*Zayns POV*
"So, are you girls down for that?" I asked and they both nodded. They grabbed their stuff and we headed to the pancake house. It's a small place, but they make the best pancakes ever. Our order was pretty long, I kind of felt bad for the kitchen staff...
"Oh my god these pancakes are amazing!" Jade moaned as she tried the first bite of her banoffee pancakes. Cat was making similar noises as she ate her chocolate and strawberry heaven. I honestly thought they were going to melt right there and then. We all just laughed and the conversation skipped from topic to topic, never a moment of silence. It was nice to just relax as a group without any tension.
"Are we all done?" Liam looked around the table, where we all nodded slowly. We'd all ordered seconds, and we weren't sure if it was a good idea, although it seemed like it at the time. Even Cat wasn't bouncy. Liam nodded to the waitress and she went to get the bill. The girls reached for their purses.
"No way, we're paying today." Niall put his hand on Cat's arm. They both started to protest. "No, we brought you out as a treat, so we pay." Cat smiled but Jade wasn't so easy. She opened her mouth but before she could speak Louis burst. "Would you just let us pay? We brought you out for breakfast, so just let us be gentlemen and boost our egos by letting us pay." Jade raised her hands in surrender and shook her head, but we could all see her smile. Louis sat back, looking all smug and proud of himself.
******
"Would you rather... Shave your hair off, or wear just a bikini for a whole month?" Jade asked me. It was a no brainer. "Wear the bikini. You just can't mess with perfection." Everyone looked at me, but I just told them they were jealous.
"Hey, there's Anna. ANNA!" Louis yelled across the pool. She looked around and he started waving his arms. He looked like he belonged in a mental institution. Then again, he'd probably fit right in. Anna finally saw us and came over. She sat between me and Niall. "Hey Anna, where's Ashton?" Harry had a happy look on his face like before but I could hear the strain in his voice.
"Oh, he went home at like 3 in the morning. He just came to see me and then he had to get back for a thing with his band." Harry nodded but stayed quiet. Something caught my eye, and I noticed Liam whispering to Jade.
"So Anna." Louis gave her his best mysterious look. "Yes Louis?" Anna lowered her voice and mirrored Louis completely. "Would you rather eat a bacon and cucumber sandwich, or be trapped in a cage with a wild tiger that's going to eat you?" He raised his eyebrows. Everyone started to protest, but Niall was the loudest of all of us. "Oh come on Lou, that's really easy! Of course she's going to pick-"
"The tiger." We all looked at Anna. She just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I've always wanted to be in a cage with a tiger. It seems awesome!" We were speechless. How is this girl still alive? But I guess no one in their right mind would actually let her in a tiger cage.
"Oh come on guys, do you really believe that? I'm a vegetarian! I'm not quite that insane."
"No, you really are. I think all vegetarians are insane because meat is awesome." Niall loves his meat, especially chicken. I don't think he could live without his Nandos.
*Annas POV*
Why do I have to leave? The boys are so funny and sweet, and the girls are amazing and I just don't want it to end. I've lived in the same place my whole life, and I've never been this close to anyone, ever. I love everything about them. Jade's sarcasm, Cat's enthusiasm for everything, Niall's love of food, Liam's gentleness, Zayn's awesome varsity jackets (might actually have to steal one...), Louis' sense of humour, and Harry's laugh. Well, Harry in general really.
"Anna, can I talk to you? Privately?"
"Yeah sure." I followed Harry to the edge of the pool and sat down to dangle my feet in. He did the same. "What's up?"
"That's exactly what i wanted to ask you. You seem really quiet and distant, and I'm just curious. Is there something wrong?" He had that concerned look of his, where he gets that little crease between his eyebrows. I looked back at the group. They were laughing at something Cat said. I smiled at the sight and turned back to Harry.
"It's nothing really. I didn't want to say anything. It's just I'm leaving tomorrow, early in the morning." His eyes widened and he looked shocked.
"Well why didn't you say anything?" I laughed at his reaction.
"Because I want you all to focus on Cat and Jade, especially Liam and Niall." Harry looked upset.
"What if someone else thinks Cat and Jade are brilliant and hopes they have a very special last day, but wants to focus on you and give you the best last day ever?"
