Luck

The hallways of the Learning Centre were crowded, and I felt overwhelmed. I still wasn’t used the campus, even though it was much smaller than the UMass one that I had once studied. My class was supposed to start two minutes ago, but I still had to fight through the crowd. It wasn’t exactly my fault, the bus was running late and I missed the train over from my flat.

I arrived at the classroom just as the professor was locking the door, slightly out of breath from my hustle through the crowds.

"I'm so sorry," I pleaded.

He gave me a sour look, but moved aside to allow me to join the class anyway. I hurried to a back seat and sat down as quietly as possible. Several people watched me with disdain as I took out my laptop, and settled into my seat.

The lecture was going well, I was staying awake which I thought was impressive enough. Sleep had been avoiding me, between working, class and coursework. Suddenly, I heard the familiar buzz of my phone beside me. I was quick to grab my phone and silence it, but I didn’t escape the glare of several people who had heard my phone vibrate. In high school, I had always been one of the best students, but it was becoming clear to me that I was on my way to being the student that everyone hated.

I looked down at the screen to see Lou’s name and number flashing across the screen. She didn't know my class schedule, so I was sure she was just asking me to come by later. It wasn’t the first time she had called me during class to discuss timing for later. Pushing it to the back of my mind, I tried to focus my attention back on the lecture, and kept my phone on silent and in my hand.

The professor droned on about the importance of understanding the history that created the Euro, and how the affects the Euro's standing today. After taking AP Euro in high school, I felt relatively well-versed in European history. Still, it was intimidating to be in a class full of Europeans, who had l was sure knew far more about their own history than I did, and could see it more clearly than I ever would be able to with an American bias.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught my screen flashing again. Lou’s named filled the screen, and I instantly wondered if everything was alright. I considered just getting up and leaving, but I knew that I was already walking the line by arriving late. Although I was hardly late, and once again, it wasn’t my fault.

I rejected her call and went back to focusing on the lecture, jotting down notes as he explained various things. I jammed my phone in my bag, deciding not to let it distract me.

"That's all I have for today," the professor’s tone did not change as he finished up, "I'll see you next time."

All around me, people began shuffling around. There was a hurry to get out of the stuffy classroom, one that I understood all too well. The curiosity about Lou’s phone calls was killing me, and I was worried I could end up losing my job over this.

"Hey, Savannah," Brody, a guy in two of my classes, spoke to me. I smiled at him in acknowledgment.

"Hey," I tried not to sound too distracted, but I was still trying to find where I had thrown my phone in my bag.

"Have you started the essay yet?" Brody inquired. He had already packed up, but stood in the aisle beside me.

"Uh, no," I admitted, "Ha!"

I finally located my phone and grasped it tightly in my hand. I awoke the phone, and the screen lit up to notifications that there was not one, not two, but four new text messages from Lou and I had missed two calls from her.

“I haven’t either,” Brody told me, “But it doesn’t seem too hard. I don’t know. I want someone to proof read it, though, you know? I was never the greatest writer back in sixth form - or high school? Is that what you call in it the states?”

He waited for me to grab my stuff, and I tried to pay attention while also checking my texts.

Lou Teasdale
Savvy, I’m sorry to bother you, but I really need you to watch Lux, ASAP. I’ll text you the address, take a cab there. I’ll reimburse you. Xx.

“Uh, yeah, that’s what it’s called,” I affirmed, “I can help proofread, if you want.”

Lou’s text confused me, because I had never watched Lux outside of her home before, unless I took her on an outing.

“That would be solid!” Brody exclaimed, “And I could proofread yours! I mean, I know I’m not the best writer, but I can help out.”

He held the door for me as we exited the classroom.

“Thanks,” I sputtered, “And yeah, that would be great!”

"Savannah!" Eva's voice surprised me as I nearly knocked her over in the hallway, "Watch where you're going!"

"I'm so sorry," I apologized, "uh, Eva, Brody, Brody, Eva." The introduction was hurried and I knew I should have spent more time properly introducing them, but I was in a rush.

My phone lit up again, another text from Lou.

Lou Teasdale
I realize you're probably in class, but please let me know if you'll be able to come. Xxx.

"Savvy, who are you talking to?" Eva inquired.

"Uh, Lou," I said as I shot Lou a text saying I just got out of class and I was on my way.

