Almost Lovers | Liam Payne

Almost Lovers- Chapter One


I have never been the type of girl who was extremely flamboyant or expressive by saying things. I was more likely to lead by actions and finished projects. I had a close circle of friends that expanded wide enough for my liking, and we thrived together in a little cafeteria table in the corner of the lunch room, where we held our expensive Nikon cameras and gizmos, taking pictures that would last a life time.

Expanding my little group wasn’t really introduced into I went off to college where I met an old enemy in the hallways of UCLA. Being only freshman, we found it necessary to blend together, and that was the story behind how Sophia Smith and I became best friends.

Sophia, unlike me, eventually dropped out of the school, finding the other weather too harsh for her fair porcelain skin, but I knew, from a sneak peek at her report card, that she had failed a majority of her classes, which her rich little mummy could not stand to pay for.

If it seems like I don’t like Sophia much, that fact may be true on some occasions, but in the end, she’s always there, like I am for her. In some ways, yes, I am a huge hypocrite, and I’ll accept that because everyone is at one point in their life.

Things got worse when I went back home to England—probably the worst experience I’ve ever had come out of this summer. I’d reintroduced Liam to Sophia, and he had given the scorn, asking to talk to me privately seconds after hearing her name. Liam wasn’t very fond of me hanging out with the girl who broke his heart in ninth grade, but I told him: she and I got along better now.

Never did I tell him that she had changed. She has always been this rich, snotty brat that will get whatever she wants just by throwing a fit to her mom, who happened to have connections everywhere—that’s how I believe she got into UCLA.

Well, from there on, Liam tried to not look at her as the heartbreaker of ninth grade, but the coldness towards her never dispersed. I mean, not until he kicked the football straight into her face, causing her nose to bleed for hours. I had the pleasure to clean up the mess her nose had given while Liam helped bandage her up, which I believe to be the moment that they fell into “love.”

They got together within the next month, Liam taking claim to the cliché “she’s changed.” Sophia didn’t say anything to me about how she was dating him, and if I were here, I wouldn’t either. She knew I had a problem controlling my rage at times, and guess who had been exclaiming that she was mighty in love with the one and only Liam Payne but didn’t want to ruin their friendship by stating that? Oh, yeah, that was me.

Do you know what the hardest thing about the relationship was? Watching them kiss over and over and over during the chick flicks they’d invited me to. It was like they were trying to rub it in that they were in a relationship together, and that I remained single for all eternity, destined to become a cat women, relying solely on their company to keep be contempt.

Let me tell you, I did not find that lifestyle fitting for myself.

From there, I’d put everything into my work and schooling. My film videos (as I was going to UCLA as a film major) were soaked with emotions, ranging from domestic violence and heartfelt breakups that made my heart tremble just thinking about them.

This comes to the point in my life where I can no longer explain to you my life from the two years in the past to the present, for now you were hearing live footage of my everyday college life during my first semester as a sophomore.

It was one in the afternoon, one of my free periods I had chosen for myself, where I clocked in some time at the radio shack by organizing every CDs, playing new mixes for the station, and lazy around—all while getting paid minimum wage to do just about nothing but hang out with people.

I guess by explaining what I do, you want me to explain myself and not just my feelings. Well, if you don’t, then you still will get the information.

My name is Althea Taylor, but if you call me that, you will be answering the call to your death wish because I absolutely hate being called that. The name I go by is Thea, like the girl off Arrow, related the gorgeous and very attractive wealthy man Olive Queen.

People say I look very similar to Lily Collins, despite my utter disagreeing nature. My hair might be brown, and my eyebrows might be a bit bushy, and my eyes are the same color, and not to mention my high cheek bones—but my forehead is a bit wider and her lips are a plumper then mine, not as jagged.

Oh dear, listen to me describing lips, that’s just a perfect thing to do with my remaining ten minutes of free time.

Short story is that I kind of may look similar to Lily Collins.

Other than those two things, I do not find it necessary to tell you things about myself. You’ve heard it all through my big long telling of the past few months.

As I walked to class, my friend Katie, sporting her good looks, bumped violently into my skinny frame, sending me flying into the nearby brick wall. “What’s up, buttercup?” she asked as I rubbed my red arm.

