THE CITY CHAPTER 6
Do you really have to go?” I whine as I pack my schoolbag.+ Joe is sitting on my bed, watching as I rush around the room collecting my books and stationary.5 “I have to go back to work. My apprenticeship is almost finished though, I only have two and a half months left.” he says proudly. I pout as I zip up my bag, “I don’t want you to go.” I groan and he laughs in response. “I’ll be back on Friday night. It’s not that long really. And then you guys will come to our place next Tuesday.” “Ugh, I have to wrap presents.” I complain. I am bad at wrapping anything so everyone can prepare to have horribly wrapped Christmas gifts.19 Joe and I spent the day together yesterday. Christmas shopping and just hanging out together. I have never bought Christmas presents before aside from the occasional gift but since the Suggs were welcoming me into their home for Christmas I thought it appropriate to buy gifts.2 “Get Zoe to do it. That’s what I do.”1 I laugh, “As much as you like to take advantage of your lovely sister I am a bit nicer than you.” I joke. Joe puts on his puppy dog eyes, “Are you trying to say I’m not nice?” I giggle in response, “Of course not! I would never do that,” I reply sarcastically. Joe shakes his head as a grin spreads across his face. He gets up from the bed and starts walking towards me. “What are you doing?” I ask, stopping and placing my hands on my hips. He creeps closer and just as I open my mouth to make a smart ass comment he begins to tickle my sides. “Joe! Stop it!” I squeal, attempting to swat his hands away. Laughter falling from my lips, betraying my attempt to sound grumpy.1 “Say you’re sorry.” He growls playfully, continuing to tickle me as I collapse into his arms.11 “Never!” I shriek. Why the hell did he have to pick my ultimate weakness? My stomach is beginning to hurt from all the laughing as he relentlessly prods my waist. “Please Joe! Stop.” I demand, trying again to act stern. “But I’m so mean that I don’t know how to,” he teases, “Unless you say sorry..” I screw up my face, I don’t want to give in but my stomach muscles feel like they are going to collapse in. “S-sorry.” I manage to stutter. He immediately stops and I get up, hitting his arm as I go. “Prick.” I mutter but I can’t help the smile than sneaks onto my face. “Look! You’ve ruined my hair.” I complain as I glance in the mirror. It’s sticking out in all sorts of directions making it look like I’ve only just got out of bed. “I can braid it for you?” He suggests and I laugh. “You? Braid my hair? I don’t think so.” “Seriously. I’ve lived with Zoe my whole life and watched her plait her hair plenty of times. Can’t be that hard.” I shrug my shoulders, “Okay then hotshot, give it a go.” I say, grabbing a hair tie from my dresser and sit down in front of Joe, passing him the small elastic band. He begins pulling my hair into a haphazard plait which, I have to admit, looks better than any braid I can do. I am horrible at doing my hair. Ponytail, bun or out were my only real options.16 When he is finished I cross over to the mirror to assess his handy work. “Not bad Sugg.” Joe laughs, “Not bad! It’s brilliant. I should be a hairdresser instead of a thatcher.” he jokes.22 “I’d keep your day job.” I shoot back with a cheeky grin. “And you say I’m the one who’s not nice.” Joe’s POV As we pull up at the station it suddenly hits me that I have to leave. Joking around with Riley this morning had been my way of distracting myself but now here I am. Leaving the city.1 Riley spent the entire car ride sitting across from me with a frown etched into her sweet face. Her forehead creasing in the adorable way that it does when she is thinking. I wonder what goes on in that head of hers. It’d be interesting I’m sure but maybe I really don’t want to know. From that brief look at her letter to her dead ex-boyfriend I know that there is a lot going on in there and I couldn’t even begin to imagine it.4 “We still have time to walk you into the station!” Zoe announces happily as Alfie pulls into a vacant parking space.2 We had left extra early this morning at Zoe’s request. She was worried about me missing the train but there’s not much chance of that happening. The mood between myself and Riley is rather somber as I drag my suitcase into the station. Her by my side and Alfie and Zoe trailing a couple of steps behind us. Even