Everybody Needs Somebody

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning, Zayn isn't as rested as he would like to be, waking up from a nightmare at 4:00 AM and not going back to sleep after that, but he's more rested than he has been in the past few days. Breakfast seemed to be rushed for everyone except Zayn who simply sipped on his orange/mango smoothie while driving to school. But finally the large group arrive at the school, with minutes to spare, and are running to their homerooms.

Zayn's day goes relatively smooth. In English, he was able to keep Perrie's hands off on him and focus on the lesson with only the occasional side comment to Perrie and the group of friends around him. When PE comes around, Zayn goes to head over to the office to meet with Dr. Samuels when Nick tells him that he can participate in PE today since the counselor called in sick. The boy secretly wishes Dr. Samuels could have called in sick on another day, however, because today they were running the hated timed mile, as well as counting push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups.

The activities were not a problem for Zayn whatsoever. The boy was easily first to finish the mile, and was able to do the most sit-ups, push-ups, and even pull-ups which seemingly shocked himself. 

And finally lunch rolled around. The boy stopped by the canteen to talk to Ant and Danny for a few minutes before walking over to the locker room where the team always eats on game days. As Zayn enters, he situates himself with Josh and Niall who are then joined by Jay and Dan. The boys screw around for a bit, telling jokes or throwing crisps at one another, before Louis enters the room for a quick announcement.

"Big announcement boys! So for the past hour and a half I have been on the phone non-stop with different university recruiters, and I am proud to say that BUCS recruits from Birmingham, Manchester, and Loughborough will be attending our game today," Louis says with a grin and all the boys erupt into cheers. "Wait, wait I'm not finished! Coaches from the Doncaster Rovers, Bradford City, Derby County, and even one from Arsenal will also be in attendance!" And if Zayn thought the room was loud before, then Leonardo DiCaprio must have just won an Oscar because he can barely hear.

"Dad are you being serious?! Arsenal coaches are coming?? That's a premier league!" Liam practically shouts with a smile etched across his face.

"Yes, I'm being serious! Now I don't want this to make you boys nervous. I know you want to impress them, but don't forget to play smart. Remember when one player looks bad we all look bad, so communicate on the field." And that's the last thing Louis says before walking back into this office to talk to Nick about setting up a small conference with some of the coaches coming, possibly.

For the remaining period of lunch the entire team is buzzing. A couple guys are joking about being recruited to play for Arsenal straight out of secondary school, while others are simply hoping to get uni scholarships. Zayn, however, simply just feels excited for everyone else. Being only a year ten he knows it's unlikely for any of the recruits to even know his name, so he just hopes that the older players, mainly Liam, get a chance to show them what they've got.

Lunch soon comes to an end, so everyone packs up their things and leaves, making Zayn to be the only one left. Or so he thought. As the boy was putting away his sketch book, he found himself being pushed up against one of the lockers and yelping in pain when his neck whips backwards. Zayn hesitantly opens his eyes to see who is holding him while releasing a small whimper.

"Listen here, rook. This is an important game for me! I have the chance to being recruited for a premier team and I'm not about to let some year tenner fuck it up! So you have to choose one of three options:

1)You can pretend to be sick cause we all know Louis won't play "his baby" if his tummy hurts.

2)While on the field you play absolute rubbish until Louis benches you.