No Matter What // Zayn Malik

Chapter 37

Bit of a longer one. :)

CNA YOU BELIEVE THAT ZAYN AND PERRIE ARE ENGAGED?! I JUST STILL CAN'T BELIEVE IT IT JUST HASN'T FULLY WRAPPED AROUND MY HEAD YET LIKE I'M HAPPY FOR THEM AND ALL BUT IT JUST SEEMS SO SOON 

so. yeah. you can share your opinions in the comments if you want. 

or you can read this chapter ;)

Chapter Turdy-Seven

ZAYN'S POV

Worst part of art school was all the naked models and strange people all around. You got the druggies with their dreadlocks and Bob Marley on repeat to give them some inspiration. Then you got the weird guys, trying to be like the next Tim Burton. But the models were definitely the icing on the cake. Some of the models weren't even in the best shape and others were making googly eyes at whoever they could. 

"Cassey is so checking you out." Layla, simply a friend, pointed out to me. Cassey, a fellow naked model we simply had to draw, was in fact staring at me. I didn't like it at all.

"Whatever. Carter's enjoying her far more." I snickered. 

"Guys. This is my best painting yet!" He announced, "studying" the model.

"You are a pig." Layla muttered, which made me laugh.

"He's only had one date in his entire life. Cut him some slack." I whispered back.

"Very good, Zayn." The teacher said as she strolled in between the rows of paints and easels. "Speak with me after class?" 

Miss Rosa nodded towards me as I nodded back. She smiled, pat my shoulder, then moved towards Layla.

"Teacher's pet." Carter teased.

"Slacker." I shot back with a laugh.

"She adores you. Seriously."

"I don't see why." 

"She goes on and on about you. When you weren't here that one time, she was so disappointed."

"Oh really?" 

"Carter, don't get him started." Layla mumbled from beside me. I smiled as I shaded around the figure. I turned to blend and deepen the shade of red I had been using. I made her cheeks pop out a bit and added more depth to her hair. The clock hit the twelve as soon as I signed it as mine.

"How do you do it?" Layla breathed out as she turned to my work.

I shrugged with a small smile and painting on the easel to turn it in. "Feels natural, I guess." 

"You're really good." 

The way Layla stared at me frightened me. She smiled and laughed and acted differently around me. In a flirtatious way almost. It made me feel cold. 

All I saw was Olivia. Did she still see me?

"T-Thanks." I shook off the fact that I saw Olivia's eyes instead of hers. "I'm gonna turn this in . . . now."

Layla blinked. "Oh! Yeah! Go ahead. Sorry." She laughed softly. "If Carter didn't run after that model, feel free to meet us out in a bit to grab a coffee. Or maybe another time?"

I tried to smile. Oliviaoliviaoliviaolivia.

"Sure. You have my number." 

"Cool. See you around then." 

"See ya around." 

I let out a huge sigh when she left nd turned to place my art out to dry. Miss Rosa shut the door behind Layla and turned to greet me. 

"Take a seat, Cheekbones." She smiled, making me roll my eyes. My cheekbones had been something she noticed as soon as I met her. "I just wanted to say what an incredible job you've been doing in the class. You've got a very  . . ." She paused. "Ecclectic style."

"Ecclectic?" The word bounced off my tongue.

"It's different. Wide ranged." She blended some paints together as we spoke. "I like it. You've got something going for you, Cheekbones." 

"Thank you."

"I actually sent your work to a friend. He asked for the price." Her brown eyes sparkled as my eyes widened a bit. "I told hm to name his price. He said about five thousand and was willing to go even higher."

I let out a low whistle. All I could manage to say was a simple "wow".

"And that gave me an idea, Cheekbones." She continued. "I may have submited your work to a couple museums. Some art festivals."

"Oh, wow. Thanks a lot for that." 

"You dn't want to know what happened after that?" Miss Rosa laughed coyly. 

"Well, of course!"

"A museum in Itally absolutely ate up your work. They'll be unveiling it after you graduate and they invited you to the grand opening!" She went on and on as she made little circles with her oil patins. "It's a brand new museum and with you being famous already, it'll be a big hit!"

Miss Rosa was a happy lady. She treated me like any other student, which I appreciated. She understood I was hiding from the press and media and turning abck into the shy boy I sometimes was and pulled out my spray paint.

I thought it was funny that she was an art teacher and rosa was the color pink in Spanish. She did a funny, forced laugh that made the  whole class laugh and that was when she began to call me "Cheekbones". That made me think of Harry, who would always go on and on about them. 

For the most part the boys and I kept in touch. We called and texted each other as much as I could. I developed a special bond with the Devine family though. We were already close - Ben, Josh, and I got along well - but with Olivia being gone, I occasionally surrounded myself with people that reminded me of her. 

I hoped she was doing well. I really did. 

"Zayn, did you hear me?" Miss Rosa's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. 

I blinked. "Oh. Oh. Yes. Sorry." 

"You seem, unimpressed." 

"No, no, not at all. It's just, there's other students who deserve this." I immediately said. 

"I submitted a lot of students work, Zayn." She said. "They picked yours." 

This was it. My dream. It was coming true.

All those times when I was younger and simply drew pictures for my mum as a kid, was beginning to make sense. It probably all led up to this. 

"Itally, eh?" I smiled.

"Birthplace of the Renaissance."

Renaissance meant "rebirth".

"Rebirth" was just what I needed.