I rolled my eyes. “Well, I’m in an enormous amount of pain, so thank you,” I said, smiling afterwards to tell her I wasn’t actually mad at her, my dimples becoming noticeable.

“It’s Liam coming over tonight?” My eyes glanced to my feet, smiling at the ground. “Shelby’s gone, too! You two could totally bang it out!” Katie knew about my liking to this guy named Liam, the last name remained information that she did not know. She’d met him covered in disguise and told me that she’d “Tap that.”

When I told her that, I have a huge crush on him, she backed off immediately, saying we’d make such a cute couple. That was last year, and I forgot to spare the detail that he currently has a girlfriend, who is basically the opposite of herself.

I shook my head. “He has some plans tonight with his girlfriend, but he told me he might stop over later. Shelby has her parents to worry about, not making things less awkward in my room.”

Together, we walked into film class, chattering about our evening plans. Mine were like every night, but since it was Friday, she was trying to divert my study plans and got to dinner with someone. She thought I was too single, despite liking Liam.

We sat down in our chairs, two rows from the front. My binder out in front of me, the teacher walked into the room, Mrs. Donaldson, who wasn’t that bad. She sounded like an old lady with gray hair and wrinkled skin, but she was very pretty. She had brown eyes, chocolate brown hair, and quite a pretty body shape, and she was kind of young, which abled the rowdy boys to hit on her.

She basically reviewed yesterday’s work before giving us the opportunity to turn our latest homework, this week’s video production, which wasn’t all glamorous—we had to hike through the woods with a heavy camera in our hands.

Then she assigned the next project do on Wednesday, and she began teaching us about point of views: main person’s point or view, which was basically used when the person’s vision was going blurry, just to help explain that she wasn’t able to see properly or guy is running through the forest let’s show you that it’s not very straight, stuff along those lines.

Between that class and the next, I had fifteen minutes, where I was able to grab a coffee (I was really in need of one because my mind was just not cooperating with the five hours of sleep this week). I had to walk to this class alone because none of the people in that class I actually liked; they were all arrogant slobs.

This class was chemistry, one of my least favorites, where we learned about nothing that would help me in my future career. It was just a required class that just piled up my homework stack.

“Yo, Thea,” the biggest douche in the whole school commented. I ignored him, just flipping my hair back at him to warn him that I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him. “The angels called they want their innocence back.”

Honestly, I don’t even know why he tried to use that. I mean, what’s so bad about being innocent and wanting to wait to marriage or something?

When he started to toss my long hair back and forth was when I started to get annoyed. “Just because you want to sleep with me, means you get to.”

Then the ball rang, and he whispered into my ear. “It’s bound to happen sometime, so you could just make it enjoyable for yourself.” I could feel his mouth curl into a sick grin. “Just knock on my door, baby.”

Travis just made me want to vomit. I might have “too” pure, but that doesn’t mean I’m so desperate. He’s honestly the reason I hate most American guys. They all aren’t like that, but the ones who do, ruin most of my possible relationship with boys before they start.

I ignored him, walking out the door with a smile on, catching up with Taylor, who shared Calculus with me. Basically, the only class I really enjoyed was film, so there was nothing to look forward to but more homework in all these classes after it.

***

It was after all of my classes were over, and Katie, Brian, and Melanie were all trying to get me to come over to Brian’s dorm (which smelled like rancid meat) and watch some movies with them. Knowing me, they had to figure I’d want to finish my homework first, so I told them if I ever finish my homework tonight, I’d gladly come over.

It was halfway through everything that I knew I’d never stay conscious without a shot of caffeine, so as I made my way to the closest java stand, my eyes kept getting heavy, threatening to fall asleep. Being a college student is hard.

When I arrived at the coffee shop, which was just about to close, I ordered a study deluxe, which was basically just caffeine (disgusting I know). Sam, who knew me very well because I stopped her almost every night, gave me the drink.

“Getting some studying done tonight?” he asked, wiping off the counters.

I sighed. “You know me. All I do is study and work.” He frequently popped in to say hello at the radio shack. “I just kind of want it to be done so that I don’t have to worry about Sunday before classes.

He smiled largely, the light gleaming off the top of his dark hair as he continued to scrub. “So what’s you major? Film right? I always wanted to go into that field, but my mom was like: ‘don’t be behind the camera, be in front of it.’”

