Lauren and I turned into boyband obsessed middle schoolers when it came to boys to be honest, and I think it'll always be that way. I like it though, how excited we get over the littlest things. Like, the next morning, Harry texted Lauren and told her he had a fun time last night, and she screamed her head off. She woke me up, and I thought she'd injured herself!

"What is it? Are you hurt? Get in the car I'll drive to the hospital," I slurred, still half asleep.

"Harry texted me silly, I'm fine! I'm great!" she yelled. Later I got noise complaints from my neighbor, but I apologized and laughed it off.

We threw our hair up in messy buns and ponytails, grabbed our jackets and headed out the door the next morning for breakfast. There was a little restaurant that served only breakfast foods, kind of like IHOP, but a million times better. It was another locally owned business-that somehow managed to thrive in this big city-called Poppy's.

We met up there with Lauren's older sister, Rylie. They looked shockingly similar; both with beach blonde hair and tan skin. The only differences was their eyes. Rylie's were an earthy green color unlike Lauren's amber ones.

"Emma, I haven't seen you in forever!" Rylie greeted me as we walked in. She wrapped me in a giant hug. Rylie towered over me, at five feet and nine inches. The Allworth family was a tall family. "How's work?"

"It's great," I reply as we all sit down.

"Still the youngest one there?" Rylie asks. It's true, I was the youngest one at McClellan's. I skipped the fourth grade, and took a bunch of college classes during high school so I was able to get out into the real world pretty quick. I've had this job since I graduated in the beginning of June. I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty good at what I do.

"How's New York?" I ask Rylie. She'd just moved there after she graduated college, when Lauren and I were in tenth grade.

"It smells so bad and it's usually cold and no one is very nice...its amazing," she replies and we all laugh. "Really though, I love it there. I don't know how you two are still here."

We order our food and the waitress brings it out quickly. They were always so on top of things at this restaurant. "How long are you staying?" Lauren asks.

"What, already can't wait to get rid of me?" Rylie says, punching Lauren's arm. "I'm probably going to stay for a week or so. Got room in your apartment?"

"Of course," Lauren says sarcastically. "Yes I've got room. I guess you can stay," she says with a grin.

"Lauren, did you tell Rylie about Harry?" I ask, and Lauren's eyes light up. She starts going on about him and what happened last night. I chuckle to myself and sip my coffee, slightly tuning her out. I felt bad for doing so, but I just could not concentrate today. I kept thinking about the men Niall was most likely talking to last night. They looked awfully scary.

I'm sure it was nothing though. He probably really did have a friend he wanted to talk to. It was just bad timing. Yeah that's it.

"Well, I guess we should probably get going," Lauren said, standing up. "Until next time my friend," she said, hugging me.

"Bye guys," I said as Rylie hugged me too. "See you soon hopefully!" They walked out of the door and turned right, and I walked out and turned left. It was relatively nice out, so I took another chance and walked back to my apartment.

I made it safely back without getting caught in any unforeseen rain. As I was walking up the stairwell, I saw someone familiar in front of me.

"Zayn!" I exclaimed. He turned around. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Emma, hi!" he said. He has the slightest trace of an accent as well, but it was different from Niall's. "I live here now," he explained.

"Really? Me too! I mean, I have lived here since I was nineteen but, wow that's funny!" I say. How odd that we live in the same apartment complex. "What floor are you on?"

"The second floor, at the end of the hall."

"I'm on the second floor at the beginning of the hall! I can't believe I didn't know I got a new neighbor a while back," I said. Usually I know when new people move in and I bring them some sort of housewarming gift. Just to make it feel a little bit more like home here.

"I'm pretty quiet," Zayn laughs. We've reached my door.

"Well it was good seeing you again, Zayn!" I say. He waves goodbye and I go back into my apartment.

Janine called me as soon as I stepped inside. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hey Emma!" She says. "I just wanted to give you some information about the audition and what would happen if you got the job," she says.

"Alright, shoot," I say.

