“Are you feeling okay?” My grandmother asked me, yet again.
“Yes, Grandma. I’m alright.” I stated, feeling a bit agitated. We had been sitting in a waiting room for nearly an hour. Not to mention the fact that people who couldn’t speak English surrounded us. “Why don’t you guys go get something to drink? I’ll be here when you get back.” I suggested.
“Oh no, we can’t leave you all by yourself.” Said my grandfather.
I looked at my mom, knowing that she was feeling suffocated by them too. But then again, she always did. “Grandpa, will you go get me a snack then?” I asked, sweetly.
“Of course.” He said, standing quickly to go fulfill my request.
Only minutes after he had been gone, I looked to my grandmother. “Will you go get me something to drink? I forgot to ask him too.” I asked.
She patted my cheek before she stood. “Will you two be alright?” She asked.
“Yes, mom. Go, she’s really thirsty.” My mom said, shooing her away. Once she disappeared out of the waiting room my mom started laughing. “You’re devious.”
“Somebody had to do something. I couldn’t breathe.”
“This would all been avoided if you weren’t such a clutz.” My mother joked.
“No, no. This would have been avoided if you weren’t such a slut.” I joked, referring back to the reason why my grandparents were so pushy.
“Megan Arabelle!” My mother scolded.
“Joking! Joking! Don’t tell them I said that. I’ll have to take lessons over ‘language for young women’ for weeks.”
“You should be glad that I’m such a cool mom.” She said, flipping through a magazine, which was in an entire different language.
I didn’t say anything back to her. My mother and I could joke whenever it was just the two of us. But the problem was, it was hardly ever the two of us. When my mom was 16 years old, she was a little on the wild side and ended up getting pregnant. Ever since then, my grandparents have been scared to death that I was going to end up the same way. Even though I had made it to seventeen years old without having a real boyfriend, they still weren’t convinced.
So, they insisted on raising me the way I should be raised. Or so that’s what they tell everyone else. All my life my grandparents would teach me one thing, and my mother would teach me another. I never really knew who to listen to though. But I learned to act a certain way around them. I acted like a normal teenage girl should in front of my mother. But acted like a girl who just stepped out of finishing school in front of my grandparent’s. It’s actually a wonder they didn’t send me to finishing school. Though, I suppose sending to me to London, England to study for the summer was bad enough.
I kept an eye on the waiting room doors, dreading the moment that they came back to make sure I was all right. The doors finally swung open, but luckily it wasn’t them. It was a boy who came hoping in on one foot. He stopped in the doorway and scanned the room for a place to sit, his eyes eventually stopping on me. As he looked my way and smiled, I realized that I recognized him. He was the boy in the ocean, who had asked me if I was all right.
I watched as he hopped over towards me. “Hey, is this seat taken?” He asked. I hadn’t noticed it in the water, but the boy had a British accent. Something else I definitely hadn’t noticed was that he was very cute.
“Go ahead.” My mom said, nudging me in the side with her elbow.
I looked over at her and then back at the smiling boy. “You’re the girl from the sea?” He asked, his accent nearly blowing me away. “The one who got hurt?”
“Yeah, a piece of driftwood snagged me.” I explained. “I think I’m going to need stitches. That is, if they ever call me back.”
He laughed a little bit and then held his foot up. “Well, it wasn’t long after you left that I was stung by a sea urchin. I don’t know what the hospital will do about it, but I was forced to come.” He explained.
“My grandparent’s made me come. Or else I’d would have just put a Band-Aid over it.”
“Right? A little ice would have done me well.” He stated. “So I take it you guys are from the States?”
“Yeah, and you’re from England?” I asked.
“Absolutely.” He answered.
“Megan’s going to London for two months to study abroad.” My mother interjected.
“Is that so?” He asked, seemingly very interested. “I’ll be in London for the next couple of months too.”
“Really?” My mom asked, excited to hear whatever he had to say.
“Well, hopefully anyways. It actually all rests on today whether or not I will be.” He stated. “Are you familiar with the show the X Factor?”
