Last Girl Standing

Kassandra pulled out a pair of ripped jeans and a tank with Billy Idol’s face on it from a drawer as she quietly sang to herself. Slipping the jeans over her white lace leggings, she loved the floral design that peeked through the tears in her jeans. Her hair swayed as she danced around the little room while she got ready.

“Dancing with myse-elf, whoa oh, dancing with myse-elf, whoa oh,” she sang pulling a brush through her hair. “Dancing with myse-elf, well if there’s nothing to lose and there’s nothing to prove, I’ll be dancing with myse-elf.”

Quickly messing her hair up a little, she called it done and went to join some of the other girls who were ready and waiting for the challenge to be announced. As she sat beside a blond, she did her best to keep quiet as her foot tapped to the song that only played in her head. The rest of the girls joined them not long after Kass had taken her seat and soon they were being led to where the boys waited with Tanisha. A smile lit the curvaceous woman’s face as she turned to a camera and started explaining the challenge.

“Alright Ladies, today’s challenge is all about testing how far you’re willing to go for your guy. The tasks will range from simple, maybe a little embarrassing, to down-right crazy. The girl that’s willing to do the most will win their boy the title of Alpha male and, just for a perk, win a dress designed by Valentino for themselves,” Tanisha said a twinkle in her eyes. “The pairs are already set. Now will the following ladies step forward.”

Kass sighed, she was sure she wouldn’t be one of the girls. Harry would have Sadie, Zayn would have Abelia, Niall would probably have October and Louis would get Haley. Liam, well Kass was sure he’d want Jenna. While on their date he had mentioned the girl’s name a few times and if she didn’t dislike Jenna before now she out right hated her. She knew most of it came from jealousy. The blond was gorgeous, and thin, and seemed to be okay even though Kass hated to admit even that much.

“… Abelia, and Liam with Kassandra,” Tanisha finished leaving Kass in a shocked state.

As she looked over at Liam, he smiled, but looked a tad disappointed. It was clear that he hadn’t gotten a say in who he’d be paired with. Sighing, she walked over to the short haired boy.

“Hi,” he whispered, his hand grazing her arm just barely, leaving goosebumps on her skin.

“Hi,” she replied, pulling away slightly. She liked the boy, but she didn’t want to end up falling for him if he was falling for someone else.

“You ready?”

Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she smiled at him and let her grey eyes meet his brown ones. “You better believe that no one else could win.”

“You like the dress?” he asked with a chuckle in response to her determined tone.

“No,” she replied, biting on her lip before she continued. “I like you.”

A smile pulled at his lips as he opened his mouth to respond, but Tanisha cut him off. So all he could do was nod and bite his lips.

“We’re gonna start it off easy for you girls,” Tanisha said a hand falling to her hip. “The first task is Karaoke.”

Kass frowned, she wasn’t a good singer, but she would do it anyway. She wasn’t sure how this challenge really worked because she had been whispering with Liam when Tanisha started talking, but she was just going to have fun with it. What was the worst that could happen? She would be bad?

Walking over to a book of songs, Kass and the other girls each made their choice and waited for their turn. Kass watched the other girls go up and do their songs, everyone looked a little awkward, but she could tell that they were going to do what they had to. As Sadie finished her song, she smiled over to Harry and Kass wished that she had that with one of the boys. The girl was lucky.

Her name was called and she walked up to the little make-shift stage, the microphone placed on a stand at the center. Taking her place, she shot the group a smile and pulled the mic out of it holding place. After a deep breath, she heard the music start and for a moment she wished she had chosen a different song, but it had been the only one on the list that she really knew the words too. All the other ones had been hits of today.



Grimacing through a smile, she knew she’d hit a few wrong notes, but as her eyes met Liam’s she decided she didn’t care. He seemed to not mind the mediocre singing and kept a smile on his face that met his eyes. Licking her lips, she stepped off the stage and walked over to him.



Pulling his hand, she brought him to his feet and got him dancing with her. That’s what she was good at. Dancing. He spun her around and as the song came to the second verse he sang with her.



Laughing, Kass bumped the boy with her hip as the song came to a close. She had just faced one of her biggest fears and it felt like nothing and she knew it was because he was there. It was trouble, she knew that, but for the moment she didn’t let it bother her. She let herself believe for that one second that she was the only girl he saw, even if she knew deep down that he probably preferred Jenna. Tanisha gave the girl a bright smile, and explained that the next task would be a little more embarrassing.

