Anonymous

“Thanks for letting me borrow your car,” I spoke aloud as I navigated into the left lane of the street to make sure I’d be able to go straight after the set of lights. “I really appreciate it. I figure that Louis won’t want to take a taxi, so…”

“It’s no problem. But please, God, I’m begging you, don’t do anything in that car that would make me want to sell it immediately.”

“But whatever do you mean?” I asked in a high-pitched America accent. Well, the best American accent I could do, anyway.

“You know what I mean,” Elena teased back. “If you feel like any clothes are going to get disposed of, please seek the nearest motel.”

“You have so little faith in me,” I sighed, shaking my head, although she couldn’t see me. “I’m sure there will be nothing of the sort today.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” She laughed a little into the receiver before saying, “Alright, I have to pee. I’ll talk to you later. Drive safely, okay? Traffic around the airport can be pretty brutal, and if you crash my car, you’re dead.”

“Yes, mum. I hear you.” I chuckled a bit before saying. “Now go pee! Bye, love.”

“Bye. And good luck with the diva.”

“He’s not a-!” I tried to defend, but the radio turned back on, signaling the end of the phone call over the OnStar system.

I wanted to be irritated that she’d hung up on me, but since Ed Sheeran’s voice was playing through the car, it was really hard to form any kind of grudge.

Soon enough, I pulled into a space in front of the airport. The place was absolutely packed, which wasn’t really atypical, but it still made me nervous. There were so many other cars to crash in to, to bump against when I parked. Although I’d had my license for a few months, I was still a little bit uneasy with driving in crowded places.

But once I was parked and feeling more secure, I put down the visor to expose the mirror hidden underneath, making sure my makeup wasn’t smudged, that my hair wasn’t getting staticky, that my forehead wasn’t getting shiny. I wanted to look absolutely perfect for Louis, as pathetic as that was.

Then again, maybe it wasn’t so pathetic. Although he’d seen me post-shower with no makeup on, it was through a shitty webcam. Seeing someone in the flesh was a much different experience, and I wanted to make sure that his first impression of me was a good one.

After passing my approval, I got out of the car and headed into the airport, making sure that I locked Elena’s expensive car. She would definitely have killed me if her car had gotten stolen. Or probably killed me, and then brought me back to life so she could kill me again.

I still had twenty minutes until Louis’ plane landed, which was probably embarrassing, considering it just showed how ridiculously eager I was to see him real, live, in person. I could always tell him that I figured traffic was going to be worse, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t believe me.

To waste some time, I went into a little convenience store across from where the passengers were released and bought a magazine and a bottle of Diet Coke.

And soon enough, I was settled down in a seat, prepared to wait until Louis finally arrived. While I waited, I read up on makeup tips, read an article on how to find jeans that best fit different body types, some ridiculous rumors about various celebrities that I couldn’t force myself to believe, and different ways to turn unhealthy dinners into more wholesome ones.

And then my phone went off.

“Jessica!” my mother’s loud, accented voice came through the phone. “Where are you?”

I felt a flush flood my cheeks as I prepared myself to lie through my teeth to my mother. “I told you last night that I was going to spend the day at Elena’s. But I’ll be home before eleven.”

“Then why did I just call Elena’s mother, and she said you weren’t there?”

“Why did you call Elena’s mom?” I snapped. “Are you checking up on me?”

“Jessica, don’t you dare take that tone with me. I called because I wanted to tell you that something came in the mail for you today.”

I let out a sigh. “Alright, the reason I’m not there is because Elena and I stopped for ice cream. And if you wanted to call me, why didn’t you just call my mobile?”

There was a long silence as my mother thought it over. “I don’t know. I guess I wanted to talk with Elena’s mother. Not that it should matter.”

“It doesn’t,” I agreed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know we’d stop for ice cream. But I’ll open the letter when I get home, okay?”

“Okay. And before eleven, yes?”

“Yes, definitely. Alright, Elena’s paid for the ice cream, so I’m going to go back with her. Bye, Mum.”

“Goodbye, Jess.”

I pressed the red End button before going to slip it into my purse, but before I could let go of the thing, the front lit up, displaying the time.

Two minutes before Louis was scheduled to land.

Immediately, my body went into excited/panic mode, my heart starting to race in my chest, my palms starting to sweat. For a second, I wondered what Louis was like, whether he was nervous.

But then I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. There was no way Louis was nervous. He was everywhere all the time. He had girls flashing him as he walked or drove down the street, throwing their pants at him, proposing to him when he agreed to sign the albums they held in their hands. He’d gone through mobs of screaming fans that ripped his clothes apart and grabbed him in places he didn’t want to be grabbed.

There was no way he was getting antsy about meeting a single, average girl, even if this was the first time we were meeting after so long of communicating solely over the computer and mobile phone, through messages and Skype.

But I certainly was. I wasn’t sure how much of it was because Louis was Louis Tomlinson of One Direction, but if there was a percent present, I was positive it was a ridiculously small number. Mostly, I was concerned about meeting the guy that I had been starting to fall for.

It seemed silly, that I could start to develop feelings for someone that I’d never seen in real life, but my brain was rarely rational. And the feelings were certainly there, present in the way seeing his face made me smile, how I waited anxiously for his calls each night, how hearing his voice in songs made my stomach explode with butterflies.

The loudspeaker announced the landing of the private plane Louis had given me the number for, so I immediately got to my feet.

The seconds that ticked by while I waited felt like a hundred years each. My hands wrung together as my mind begged them to dry up before Louis saw me, just in case he wanted to hold my hand, and I kept biting my bottom lip, no matter how many times I tried to get myself to stop by saying that I was just ripping apart the skin.

And then, too soon and far too late, Louis appeared. He was rolling a suitcase behind him, a pair of sunglasses on top of his head, his hair styled to perfection, dressed in a pair of regular blue jeans and a white t-shirt. Although he’d just walked off a plane, he looked like he’d stepped out of the cover of a magazine.

“Jess?” he called out as he neared me. And, just briefly, I saw his eyes rake over my body, and I could have sworn the sparkle disappeared from his eye.

Swallowing, I looked down at myself and let out a sigh. I’d disappointed him. Because this size-eighteen girl was not at all what he had been waiting for.