"Harry that's really sweet, but it wouldn't be fair on them-"
"This isn't fair on you!"
"I appreciate it, I really do. Just don't tell them, please?"
"But Anna-"
"Please Harry."
"Ok, I won't say anything. Will you do one thing for me though?" I nodded.
"Come out with us tonight, and let me buy you dinner. You can have a special last evening, and no one needs to know."
That's what I'll miss about Harry. The way he tries to find a solution. His determination. His sweetness, his loyalty, his everything. I threw my arms around him and whispered in his ear. "Thank you Harry. I'm really glad I met you." He shivered, but I think he's hoping I didn't notice.
"Shall we join the others?" Harry held out his arm, and I placed my hand in the crook of his elbow. "We shall."
*Liams POV*
"Ok people, I'm slowly starving to death, so you girls go and get all dressed up and we'll meet you in the lobby bar in an hour!" Niall claps his hands. Cat reaches up to give him a kiss on the cheek and then runs off. Jade hangs back like I expected.
"You said you wanted to talk to me?" I nodded, and wiped my hands on my shorts. I'm so nervous it's unreal. Come on Liam, just do it.
"I know that it's really bad timing because you're leaving tomorrow, but I have to ask. Jade, will you be my girlfriend?" I let out a deep breath. I watched nervously as her mouth stretched into a huge smile. Her lips met mine as I wrapped my arms around her waist and picked her up. Jade smiled into the kiss and it slowly started to sink in. This girl is now my girlfriend.
*Harrys POV*
"See you in an hour!" I smiled at Anna and she turned to leave, but I caught her arm. I didn't see it before, but I noticed Jade and Liam kissing as he picked her up and turned in a small circle, and pointed it out to Anna. "That's so sweet! I guess they made it official. They're so cute together!" I gave a small smile.
"Yeah, I know, but..." Anna stopped looking at the happy couple and turned to look at me instead. She looked confused. "But what? He's kissing the girl he loves. I don't get what's bad about that. Aren't you happy for them?"
"No I am happy for them, really. Liam's one of my best friends and Jade's an amazing girl."
"Then what's the problem?"
I looked into her big eyes. They were an unusual colour. They weren't hazel, but they weren't your typical brown eyes either. They were a lot paler and kind of a golden colour that I'd never seen before.
"I wish I could do the same."
Anna just stared at me, but was snapped out of it by Cat, who had realised that Anna and Jade hadn't followed her. She'd already got Jade, and now she grabbed Anna's arm and pulled her away.
****** (The links are for the girls clothes)
*Nialls POV*
The girls came into the bar, and literally everyone in the room looked at them. Cliché right?
Anna looked beautiful in a pale blue strapless chiffon dress with a sweetheart neckline. Her long blonde hair was up in a bun with small white flowers decorating it. She paired the dress with white cage heels, a collection of white and silver bracelets, some flower-shaped sparkly blue stud earrings and a white studded shoulder bag.
Jade had gone back to her dark style, with a burgundy skater dress that had an unusual cage neckline. She had a silver bracelet that had little black and white spikes on it, her black hair was parted in the middle and hung in loose waves. She'd left out the highlights tonight. Jade's earrings were little Swarovski crystals. On her feet she wore black t-strap stilettos and she had a black studded clutch in her hand.
I thought they both looked stunning, and by the looks on Harry and Liam's faces, they did too. But Cat... My beautiful Cat... She was breath-taking. Her long red hair was back in a simple ponytail, decorated by a white bow. The top of the dress was white, and covered with lace showing her tanned skin across her shoulders. The skirt of the dress was a light pink chiffon that swayed when she walked. She had a gold chain bracelet with a heart charm and dangly earrings that looked like little pink leaves. She had a pink and gold shoulder bag and white high heeled pumps.
"When you guys have finished staring, can we go eat? I'm starving." Jade walked over and entwined her fingers with Liam's while Cat came over and kissed me on the cheek. We all laughed and headed for the restaurant.
