Through The Dark

45: Long Blue Hair

Saph

When I saw him for the first time, taking a seat next to me in Biology, I never expected I'd get to see him like this. I never thought I'd see the shy, flustered boy with the square, black glasses that always stole glances of me take a stage with such determination, looking and sounding like a rockstar.

I felt like I had slipped into an alternate universe, and it all started when Niall walked through the double door of the bar alongside two other guys and a pink haired girl. Having gone through what looked like a stylistic makeover, he appeared in a leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up, black jeans and a black shirt completing the monochrome look. His hair, though styled upwards, wasn't in its usual neat sweep. Instead, the icy blonde strands were spiked, pointing every which way and looking purposefully messy. He didn't have the usual guitar case with him. It was still a black case, but instead of the curves that fit the acoustic guitar's shape, this was completely square.

Since he announced to me that he got accepted into the band almost a month ago, he hasn't really said anything about it. I knew the people in it and their names, but that was about it. I had no idea what style of music he's been rehearsing, what they had planned on singing during their first gig tonight or even what types of instruments the other people played. By looking at their hands as they all collectively walked towards me, that was standing infront of the bar, I noticed one of the guys I recognised as the one that initially approached Niall and the girl holding what seemed like a guitar case each, while the tall brunette guy trailing behind them had nothing but a backpack with him.

"Hey gem." Niall greeted, leaning down to kiss me on the lips. I turned my head last minute, causing his lips to land on my cheek instead. It's not like I didn't want him to kiss me. I haven't seen him in two day, of course I wanted nothing more but to have him kiss me for hours on end. But we were 'encouraged' to not let personal relationships be apparent during our shifts, which basically meant we weren't allowed to show we were dating someone while customers were around.

The reason for that was fairly simple. The appeal of having young, attractive people working and serving customers was as clear as day. With most of these customers being young adults, it was expected they'd return to the bar if they were served by a welcoming, even slightly flirty waitress in a tight shirt. Even if there was no prospect of anything happening, and our boss wouldn't hesitate to ask someone to leave if things got out of hand, Jason still insisted we avoided showing anything but friendly behaviour with anyone.

The sudden movement to avoid him made Niall furrow his eyebrows at me, evident confusion as he looked down at me. Worried that he could possibly misunderstand the whole situation, I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips on his cheek, very close to his lips but still far enough to avoid making it look like an actual kiss.

"Hi bub. I really like your jacket." I smiled up at him. My move in combination with my compliment seemed to get his mind off of the decline of his original kiss. He smiled back, his pearly white teeth on full display before he turned to introduce me to his new friends that stood behind him.

"Meet the band. This is Curtis, Azumi and Levi." He beamed, his arm going around my shoulders. Each of the people facing me waved at the mention of their name, all smiling politely.

"Hey, I'm Saph. Cant wait to hear you guys play." I smiled at all of them, sliding out of Niall's embrace and taking my tray from the counter. I was on table duty tonight, which meant I constantly had to keep moving around and checking up on people even if I didn't have any new customers. The bright side to this was that I was sharing the floor with Kristy.

"I've gotta keep working. I'll see you up there." I quickly spoke to Niall, making sure to briefly kiss his cheek again as a form of reassurance before walking away. They found a vacant table and sat around until it was time for their performance. The part of the floor they were sat at was in Kristy's post normally, but she insisted I took over instead. Can't complain about that.