though we’ve known each other for only a few weeks, two of which I spent avoiding her, I feel like I’ve known Riley forever. We have grown so close, especially over the last few days.3 I know I will see her in just a matter of days but part of me feels a bit of doubt about that. This girl is so insecure and I am abandoning her. No. It’s not abandoning. I will be back in the weekend. I keep assuring myself of this as my sister bids me a brief farewell and gives me a hug. Alfie also gives me a hug and that just leaves Riley. She stands there in her school uniform which is a tad baggy on her tiny frame. A frown still sitting upon her face. Hands stuffed in the pockets of her blazer. Her hair still in the ridiculously bad plait I had done earlier. She wraps her arms around me and I pull her close. “I’ll miss you.” she murmurs into my coat, her face is smooshed against it as I hold her tightly. “I’ll miss you too.” I say, “But I’ll be back before you know it.” I promise as I let her go. Fuck. This is ridiculous. I’m gonna be back less than five days. “See you guys soon.” I say, grabbing my suitcase. We bid last farewells and I finally board the train. Finding a seat on the side closest to the platform so I can see them out the window. I watch as they stand there for a moment. Awkwardly waiting. Zoe glances at her phone before saying something to the two of them. They begin to walk away. Riley sparing one final glance in my direction before they disappear into the crowd. I sit alone at a table in the international room scribbling on a notepad. Harry didn’t meet me at the gate this morning. He has every day since I arrived here and this morning he wasn’t waiting for me. 2 I don’t know why it pisses me off so much really. He has every right to be mad at me. I went off at him for no reason on Saturday and then abandoned him in a room full of strangers for the second time that night. Fuck I’m an idiot. I’ve probably just lost my best friend. Well done Riley.14 I begin doodling, not really sure what I’m drawing. It starts to form into the shape of a face. Joe’s face.8 Is it weird that I miss him so much already? I think it doesn’t help that I don’t have Harry around because there is nothing to distract me from getting lost in the deep, endless pit that is my mind. “Drawing?” I quickly snap up the paper as I glance up to find Niall standing in front of my table.3 He chuckles, a sweet sound really. “Mind if I sit?”7 “Erm, sure.” I say, tucking the pad of paper into my backpack. “Have you seen Harry at all today?” he asks as he sits down opposite me, leaning against the table. I shake my head, “I haven’t seen him at all actually. You?” “Yeah, he seems really grumpy actually. Thought you might know something about it but you haven’t seen him so..”1 I smile weakly at the boy. He’s quite different to a lot of guys I knows. A lot nicer. His smile is always genuine. He is really happy go lucky and I really admire that about him. He doesn’t really seem to care what anyone thinks of him.4 “I might, er, know something about that.” I admit, glancing down at the table. My finger swirling patterns on the wood. “Would it have to do with the face your were drawing just now by any chance? Joe, right?” I feel my cheeks flush. How did he recognize that? I’m not exactly an artist. “You’re not half bad at drawing.” he adds, as if reading my mind. I gulp, raising my eyes to meet Niall’s clear blue ones.5 “Promise you won’t tell anyone?” I ask. He nods and I take a deep breath, “Well, uh, Joe kind of asked me to be his girlfriend on Saturday..”1 I have no idea why the hell I am confessing this to a guy who I barely know. I have had all of three conversations with Niall but I feel as though I can trust this boy. He, like me, is pretty new here and us newbies have to stick together, right? “Weren’t you and Harry hanging out on Saturday?” “Well, uh, yeah. We were and I took Harry along to this YouTuber Christmas party thing and Joe and I kind of had a bit of a fight and I may have yelled at Harry. I totally didn’t mean to. And Joe seems to think Harry likes me. Does he? I just- ugh! I’m so stupid.” “Hey, calm down, yeah? Harry does like you but you obviously don’t like him back. It’s not your fault.” I laugh quietly, a nervous reaction if anything. Here I am. Sitting at a table in London with a young Irish boy comforting me over my poor friend