*********************************
The waiter showed us to our table and then went to serve someone else. I pulled out Cat's chair for her, and Harry and Liam did the same for Anna and Jade. Louis and Zayn looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. They waited for the rest of us to sit down and then Zayn pulled out Louis' chair for him. Louis batted his eyelashes at Zayn and pretended to fiddle with the skirt of the "dress" he was wearing, just as the girls had done, causing Anna (who was sat next to him) to slap him hard on the top of his head. The waiter came back and took our drinks order.
"Now that, my friend, was why you were the girl, and not me. I have the hair." Zayn said to Louis after the waiter had gone. Louis just pulled tongues at him like a small child. Sometimes I think he's secretly a 5 year old in a teenager's body, like some kind of Freaky Friday situation. The waiter came back with our drinks and scurried off again. Louis stood up and cleared his throat.
"Now that my head and ego have recovered," Zayn and Anna grinned at each other. "I would like to make a toast to Cat and Jade, who have certainly made this holiday more... Interesting, shall we say? Jade came to this country a bitter, mean girl..."
Jade raised her eyebrows. "Watch it Tomlinson..." Louis just winked at her. "But then she met Liam, the hero of this story. He worked his magic and Jade fell hopelessly in love with him, washing all of the bitterness away. Well, most of it." We all laughed, but there were still traces of embarrassment on Jade's face. "Next we have Cat, who when we first met told us her brother bit her foot. She is still just as random, but along the way she met our man Niall, who fell for her hard." Now it was my turn to blush, while everyone else laughed. "There have been ups and downs with both relationships, like when both girls thought the other was after her guy. Being part of that didn't look like much fun, but I can tell you that as a bystander if was hilarious. So after a rollercoaster of a week, I would like to say a huge thank you and goodbye to the girls that have made this holiday even more amazing. To Cat and Jade!"
"To Cat and Jade!" We all chorused. I saw Harry mutter something afterwards and Anna nudged him. I wonder what that's about. We all clapped and Louis took a bow and sat down. It seems like Louis is quite a good speech maker.
"Well I would make a toast, but I don't have any bread." Harry slapped his knee and laughed while the rest of us just stared at him. Then Anna let out a little splutter and was obviously trying to keep a straight face. Even though the joke wasn't funny, I found myself trying not to laugh. I caught her eye, then I looked at Cat, who was the same. Within seconds the whole table was laughing so loudly the other customers were staring at us. Louis slipped off his chair while he was laughing which made us all laugh harder. This is what having friends is all about. You don't need to worry about what you look like even though you're probably bright red with tears rolling down your cheeks with your face scrunched up. You don't have to worry if you look like a pig if you eat too much (although that's never bothered me before). You just have to be yourself and then the rest just falls into place.
******
*Jades POV*
"Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did WAS wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is ... A brain...
An athlete...
A basket case...
A princess...
And a criminal...
Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club."
The Breakfast Club is mine and Cat's favourite film, but none of the others had ever seen it. Cat, Anna and I were all crying and even the guys looked moved. We weren't crying because it's sad. It's because it's all true. The stereotypes stop you from being complete. They focus on one part of your personality and refuse to let the others show. I know this is true because I was Jade West, the scary girl. I was never given the chance to be anyone else. Here I was allowed to change. I've never cried at the film before, but then again I didn't smile that much before either.
I've made a group of friends I never want to leave, and I'm savouring this moment, before we're separated by hundreds of miles of ocean tomorrow. We're all cuddled up in a mess of limbs on mine and Cat's bed, you know like in the movies?
We were all comfortable, not caring what we looked like. I was in my grey 'sorry not sorry' tank top, black shorts and fluffy black socks.
"It was a great film, but crying, really? That's a bit lame." Harry looked at me, Anna and Cat.
My mouth dropped open, Cat gasped in mock offense (although knowing her it's probably real) and Anna said "Harold!" and hit him on the head with her pillow. He hit her back and Louis jumped up and yelled "PILLOW FIGHT!" and then: Chaos. I just sat back, and watched it all unfold.
You know, I thought I liked it when people were scared of me. I guess I did like it, but I wish that all my friends at home would see the other sides of me the way these guys do, not just Cat. I've decided that I like having friends who aren't always scared of me. I think I'll be nicer when I get home.
Liam handed me a pillow. I grinned at him. Or maybe not.