"Well, for the audition, you need to come with two one and a half minute long dances choreographed and ready to go. One contemporary piece, and you can use 'In This Shirt' for that, and one jazz piece. We can work on a jazz dance soon. The auditions are right here in Seattle on October 14th, so we need to get working soon," she explains.

"That sounds great, it won't be bad at all," I say.

"Then after that, they're going to have a short face to face interview with you, but that won't be bad either," Janine says.

"I can work on that," I laugh. "And it's all right here in Seattle?" I ask.

"Well...thats what I was getting toward. They're holding auditions in Hollywood, Seattle, Dallas, NYC, and Orlando. But if you get the job, you'll have to move to Hollywood...its where the company is going to be," Janine finishes.

My heart drops. "So...that would be it? I wouldn't get to live here anymore?" I ask.

"Well, yes," Janine answers. "But this is such an amazing opportunity Emma, I just don't think you can pass it up. I know it'll be hard leaving your hometown but...I really do think it's for the best."

I swallow. Could I leave Seattle? Not only would I be leaving the only place I've known, I'd be leaving my friends, my secure job, whatever's left of a family I have here...could I really do it?

"I...I'll do it," I finally say.

Before I know it, a week has passed. It's Friday at the office again. Today's been particularly slow, and I'm not sure why. I still haven't told anyone at the office about the audition, and I haven't told Lauren about how if I make it, I'll be moving to California.

I'd been texting Niall all week actually. He's turned out to be quite a nice guy. We planned to go out tonight and do something. It took a lot of persuading, but he finally convinced me to go somewhere.

It was lunch time, and we all decided to eat in a small break room we have. I sat on one side of the table with Harry and Eli, and on the other side was Aspen and Louis. Amongst the small talk, Harry leaned over to me.

"So I hear Niall asked you out, huh?" he said slyly. I scoffed.

"Well," I said. "Yes I guess so. We're just going out somewhere tonight. I don't know where though, he said he'd make plans."

"He doesn't usually do that," Harry said thoughtfully. "Actually ask a girl out, you know. Or take the time to plan things out."

I frown. "So he doesn't put much thought into things?" I ask.

"Well he hasn't before," Harry tries to explain. "I think he's only ever had two girlfriends the entire time he's lived here. Madison and...what was her name...oh! Hayden! Yeah those were his only two serious relationships."

"Wow," I said. Still more than me though, I thought. And it was true, sadly. I'd never actually had a real relationship. I've met a couple of guys at a bar, or in school, but they only ever lasted a couple of days. Then we kind of just stopped talking.

"But with you, he seems...different," Harry says, and then got up to go back to work. I was left to ponder what that could mean. I had a pretty good idea of what it meant, and I couldn't help the smile that grew onto my mouth.

At seven o clock that night, Niall showed up to my door. "Ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure," I replied. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?" I ask.

"Not until we get there," Niall says, his eyes glinting. I still don't really know much about him, really. Sure we've texted, but what does that do? I was hoping I'd be able to learn more about him tonight.

I climbed into the passenger seat of his car, taking in the smell. His car smelled a lot like him, summer-y with a hint of cologne. Niall seemed almost nervous as we drove off. I silently wondered why I was putting this much trust in him; I mean I voluntarily got into his car without knowing where we were going. He did seem like a trustworthy person though...right? People say I give others too many chances, that I'm too nice. I hoped this wouldn't be one of those times.

"So you've really lived here your whole life, huh?" Niall asks.

"Yes, I have," I reply with a little smile. "Almost all of my high school friends moved away. It seems to me no one ever stays where they're put, they always have to get out."

"Insightful," Niall comments with a laugh.

"You're not from here though," I say. "You're from the UK right? Why come to America, and out of all the places here, Seattle?"

"Well," Niall starts. "My mum died when I was sixteen, and her sister came to the funeral. My dad wasn't fit to take care of my brother and I; he'd been a borderline alcoholic, and then when mum died it pushed him over the edge. So my aunt took us here to Seattle. I left for college, but decided to come back, because all in all, it is pretty nice here," Niall finishes.

"Wow," is all I can manage. I internally smack myself. "I'm sorry," I finally say, and smack myself again. What a lame response!