"So, Savannah, I’ll just send you my paper as soon as I finish it,” Brody offered, “And then you can do the same for me?”

"Uh, yeah, that’ll work," I shoved my cell phone at him, "just put your number in. I'll give you a ring."

Brody beamed, "Sounds great!"

I expected him to part ways, but he didn’t. The three of us continued down the hallway, which had not cleared in the hour or so I had been in class.

My message tone went off again, and I glanced down at my phone.

Lou Teasdale
Great! See you soon! Xx.

Without even meaning to, I picked up my pace. I knew that cabs could be hard to get in London, and I wasn’t quite sure how far away I was from the location Lou had texted me.

“Savannah, slow down! You’re always in a rush!” Eva chided, “Where are you even going!? When are you going to be home?! Savannah!”

“I don’t know, but I have to go!” I cried as I ran, “Lou has some big event and I have to watch Lux!”

[&&&]

Lou had texted me the address, and told me to take a cab and she would reimburse me later. The driver dropped me off in front a big, warehouse-looking building. There was a looming gate in front of the entrance, which I headed straight to.

“Uh, hi,” I sputtered awkwardly, “I’m looking for Lou Teasdale? She told me to come here.”

“Who?” the security guard manning the gate looked less than amused.

“Lou Teasdale,” I repeated.

“Who are you?” He eyed me suspiciously.

“Savannah Mitzler.” I hadn’t been expecting this much security.

He looked down at a list, “Can I see an ID?”

“Uh, yeah.” I dug in my bag for my wallet. I pulled it out, and flashed him my American driver’s license.

“You can go in,” He said lazily, “Head to the main entrance, and then take the second left. She’ll be down that hallway somewhere.”

The gate opened before me, and I hurried in. I ran into Niall before I saw Lou or Lux; the security guard’s directions were unclear and confusing.

He was talking to another boy, but he remembered me, “Hey, Savannah! Are you looking for Lou?”

“Uh, yeah,” I nodded, “She called me in the middle of class and asked me to come watch Lux. Said it was an emergency or something. Is everything okay? Where is she?”

Niall laughed, “Everything’s fine! Just a little crazy on set today, that’s all. She’s down the hall and to the left, yeah?”

“Oh, thanks,” I trailed off, not sure whether or not to believe Niall. She had never called me down in the middle of class before, and like an idiot, I had ditched my next class. Just so long as my grandparents never found out, I supposed.

I hurried down the hall and found Lou in a little room on the left, just like Niall had told me. She had all of her supplies out, and another boy was sitting in the chair. I figured it must be one of Niall's bandmates.

"Savvy!" Lux cried. She was sitting on the floor with one if her beloved stuffed animals. She immediately got up and ran to me. I picked her up and she laughed.

"Savannah!" Lou echoed her daughter and smiled at me.

"Hi, guys!" I greeted them, "Is everything okay?"

Lou nodded distractedly, “Oh, yes. I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize you were in class. I thought about it later, must have given you a heart attack. This shoot is just more than I thought it would be, and I really need someone to watch Lux.”

“Normally our stylist is here,” the boy cut in, “or else we can do it.” He gave me a cheeky grin, and I instantly wondered whether or not it was wise to trust him with a little kid.

“It’s fine,” I waved it off.

“I’m Louis,” the boy told me.

“Savannah,” I introduced myself happily.

“Savvy,” Lux corrected.

I laughed, “Or Savvy, if you prefer.”

“You can put your stuff down over there,” Lou pointed to a corner with a pile of bags, “I’m guessing it’s relatively heavy?”

“Yeah, it is.”

I had brought my laptop with me to class, as well as a textbook. Putting Lux down, I placed my bag in the. Once I had done that, I turned to Lux.

“What have you been up to, missy?” I asked her.

She giggled and shook her head, and showed me her stuffed animal.

“There’s a tele over there, if you want,” Lou nodded towards a sitting area, “Just let her watch tele, and you can study. Louis and I have to go to the shoot now.” She turned to her daughter, “Lux, behave for Savvy.”

“Bye, Mumma!” Lux chirped, “Bye!”

“Bye, Luxy!” Louis mimicked as he climbed out of the chair and followed Lou.

“So, Lux, do you want to see if Peppa Pig is on?” I asked after they left.

