Anybody But Me

They only met because of his band. It was just one more thing for him to thank Simon, and the boys, for. She’d been dragged to a show, with her friend, who managed to get her to come with their opening act, and without mentioning that 1D would even be in the country at that point in time. She kind of despised One Direction. She figured everybody liked them because they were (supposedly, she didn’t know much about them) ‘hot’ and ‘younger’. Oh, and British. She was British, although almost nobody knew, as she lived in New York, and hadn’t lived in the UK for several years. It wasn’t something she tended to parade about. That, and she was amazing at masking her accent. But she missed it, and kind of disliked them because they still had it. Not that she’d hold it against them, him, in the end, but still. But the US, New York, that was where her career had led her. And she couldn’t be happier with that.
Anyway, she came to the show. Misinformed, yes, but she came. And that was the life changer.
Everybody sat quietly throughout the opening act, very few of them knowing the band/songs, and even less caring. Then the whole stadium got dark, and five spotlights turned on. The five boys were raised onto the stage, into the spotlights, and the whole stadium was screaming. Crazed, hormonal, teenage girls everywhere. He spotted one disgusted face, though, and it confused him, for she was the correct age for them to be a heartthrob. He watched as her face turned into a scowl, and she tried to leave the stadium. Her friend stopped her, pointing towards the mostly full row of screaming girls, and she got that look on her face, the one that says, ‘I’m such an idiot, how did I ever think I was going to get through that, I really hate it when you’re right, especially now, but I’ll stay’. God, she was pretty. Beautiful, actually. But he should be focusing on his singing.
They sang several songs before anybody even noticed he was staring at one person in the crowd, singing to them. And nobody could figure out exactly who it was – was it that one, or that one, or the screaming redhead in the seventeenth row? It got so bad that even the other boys noticed, and confronted him about it during a break. Who was he staring at? Why was he staring at her? Did he know her? Did he want to know her? He didn’t have the answers. Did he want to know her? Would he even get the opportunity? Maybe, maybe not. He certainly hoped so…
Immediately after the concert, they had a meet and greet, so he didn’t even get the opportunity to watch her leave the stadium, his heart forever broken. He would never even know her name. He was certain this was how it would go, because she was so disgusted the whole concert, she wouldn’t possibly come to a meet and greet, even if it had been paid for. She just wouldn’t. That’s why he was so shocked when she walked in after her friend, looking so annoyed that he wouldn’t be surprised if she just walked out. If she did that, he would chase her. He had to.
Amazingly, she stayed for the whole thing, refusing to sit in a chair, and instead opting for the floor in a corner, pulling out a book. He smiled, distracted. She was really pretty reading. Or scowling. Or doing anything, really. And he wanted her to be his. He was so distracted that he didn’t even notice when he was being addressed, and he certainly didn’t respond. But when he was shoved off the chair he was sitting on, hearing giggles, he tuned in. “What?” He asked, and they all shook their heads at him, grinning.
“You too infatuated with her friend to pay attention, huh?” Harry asked him. He smiled guiltily. They all laughed. “The question was, who were you staring at the whole concert. She must be a lucky girl, you looked so taken, like you were singing directly to her. So, we all want to know. Who was it?” He didn’t answer right away. “I have a pretty good guess…”
“Fine, fine! I… I don’t know her name, and I couldn’t possibly explain why, but the girl in the fifth row, scowling the whole concert, it was her… You don’t know her name, do you?” He asked, trying to get her to look up, to answer. Her friend seemed to understand, and the whole room was silent until she looked up.
“Are you talking about me?” She asked, in a fake American accent. You could tell, but only barely. He nodded, while the others just looked at her. “My name?” She asked, stalling. Again, he nodded. “It’s Ly- I mean, Mia. What’s your name?” She quickly covered up, taking the attention off her.
“Seriously? I knew you were clueless, Mia, but never that clueless! How do you not know his name?” Her friend asked. She just shrugged, while he tried to figure out what her name really was. It wasn’t Mia, that’s for sure. Ly… Ly… What was her name? Would he ever find out? Just to be on the safe side, he quickly took a picture of her in the corner while she wasn’t looking, and would have to get her information from her friend before they left. Which couldn’t be that much longer, could it? He realized that she and her friend were still arguing over how clueless she was, and what his name was.
“I’m Niall, Mia.” He spoke up, making a point of exaggerating that he knew that wasn’t her name. “How are you? You looked… upset? Unwell? During the concert.” She grimaced, but gave no answer. He didn’t really expect one. “Hey, um...”
“Natalie.”
“Right, Natalie. May I speak to you quickly, over here? Just for a moment.” He addressed her friend now. He needed her information before they left. She didn’t respond, just stood and followed him to a corner. “Natalie, I need to ask you something that may sound really personal, almost like I’m a stalker, but I need to know. It… I can’t explain it. But Mia… I need her. Please. Would you give me her information, like her social media, or her email address? Or even her phone number?” She wordlessly wrote the information down on a pad of paper. He just had one last favour to ask. “Would you help me win her over? I… Please? I’ll forever be indebted to you. Will you help me?”
“One question.”
“What? I’ll answer anything, I just need Mia. Please.”
“Well… Would you say she has that ‘one thing’?” Natalie asked me mischievously, giggling as I contemplated it.

Notes

Thanks for checking out my story! Any and all feedback is welcome!
Thank you so much!
xoxo
~Stormy