Ch. 4
"You're welcome. Would have been rude of me not to wait for you, anyway." He chuckled.
"Haha, yeah..." my voice trailed off. What do I say? What do I say!? I panicked inside and then looked around. We weren't moving.
"We aren't----"
"Moving." He cut me off, and giggled. "You haven't pressed a button yet. Haha!"
"Oh. Right. Haha, sorry." I pressed the tenth floor button and looked at him. He nodded slightly.
"So, what's your name?" Niall made eye contact with me. Those eyes.
"Hannah. And you are..." well, that was a dumb question.
"Niall." He said, sounding a little dissatisfied. "Niall Horan." He said in a Ring-A-Bell kind of fashion.
"Hmm. Nice to meet you, Niall." I put out my hand, which was shaking only slightly.
"Nice to meet you too." He shook. The smile wiped off of his face.
The elevator stopped and opened.
"Ladies first." He put a hand out, gesturing.
"Thanks." I smiled and walked out.
"So, where are you from?"
"Miami! You?"
"Ireland."
"Oh, I could tell you weren't from here. You don't sound like you are...."
"Yeah, I bet. So...." He said awkwardly. Niall was awkward? The fuck..
"Sooo... how is it back at home?" I took the next step and started the conversation.
"It's nice. But I haven't been there in quite a while. I've been off with my band touring and.." He sounded like he hoped I would finally figure out who he was.
"Oh, that's nice! Your band? What's the name?"
"One Direction." He said.
"Oh. Sounds cool, I'll have to look you up sometime." I played it off. There was no logical explanation of how I was pulling that all off.
When we made it to the Lido deck, the party was already raging. People were everywhere. Mostly teenagers in nothing but shorts and bikinis. We walked around awkwardly until we saw our group.
"Hannah!" Austin came right over to me. "So, you've met my new mate, Niall?"
"Yeah, we met." Niall said indifferently and walked towards the rest of the group.
"What's his deal?" Austin asked.
"Uh, I'm not sure." I said, then we started to walk towards everyone else.
The music was loud and the boat was rocking pretty hard.
"Wanna dance?" Austin started to dance and I could help but laugh, it was actually pretty funny.
"WELCOME TO THE FAIR EXPRESS CRUISE SHIP! ARE YOU GUYS READY TO KICK OFF SUMMER 2013?!" The captain spoke overhead.
The boat went hysterical, and everyone started to scream.
"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!"
And dancing music began.
"Let's go!" Tyler said and we all rushed to the mosh pit that was forming in the middle of the lido. We were dancing and I looked back and saw Niall. He was standing completely alone. What a party schlup.
We danced for a while and then I got thirsty. "I'm going to go get a drink!" I yelled to the group.
"You want me to come with?" Austin yelled back, always polite.
"I'll just be right back!"
He nodded and continued dancing. I worked my way out of the crowd and then started toward the buffet. But I had to pass Niall first.
"Why the long face?" I spoke, surprised at my own bravado.
"I'm good." He shrugged.
"Oh, well.. I'm getting a drink. Come with me."
He walked silently behind me. There is no way this is actually happening.
When we got to the drink station I got a cup and started to fill it up.
"Thirsty?" I motioned to him a cup and he nodded. "Why aren't you dancing?" I asked, as we started to walk back.
"I don't dance." He chuckled. What a complete and utter lie. I laughed inside of my head.
"Hah! Oh really?" I rolled my eyes.
When we walked back to where he was standing, we looked out at the group and drank.
"Nope. I don't dance." He sighed as if he were bored.
"Hey, you're killing my party vibe! Why are you so down? It's the first night! There couldn't have been any let downs yet!" I giggled and nudged his shoulder. But then he just looked at me like I was missing something.
"THIS SONG HAS BEEN REQUESTED THE MOST! SO HERE IT IS! KISS YOU BY ONE DIRECTION!!!!!!" The DJ spoke and then the song started to play. All of the girls screamed. How hadn't any of them noticed him yet?
Niall looked over at me, but I stood completely still. I had to fight the urge to dance. Stay still, stay still, stay still, I coached myself.
"Have you ever heard this song?" he finally spoke.
"Mmm. I don't think so." I lied.
"Wow." He laughed sarcastically.
"What?" I asked, amused at how upset he was getting.
"Nothin." He shook his head. "So, what are you doing tonight?"
"This." I smiled and looked around. It was already pretty dark outside.
"I mean after." He said.
"I'm not sure yet. You?"
"Not sure either. What room are you?"
"1108."
"No kidding? I'm 1110."
"Yeah, I figured when I saw you earlier..." HANNAH, WHAT THE FUCK THAT SOUNDED SO CREEPY.
"Haha, yeah. Well, I'm going to walk around and find something better to do. You can come if you want." He said.
"Sure." I smiled.
It was 10:45 by then. "Can we get ice cream first?"
"Yeah. I wish the real food was out though."
"Same here! I'm starving."
"We could always go back to our rooms and order room service, I think." He said. And it sounded like an invitation.
"Let's do that later, then."
"Sweet." He smiled. "So, your room or mine?"
"Doesn't matter to me." I giggled at how cheeky he had sounded.