Stole My Heart

The boys and I didn’t have a concert that night so we rented a van. The guys wanted to take us out and Katie’s birthday was coming up and presents needed to be bought. We decided that we were going to take turns distracting her, while the other group split up to get presents.

“I’ll drive,” CJ offered.

“NO!” Everyone shouted fearfully.

“My driving isn’t that bad. You guys were just distracting,” she insisted.

“I wanna drive!” Louis said excitedly. “I promise to try not to go too slow.” He was too adorable to resist. Louis drove very carefully, but it was still slow.

“We are never going to get there,” Zayn complained from the seat behind me.

“Oh shush! At least I’m being safe,” Louis replied. A car behind us honked its horn impatiently.

“Go beep yourself!” Louis grumbled as the vehicle passed.

“Louis, could I drive?” Katie asked quietly, trying not to hurt the boy’s feelings.

“No! It’s my turn!” Brooke insisted.

“Okay,” Louis said pitifully, pulling the van over and climbing into the back next to Harry, Katie, and Zayn. Brooke hopped into the driver’s seat eagerly.

“So, should we be worried about Brooke’s driving?” Niall asked me curiously.

“Um, I don’t think so. She drives a little faster than Katie, but not like CJ,” I replied, and he nodded.

“Hey now,” CJ said from the passenger’s seat, taking a little offense.

“She’ll behave, right Brooke?” Katie asked.

“No promises!” Brooke giggled mischievously as she threw the van into gear.

“I’m worried,” Liam admitted.

“Boy, you should be,” Brooke said, looking at him through the rearview mirror. Everyone in the van became nervous. For most of the drive, Brooke behaved. She went just above the speed limit. At one point a cop came into view, so she went the exact speed limit, but she went back to normal after the cop turned down a different road. Everything changed when we pulled up to a red stop light.

A large truck pulled up next to us in the other lane and revved its engine at us loudly.

“Oh, hell no. You really don’t want to go there,” Brooke growled, revving the van’s equally loud engine back at the truck.

“Brooke, don’t do it,” I warned, but she didn’t listen. As soon as the light turned green, Brooke stomped on the gas, causing the van to lurch forward. The truck roared next to us. This had turned into a race, and one Brooke wasn’t about to lose without a fight.

“Grab the ‘Oh Shit’ bar!” Katie cried, grabbing onto the handle near her head. I did the same. It took the other boys a moment to figure out what she meant.

“What’re we supposed to do?” Niall asked, being that he was in the middle and didn’t have a handle to hold onto. I wrapped an arm around him and he clung to me. It was all he could do. I hoped to goodness that if there was an accident that a seatbelt would be enough to save him.

Somehow, the van pulled ahead of the truck. Brooke laughed as she passed them. The boys in the truck slowed down and pulled onto a different road in shame.

“Can we slow down now?” Harry asked.

“Brooke, we have to turn there!” Liam said. Brooke hit the brakes harder than she meant to, causing all of us to fall forward, pressing against our seatbelts. The tires screeched as we went around a corner too fast and everyone but Brooke screamed.

I was sitting in the middle seat meant for three people. The force of the turn sent Liam falling into Niall, who fell into me and slightly crushed me into the wall of the van. I felt sorrier for the people in the back seat. Louis fell into Harry, who fell into Katie, who fell into Zayn, practically crushing him.

The van came to a halt in a parking lot, perfectly set in a parking spot.

“Aha! I win!” Brooke cried triumphantly.

“Melody,” Liam said from next to Niall.

“Yes Liam?”

“Brooke isn’t allowed to drive anymore either,” He said, making me laugh. We all got out of the van.

“See? This is why I drive at safe speeds!” Louis said.

“I nominate Katie as the official driver!” Harry declared, and the rest of us agreed.

“I’m hungry,” Niall said as we entered the mall.

“Me too,” I agreed.

“Maybe we should stop and eat?” CJ suggested.

“Yeah, where should we go?” Zayn asked.

“Noodles!” Brooke, Katie, CJ, and I cried at the same time, seeing the sign for Noodles and Company, our favorite restaurant.

“Gee, I wonder where the girls would like to eat?” Louis teased.

“Can we please go there?” I asked, missing their food.

“Pretty please?” Katie asked.

“Well, I suppose so,” Niall said.

“Yay!” CJ, Brooke, Katie and I cheered. We all went over to the little restaurant and ordered different kinds of pasta.