Prologue
Hi. My name is Jessica Beckham, but you can call me Jess. I'm seventeen years old, have your average blue-eyes-blonde hair. I'm extremely lucky to have naturally pin-straight hair that falls to about my waist.
My best friend is Graciela Hughes. I call her Grace, sometimes Gracie, sometimes Gray. She's also seventeen. She's three weeks older than me. Her hair is a really pretty auburn, and it's wavy. It's a bit shorter than mine, but it's still very long and her eyes are a really pretty blue. I absolutely love her.
We grew up in the Big Apple. It's a nice place, admittedly. But after a while, it gets boring. Growing up in rich-kid Manhattan means I grew up with nice privileges. Grace and I attended a nice private school growing up, a school that let us skip second and third grades. This year, we had plans to study abroad. We were enrolled in Columbia University already: she for music, I for psychiatry. But this year, we were going to London.
Chapter 1 (Jess' POV)
"Jess! Hurry up, sweetheart," my mom called from down the hall.
"Okay, Mom! I'll be there in a sec," I replied. I hastily scanned my room for any left out belongings, snatching my phone and it's charger off of the counter and shoving them into my purse.
"JESSICA NATALIE BECKHAM! Your father and Daniel have got the car waiting!" my mother screamed down the hallway.
"I'M COMING!" I screamed back.
I wheeled the two large suitcases towards the front hall. Slinging my knapsack over my shoulders and grabbing my purse, I pecked my mother on the cheek and flew out the door to the awaiting car downstairs. After we loaded everything into the car, my father and Grace's father, Daniel, drove to JFK. Grace and I took a cab with our mothers.
They walked with me until they weren't allowed to go any further. My mother began to tear up.
"Oh, no, Mommy! Mommy, please don't cry! I'm not leaving for good, it'll only be one year! I'll tell Ethan to set up a Skype for you so we can video chat! And I'll call you and text you everyday! I promise!" (Ethan was our neighbor and my best guy friend; he lived in the flat next to us.)
Next to me, Grace was telling her mother the same thing.
Suddenly the announcement for our flight was sounding, and Grace and I rushed off.
"Oh, Grace," I pouted, "we're not together!"
"We'll just ask if we can switch with someone, then," she responded.
I walked onto the plane, scanning the rows for 3A, an aisle seat. Grace was 3D, a window seat across the plane. Grace had the same bags as me - a knapsack and a purse. She tucked the knapsack into the compartment above our heads, and dropped her purse by her feet. I, on the other hand, found a very handsome boy already in my seat. He had slightly curly, very tousled brown hair and warm brown eyes. He was in a deep discussion with the most gorgeous boy I have ever seen. Even in the dim lighting of the airplane, I could see defined cheekbones and a jaw line, tan skin, mysterious brown eyes, and dark dark hair. They had the most beautiful accents. I didn't want to interrupt their conversation, but I had to.
"Um, excuse me," I winced, hearing my voice come out completely awkward.
They both whipped around to look at me, as if surprised I was there. They looked... scared, almost.
"Sorry to bother you, but um - this is my seat," I said to the messy-haired boy. He looked horrified.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I really didn't know," he apologized profusely.
"No, no, it's - it's alright... I didn't expect you to know..." I trailed off as I glanced away from him and into the eyes of the other boy.
"Well, I'm-I'm Liam Payne, and this is Zayn Malik," introduced Liam.
"Hi Liam, hi Zayn. My name is Jessica Beckham, you can call me Jess," I shook each of their hands.
"Beckham... Like James Beckham?" asked Zayn.
"Yeah... That's my father. Do you know him?"
He opened his mouth to respond, but then Liam 'accidentally' elbowed him.
"No, just the name sounds extremely familiar," he covered up.
"It's not exactly a common name together, but James is a common name, and Beckham is rather well-known," I smiled, pretending I didn't notice the exchange between the two boys.
"Are you traveling by yourself?"
"No, I'm here with my best friend Grace," I replied.
The plane had taken off. I was sitting next to Zayn -we'd flip-flopped so I was in the window seat and he was in the aisle- and across the aisle were a blonde-headed boy Zayn introduced as Niall Horan (he was Irish), and Grace.
The boys were all part of the same boy band, apparently, and they had just finished their tour in America and were heading back to their home. There were five of them: Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. Niall had these shocking blue eyes that were practically a mirror image of Graciela's, and in my personal opinion, I thought they would make the most adorable couple. Harry had these curls that I was jealous of, and striking green eyes. Louis had the enthusiasm of a five-year-old that just ate candy. I found it endearing. I couldn't help, though, but find myself most attracted to Zayn.
