Tales of the Hearts

Ĕ̈Ĭ̈Ğ̈H̆̈T̆̈✨

"I'm never going to get this." Liam groaned.

"Yes you will, you just need to be patient." Zayn responded. Liam groaned again and leaned back in his chair. We were in Liam's basement, he was sitting across from me working on a review worksheet l'd given him.

"I'm going to fail the test! Then coach is going to kick me off the team, scouts will never see me play and I'm never going to college and I'll never play football again!" Liam exclaimed, laying his head on the table as he ranted. Zayn tried to hold his laughter back at Liam's ridiculousness but it didn't go unnoticed. Liam looked up at Zayn and narrowed his eyes. "Are you laughing at my pain?" he groaned.

"You mean Payne?" Zayn teased.

Liam blinked at Zayn.

"Funny Malik" Liam huffed and crossed his hands on his chest.

"You're not going to fail, come on. This is the first question you've gotten wrong so far. And we did this material a while ago, so it's understandable if you're struggling to remember it" Zayn rationalized.

Liam groaned again and flopped back in his chair. "It's only the fourth question on the worksheet." he mumbled.

"Yeah, but you've gotten three right. That's what matters." Zayn said, offering him a small smile.

"I need a break." Liam suddenly exclaimed. Zayn raised his eyebrow at him.

"What do you want to do?" Zayn asked.

"Ice cream!" Liam suddenly exclaimed.

"Where do you want to go for this ice cream?" Zayn
asked.

"ICS?" he asked, already preparing to stand up. Ice Cream Shuffle is a popular ice cream place in town, and the best place to get ice cream in the state if you talk to anyone from around here.

"Alright, fine." Zayn said, rolling his eyes. Liam jumped up and they headed upstairs.

"Hi boys! How's the studying going?" Mrs. Smith asked.

"Taking a break. We're going to Shuffle." Liam said
as they both put on their shoes on.

"Alright. Drive safe!" she called after them.

"We will. We'll be back soon." Zayn replied. Mrs. Smith smiled at Zayn in response as Liam and Zayn headed to the garage. They pulled up to the neon-sign covered ice cream shop, already bustling with people getting ice cream as an end of week celebration.

"Damn. It's busy." Liam said and turned to Zayn with a pout.

Zayn chuckled.

"We can take it to go. Go to the Hollows." Zayn then suggested, gesturing to Hollows Park right next to ICS.

Liam nodded as he turned the car off and we headed for the shop. The door dinged as we walked in, the packed store full of chatter and the smell of waffle cones wafting through the air.

They stood in line, both looking at the menu until it was their turn.

"Double chocolate in a waffle cone, please." Zayn told the man behind the counter. He started scooping the ice cream when Zayn felt an arm nudge him.

"I'm paying for yours." Liam said. Zayn shook his head.

"You don't have to. I have money" Zayn said. Liam
smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, I got it. It's a thank you for spending your Friday night helping me." he replied. Zayn smiled back at him.

"It's not like I had any other plans. But if you really want to I guess that's fine." Zayn said. Liam nodded
triumphantly as the man behind the counter handed me my cone and took Liam's order. Liam paid as Zayn grabbed napkins and headed for the door.