"S'okay," Niall says. "I've gotten used to it by now."

"My mom died too," I blurt out. This is definitely not first date conversation material. "It was only a year ago though," I say. "A year ago in February."

"Emma, I'm so sorry. I know how hard it is."

"It's okay," I say, my voice coming out much higher than intended. Clearing my throat, I say, "I mean, it's okay. She was sick. Something was wrong in her mind and she couldn't remember much of anything that had recently happened. But she always would tell me stories about her younger years. It just got worse I guess, but when she died she seemed happy," I said, trying not to let my voice crack on the last word.

Niall put one hand over mine. That was more sympathetic than anything anyone on earth could've said.

After a few minutes, Niall said, "Well, on a brighter note, we're here!" We pulled up to a local park. "Harry told me you always liked picnics, so I thought 'Well we've got to have a picnic then!'."

I smiled. Grinned is more like it, really. We hopped out and found a nice spot on the grass to lay down a blanket. Niall had brought a little basket of sandwiches and assorted fruits, chips, drinks and sweets.

"I wasn't really sure what you liked, so I bought it all," Niall said sheepishly.

"This is all so thoughtful!" I said. "So far so good, Horan," I joked. We talked while we ate, about a lot of different things. Random things, like favorite TV shows, or favorite colors.

"The color of the sky, just before the sun rises," Niall says thoughtfully when I ask. "It's a very pale blue, before the red and the orange of the sunrise sets in."

"Very poetic," I replied. "And here I was, going to say purple," we laughed. Niall's response stuck with me the rest of the night though. It meant more than just what his favorite color was; it meant he was a thoughtful person, despite what Harry had said. He just wasn't looking deep enough.

"What's your favorite smell?" Niall asked when we were through eating. Now we lay side by side on the blanket, watching as the sun began its descent.

"My favorite smell? Hmm, no ones ever asked me that before," I giggle. "I do like the smell of everything outdoors I suppose," I replied.

"The smell of cars and pavement?" Niall said, making a face.

"No! I mean the outdoors like you'd find in the woods. You know, trees and sunshine and stuff."

"Now you're poetic," he laughed. "I think I like the smell of vanilla and rain. Not necessarily together, but I bet that would smell great too," he says. I hold back a smile; I use vanilla perfume everyday.

"You could turn that into something poetic," I offer, and then laugh. "Look at us. We could go to a coffee shop and read poems all day."

"Zayn used to do that," Niall said with a smirk.

"You're joking!" I exclaimed.

"No way, it's true! I think that's what got him to start a band," Niall said. It was getting dark and cold outside. "We should probably wrap this up, huh?" he asked.

"Probably, it is getting cold," I said. When we stood up, a gust of wind came our way, blowing the blanket away.

"I'll go get that!" Niall said, tossing me his car keys. "You can go get in, it'll only take a second!"

I walked up to his car, rubbing my arms. Why had I not thought to bring a jacket? Oh yeah, because it would've ruined my cute outfit. Great thinking Emma.

Before I open the door, I hear someone come up behind me. Thinking its Niall, I turn around. Only, it's definitely not Niall. This man is only an inch or two shorter, but looks stronger and has dark hair. I try to say something, but he pins me to the car.

"Where is it?" he growls.

"W-what?" I stutter. "I don't know who you are! You have the wrong person!" I say with a shaky voice.

"Where's the blonde?" he asks me.

"Niall?!" I exclaim. "What do you want with him, I'm sure he hasn't done anything!"

"You're right, and that's the problem. Whatever, when he gets back, tell him Zach's been looking for him-and I'm not happy," he says, shoving me away. The man, whom I'm presuming is Zach, jogs away. That's when Niall jogs up.

"Who was that?" he asks.

"That's what I'd like to know as well," I say as I slam the car door shut.

It's been like a week since I updated??? This will probably be how long it takes for the next three weeks tbh, but then after that, no school, so more time to write! Woo hoo! Also I changed the cover on this story so it's slightly less awful, I'll get something better someday hehe

-emily 🌸🌞