Malik For Student Body President {Ziam Student/Teacher}

III

Friday was upon us before I knew it, and I was scrambling to get the newspaper together so it could print over the weekend. It was already seven o'clock and Louis I were still in the journalism room, slaving over the scatter pieces of paper. But of our stomach were grumbling, and I could picture my parents and sisters at home, enjoying a nice home cooked dinner.

"Okay, we have the headline of the week, 'Harry Styles: Your Next Student President?', we have the weather, we have some sports..." I trailed off, licking my fingers and counting the various news stories and literary work to fill the rest of the paper.

"Wait, Zayn," Louis smirked, "You are running for Student President,"

"Uh, yeah," I laughed, "What about it?"

"That means we should interview you,"

"Oh,"

"Yeah," Louis smirked, "Next edition, MALIK FOR STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT,"

"Stop," I muttered.

"Never," He giggled, "Hey look, it's the paper Mr. Payne wrote,"

"Don't read that!" I yelled, grabbing the paper from his hands and holding it close to my chest.

"Why not?" Louis asked, "Gosh, calm down,"

"We aren't putting it in this edition," I breathed, shaking my head, "No way. No way,"

"I thought you said it was good? I mean, you know? You said the whole thing about him being an 'English Teacher' and what not," Louis eyed me warily. I nodded and folded Mr. Payne's submission and slipped it in my pocket.

"It is good," I smiled, "Just...not what I was looking for,"

Louis rolled his eyes and mumbled a quiet, 'whatever you say' under his breath. We sat there for another thirty minutes, finishing with our planning and layout, finally putting the finalized paper in Louis' bag. He told me he would take it to be printed later.

We started packing up, but before we could leave, Mr. Fletcher, the school principal, walked into the room, "Ah, there you are Mr. Malik, I was told that you might be in here," I nodded and flashed him a gentle smile. "Well, since you are running for Student Body President, I came to inform you that the speeches will be given next Wednesday during the assembly. You get about ten minutes to win over the voter's hearts. Alright, well, why don't you boys head home? Enjoy your Friday night,"

Mr. Fletcher patted Louis on the back and then smiled, leaving us alone again.

And then I began to panic. I had terrible stage fright. Public speaking was not my strong point. My hands started shaking.

"I'm dropping out," I breathed.

Louis broke out into laughter, clutching his stomach, "Zayn, c'mon, it's just a little public speaking,"

"No," My voice cracked, "No, you know how freaked out I get when I have to talk in front of people! That's why I run the newspaper, remember? This way I can hide behind the ink,"

"Zayn, calm down. You'll be fine, okay? You are a bloody good writer, and you'll write the best Student Body President speech ever, and then you'll make everyone stand up and give you a standing ovation," Louis said as we finished packing up and locked the journalism room as we left.

"More like I'm going to freeze, vomit, and then never be able to show my face in this school ever again," I muttered. Louis laughed and wrapped his arm around me as we walked out to his car.