zoned English best friend. This has been the weirdest month of my life.26 It’s also strange to think that I haven’t even been in this country for a month. I feel like it has been forever since I stepped off of the plane at Heathrow ready for my new life abroad.3 But no. It’s been little over three weeks. “How the hell do you know about Joe anyway? His demographic is usually teenage girls..” Niall chuckles, “Yeah, my little sister is obsessed with him.”12 I laugh before returning back to the subject of Harry. “I should apologise to him, shouldn’t I?” Niall shrugs, “It’s your decision really. He’ll be in 2A at lunch time just so you know.” He smiles before glancing behind me. “Looks like you have company. I’m off.” he says, getting up and leaving. Seconds later his spot is filled by Harry. “What did Niall want?” he asks, a frown is etched onto his face. “Er, nothing,” I lie. “Listen, Harry. I’m sorry about Saturday.” He smiles halfheartedly, “Forget it. It was nothing.” “But I really shouldn’t have snapped at you. It was totally out of order.” “Oh.” his face drops, “You’re sorry for snapping at me.” he mumbles and I’m not sure if he meant to say it out loud or not. “And I’m sorry you had find out about Joe and I that way.” He scoffs, “Why would I even care?” he says harshly though I know he doesn’t mean for it to come off that way. “I’m just your friend. Nothing more.” “I’m sorry Harry..” “It’s fine, I get it.” he says, an edge of sadness to his voice as he now stares at the desk.11 Fuck. He sure has a knack for knowing how to make me feel bad for him. I know it’s not like I was leading him along or anything but I really do feel mean. He shouldn’t of had to find out by witnessing us fight in front of him. “He uh, he left today didn’t he?” I nod in response. “Did you two make up?” “Yeah, we did.” Disappointment floods his face. As if he had been hoping for the opposite answer. He was.2 I am saved from having to think of a way to respond to his attitude by the bell for first class. “I have to get to class.” Harry mumbles, getting up and leaving as fast as possible. Fuck that kid is weird sometimes. “Riley? Are you in for Secret Santa?” Niall asks excitedly. + Niall and I have begun to talk a lot more over the course of this week. Turns out we have a lot more in common than I originally thought.4 He’s into a lot of the same things as I am. Music, television shows, books, movies. We have similar taste in a wide range of different categories.2 Harry has barely said two words to me since I apologised on Monday. I really don’t get it. He was my absolute best friend for the first few weeks that I was here and now it is as if I don’t even exist anymore.5 Boys. I just don’t understand them.34 I nod in response to Niall’s question. He is messily scrawling everyone’s names onto a sheet of refill paper. He rips them roughly and drops them all into Eleanor’s purse which she emptied out and volunteered for the draw. Everyone takes a turn at taking a name from the bag. When it gets to me I take the slip of paper on the top and grin when I read it. It says Niall in his messy script. I know exactly what I am going to get him.3 He was telling me yesterday about how much he absolutely loves to play guitar. But, his sister accidentally stood on his last week, resulting in a snapped neck. The guitar. Not his sister.90 Anyway, he said he was really disappointed because there was no way he could afford to fix it at the moment because money has been tight since he moved. I really felt for him. He seemed absolutely devastated. I really felt like marching him to the nearest guitar shop and telling him to pick one out on me but I knew I had to be sneakier about it. I know that a guitar is going to completely blow the budget of £15 that we are supposed to spend out of the park but he needs it. Guitar is his passion.6 The girls begin to chatter about who they got and I chuckle. Not much of a secret Santa, is it? “Who’d you get?” Niall asks me, interrupting my thoughts. I smile cheekily, “Wouldn’t be a secret if I told you, would it?” He laughs, a real genuine laugh. “Fine then, just wanted to see if you need any help picking a present for your person.” I chuckle, “Don’t worry. I already know exactly what I’m getting.” He raises his eyebrow, “C’mon, just between the two of us?” I shake my head, “No way Horan!” I laugh, glancing at my phone. 