Diana

13
Niall’s P.O.V.
I was lost in Diana’s hometown, my phone was useless, and I was exhausted. As I sat down on a curb, I started thinking. Maybe I could use fame to my advantage. I checked my shattered phone. It was a little past midnight. “I’M NIALL HORAN!” I called into the night. Maybe I could get a fan to hear me, “I’M NIALL JAMES HORAN FROM ONE DIRECTION!” I started laughing. If someone didn’t know who I was, they’d probably think I was drunk. I jogged through the streets calling it out, over and over. After a bit, I became aware of someone sprinting alone behind me. I stopped so they could catch up. “Are you really Niall?!” She squealed.
“Uh, yeah,” I grinned. She stared at me in awe, saying nothing. I broke the silence. “I’m actually lost right now. Do you know the way to the cemetery?”
She didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, lunged at me and hugged me. My reflexes kicked in and I gave her a Horan Hug, back.
“I love you Niall!” I sobbed into my chest. I was about to tell her I loved her too, when she said, “Neala is my best friend. Could you please bring me to her?”
I was shocked. I’d never occurred to me that Diana, or Neala, had friends from home. I’d just never thought of it.
“Y-you are?” I stammered.
She nodded, “I tried to contact her, but she left her phone here and she wasn’t on her old Instagram at all. I tried with her new one too and her Twitter. But with all the fans trying to talk to her, mine probably got lost. Did she really lose her memory?” She said it all in one breath.
“Whoa! Slow down,” I laughed. “What’s your name?”
She blushed. “Janice.”
“Well, Janice, I’m lost. But if you show me how to get to Diana’s cousins’ house, you can see her.”
Her face it up. “It that where she is?! I tried her house but she wasn’t there.”
“Yeah… So, can you take me there?”
Janice bit her lip, “I don’t actually know where her cousins live.”
“I thought you said you were her best friend.” I said it as a bit of a question.
“I am!” She said quickly. “We just never really went to her cousins’. Did you say something about the cemetery?”
I noted how she changed the subject but went with it, “Yeah, I can find my way back from there.”
“Great!” She exclaimed. “I’ll text my mom to tell her.” She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text. “Okay, let’s go!” She walked in the opposite direction I’d been going.
She kept checking her phone every minute or so. I figured she was answering texts and didn’t think much of it, until she stopped walking suddenly. I was too tired to say anything, but gave her a questioning look. She smiled, “You’re lost. I’m your only hope of getting back. Every mile we go, you need to hug me.” I was about to accept her request when she added, “And kiss me.”
I paused. “On the cheek?” I raised an eyebrow.
“What do you think?”
I clenched my jaw. As much as I love the fans, I couldn’t kiss her like that. “I think on the cheek,” I said. And before she could argue I gave her a hug and kiss of the cheek. “Now, let’s keep going. I’m really tired and kinda want to get back soon.”
She looked a bit putout but started leading the way again. I felt like I should make an attempt at some small talk but was just too worn-out. So we walked in silence with the exception of when she would stop and wait for her hug and kiss every mile. Talk about pushy fans! At least she didn’t make me kiss her on the lips!
Just when I felt like I couldn’t walk any more, we got to the cemetery. It was deserted at this hour and eerie. But it gave me hope. I could make it back to Diana from there.
“Well?” Janice asked, “Do you know the way now?”
“Yeah!” I grinned.
We jogged to Diana’s cousins’ house with only a few wrong turns. As soon as we got into the yard, Diana came rushing out and embraced me, almost knocking me over.
“You’re back! Where were you? Are you okay? You have a cut on your throat and shoulder!”
She would have kept going but I put a finger over her mouth.
“Chill, Diana,” I chuckled. “I’m fine now. Where were you­?”
She sidestepped my question, a shadow passing over her face, “Later. First we need to clean your cuts. We don’t want them getting infected!” She laughed, but I could tell it was forced. Wherever she had been, she didn’t want to tell me. But I knew that guy, Marcus, wasn’t a family friend.

