"Land!" I climb over Louis and fall on the ground, hugging it.

"Don't you think you are being a little dramatic?" Harry smirks, forming a circle around me with the other lads.

"Yeah, Carter. It wasn't that bad." Jordan Gabriel agrees.

I roll over on my back. "That's because you are a guy." I shield my eyes from the sun with my hand. "You are all guys. I was the only girl in that van!"

"Most girls would love to be in a van full of guys." Alex chuckles, smiling down at me.

I cross my arms. "They would regret it after five minutes."

"What are you doing on the ground?" Mary marches over to us. Harry and Alex move over to make room for her. "What did you lads do to her?" Mary glares at each of them.

I love Mary. She is like the mother of the X Factor house. Everyone listens to her, too. You know you are in trouble when she crosses her arms. Mary knows that most of the lads in the house like to pick on me. So, considering that I'm lying on the concrete she will turn into protective mother mode.

"What did they do?" Mary asks me.

"They made the car ride absolutely terrible!" I exclaim. "Harry kept making perverted jokes. Louis wouldn't stop poking my cheek. Jordan was singing terribly off key to the radio. Alex, Ryan, Liam, and Zayn were laughing the entire time. Niall was chewing extremely loudly and farting. Matt refused to put the windows down because he thought it was bloody hilarious! I thought I was gonna die!"

Louis reaches for my hand and pulls me up off of the ground. The lads avoid eye contact with Mary as she crosses her arms. I stand next to Mary, smirking at the guys. This is going to be good.

"Boys, I want you to apologize to Carter." Mary points to me.

They all mumble their apologies still avoiding eye contact. I nod my head and smile at Mary. Gotta love Momma Byrne.

"Okay. Carter, go ahead and head into the studio while I talk to the boys." Mary motions for me to go inside.

"Thank you Mary!" I walk backwards.

Once Mary turns back to the guys, I put my hand up to my head and shape it like a 'L'. Harry glares at me. Mary starts to lecture them about how they should act more mature. I laugh to myself as I walk into Teddington Studios. Today, we are supposed to be taking group pictures and separate pictures. I've never been to a photo shoot before and I'm kind of excited.

"Are you Carter Shay?" A young woman rushes up to me with a clipboard in her hands.

"Uh? Yes." I answer.

"You need to get hair and make up done!" She wraps her fingers around my wrist and drags me down a long hallway.

I jog down the hallway right behind her. I'm not sure how she hasn't tripped yet. She is wearing four inch heels. I would have fallen flat on my face. That is why I am always wearing sneakers. It is almost impossible to trip in them unless the laces come undone, but that's not the point.

"In you go!" She stops in front of a brown door and pushes me in.

I stumble in the room to see all the girls getting their hair and make up done. Cher has an empty chair next to her and I walk over to it. I plop in the seat.

"Where were you?" Cher asks me, lifting her head up for her stylist.

"With Mary and the guys." I laugh.

"There you are." A girl rushes over to me. "You are after Belle Amie who is about to go out. My name is Amanda, but call me Mandy."

"I'm Carter." I introduce myself.

Mandy starts running her fingers through my hair. "Oh, I know who you are. Do you mind if I make your hair wavy?"

"Go for it." I smile at her through the mirror.

"Belle Amie, you are up." A worker opens the door.

Rebecca, Esther, Geneva, and Sophia jump out of their seats and follow the worker. I watch them leave as Mandy works on my hair. She ends up curling my hair slightly giving it a nice wave. Mandy gave me some natural looking make up. I even had an outfit picked out for me.

My outfit consists of vintage floral print skinny jeans that have light pink flowers with mint green leaves. My shirt is a plain white v-neck that fits me perfectly. I love everything about this outfit except for the shoes. On the table waiting for me to put them on is a pair of matching green heels. Everyone knows that I don't wear heels. I'm not trying to be a diva or anything. I just don't wear heels unless they want to take me to the hospital for a broken ankle.

