Falling for Imperfect Clowns

Falling for Imperfect Clowns Chapter 8:

Chapter 8:

“Careful!”

Emily yelled.

“I am! I am!” Sophie stood from her hospital bed.

The nurse had already taken out the cast.

“Don’t move too fast! You’ll fall and break something and if you do that, your prince charming over there will be dateless.” Emily pointed at Louis who was holding Sophie’s hand was she stood.

He Laughed. “She has a point you know.” He said, “I am prince charming—Ouch! I was kidding!” He chuckled.

It was Sophie’s turn to laugh after nudging his arm. “See? I’m fine.” She said confidently.

The nurse walked in carrying her clipboard and folders. “Oh good! You’re standing! Well, it’s safe to say you’ll be going home later. We’ve checked your recent x-ray scan and everything seems good. Just take it easy. You had quite a big fall. We’ll have your papers ready in a while. Your parents are on their way to pick you up right now!”

“Alright thank you.” Sophie smiled.

“This is perfect and prom is tonight!” Emily yelled sarcastically. “How are we going to get you ready in time?”

“Don’t worry.” She smiled, sitting back down beside Louis. “My dress is ready at home. All I need to do is shower and dress up.”

“You guys make the best couple.” Emily said.

“Has Niall spoken to you yet?” Louis asked.

“No.” She looked down. “To be honest…I love him…I just don’t know if he loves me back just as much. And…And I don’t want to ask him ‘cause it’ll sound weird.” There was a windy sound that filled the room and a small click, but she guessed it was the window, or the nurse who came in. “But, you know, it doesn’t matter.” Em sounded more confident, trying to hide the fact she was hurt. She knew Louis and Sophie knew what she was trying to do exactly, but she didn’t care. “I…I don’t need that leprechaun—”

“EMILY!” Sophie yelled, signaling her to stop.

Emily hadn’t realized she was already tearing. But she knew that wasn’t what Sophie was indicating when she’d yelled out her name. She looked around the room and found the last person she’d imagine seeing at the doorway with a small rose in one hand. His eyes, just as watery as hers.

“Oh my god.” Her lips formed out soundless words. Emily stood abruptly, “Niall—”

And he was gone.

“What’s wrong with me!” She buried her face in her palms.

“Em, it’s alright.” Sophie moved toward her. “You didn’t know.”

“It was a big misunderstanding.” Louis added.

“He’ll hate me!” She couldn’t hold back tears. “Oh my god! My stupid, stupid mouth! This isn’t supposed to happen!” She stopped immediately, as if choking on her words.

“Emily, it’s alright, come with us to prom alright?” Louis suggested. He knew it was what would cheer her up.

“But Niall…”

He sat in his car. It was only lunchtime, and he already listened to the tone of three unanswered calls yell from his pocket.

It hasn’t reached five minutes when the fourth ringtone rang. He let it go.

Niall stared blankly at his dashboard, where he had thrown the rose after angrily slamming the door shut.

He had nothing else to do.

Emily had said it herself:

“I…I don’t need that leprechaun—”

He had never felt so hurt his entire life. Emily was the only girl who saw past his “goofy” Irish accent and crooked teeth. She made him feel like he was a normal student with normal teeth and normal accents and normal eating habits. She never called him a pig for eating too much. She ate with him actually. He wondered if at was all just a lie.

But she said she loved him didn’t she?

The worst feeling he could possibly be feeling was building up. His vision blurred, his eyes drowning in tears.

What if she was a lie he only tried believing…

His arm swung rapidly, slamming the steering wheel out of frustration.

He let his head drop, pressing his shut eyelids against his palms.

His phone rang one more time before going to a voice recording.

“Hello! You’ve reached Niall Horan! Sorry, I can’t pick up right now ‘cause I’m busy, you can leave a message after the beep!” There was a short beep before the caller spoke.

“Niall…I’m so sorry, you have no idea how horrible I feel…” There was pause. Was she…was she crying? He thought to himself. “What I said back there…” Emily said unevenly, “I never meant it. I love you. I do, very much, it’s just, I wasn’t sure if you really felt the same way. I promise I never meant anything you heard back in the hospital room… I was just upset. I was hurt. You weren’t talking to me and It’s partly my fault. I was afraid that if I spoke to you one more time I’d walk away, hurting more than ever—”

‘Beep’

The phone cut her off.

The car was silent again.

“Is everything alright? What did he say?” Sophie asked, once Emily walked in the room.

“He didn’t pick up. I left a message though, I just wish he answered.” It’s obvious she’d been crying, but no one mentioned it anymore.

“It’s alright. We’ll sort all of this out.” Louis reassured her.

“I just can’t believe I said that…I mean, you two know I never meant what I said earlier right?” Em sat on the chair again.

The two of them both nodded their heads, but said nothing.

“At least come with us alright? I know you’ll regret missing it.” Sophie said, trying to comfort her.

“I…don’t know…”

“Please?”

The Nurse walked in. “Mrs. Hall is here, she’s waiting in the lobby.”