She nodded excitedly, “Yes!”

It took me only a couple of minutes to find a station playing Peppa Pig once we had settled on the couch. Lux clapped along to the theme song, and I joined in. As Lux watched, I took out my textbooks and tried to begin studying.

Lux had fallen asleep on the couch beside me, and I sat with her. I was glad I had come straight from class, because I at least had brought my school stuff with me to study and try to catch up from the class I was missing. Like I had told Brody, I had yet to even begin the essay that was due in a week, but I had a hard time focusing on it. Eventually, I gave up and closed my laptop, taking a minute to myself to just breath.

"Hey," a voice broke through my thoughts and I looked up. Yet another teenage-man-boy was standing in front of me. This one had more tattoos than Louis, and was wearing a short sleeve shirt obviously meant to show off his muscles and ink.

"Hi, are you looking for Lou? She went over that way," I nodded my head towards the direction I had last seen Lou in, "I think she's on set or whatever?"

"Oh, well good to know," the teenage-man-boy just shrugged, "but I wasn't looking for Lou. I was looking for Lux."

"Well, Lux is right here," I motioned beside me, "but she’s fallen asleep."

"I can see that," he took this an invitation to sit down and plopped down on the armchair next to the couch, "I'm Harry. Lux is my goddaughter."

"Oh, so you're the one who buys her all of those stuffed animals!?" I asked, my eyebrow arched, "I'm Savannah. I'm Lux's nanny."

"I figured as much," Harry seemed to ignore my comment about the stuffed animals, "Lou told me she had hired somebody to help watch her. Didn't realize it was you. How old are you? You seem a bit young."

I suddenly felt a bit defensive, "I'm eighteen," I paused, giving him the once over. He didn't seem to be much older than I was, "How old are you? You seem a bit young, as well."

He chuckled, "I'm nineteen, so I guess you have a fair point. We're all pretty young, I guess."

"How many of you are there? I've already met Niall and Louis, and now you?"

"There's five of us. Haven't you heard of us? We're relatively big in the states, too." Somehow, he didn't sound cocky, but genuinely curious, "One Direction?"

"Oh!" It suddenly clicked, "You're One Direction?!"

My face flushed with embarrassment of not knowing who they were. I had heard of One Direction, of course, and I knew that song What Makes You Beautiful or whatever, but somehow I didn't realize that they were my employer's employer.

Harry laughed again, "Yep."

"Oh!" I repeated, still processing the information, "I guess that makes sense."

"I take it you're not a fan?" Harry asked with a grin.

I blushed again, "I mean, I know some of your songs. Like What Makes You Beautiful! And you do the one that's like, uh,'tonight let's get some - and live while we're young,' yeah?"

Harry nodded with amused smile.

"See! I know some of your songs! And now I know there's five of you. Niall, Louis, Harry..." I trailed off, realizing I had yet to meet the remaining two members of the band.

"Liam and Zayn," Harry finished for me.

"Yeah, those two," I shrugged. I smiled at him, trying to convince him that I wasn't quite as starstruck as I was. I shouldn't be, it's not like it's because I was some huge One Direction stan. Although it did explain the security outside.

Harry seemed to care little about my lack of One Direction knowledge and had crept over to the fridge that was in the room, and pulled out a jug of milk. Eyeing me cheekily, he undid the cap and drank straight out of the bottle.

“I won’t tell if you won’t tell,” he said, reacting to the expression of disgust on my face.

“I won’t tell, but that’s seriously gross,” I glanced at him, but he didn't seem to care.

“Like you’ve never done it before,” Harry shrugged, and took another swig.

“I haven’t,” I asserted, “My parents raised me with far more manners than that.”

“Well, mine did, too, but I’m still drinking straight out of the bottle.” Harry quipped, “Besides, the people will throw it out after we’re done here today. And it most certainly wouldn’t be the first time the lads and I shared germs.”

“Oh, good,” I said faintly. Harry chuckled at my reaction, but I still wasn't sure how I felt about him.

“We’re all very close here,” Harry grinned.

I didn’t respond, instead looking down at my nails. They were in desperate need of being painted, and I wondered the next time I would have enough time to sit down and paint them. I could hear wrappers crumpling, and I looked up to see that Harry had helped himself to a bag of crisps that had been sitting on the table.