"She won't wear them." Cher points to the heels in front of me.

"Why not?" Mandy asks her, picking up the heels.

Cher crosses her legs in the chair. "Carter can't walk in heels. She only wears sneakers. It's like her signature look."

"I'll be right back. Go ahead and head to the studio." Mandy tells me.

I leave the room and walk down another long hallway. The cold tile floor is making me walk faster and faster. It feels like they freeze the floors. At the end of the hallway is a large room. Cameras and lights are pointing to a massive white wall with white blocks. Belle Amie are standing together in front of the wall posing.

"Carter, where are your shoes?" A familiar voice comes from behind me.

I whirl around to see Niall. "They tried to make me wear heels. I refused and now they went to find me a new pair of shoes."

"So, you walk around barefoot?" Niall questions.

I run a hand through my wavy hair. "Not a good idea. These floors are really cold and probably dirty."

Niall turns his back to me and crouch down some. "Hop on."

"Are you sure?" I set my hands on his shoulders.

"Yes." Niall nods.

I jump and wrap my arms around his neck. Niall grabs my legs to keep me up. I rest my head next to his as he walks back to the other lads. Harry and Louis are laughing at something Matt said. Liam, Zayn, and Aiden are watching Belle Amie take their photos.

Aiden glances over in our direction. "Louis, looks like someone is trying to steal your best friend."

Louis stops talking and looks away from Harry. "Nobody can steal Carter away from me."

"Where are your shoes?" Liam points at my feet.

I open my mouth to answer, but Mandy comes running up to us. "Here. Are these okay?" She holds out a pair of white converse.

"Thank you so much!" I grab them from her hand. "Can you set me down?" I ask Niall.

"Here is a pair of socks." Mandy hands them to me. "Once you put them on you are up."

Niall sets me down next to Harry and Louis. I pull the socks on quickly. I tie my converse up with the help of Harry trying to mess me up. After five minutes of struggling, I get them tied and tuck the laces in the side. Mandy leads me over to where the photographer is setting his camera down. The girls from Belle Amie walks over to the sitting area with the guys.

"Alright, Carter. I want you to do simple poses. After a few shots, we will get Rebecca and Cher to do a few shots with you." The photographer, Michael, picks his camera back up.

"Okay." I walk in front of the wall.

I have no idea what to do. I have never modeled before. I stand in front of the camera unsure of what to do. I think of the poses that Belle Amie were doing when they were up here. I mimic some of their poses and add a few of mine.

After ten minutes, Michael calls Rebecca and Cher to join me. We do a few serious poses where we are standing in a small line and staring at the camera. Then we do some poses where we have huge smiles on our faces. I had a lot of fun with them.

"Okay!" Michael claps his hands. "I need all of the contestants."

I move out of my pose and wait for everyone to join us. Does he really expect to get everyone in the same pose? There are so many of us. Louis and Niall join me in the middle. Michael manages to get us to do a few serious poses. Louis made it impossible for me to keep a straight face. When the camera wasn't flashing, he would pull a funny face and I couldn't control my laughter.

Michael lowers his camera. "We are going to do one funny picture. You have ten seconds to pick a pose."

Everyone scrambles around to do a crazy pose. Harry gets on my left side while Louis is on my right side. Before I can even pose, they both kiss my cheek. I gasp just as the camera flashes. Harry pulls away first. Louis backs away after a few seconds.

"You should have seen your face!" Aiden laughs at me.

"I didn't even get a chance to pose." I pout.

"You didn't have to." Liam says. "Your face was perfect for the picture."

"Are you saying I looked like an idiot?" I turn to look at him.

Before Liam can answer my question, Mandy strolls over to me. "You are needed for an interview. One Direction, you have your pictures to do."

I start to walk away with Mandy. "We'll finish this later." I giggle.

••••••

Author's Note:

What did you think? I want to know your opinion! So tell me! Please?!

Question!

Summer or winter?

I prefer winter because I love the cold.