Last Girl Standing

Sadie Scott had her brown hair tucked gently behind her ear. Next to her, each of the other girls stood in a line. All of them had their gaze locked on Harry. Each girl wanted to be chosen for a date. It was the best way to get a foot in the door. Even if the date wasn’t with the boy of their choice, it would be better than being left behind.

“First thing’s first. It’s time to hand out the dates, Harry.” Tanisha smiled at the boy, as he ran his hands through his dark curly hair.

“Well, considering I don’t really know anyone yet, I guess I’m just going to base this on looks.”

Tapping his foot, Harry looked down the line of girls. He pointed at a blonde on the opposite end of the line as Sadie.

“I’m sorry, love. I don’t know your name. I don’t know anyone’s name.”

Tanisha laughed. “You just point and I’ll give you the name.”

Harry pointed at the blonde again.

“That’s Rachel,” Tanisha said.

Nodding his head, Harry smiled. “She’s with me.”

Harry kept pointing at the girls, passing out the dates with relative ease. When his finger landed on Sadie, she was nothing short of surprised.

Smiling, Tanisha said her name. “Sadie Scott.”

“She’s with Louis,” Harry said, looking at his band mate.

Sadie stepped forward, the same way the other girls had, and stood next to Louis. He gave her a soft smile and she returned it. This boy was cute. Sadie could go for that.

“I hope everyone is excited for their dates,” Tanisha said, a large grin on her face. “Unfortunately, the rest of you girls will have to wait here.”

A few of the girls let out soft sighs. Sadie silently thanked whatever being was out there for not leaving her behind with them.

“The rest of you can come with me.”

The group followed closely behind Tanisha, to the front of the mansion. A long black limousine was parked on the pavement. Next to Sadie, the redheaded girl smiled in excitement.

Niall moved toward the limo, his date's hand in his. When he placed his hands on the door handle, Tanisha stopped him.

“As you know, the Alpha Male gets special treatment on his date. This limo is for Harry and Rachel. The rest of you will be riding in those.”

Tanisha pointed to a pair of Jeeps in the corner. The doors were ripped off the sides, and they had no tops. The vehicles looked rugged, to say the least.

Laughing, Harry opened the door to the limousine, and he and Rachel stepped inside it.

The others looked back and forth between one another. It appeared as though no one was going to move, so Sadie decided to take some initiative. She turned to Louis, and smiled at him, before taking his hand and pulling him forward.

The pair walked over to the Jeeps, with Sadie’s hand wrapped around Louis’s wrist. The group took a second to catch up, but they weren’t far behind.

With a large smile on her face, Sadie turned to Louis again. “I call shot gun.”

The boy whipped around to the driver’s side, while Sadie quickly jumped into the passenger’s seat. Niall and his date, a brunette girl named Haley, sat in the back of the Jeep.

From across the lawn, Tanisha smiled at them. “Just follow the limo.”

Nodding his head, Louis turned the key, revving up the engine. Behind him, Liam did the same thing to his Jeep. Under Louis’s control, the Jeep began moving forward, following closely behind the limo. Turning in her seat, Sadie looked back at Niall and Haley.

“I wonder where we’re going,” Sadie said.

Haley shrugged. “Somewhere fun, I hope.”

Smiling, Sadie turned back around. Her eyes moved to the boy driving the Jeep. His hair was swooped across his forehead, fitting his face perfectly.

“So, you’re Louis?” Sadie asked, looking at the boy.

“Yes, and you’re Sadie Scott.”

Turning back to the road, Sadie smiled. Even if the date went terribly, at least someone knew who she was.

“You’re good with names.”

Louis nodded, whipping the steering wheel as the Jeep made a sharp curve down the dirt road. A few low branches hit the side of the jeep, and Sadie wondered how the limousine had been making the journey much easier than they had. Louis must be a bad driver.

“So, what instrument do you play?” Sadie asked, looking at Louis.

Laughing, Louis eyed Niall in the rearview mirror. “I sing. We all do.”

Sadie sighed, slouching in her seat. That awkward moment certainly dimmed the odds of her winning the boys over. She would have to pump up the charm factor in order to make up for it.

Louis took his eyes off the road for a moment and looked at Sadie. “It’s okay. Honest mistake.”

Sadie breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Louis didn’t appear to hate her.

After a few moments, the limousine pulled up to a small parking lot alongside the beach. Louis pulled the Jeep up next to it, and turned off the engine. Two cars followed behind them, the Jeep Liam had been driving, and a small Audi Tanisha had ridden in.

When the large woman stepped out of the Audi, she waved the group over to her. They circled around her, each of them standing next to their dates.

