head. I put my hand out.
“To A New Direction.” Roksi, Kay, and Crystal put their hands on top of mine. I looked at Dani. She was looking at us in that same disdainful stare as earlier.
“Come on, Dani! We need you!” She huffed and puffed, but put her hands in, anway.
“Fine... until the reunion. Then, I’m done.” We bounced our hands.
“To A New Direction.” I said.
“To A New Direction!” The girls said as we threw our hands up.
This is going to be fun.
@Soldier_girl
Niall, he has 3 kids. David, Jared, and Kay.
Also, I am soon coming back to the story! Just need to do things in life.
7/4/14