3:30pm. We had stayed behind after school to do the draw and I had told Zoe I would catch the train home as I plan on going to buy my gift today.3 Joe arrives at around 8pm tonight! I am so excited. The week was nowhere as long as I had felt like it was going to be. My blossoming friendship with Niall really helped out as a distraction.5 “I think I’m gonna head off. Catch the train to the shops.” I say to Niall who smiles in response. “Okay, see you on Monday!” he says, giving me a small hug before I head off.1 I have no idea what the hell I’m supposed to look for in a guitar. I have never played one let alone bought one so this is going to be an interesting experience. I guess my best shot is to ask the shopkeeper. 1 I spend the entire train ride googling guitars which is no help at all. Maybe a voucher will be better.. No! I don’t even know how much a decent one would cost so that is no use. Plus the look on his face when I arrive with a guitar is going to be priceless.4 STORY CONTINUES BELOW I end up in a specialised guitar shop which has pretty much any guitar that you can imagine. Heaven for your average guitarist. Hell for me. How am I supposed to pick one from what is surely at least a thousand different guitars? I am in over my head. Well and truly. As I stroll through aisle after aisle of guitars I am mentally stabbing myself. Idiot. Why did I think this was a good idea?4 “Can I help you out?” I look up to meet the eyes of a young guy with bright blue hair. His accent is clearly Australian. So close to home. I’ll admit, he looks like the kind of person I would normally avoid at all costs but he’s actually quite cute. My kind of bad boy. Looks like one at first glance but really just a cute guy who died his hair a unnatural colour. He’s looking at me expectantly and I realise I’ve been staring at him for the past ten seconds.160 “I, erm, I was looking for an acoustic guitar for my friend. It’s for er, secret Santa.” I spit out. The boy smiles, his face warm and inviting. Complete opposite of what you would expect from a what appears to be a punk rock wannabee. “Do you have a budget to work with?” he asks, running his hands through his long fringe and flipping it to the side. A name tag on his band shirt reads Michael. A normal name. Of course he has a normal name! What was I expecting?91 “It’s supposed to be £15 but I am definitely not going to stick to that.” I admit and he chuckles. “How much are you willing to go over?” he asks. I shrug, “Anything goes really. Money’s not an object. Just give me something good that a teenage boy is going to love.” He smirks, “Well, how much do you love this boy?” I squirm under his gaze. It’s really quite intense. “H-he’s just a friend.” I blurt out. Not sure why I am so nervous, “A really good friend.”4 The boy chuckles, probably realising what a weirdo I actually am. “We got quite a nice one in today if you want to see it.”1 I nod and follow him to the counter which is hidden behind the many rows of guitars lining the store. “Here she is.” he says, taking a guitar off the wall behind the counter. “A Taylor 214CE-K Koa Limited. A beautiful one.” he places it across the counter in front of me.8 “I actually don’t know anything about guitars.” I admit “You think he’ll like it?” Michael nods, “Who wouldn’t? Taylor is a great make. Wanna hear it?” he asks. “Why not?” He picks it up and begins strumming and picking away at it. It sounds amazing and I would definitely put that more down to the playing than the actual guitar itself. “I’ll take it.” I say with a grin as he finishes and put it back down. “You sure? I kinda forgot to mention it’s gonna set you back about a thousand pounds.”8 I pull a face, “I don’t know..” I say, even though I know it is the one I want. His face drops, “I can show you some cheaper ones if you’d like.” I crack up and a smile sneaks onto his face. “I was kidding! £1000 is perfectly fine.” I respond as the bell at the front of the shop rings.55 “Mikey! You ready for practice?” someone calls as I hear a number of pairs of feet make their way to the back of the store.28 I turn around to find three other guys walking towards us.50 “I’m with a customer.” Michael responds, an edge of irritation to his voice.22 I smile at the three boys, each of them looked not much older than I am. Maybe a couple of years difference.20 “Hi,” I say with a little wave, “I’m