“Alright girls,” she started. “It seems you all have some talent. Now comes something a little less comfortable. How much are you willing to lose for your boy?”

Kass glanced over at Liam, a worried light in her eyes. She didn’t like the sounds of what was coming.

“Now, each girl will be asked a question. A wrong answer means losing a piece of clothing, if you answer incorrectly and decided you don’t want to lose your clothes, you and your boy are out of the challenge. The remaining girls that get at least five questions right, will move on to the next round.”

Kass sighed, this was going to be embarrassing. Looking over at the other couples, she knew that the other girls were thinner than her. She could see Harry whispering something to Sadie and she was sure it was him telling her she didn’t have to go through with it. Before she knew it, two girls had declined the challenge. Three left. Glancing to Liam, she bit the inside of her cheek.

“You don’t have to do this if you aren’t comfortable,” he said, a hand gently resting on her arm.

“I’ll be okay,” she replied with a small smile to reassure him.

The questions began once Kass joined the other two girls and by the end of it she had only lost her tank. One of the other girls had lost two items of clothing and the last one only answered four questions correctly, leaving her and one other girl for the final round.

“Alright you two,” Tanisha began, “The final round is tough, and the consequence is permanent.”

Swallowing hard, Kass followed Tanisha and the other girl to a tent, the boys trailing just behind. Wringing her tank, she wasn’t sure if she should put it back on. In the tent was a man with tattoos tailing over his skin, he waited by a chair with inks and a tattoo machine. Suddenly, Kass knew she had this in the bag. The other girl instantly said no to a tattoo, but she didn’t. Instead, she smiled. Rubbing behind her right ear, she touched the black ink that said Maria. A tattoo was nothing.

“Well, then it looks like you’re the winner,” Tanisha said, “At least if you go through with it.”

Liam leaned towards her, “You really don’t need to do that, I’m sure they can come up with a different challenge.”

“Look, Payne,” Kass began, her hand finding her way around his wrist. “I can handle a little ink. Let’s just see what this tattoo has to be before I decide if I’ll get it or not.”

Liam nodded and slipped his wrist from her grip to catch her hand in his. Kass smiled, turning to Tanisha.

“Well, the only rule for the tattoo is that it has to symbolize your boy,” she replied.

Nodding, Kass looked at Liam. He was a nice guy, he had good qualities and with his name she knew what she wanted to get. Standing on her tip-toes she leaned close to his ear, she wanted his opinion before she went and got it permanently inked to her skin. The boy chuckled slightly, as she pulled away and nodded approving of her idea.

Walking over to the tattoo artist, she explained what she wanted and before she knew it, Liam was holding her hand and the needle was piercing her skin to deposit the ink. It didn’t take long for the man to finish as it was just text, but as she got up to go over to a mirror it felt like it had taken hours. Still, there was nowhere else she’d rather be than getting that tattoo and holding Liam Payne’s hand.

“My grandma Maria always said,” Kass began as she looked at the new ink on her right rib just below her bra, “‘No Payne, No Gain.’” Laughing at the pun, the tattoo artist placed a bandage over the new tattoo. As she looked over to Liam in the mirror, he wrapped an arm around her waist.

His lips brushed her ear as he whispered, “Smart woman. Any chance I’ll be able to meet her?”

“Yeah,” Kass started with a laugh. “If you’ve got a Ouija board.” Turning around in his arms to face him, she dropped her arms on his shoulders. “She’s the one I got the necklace from.”

Biting his lip, Liam leaned down and put his forehead to hers. His hand trailed from her hip to the necklace that hung from her neck, leaving a trail of heat in its wake. The little pendant was lifted from her skin as he inspected the pearl.

“She must have meant a lot to you,” he said as his eyes flicked to hers.

“The world.”

Liam was quiet for a moment as he looked into her eyes. Kass wasn’t sure what to expect, she wanted him to kiss her, but something told her he wouldn’t. Gently, he placed the pendant back against her skin, but let his fingers rest at her collar bone.

“You are nothing like I expected,” he murmured, “I just can’t seem to figure you out.”

“Good,” Kass replied her nose scrunching as she pulled away from him. “It’ll keep you wanting more.”

Pulling on her bottom lip, she gave him one last look before pulling on her tank over the freshly bandaged tat and leaving the tent. She wanted his mind to be replaying the day over and over and over again. She wanted him to fall asleep with thoughts of her swimming in his head, just like she would fall asleep with him in hers. She wanted him to want her in the simplest of ways because, she’d never met a boy like him before and she doubted she ever would again.