Diana’s P.O.V.
When Niall didn’t answer his phone I seriously started panicking. A million theories of why he didn’t answer rushed through my head, none of them good. When he got back I almost laughed with relief. I ran out to hug him. He asked me where I’d been. I knew he could tell I’d been lying. Part of me I wanted to tell him where I’d been. But the rest of me felt sure he’d be mad and wouldn’t ever forgive me. So I didn’t tell him. I needed a way to break it to him slowly.
I didn’t even see the girl behind him. When I finally did, after she awkwardly cleared her throat, I immediately recognized her from somewhere. Though I couldn’t quite put my finger on where or who she was. Niall noticed my confusion and stepped in, “Diana, this is Janice. Janice, you know her, Neala.” “Um, hi,” I said. I was still confused about how I knew her so I looked expectantly at Niall. He made a pretty funny awkward face then quickly said, “You two are best friends.” I’m sure my eyes bugged out of my skull. How could my memories of my best friend be taken from me? This person I’d probably spilled my secrets to, laughed with, and cried with and everything! My mouth hung open as I slowly walked up to her. I didn’t know what to say. I probably should have said some sentimental thing about how great it was to see her or something. But I was too shocked. And also, I’m not good with stuff like that. So, I jumbled out, “Your hair smells nice.” Real smooth. But it really did smell nice! I mentally slammed my head into a wall. I’m reunited with me best friend and the first thing I say is your hair smells nice?! I couldn’t just say “Hi”?! I could feel my cheeks get hot with embarrassment. But then I remembered she was my best friend. I’d probably said stupider stuff in front of her before. I laughed. …Until I realized she wasn’t laughing. She looked like she’d touched a dead slug. My laughter puttered out.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “Hi.”
She smiled quickly in apparent relief. “No, I’m sorry. You’ve just changed a bit I guess. I wasn’t expecting that.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“For one, you used to care about how you looked.”
She glanced over my baggy gray sweatpants I’d changed into, my batman t-shirt, tangled ponytail, and makeup-less face. I suddenly felt exposed. I tried to smooth my hair and cover the batman logo.
She continued, “You used to be… normal.” She looked sympathetic. “I guess hanging around Louis, Liam, and Zayn dehumanized you.” The say she said it, it sounded like a fact.
Before I could come up with something to say, she took Niall’s hand and led him inside. I stood in the yard, barefoot, with my jaw open wide. Why had I made friends with this snobby girl? She only liked Niall and Harry and hated the rest of them! I looked down at my outfit. She was right. I looked like crap. I took out my ponytail and made it into a side braid and tied my shirt tighter and higher with another hairband. I sighed and went inside. Niall was on the couch with Janice sitting in his lap, twirling his hair in her fingers. I pursed my lips and mumbled something about needing to use the bathroom. It probably didn’t matter though. They almost certainly didn’t notice me. Tears threatened to spill as the weight of the day hit me like an icy snowball. My parents were gone, I had two boyfriends, and Niall liked another girl who was supposed to be my best friend and I didn’t even remember her. My life is officially messed up, I thought as I locked the bathroom door behind me.

Niall’s P.O.V.
She parked herself on my lap. Janice was sitting on me and messing with my hair. I wanted to ask her to stop, but she was clearly a fan and I didn’t want to be rude. …Even though she’d just been incredibly rude to Diana.
When Diana walked back in I thought I was saved. I could have a reason to get up! Then she looked up and saw us. I guessed she thought I liked Janice like that or something. Her eyes got as big as Pluto… Okay, maybe not ­that big, but they were big. Then she said something inaudible and walked down the hall. I told Janice I needed to go to the bathroom and rushed after Diana. I didn’t see what Janice did, but she was probably jealous.
I figured I’d better go to the bathroom first, just in case Janice was following me. When I got there, someone was in it. I knocked. “Yeah?” Diana asked. Her voice sounded strained, like she was about to cry.
“Can I come in?” I asked.
“Uh, yeah. Just a sec, I’m almost done.”
I heard her flush the toilet and turn on the sink. But it was obvious she wasn’t really washing her hands. The sound of water was uninterrupted as it poured out, much too hard for her to be washing.
“Diana, is everything okay?”
“Yeah! Yeah, everything’s fine,” She replied a little too quickly.
I unlocked the door from the outside and opened the door to see her, puffy eyed but smiling. But as soon as I saw her I knew it was fake.
“You’re not okay,” I said, pulling her into a hug. “Tell me what’s wrong. Who is Marcus, really?”

Notes

Sorry for the late update. It was a busy week and I didn’t have much time to write.