customer.”1 This earns a laugh from the dark haired boy. “I like this girl!” he says to Michael and the eldest looking boy smiles at me.13 “Kiwi, right?” he asks, referring to my accent. “Born and bred.” I respond.1 “Neighbours! We’re from Aussie.” he says.9 “We have a band.” the last boy adds in.27 “That’s pretty cool.” I reply earning more smiles from the friendly guys. Suddenly the dark haired boy speaks up again. “We’ll just wait out back for you then Mikey.” he says, ushering the others through a door on the left that I hadn’t noticed before. I turn back to Michael who is busy grabbing a case. “I’ll throw this hard case in for you. Don’t want the guitar damaged before your friend gets it.” he says as he opens it and puts the guitar inside.1 “Thanks,” I say, smiling at him. “Your band mates seem really nice.” I add in. He just nods, “Yeah, they are.” 9 He rings up my purchase and I pay with my credit card. I thank Michael profusely and just as I’m about to leave he interrupts me. “We, uh, we have a gig tomorrow night if you want to come along.” he says, pushing a flier towards me. 5 Seconds of Summer is printed in the largest writing.118 I sigh sadly, “I’m so sorry! I have plans for tomorrow night..” Sadness fills his features, “Oh, okay then.” I smile sympathetically, “But maybe I can give you my number and you can text me next time you’re playing.” I suggest.30 He smiles slightly, “Sure,” he replies, digging his phone out of his pocket and handing it to me to put my number in. I put it in and hand it back to him. “I never caught your name.”1 I smile, “Riley. Riley Templeton.” I say and he types it into his phone.6 “I’ll let you know, yeah?” “That’d be great! Thank you so much for your help with the guitar.” I say, picking it up along with the flier for his band. “No problem.” And with that I leave. As I lug the guitar through the door of the apartment I hear voices coming from the living room. “She should be home soon.” Zoe. “She better be. I thought she was going to be here, hence why I caught the earlier train.” Joe! “Joe!” I exclaim. Putting down the guitar and running into the lounge. “Hey,” he says happily as I throw myself into his arms. “Missed you.” I mumble, my face once again smooshed against his chest. He chuckles, “Missed you too. I was wondering where you were.” he says, letting me go. I smile, “I was doing a little Christmas shopping.” “Anything interesting?” I grin, “Yes!” I say, excitedly. I return to the hallway and grab the guitar case from where I abandoned it. “A guitar?” Zoe asks, I had almost forgotten that her and Alfie were in the lounge too. “Yeah! My friends are doing Secret Santa.” I explain. Alfie laughs, “I’m not sure you get the concept of Secret Santa little cuz.” I glare at him. “I get the concept I just don’t like rules.” I say, bending down and opening the case. Zoe gasps, “It’s so pretty!” she exclaims and I grin. “The guy in the shop said he will love it.” “How much were you supposed to spend?” Zoe asks. I bite my lip, wondering whether or not to tell the truth. I decide on truth. “Fifteen pounds.” I admit. “It looks a bit over that..” I grimace, “Just a bit..” Zoe looks at me expectantly, “A thousand pounds.” I say quietly. “What?!” The three of them exclaim in sync. “I spent a thousand pounds.” I repeat. Zoe’s jaw is hanging open. “Why the fuck would you spend that much?” Joe exclaims. I shrug, “Niall’s sister accidentally broke his guitar last week and he can’t afford to get it fixed. I thought I would help him out. Besides, my allowance from my parents is insanely huge. It’s not like I couldn’t afford it.”6 “You’re too nice for your own good.” Joe says, a smile on his face. “If you spent a thousand pounds on a Secret Santa my gift better be pretty awesome!” Zoe jokes. “Oh, it is.” I assure her and she grins.11 “We’re gonna meet up with some of the others for dinner. You two joining us?” Zoe asks. I like that she refers to us as ‘you two’ instead of asking us separately. It makes me feel like we are a couple. Well, we are technically. “I would love to!” I exclaim and Joe agrees. Zoe grins, “Great! Tyler still wants to make a video with you this weekend before he heads back to America.” she reminds me. I had actually completely forgotten about that. I made an intro video earlier this week for my new channel and uploaded it with a little help from Marcus on the