“That’s kind of like our American Idol.” I stated, explaining to my mom.
“Right! Well, I tried out earlier in the summer and I got to the next round. Now I’m down here with the lads in my band, to host our final audition. We’re actually supposed to be at Simon Cowell’s house in less than an hour.”
I stared at him in amazement. Was he telling the truth? “No way.”
He smiled. “Yeah, crazy isn’t it? I’ll tell you what’s even crazier. I’m stuck here! If I’m not back in time for the audition, then I’m not sure what’s going to happen.” He said, looking down at his foot. “I’m Louis by the way.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Louis.” I said, my manners were kicking in. As they usually did. “So, what do you think will happen if you don’t make the audition?” I was curious to know. Plus, I wanted to prove to my mom that I could hold a conversation with a guy, without her help.
“Erhm, I’m not exactly sure. I don’t know if they’d even make it because the harmony would be off, and it sound weird.” He said, still looking down at his foot. “I take that back, the boys would definitely be able to make it without me. I guess it’s just a matter of whether I’d be considered to go on to the live shows if I’m not there. I don’t know for sure. I just hope that I can get in and out quickly.”
For having just met me, he talked an awful lot. But I didn’t mind. I actually like it. So, as he talked, I sat there and watched him. He was probably about my age; 17 or 18. He had brown messy hair that came to the top of his eyes. But his eyes were blue, crystal blue. And he had a very sweet smile. Plus, he could sing. He must have had girls all over him, all the time. I would be surprised if he didn’t.
“I’m sure it’ll all work out. If you’ve got this far, you’ll go further.” I said.
He took his gaze from his swollen foot and looked at me. “You think?” I nodded my head and smiled at him. Just as I was getting ready to ask him more questions about his X Factor adventures, my grandparents strolled through the waiting room doors with my refreshments. They showed a disapproving, but curious look at the boy next to me as they neared us. Before either of them could talk, a nurse stepped into the room. “Next.” She struggled to say in English.
“Next?” My grandpa muttered. “So unprofessional. With the time we’ve sat here, I could have had you at a much better institute.”
I rolled my eyes as he spoke and was getting ready to stand up before I had an idea. I took a deep breath, knowing I would get in trouble for this, but I looked at Louis. “You can go next.” I said, lowly.
His eyes widen after I spoke. “What? No, you’ve been waiting longer than I have. Plus, you’re still bleeding.” He said, looking down at my leg. My grandma reached for my hand, not hearing what I was trying to say.
“Barely. I’ll be fine. You’ve got somewhere to be. Go. Hurry.” He just looked at me with his mouth opened slightly, not sure what he should do. “My friend, Louis’s gonna go before me.” I told my family. “He’s got a… meeting he’s got to get to. It’s really important.” I tried to speak quickly before anybody else could interject his or her opinions. “Bye, Louis! It was nice meeting you. I hope your foot gets better.” He stood up slowly. “Go.” I whispered.
“Thank you so much!” He shouted, hopping over to the nurse. “I owe you! What was your name again? Megan? When we win, I’ll be sure to thank Megan, the great girl I met in Barbados! Thank you!” He shouted yet again, disappearing into the hospital with the nurse. I smiled to myself, glad that I had helped such a cute boy out.
“What was that about?” I was asked, by both of my grandparents at the same time.
“Like I said, he had a really important meeting to get to. You always said it was critical to be on time to things like that. Plus, I was chivalrous. You’ve always said that chivalry wasn’t dead.” I babbled, trying to make my point seem valid.
“Yes, but we meant that a boy should be chivalrous to you. Not the other way around! Besides, you are hurt. You shouldn’t have let that boy go ahead of you.”
“I’ll be fine. I promise.” I said, taking my snacks from them, and eating just to end the conversation.
There was no way I could have let him miss going to Simon Cowell’s house for a chance at winning the X Factor. Plus, he was cute.

Notes

So, I realize it's off to a slow start. But I think it'll get once I actually get into it. I hope you enjoy it! :) xx