First Love

Chapter 23

NIALL’S POINT OF VIEW

“Now, Niall.” I looked at Anna expectantly. We were standing outside a gorgeous suburban house. It was cream colored with a ton of windows. It looked to be about 3 stories tall. All the windows were open, and I could smell Italian food from here. “You have to be mature. You can’t freak out over food, and you have to smile. Be polite. Please and thank you. Don’t be rude.” She continued to give me instructions, but all I could think about was the smell of garlic bread. I was starving. “Niall Horan! Are you even listening to me?” She yelled.

“What? Yeah. Be polite. Please. Thank you. Don’t be rude.” I said, repeating what I’d heard.

“Okay, let’s go. I guess.” She mumbled, pulling on her hair.

“Love, what are you so nervous about?” I asked.

“My mom’s embarrassing. You’re embarrassing. This can’t end well.” She mumbled, smiling at me.

“Shut up. I am not embarrassing! I don’t know about your mom though. Oh! Maybe she’ll get out the baby pictures!” I yelled, poking fun at her.

“Shut up! That isn’t even funny. I was an ugly baby.” She said, pulling me towards the door.

“Now, I’m sure that’s not true.” I said. She took a deep breath, opening the door. “Wow. It smells good.” I said, hit by the smell of Italian food again.

“Hey, babes! I’m just finishing dinner. I cleaned your room for you, so you can take him up there while I finish!” Anna’s mom said to her from the kitchen.

“Okay! Thank you, momma!” Anna said, pulling me up to her room. “My room’s normally a mess. I hope she actually cleaned it.” She mumbled.

“I’ve seen your room a mess before, love. Skype, remember?” I laughed at her expression.

“That was after I cleaned it! Hang on. Wait here. Now I’m scared.” She opened the door to her room. I could hear her walking around swiftly, looking for anything that was out of place. She was back to the top of the staircase in seconds. “My mom did well. You can come!” She said, smiling as she grabbed my hand.

Her room was black with different bright colored dots. It was really big, with a large bed in a corner. Her bed was angled to the center, with  a hot pink and purple bedspread laid out perfectly on it. She had posters of various musical artists on her wall. Off to the side of the posters was a tack-board with pictures and letters all over it. She had a vanity, and a large walk-in closet. A desk sat near her bed, presumably where our Skype dates had taken place.

“Well?”

“I like it! Can I sit on the bed?” I asked, looking at how nicely made it was.

“Um, yeah?” She said, sounding confused.

“I didn’t want to ruin the sheets.” I mumbled, pulling myself up on the bed. It was a queen size, and the bed frame was relatively tall. “Wow. This is soft!” I said, laying back.

“No sleeping. We have to eat in, like, five minutes.” She said, sitting down beside me.

“Not even a quick nap?” I mumbled, suddenly really tired.

“No, love. We need to make a good impression. You sleeping and eating all the time isn’t a good impression. We should probably go help set the table and such.” She said, pulling me off the bed with her.

“Ew. Alright.” I mumbled, trying my best to catch up to her.

“Mom! We’re going to set the table. Is that alright?” Anna said sweetly to her mother. Her mom turned around and looked at me for the first time. She was in her early thirties, from what Anna told me, but looked no older than twenty-five. She was incredibly tall with dark brown curly hair. She had bright green eyes that made her look years younger. She was really thin, and I could see why she used to model. Anna told me about that too.

“Of course, sweetie. Is this him, then?” She asked, wiping her hands on a towel.

“Yeah, Mom. This is Niall. Niall, that is my mom, Angela.” She stuck out her hand and I shook it briefly.

“Nice to meet you.” I said, looking her in the eyes.

“You too, sweetie. You’re in that band, right? That’s how she knows you?” She asked, I couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah, One Direction. That’s how she knows me.”

“Man, you should have heard the way she talked about you guys. It was all about you all the t-”

“Alright mom!” Anna quickly interrupted. I gave her a questioning glance. She rolled her eyes at me.

“It’s true.” Angela said, smiling at Anna.

“That doesn’t mean you have to tell him, momma. The boy has a big enough ego as it is.” Anna said, smiling at me as she took my hand.

“Ego huh? This ought to be fun. Two egotistical maniacs in the house.” Angela said, motioning to Anna’s father, who just walked in from outside. He looked the exact opposite of Angela. He was short and balding. Although Anna told me he had just turned thirty, he looked every bit of forty. He was relatively slim though, and you could tell he worked for a living. He had to lift a lot, but was self-employed, according to Anna. He smiled at Angela and kissed her on the cheek.

“You know you love it.” He said, laughing. “And who is this?” He asked, motioning to me.

“Dad, this is Niall, Niall, this is Steve.” Anna said. He held his hand out for me to shake and I took it. He shook my hand once roughly before dropping it.

“So I take it you’re the man my daughter flew out to Germany for?” I nodded, slightly intimidated by him.

“You’re in that band, right? Yeast Infection or something?” He asked. Anna’s mouth immediately fell open, but I couldn’t help but laugh.

“One Direction. Yeah.” I said between laughs. Anna smacked her dad playfully.

“He knew the name, he just thinks he’s really funny.” She mumbled, obviously embarrassed.

“I don’t think I’m funny. I know I’m funny. What are we having for dinner?” He asked, turning to Angela.

“Italian. I looked up that boys favorite type of food, and the most popular answer was Italian. I thought maybe we should flatter our daughter’s ‘future husband.’” I heard Anna gasp behind me, and burst into a fit of giggles again. This was going to be a fun night.

Author's Note:

      Aren't they charming?! You should check out my other story, Dear Ellen. It's a fan fiction as well! LOVE YOU GUISE!

Much Love,

      aLeXiS.(: