Strangers

This is the story about how I met Liam Payne. The one and only Liam Payne from the young british band called One Direction. The funny thing is I never planned on meeting him. I didn’t even know he existed. And it all began like this:

My name is Heather and I’m 18, old enough to accomplish my biggest dream of all. Today I’m moving to England. I’ve been working so hard to make this dream come true, and I’m about to finally live it. I get on the 2nd airplane of the day and I look for the seat that’s been set for me. E2. It’s on the window side, just as I asked. I leave my bag and I’m about to close the compartment when a hand stops me from doing so. I turn around to see this tall golden-haired guy smiling at me.

“Wait a sec” He says with charm.

I put my hand away as I sit, I push some bangs of my hair behind my ear and I look outside, to see some people carrying our flight’s luggage. ‘Perfect’ I think to myself. This guy looks like the ‘small-talker’ kind. Exactly the opposite of what I am. I can’t small-talk. So I try to lose myself with the view outside my window. I feel how the boy sits next to me and fastens his seat belt. The sunset is right there, and the day is finally coming to an end. I close my eyes to soak up the last rays of sunlight, even if there’s a plastic window in between. I picture this moment in my head. I think of how my life is going to change. I feel my life changing in that exact moment.

All my life, I’ve lived in a small country, not very known worldwide. I’ve settled for so long I can’t remember how it all began. I’ve been forced to live under my foster parents’ roof, a mediocre place to live. I hate that place. It brings to me bad memories. I’m a loner, so I haven’t needed anyone’s help. I’ve been working on a small market as a cashier since I was 14. Now that’s been 4 years, I’ve saved enough money to start to live my life the way I want it to be. My birthday was 2 days ago, so I didn’t let my foster parents have enough time to kick me out of their house. But that was their plan. I heard them talking about that one night. But earlier in life, I met this girl. Her name was Claire. She came to my hometown because her father died and her mother’s parents lived here. She’d been living in England all her life, 14 years, as well. Though I knew she was upset about her father’s death, she let me be her friend, and she told be all about where she came from. The big cities, the lights, the people, the old buildings, the beautiful streets, everything. I couldn’t help but fall in love with a place that’s totally different from what I am used to seeing. It was like a paradise I’d never heard of. So I set it, I had to go there and see it by myself. Eventually, Claire’s mom met a new man and married him, so they moved to a different place. I’ve never heard of Claire since the day we said goodbye. I hope I can see her again, and tell her how she gave my life a new meaning.

I wake up from my light sleep, to see a man figure squeezing down to reach the plane’s floor. I roll me eyes as I remember the annoying happy boy that’s sitting next to my seat. I take one of the magazines that’s in front of me and I start reading an article as I feel how a cold hand grabs my foot. I let a “Hey!” come out of my mouth as I shake my foot, out of his reach.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He says as his head comes up to face me. “I dropped my phone and I can’t find it. I’m sorry”

“It’s ok” I say “I’ll help you find it”

I put my hand down to the floor and I easily catch the cellphone. I come back up and I hand it to him. “You’re welcome” I twirl the left corner of my mouth.

“Thanks. Sorry again for waking you up, I didn’t mean to” He says. “You can go back to sleep, I promise I won’t bother you again”

I take a breath and smile at him as a thank you, and I turn my head to face the wide open sky behind my window. But for some unknown reason, I can’t sleep again. I look at the guy once again, he’s reading a black-covered book. His face looks smooth, his eyes are some shade of brown, he has several beauty spots and his lips are very pink. He’s not the kind of guys I’m used to seeing. He’s got an accent, so I know he’s from England. Maybe he’s coming back home. I envy him for calling that place ‘home’, but soon I realize now it’s my home too. The thought puts a bright smile on my face. In that exact moment, he turns his head and finds my eyes and my smile. He looks concerned but still gives me a small smile.

“Can’t sleep, can ya?”

“Nope” I say.

“I can’t either, that’s why I’m reading this” He says, pointing the book in his hand.

“Are you going home?” I let out, instantly regretting it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t...”

“It’s fine” He cuts me. “I am going home. I think. Are you visiting the UK?” He can tell I’m not English because of my accent.

“Actually, I’m moving” I say, giving up on holding a big smile. Am I smiling? I never smile.

“Really? That’s amazing!” He says with joy. Why is he even talking to me, in the first place? “You’ll like it a lot. But why are you moving? Do your parents live there?”

“No, they’re in another place right now” I don’t want him to feel pity for me. I don’t have to tell him they’d been murdered when I was little. “I’m moving on my own. It’s been my lifetime dream”

“I’m happy for you. I also had my lifetime dream come true” He comments as he looks out the window. “There’s no better feeling in the world”

I am intrigued about him, when at first, I wasn’t even interested. He caught my attention, and we have 5 hours left of flight.

He speaks again. “You didn’t answer” But when he realizes I don’t remember, he asks again. “Why are you moving? Weren’t you happy there?”

I think about it. I really don’t want to tell him my story. “I need to start over. I need to see what life holds further than my sight”
“Good answer” He simply replies.

“Why are you going home?” I ask him now. I know it’s disrespectful, and I know I shouldn’t do it. But I don’t regret it this time.

He waits a couple of minutes, still looking outside my window. But he finally answers. “I guess I need to start over, too”

Suddenly, I can see how his face changes. His eyes look down and they almost water. I can’t believe what I just did.

“I’m sorry for asking you that. I shouldn’t have done it” I apologize, as I fight the urge of grabbing his face and stroking his cheeks. Wait, what? What am I saying?

“No, it’s fine. I -I got into a fight with my friends and I ran away. I don’t know what’s gonna happen next” I can feel how my heart breaks a little. I can see how this is bothering him. I can see how important his friends are for him. I can see the pain in his expression.

“Hey” I whisper. And I don’t know how I say this, but I do. “I know I’m no one to tell you this, but it will all be better. Things happen for a good reason. Just don’t worry. It’ll be better” And I move my hand to grab his. I squeeze it a little bit, and he rises his sight to meet my eyes. I feel the connection. This has never happened to me before.

We stay like this for what seems hours. Then he grins a little and he asks. “What’s your name again?”

I let a laughter out as I say “Heather, nice to meet you”

“My name is Liam, it’s nice to meet you, too.Your name is beautiful” He makes me blush. Am I really being like this?

I don’t say anything, I just look away. I can see nothing outside, but I still keep looking like there’s some kind of tv show out there. Why am I being like this? Blushing, smiling, looking away? He’s a stranger. Someone I don’t know, who I happened to give a quick advice. This is awkward. I shouldn’t have talked to him in the first place. But at this time, I wanna know more about him. He belongs to the place I’ve been dying to see. He’s part of that paradise I dreamed of for so long. So I turn my head to him once again, and I ask him about England. I wanna know more not only about him, but about there. And he tells me all about it. He lives in London, right where I’m heading. He’s in a band, and he was once in a tv show contest that made them ‘almost famous’. He fears of spoons, which I find odd but cute. He doesn’t drink alcohol because he got one of his kidneys removed when he was younger. I also tell him a little about me. I only tell him ‘My parents died a long ago’ and I’m relieved he doesn’t ask how they died. I tell him I’ve been working by myself for 4 years now. I tell him I’ve dreamed of moving to some better place since I can remember. And as odd as I know it sounds, I feel like we’re becoming friends and I’m beating my own record. It’s hard for me to make friends. I don’t usually talk. But with him, it’s different.

We’re in complete darkness right now, and I can’t see him, but I know he’s smiling. He says “It’s funny”

“What’s funny?” I ask, smiling too.

“I’m not usually like this” He says. My smile goes away. So how he’s been acting is a lie? But he rushes to add. “I mean, I don’t usually talk about my feelings” He makes a pause while I feel relieved.

“Neither do I” I say.

“But with you, it’s different” He adds. I feel how my heartbeat races and suddenly I can hear it bumping in my ears. “And I like it”

And all of a sudden, our lips find their way as we kiss in silence. I can’t describe how it feels. I’ve never been kissed before. But I can’t think of anything more than his warmth, and how beautiful he is, and how safe he makes me feel. He’s part of my change. I don’t wanna let him go. We kiss slowly but I break our connection as I get a few seconds to catch my breath, but he’s not willing to let me go, either. We kiss again. We do it several times. I think I need him like I need air. This feels so good.

The lights go on while we’re still kissing and the captain’s voice announces we’re about to land. We have to stop and we do so. I fasten my seat belt and so does him. I can’t believe how it took only 5 hours to make me fall like this for the guy I originally hated. We cuddle as we wait for the plane to land, as we wait for reality to hit us. To call us back. To let us know we’re strangers and we go on separate ways from now on.

When we get off the plane, I’m holding on to his arm. He drags some attention. Some girls ask him to take a picture with him, and he gladly accepts. I can see how this makes him happy. I love his smile. It drives me crazy. When the time comes, we look in the eyes for what seems hours. I break our moment and I hug him with my whole being. He kisses the top of my head and rubs my back up and down.

“We’re no longer strangers, are we?” He asks, innocently.

“No” I admit, as I look him in the eyes.

“Then we’re gonna find our way back together, you’ll see” He says with a sweet smile on his face. I stand on my toes to reach his lips one last time. We kiss shortly. He has to go.

“I’ll see you soon, Liam” I say, waving as I take a few steps away from him. I blow a kiss and a silent small tear runs down my cheek.

“See you soon, my sweet Heather” He smiles and he turns his back on me. I watch him walk away.

I walk around until I find a taxi. I give him the address. It’s a 25 minutes ride. It’s like 3 in the morning, so I close my eyes and I touch my lips, remembering the taste of our kisses. When I open them once again, the taxi driver goes out of the car to take my luggage to my new front door. I hear the taxi driver talking to someone else, when I open the door. I don’t know if I’m still asleep or my mind is playing a dirty game, but I see the one and only Liam Payne running down my way to catch me in his arms. I see a couple of boys around our age coming to where we are as I separate a few inches to face him. “What are you doing here? How’d you find out where I live?”

“I saw it on your bag. You have your address written in there. My boys came earlier, they’ve been waiting for me. We’re cool now” He says with joy exploding.
“But I still don’t know why you’re here!” I say laughing and crying at the same time.

“See that house?” He points the house right next to mine. “I’m your next door neighbor. Welcome home”

I can’t hold it any longer and we kiss one more time, his bandmates cheering and whistling, including the taxi driver. He is right. We’re not strangers anymore.