editing side of things. Everyone shared it for me and I already have 10,000 subscribers which is nuts.30 Anyway, we end up at Nandos. It’s weird really. These guys seem to stick up to all of the stereotypes of internet people. They are never without their camera or phone, always eat at cliche places like Nandos and prefer playing on their phones as opposed to talking. Okay, maybe the last one is a slight exaggeration.6 STORY CONTINUES BELOW Despite having been in the UK for almost a month I have still not tried Nandos yet. This reminds me of my first date with Joe which was an extreme fail. I chuckle to myself. “Something funny?” Tyler asks me. He is sitting beside Joe who is across from me. I smile, “No, not really. I was just remembering that I haven’t eaten Nandos before.” “Girl! You have never been to Nandos?! You have not lived” Tyler exclaims and I crack up.93 “I have technically been to Nandos but I’ve never eaten here.” I correct him and he just looks at me confused. His confusion is interrupted by Zoe’s chatter. “Have you seen Joe and Alfie’s new electric shock video?” she excitedly asks Tyler. Tyler grins, “Yes! Oh my goodness. It was absolutely hilarious! Alfie’s reactions were gold.”9 “Hey! It was really scary!” Alfie defends himself. “Oh my god!” Tyler exclaims in a surprisingly accurate impression of Alfie.3 I crack up and look over to Joe who has been quiet for a while. I catch him staring at me. He quickly looks away when I spot him, his cheeks flushing slightly. How can one human being be so freaking adorable.9 I open my mouth to tease him but am interrupted by my phone going off. I unlock it to find a text from an unknown number. Hey Riley 🙂 It’s Michael from the guitar shop. I forgot to say, let me know if your friend likes it, ok?2 I quickly type in a reply and send it I’ll let you know when I give it to him, yeah? His reply comes just seconds later.1 Looking forward to it 🙂 “Who are you texting?” Joe asks curiously, leaning slightly over the table. “The guy at the guitar shop.” I respond, not thinking about how it sounds.1 “Why the hell did you give some random guy your number?” he asks angrily.43 I hold my hands up defensively. “Woah! Calm down mate. He has a band and I can’t make their gig this week so I told him to text me when they’re playing again.” I explain, “No big deal.” I assure him and he sighs, leaning back in his seat.6 Our food finally arrives serving as a distraction from Joe’s jealous behaviour. It was really good and I see why people always go on about Nandos. Chicken is one of my absolute favourites so it’s a bit like heaven on a plate.13 “Good?” Alfie asks and I nod in response. He grins, “Welcome to the dark side.”21 “It’s great to be here!” I say, earning a round of laughter from the table. There were quite a few people here. We’ll start of at the end. There was Marcus and Niomi. Then Jack and Finn Harries. Next to whom sat Tanya and Jim then Tyler and Troye who is also visiting. Myself and Joe. Then Zoe and Alfie and last but not least. Louise and Caspar. 97 If a YouTuber fangirl was to walk in right now she would probably faint and I feel extremely out of place in this mess of popular internet bloggers.29 “Do you want to film tomorrow?” Tyler asks, pulling me away from my thoughts. I smile at him, “Sure! Do you have any good video ideas?” I ask. He shrugs, “Maybe we could do that ridiculous scattergories electric shock thing Joe and Alfie did for your channel and another challenge on mine?” I nod, “Sounds great!” I exclaim, “I can’t wait.” Joe is obviously still pissed at me about the whole texting thing. I need something to distract him. But what?5 What do people do in the movies when they are trying to flirt at a table full of people? I know. I stretch my leg out under the table and find Joe’s leg. I gently run my foot up and down against his leg.31 He smirks slightly at me, letting me know that my idea is working. “Are you two playing footsies under the table?” Zoe asks with a laugh and I feel my cheeks flush crimson as I pull my foot back.18 “Fuck up Zoe.” Joe says harshly and I give him a pointed look. I know he and Zoe like to banter but that is no way for him to speak to his older sister.24 Everyone eventually finishes up their food and we all go our separate ways. Promises of collaborations and meetups litter the goodbyes as everyone bids each other farewell.