
In a Heartbeat
Only in America
A paper football whizzed over my head.
"GOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!" Niall shouted, high-fiving Harry.
Louis and Zayn were fighting over a bowl of popcorn and Liam was playing on a Nintendo device. I shook my head and mumbled, "Immature turtle-eating freaks," pinching the bridge of my nose.
"We made popcorn!" Zayn shouted over Louis' shrieks.
"Good for you. I don't like popcorn." Everything stopped and it seemed like time froze. The boys had looks of shock on their faces and I'm pretty sure Niall was about to die. "What?"
"You. Don't. Like. Popcorn," Niall said slowly.
"Ummm, no? I thought we already established that. Where's the remote?" I said nonchalantly, looking around for the button-infested controller.
"How can't you like popcorn?!" Zayn asked.
"Ella literally eats a ton of it every day. She's probably having a bag of it as we speak. Or as I speak and y'all stare awkwardly at me in shock," I shrugged. "It makes me nauseous. I mean, I'll eat it, but popcorn makes me gag."
"Weirdo," Harry said, taking a handful and shoving it in his mouth.
"Speak for yourself, monkey boy," I shot back, finding the remote and changing the channel. "Now shut up, because my show is on."
"That was by far the weirdest cable guy I have ever seen," Louis said when the show was over.
I groaned. "For the last time, he is not a cable guy! He's a comedian!"
"Okay, so the funniest cable guy I have ever seen," Louis said smugly, crossing his arms.
"I give up," I said, smacking his forehead.
"Yeeeeahhh...." Zayn dragged. "You shoulda done that a long time ago."
"I noticed," I said, getting up. "Well, I'm gonna hit the sack. We have a big day tomorrow."
I thought about Will. I put my pajamas on. I thought about Will some more. I brushed my teeth. While thinking about Will. I climbed onto my bed and under the massive blankets with silent tears running down my face. Huh. The day finally caught up with me.
I was just about to drift off to sleep when there was a knock on the door. I threw one of my pillows at it. The knocking continued.
"STOP IT!" I shouted at the door.
"Yeahhhh... not gonna happen, love," Louis' voice drifted through the door.
"I'd kill you, but then Directioners everywhere would be out to get me," I mumbled into my pillow. "What do you want!?" I shouted at the door.
"Stop shouting and get the goddamn door already!" Lou shouted from across the room. "You're gonna wake Lux!"
"Not before you do," I shot back, getting out of bed and pulling on a pair of sweats and a loose shirt. I put my hair up in a ponytail (it was in my face and wouldn't get out. I wanted to chop it off) before stomping over to the door and pulling it open furiously. "Are you going to let me sleep at all?!" I whisper-shouted at him. "I'm trying to sleep because I need to and because I need this day to be over already! And it's not helping that all the noise from the cars outside kept me awake last night so I probably won't be sleeping very well anyway because Lou insists on keeping the window open!"
"Well.... we're having a pajama party in the lobby and were wondering if you wanted to join?" Louis said, unfazed by my outburst.
"I'm going to assume y'all are actually going to wear pajamas?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, duh. We're building a-- hey, what's with the tears?" he said, noticing the tear trails running down my cheeks.
I wiped them away self-consciously. "It's Will's anniversary, remember?" I said, wiping away fresh tears. "I should be used to it, you know? But I still feel like I'm going to wake up at four in the morning and make hot chocolate and he'll be there." I wiped away tears that kept coming, taking the place of the ones that I wiped away. "And now I feel like windshield wipers on a rainy day during a downpour," I said, laughing in hysterics. "And there's nothing I can do about it because he's not ever coming back!"
I was enveloped in a hug from all directions, and I realized that all of One Direction had listened in on my conversation with Louis.
A few minutes later, from one side of the hug came Harry's voice. "Let's go build a blanket fort."
"Only in America can you build a blanket fort with One Direction," Niall said, poking my back.
"You can build a blanket fort anywhere with One Direction, so as long as you have blankets and furniture," I said, my voice still shaking. I wiped the tears off my face and neck and smiled halfheartedly. "Let's go build a blanket fort."
Notes
I was gonna just end with her falling asleep but my brain said "NO! WE HAVE TO MAKE THIS DRAMATIC!" so I tried my best.My friend is listening to "Swagger Jagger" by Cher Lloyd and I've never heard it before. Let's just say that it's really annoying. Just because 'swagger' rhymes with 'Jagger' doesn't mean you should use it in a song.
I'm just sayin'!
Oh, and for those of you who were wondering (which you probably weren't), a tarp does NOT make a good slip-n-slide. Unless you really want to hurt your ass, in which case it's perfect.
HEY. Your official-unofficial announcements sadden me. No promises or not, I really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY hope you decide to eventually continue. I won't even be mad if you do a rewrite but dude, you gotta do something. I WILL DIE IF THIS STORY DOES NOT CONTINUE.
5/2/16