“Alright, everyone. For today’s date, you will be taking a cruise around the island.” Tanisha moved her attention to Harry. “Now, Harry, remember with your Alpha Male powers, you have the ability to steal the other boys’ dates, and you will also be getting special treatment on the ship. You and Rachel can go on the upper deck, while everyone else stays on the lower one.”

With that, she waved the group off, pointing them in the direction of the boardwalk. Harry was the first to move. Taking Rachel’s hand, he stepped onto the large boardwalk.

At the end of the long wooden path was a large yacht. Sadie had never been on ship before, but there was a first time for everything. The yacht’s captain stood at the end of the boardwalk, smiling at the group. When they reached him, the captain opened the door to the yacht and they filed in.

“Harry, you can head upstairs.” The captain smiled at him, pointing at the stairs to the left. “There’s food and drinks, and you can just let me know if you need anything. Everyone else, you can head out on the deck. My name is Rick, and I hope you enjoy your stay aboard the Mariner.”

As Harry and Rachel took the stairs to the top, the rest of the group moved out onto the ship’s open deck. The boat rocked back and forth as it moved, causing Sadie to stumble. Louis held his arm out to her, placing it on her elbow.

“You alright?” he asked, smiling at her.

Nodding her head, Sadie pushed her hair behind her ear. “I guess I just don’t have my sea legs yet.”

“You wanna have a seat?” Louis asked, pointing at one of the seats at the edge of the ship. “Maybe that will help.”

“That sounds good.”

Louis led her over to the cushioned seats at the ship’s edge. He kept his hand around her elbow, even though Sadie was walking just fine. Crossing her legs Indian style, she took a seat, with Louis sitting across from her.

“So, you said you snowboard, right?”

Laughing, Sadie nodded. “How do you remember all of that?”

Louis shrugged. “I’m just observant, I guess. Have you got your sea legs yet?”

Standing up, Sadie held her arms out in front of her. She faked a stumble and Louis reached his arms out to catch her. She fell gently into his lap, with one of his hands on each side of her hips.

Sadie had only just met Louis, but she already liked the boy. Who cared if she faked being wobbly to get his attention? As long as he had his arms around her, it didn’t really matter how they’d gotten there.

Louis laughed. “You should probably stay sitting.”

A light tap pressed against Sadie’s shoulder and she turned, finding Rachel standing behind her.

“Harry said he wants us to switch,” the girl said, a soft smile on her face.

Sadie looked from the girl, to Louis. He smiled at her, before taking his hands off her hips.

“I’ll see you in a little, then?” Louis said, more of a question than a statement. “Have fun with Haz, and don’t trip.”

Nodding her head, Sadie turned away from Louis, and began heading up the stairs. When she reached the top, she found a large plush sofa, with Harry laying comfortably on it.

When Harry saw her, he stood up immediately and walked over to her. Holding out his hand, he smiled at her as he spoke. “Sadie, right?”

Shaking Harry’s hand, Sadie nodded her head. “Harry.”

The boy smiled and ran his hands through his hair. Even though Louis had extremely nice hair, Harry’s was better. It added the perfect amount of character to his face.

“Would you like to have a seat?” Harry pointed toward the sofa he had been sitting on.

Sadie smiled. “That sounds great.”

Harry took Sadie’s hand, leading her over to the seat. As he sat, she took the seat next to him, pushing her hair behind her ear. The dark haired boy did the same, moving his curls out of his face.

“Were you enjoying your date with Lou?” Harry asked, passing Sadie a can of pop. She thanked him and pulled the top open.

“I was.” Sadie nodded. “He seems pretty great.”

Laughing, Harry took a drink of his own pop. “Does that mean you’d like to get back to your date with him?”

Sadie paused for a moment, debating what to say. She did want to go back downstairs with Louis, but she didn’t want to write off Harry just because she had a crush on the boy with swooped hair. It was a competition, after all. Sadie knew she would have to turn up the charm if she wanted to win the boys over.

After a moment, she shook her head. “No, I’d like to stay up here with you.”

Smiling, Harry folded his leg across his lap. “Good.”

Sadie wanted to impress Harry with her witty banter and excessive amounts of charm, but for some reason, she couldn’t think of anything to say. It was unusual. Sadie was never at a loss for words.

“So, why’d you send Rachel away?” Sadie asked, turning to face Harry. She placed her feet on the sofa, tucking them in front of her. She hoped he would say that she was a raging bitch for more than one reason. It would mean less competition, and if she were a bitch, maybe Louis would see that too, and wouldn’t be swooning over her downstairs.

Harry laughed. “She was – Well, I just didn’t like her. She was cute, but we didn’t have any chemistry.”

“Do you think you and I have any chemistry?” Sadie asked, smiling at him.

Harry paused for a moment, smirking at her. “I guess we’ll have to see.”