“So are you a drama student?” I asked, a puzzled look on my face.

He nodded, smiling brightly. “Oh, now, we have to date because I have to be able to say I knew the SAM GHIRADO!” He just smiled, grinning. “Well, if you ever want to show off your skills, I’d be happy to help—if you want to help me with my film project.”

We both laughed. “Yeah, hit me up anytime—as long as it’s not during my shift or school. Want to exchange numbers, so you can let me know when to come over?”

I nodded, and when I left, he had my phone number and I had his.

Arriving back to my empty dorm, I flopped onto my bed where my homework lied, collecting my procrastination in pieces. Eventually I found myself on the floor, halfway through my calculus homework.

My eyes slowly got heavier and heavier until I fell to sleep.

I woke up to shaking, and my immediate thought was: did I over sleep until Sunday when Shelby got back?

“Hey, Thea, wake up?” it was Liam. Groggily, I looked up to see Liam Keith, Liam Payne’s alter-ego—or non-famous look.

He had dark black shaggy hair, which he achieved by wearing a realistic wig, wore glasses that were classified as hipsters, and his apparel consisted of stuff he wouldn’t normally wear public; black Nike sweats and a shirt that said the infamous Nike phrase: JUST DO IT.

In his hand, he had a hoodie (which he should’ve been wearing because it’s cold) and a snapback hat that he seemed to cool to wear.

“Hey, Liam,” I said, groggily, turning over on my back, hearing the crunching of homework papers. My eyes closed, expressing my hate towards the papers. I looked up at the window to find there wasn’t a shred of light in the sky, besides the stars. “What are you doing here so early or late?”

He shrugged. “Thought I’d come and say hello since I’m in LA for three days.” We both knew that he was here for more since the tour was over, and he wanted to come visit me before he left for the holidays, which was starting today—great I stayed up late when I could’ve actually went to Brian’s room to watch movies. Great.

You’d expect me to be on top of things, you know.

“What time is it?”

Liam pulled out his phone, checking the time. The screen lit up his face. “It’s three in the morning.” My face turned into a scorn. “I’m sorry—it’s late I know, but you looked really uncomfortable lying on your book that way.”

I rolled my eyes, getting to my feet, wrapping my arms around him, nuzzling my nose into his chest, inhaling his scent. “Thanks. Now, I’m going back to bed. You can take Shelby’s because she won’t be here over break.” I placed my books on my desk, plopping to my bed.

Liam sat on Shelby’s bed, watching me. “Sorry about falling for your best friend. That was kind of shallow of me. It’s just I like her.”

I didn’t say anything back. There wasn’t enough trust in my system to allow myself to do that. I knew that I would say something that I would regret, and it was too early for that. So I acted like I was asleep already.

He got the memo that I was asleep, fighting to get under the covers.

The thing with Liam was I could never figure out his real feelings because he never really showed them. I guess that was one of the things he learned from school because he was the kid everyone picked on, and if he showed any emotions, they would just pick on him more.

You’re probably thinking I’m a horrible friend. I am in ways; nobody’s perfect. I may’ve not been there for any of his birthday parties because we always had something planned, whether it is a family death, a film project, or a vacation.

He tried to understand, but it was kind of hard for him to be put second after the rest of my life. It wasn’t like I ditched him for someone else, though. It’s just I’ve always been a busy person.

We didn’t sit at the same lunch table because we never had the same lunch or I’d spend it doing homework in the library or Mrs. Chaves room, and he wasn’t into doing homework during school or film. He was a singer, and he accepted that. Just look at him now.

Basically what I’m saying is that he’s accepted me, and I’ve accepted him for each other’s’ faults. I mean we’ve both had some.

Like I’ve pushed someone off a cliff skiing (only got through with minor injuries though), and he’s blamed me for all of his mistakes many times.

He’s respected my choice for him not to be famous around me (I also think he’s kind of happy when he can just come out here and enjoy his time as a regular college kid), which I greatly appreciate. It hasn’t deprived me of friendship. The rest of One Direction even has agreed to do it once or twice to meet me (kind of cool to be honest).

There’s our relationship. Oh, and you know the side of my feelings. That’s there too.

Notes