For the next three hours of the seven hour flight, we conversed. But when the cabin lights shut off, we lowered to a whisper and eventually they all fell asleep. Harry and Louis were leaning against each other, Liam had his head up against a window, and Grace had rested her head on Niall's shoulder, and his head was on hers. All five of them were adorable sleeping. Even Zayn had passed out, his head on my lap. It was extremely attractive and I had to try very hard not to run my hands through his hair. About five hours into the trip, I needed to pee.
I tried extremely hard to not wake Zayn up as I moved out of the seat. As I stood waiting for the bathroom, Liam came out of it. He smiled at me.
"How are you?" he asked.
"I'm fine," I replied, "and you?"
"Oh, you know. Tired. Grumpy," he chuckled quietly and I giggled along with him.
"Yeah, I know that feeling," I sympathized. He probably hadn't gotten much sleep while on tour - the others called him Daddy. He wasn't the oldest, but he was the most mature, and they looked to him for guidance.
We talked for a bit, and I learned he only had one kidney. The other was taken out when he was only two. Then I blushed, realizing I had to pee really bad, and if I didn't, I might pee my pants. He smirked.
"I think Zayn really likes you," he murmured in my ear before sauntering back to his seat.
I was sure that I was blushing so hard I put tomatoes to shame when I walked into the bathroom.
When I finally did calm down enough to return to my seat, Zayn sat there, awake, but still groggy.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked me, speech still a little slurred, voice scratchy from just waking up.
I blushed again.
"Well, you looked so peaceful... I- I guess I didn't want to disturb you," I stuttered.
He smiled at me, eyes still hazy with sleep. It was adorable. He was adorable.
I could feel myself falling head over heels for this guy I had known for five hours. Dear God, please help.
Chapter 2 (Jess' POV)
"Ladies and gentlemen! We are preparing for touchdown in Heathrow Airport, London. The current time at the destination is 15:34, and the outside weather is 25° Celsius (roughly 75° Fahrenheit). Please do not unbuckle your seatbelts until the signal is turned off. Thank you for flying with Continental Airlines, and we hope you have an enjoyable stay!"
I reached up to the compartments above our heads to grab my knapsack. Zayn slid his hand away from my purse just as I looked. Suspicious, but not too suspicious, I ignored it. Grace and Niall were chatting a mile a minute, and I was happy to see them hitting it off. It looked like they were exchanging numbers, and my smile widened.
Right before the boys and I parted ways, we had a little good-bye ceremony. Zayn kissed me on the cheek, Liam hugged me and kissed the top of my head, and the rest of the boys just hugged me. They repeated this for Grace, and as we were walking away, I heard Niall shout, "keep in touch!". I giggled, and Grace shot me a dirty look.
"You go, girl," I giggled again, and she merely sighed.
The first place we went was the dorm room. It was roomy and spacious: more so than my room back in New York. We unpacked right away, resolving that since the two of us were the same size, we wouldn't have two separate closets, but one. I yanked my purse towards me from it's place on my still-unsheeted bed, and a slip of paper fluttered out. It was a small yellow post-it note with a phone number and the words, 'text me. zayn xx' on it. I blushed (for the billionth time that day) and showed it to Grace.
"Looks like we've got our tour guides, doll," she laughed.
I texted my mother to tell her we had safely reached London and now were just searching for something to eat. She immediately responded, saying she missed me already. Then I texted Zayn.
hi zayn, it's jess beckham from the plane
He texted back almost immediately.
hey jess, i see you got my note! xx
I smiled, before typing a response.
yup, and i followed your directions
His response was quick.
you wanna come see london with me tomorrow? xx
I waved my phone at Grace, squeaking loudly.
"Grace, oh my gosh, Grace! What do I do?!" She gave me a look that told me I was being stupid.
"Obviously, you brainless child, you say yes!"
"But it's almost like he's asking me out!"
"So? Isn't that good?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"No buts. Now text him or I'll text him for you!"
I tightened my grip on my phone.
"Fine, fine, I'll text him," I grumbled, already starting to type.
i'd love to :) where should we meet?
He must have been staring at his phone, for it took less than a minute for him to reply.
how about i pick you up somewhere? do you know where milkshake city is? xx
I paused, googling up the address. To my relief, it showed that Milkshake City was within walking distance of my dorm room.
yeah, do you want to meet there? what time?
how about 10? xx
that sounds great! guess i'll see you tomorrow then!
yup, see you tomorrow! xx
I put down my phone.
"Oh my gosh, Gracie, what do I wear? Should I dress up? I mean, it's not really a date, we're just going sightseeing, I don't want him to think I think this is a date, you know what I mean? But I don't want to be too lazy and just look like I rolled out of bed, either! What should I wear, Gracie?!" I panicked.
Grace stood there, looking at me like I was insane.
"Sweetheart, he's infatuated with you. After seven hours with on a plane. I don't think he cares what you wear. But if it matters that much to you, tomorrow I'll help. Until then... Can we grab some dinner?”
"Sure," I responded.
We linked arms and headed out of the dorm, in search of some good food.