"Harry, I see you've met Savannah!" Lou surprised me with her entrance, and I jumped slightly. Behind her, all the other boys came in, including the two that I had yet to meet. One was lanky and dark, the other still tall but a bit more stocky, “Savannah, this is Liam and Zayn, Liam, Zayn, Savannah.”

I gave a short little wave, “Hi!”

“Hey,” Liam gave me a short nod of recognition, but Zayn remained quiet.

“Harry, Savannah’s grandparents are from Holmes Chapel, as well.” Lou informed him, as she went to the counter. Distractedly, she shoved several of her items in her little bag.

Harry turned to me, cutting Lou off before she could explain, “You’re from Holmes Chapel?”

“Me? No. I’m from Quincy, Massachusetts, USA,” I told him, “My grandparents are, though. And my dad, as well. He grew up there.”

“What are their names? I probably know them.” Harry appeared to be incredibly excited about this prospect, and had sat straight up in his chair, “Holmes Chapel is really small, everyone knows everyone. And most of the people from the neighboring village. So what are their names?”

"Uh, the Mitzlers, Elizabeth and Ezra Mitzler. Do you know them?"

"The Mitzlers are your grandparents?! Oh man, I am so sorry!" Harry looked utterly horrified.

"Harry!" Lou cried as she hit him on the shoulder. She looked shocked, but also slightly amused.

Everyone else and I laughed, "It's fine. My grandparents can be kinda uptight."

"Kinda?!" Harry yelped, "They are the definition of cranky old people! They were always yelling at my friends, screaming at us to get off their lawn."

“Harry!” Lou chided, “Mind your manners! I have to go back to the shoot, but I don’t want to hear that you were upsetting Savannah with insults to her grandparents!”

She shook her finger at Harry as she left, and he groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Well, that does sound like my grandparents,” I admitted with a giggle.

"I didn't even know they had kids or grandkids. I thought it was just the two of them."

"It's just my dad, and just my brother and me for grandkids," I explained, "and my dad doesn't get along too well with his parents. We haven't seen them in years."

"Wait, I thought Lou said you were visiting them," Niall injected.

My breath hitched, "Well, I’m not technically visiting them, I'm here for school. It’s because I have dual citizenship between the US and England since my dad was born here. So it’s cheaper to go to school here than it is in the States."

"Oh yeah, I heard school in the states is crazy expensive," Liam nodded, "My sister wanted to study abroad there, but it was too expensive. She went to Canada instead."

"That's funny," I breathed. I was just relieved to have the focus off of me.

“Ah, my sister wants to go to school in the states, NYU or some shit. Doesn’t seem to understand how right expensive it is,” Louis added, “And how hard to get it is to get into those schools. She’s smart, but she’s not that smart.”

That spurred all of the boys adding in comments about their own families and their dreams. I was able to gather that all of the boys had sisters, except for Niall. They spoke candidly about their upcoming days off, and what their plans were. I had never been in such close proximity with celebrities, but I was surprised at how down to Earth they all seemed. I felt a bit like an intruder, listening on their conversation about their lives.

Niall laughed boisterously at a story Liam was telling about his mates. Beside me, Lux stirred before her little eyes opened. The boys’ conversation around us halted, and they all paid attention to her as she arose from her slumber.

“Hi, sleepyhead,” I smiled at her, “Did you have a nice nap?”

It took Lux a moment to sit up and stretch. She yawned dramatically, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

“Where’s Mumma?” Lux looked straight at me when she asked the question.

“I think she’s still working, doll,” I told her before glancing at the boys for confirmation.

“Your mum’s still working, babe,” Zayn confirmed before addressing me, “You can go see her, though. Just take a left at the end of the corridor, and you’ll see the photo shoot area.”

“Thanks,” I said to Zayn, before turning to Lux, “Do you want to go see your mum, Luxy?”

Lux yawned before nodding, “Yes. Want Mumma.”

“Alright.” I picked Lux up, “We’ll go see your mum. Say goodbye to the boys, Lux.”

Lux gave the boys an energetic wave, before singing, “Bye-bye, bye-bye!”

“Bye, Lux!” they all chorused.

“It was nice meeting you lot,” I said to them.

“Yeah,” Harry smiled cheekily at me, “I’m sure we’ll be seeing you around.”