Sarah laughed as they continued the walk back to their hotel. Her family was on vacation in Florida, and they had just gone out to lunch.
When they arrived back at the hotel, the lobby was swarmed with hundreds of people, cameras flashing, teenage girls screaming. Sarah walked up to one of them, curiosity piqued.
“What’s going on?”
“You haven’t heard? One Direction are supposed to be staying here! They were scheduled to arrive an hour ago, but they haven’t shown yet.”
She walked back to her family, secretly fangirling. A little thrill of excitement bubbled inside her.
“So why are they all here?” Her mom scowled, annoyed by the obstruction.
“Apparently One Direction is supposed to be staying here, and everyone’s waiting for them!” Sarah was definitely excited now.
“Well, how are we supposed to get in? They’re blocking all the entrances.” Her dad gestured towards the massive crowd.
“I don’t know.”
She’d always had a habit of pacing when nervous, so she started walking back and forth on an imaginary line. As she walked, she noticed a group of people out of the corner of her eye. She stopped, her heart quickening. That was strange. They were standing in a tight huddle, backs to the crowd, hoods pulled up, sunglasses obscuring their faces. Five teenagers and what looked like four adults, whispering urgently. A sudden realization hit Sarah, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream.
Slowly, she walked towards the group, and they ducked their heads down further.
“Hi.”
They didn’t answer, so she lowered her voice to a whisper.
“I know it’s One Direction, and I can help you.”
One of the five boys looked up, and Sarah recognized his black and white striped shirt. It was Louis.
“How?”
“I’ll distract them, and when I do, you guys can make a run for it.”
They were all looking at her now, assessing her sincerity.
“Oh, and if this works out, come by room seventeen on floor eight. I want an autograph.” She smiled, a playful edge to her voice.
“Can we trust her?” Niall whispered, barely audible.
Paul nodded. “It’s our only chance.”
They all agreed.
When Sarah finished explaining her plan to her parents, she approached a group of boys in the street and whispered something in their ears. They laughed at first, shaking their heads, but then she handed each of them five dollars, and they agreed. Luckily, there were five of them. They took a few steps forward, positioning themselves in front of her. She turned around, facing them. They pulled their hoods over their heads and started jogging forward. Sarah turned towards the crowd and screamed, “It’s One Direction!”
And she took off running, chasing after the boys. Soon, almost the entire crowd was surging behind her.
“Go!” Paul shouted at the boys.
They sprinted forward, dodging reporters and fans, and burst through the hotel doors. They didn’t stop running until they were safely inside their room, the door locked behind them.
“We owe that girl big time,” Zayn panted, leaning against the wall.
“Yeah, we do!” Liam grinned, relief washing over his face.
“That girl is my hero!” Louis sank onto the bed, breathless.
“That was close. Are you all okay?” Paul looked at each of them, concern etched on his face.
“Fine, thanks,” Harry replied, catching his breath.
Outside, the paparazzi had figured out it wasn’t One Direction and were furious at Sarah and the five boys.
Sarah managed to escape the crowd and get back to her parents’ hotel room.
“Phew! That was exciting!”
They smiled at her.
“I’m just going to go change clothes real quick.”
She shared a room with her younger brother, but he was with their parents at the moment.
When she opened the door, she saw five boys sitting on her bed.
“We just want to say a massive thank you for helping us back there,” Louis said, standing up and pulling her into a hug.
She must be dreaming. One Direction, sitting on her bed, thanking her!
“No problem. I bet that gets annoying.”
“It is. Everywhere we go is like that,” Harry grumbled, but a smile played on his lips.
She noticed a cut on his hand and pointed at it.
“What happened?”
“Fans.”
She walked into the bathroom and grabbed a tube of Neosporin, handing it to him. He squeezed some out and applied it to the cut.
“Thanks,” he said, handing the tube back to her. She set it on the dresser behind her.
“So can I get an autograph and a picture?” She couldn’t help smiling from ear to ear. After all, she had dreamed about this moment for a long time.
“Of course!” Liam stood up. “What do you want us to sign?”
She walked over to her suitcase and pulled out her copy of *Dare to Dream*, handing it to him. He pulled a Sharpie from his pocket and signed the book, then passed it to Harry. Louis offered to take the picture. She handed him her phone. Liam put his arm around her, and she didn’t have to force a smile like normal. Being so close to Liam was enough.
“You’re definitely the coolest fan we’ve met,” Harry chuckled.
“How?” She grinned at the curly-haired boy, a strange desire to reach out and stroke his hair bubbling inside her.
“Well, you helped us escape that massive crowd, and now you’re not screaming in our ears like most fans do.”
“Yeah, I’m not a screamer. Whenever I do, I sound like a dying cat.” They all laughed.
When they had all signed the book and taken a few pictures with her, they asked if she had any questions. Of course she did. She asked each of them five questions, recording it on her phone. As they stood up to leave, Harry sat back down on the bed.
“I’ll catch up with you guys in a second.”
They nodded their heads and closed the door behind them.
Sarah was really confused. Why had Harry stayed? He was just sitting there staring at her, not saying anything. She decided to break the silence.
“I always imagined you would be sitting on my bed when I walked in the door.”
She smirked, as he chuckled. She had just made Harry Styles laugh, and was extremely proud of herself for that.
“I have a question for you now.” He stood up and walked closer to her.
She swallowed, suddenly feeling a nervous flutter in her chest. She had the urge to run forward and kiss him, but she knew that would be awkward.
“Yeah?”
“Do you believe in the saying age is but a number?”
“Yes. If you love someone, you love someone, it doesn’t matter how old they are.”
“Good. Do you believe in love at first sight?” He was smiling so big it hurt.
“Absolutely.”
“Good.”
She smiled up at him, wondering where this was going.
“Would you like to be my girlfriend?”
“Hell yeah!” She laughed. “But I don’t think that would work very well.”
“Why not?”
“Well, for starters, you live in Britain, and I live in the USA. That’s a big difference.”
“Okay, don’t tell anyone, but me and the boys are planning to move to Florida as soon as the house is finished, which should be about another three weeks.”
“Really?” Her eyes went wide, and her mouth dropped open.
“Yeah. Where do you live?”
“Tennessee.”
“Where’s that?”
“Up and to the left…”
“Sweet! Then I could come visit you.” He took a step closer.
“It would still be a really long drive, and you’d be on tour all the time.”
“I would find a way to be with you.”
Okay, that was officially the sweetest thing she had ever heard. She smiled again.
“Okay.”
“Yay!”
She laughed.
“Oh, I almost forgot!” He reached into his bag and pulled out two backstage passes, handing them to her. “That’s for helping us.”
“Oh my gosh! Thanks! I was going to come, but the tickets were sold out.”
“Well, now you can come! And if you want, you can ride there with us.”
“Yes. A million times yes.”
She couldn’t hold back any longer; she hugged him hard.
“Oof!” He hugged her back.
“By the way, how old are you?”
“Sixteen, but I’ll be seventeen in two and a half months.”
He kissed her on the cheek and turned to walk out the door, but stopped and turned around.
“Oh, do you wanna go for lunch tomorrow?”
“Sure, what time?”
“I’ll be back at noon.”
“Okay, bye.”
“Bye, love.”
She sat back on her bed and put her face in her hands. She HAD to be dreaming. She pinched herself just to make sure. Nope, she wasn’t dreaming. And that meant… She was dating Harry Styles! She had to be the luckiest girl on the planet.