Throw It All Away [Zayn Malik]

Chapter 12: Declining

Zayn

            “Oh crap,” Liam breathes at the dining room table the next morning, looking down at his lap with a nervous frown.

            The rest of us look up at him and Louis, seeing where he’s looking, jokes, “I don’t even want to know.” 

            The rest of us smile; even laugh a bit, but Liam remains pale. The color seems to be quickly draining from his face, and finally, he moves his hands to reveal his phone, vibrating quietly with a call. 

            Squinting, I look across the table and finally am able to see the words on the screen: 

            Lea Williams (Modest!) 

            A clatter sounds to my left, and I see Niall staring openmouthed at the phone as well, his fork dropped to the table without a thought.

            We all know this is bad news. Lea is supposed to be our head of publicity, also supposedly the best at the job in all of Modest!. Being the top boy band in the world, in Modest! they consider us to be at the top of the priority list, and therefore give us the “best” crew.

            The only reason Lea ever calls is if something bad in the public view regarding us has popped up, and she’s not always the nicest about it.

            Slowly, Liam puts his phone down on the table as we all crowd around, Harry and Louis nervously darting out of the kitchen. Liam answers the call and puts it on speaker, before shakily saying, “Hello?”

            “Where is Zayn?” Lea’s voice barks instantly, and I feel my own blood run cold. 

            Glancing at the other boys, who only try to offer encouraging smiles, I slowly say, “Here, Lea.” 

            “Why didn’t you answer your phone?” She demands, and I swear, I can almost see her face twisted in an expression of irritation, probably mentally thinking of ways to kill me. 

            Patting my jean pockets, I realize that I just don’t have my phone. Shit, I must’ve left it in my car, or in my room, of course, right when Lea decides to rag on me for… whatever it is making her so mad.

            “I- I left it in my car,” I stutter out, running a hand anxiously through my hair. “I’m really sorry, I-“ 

            “Get online now, one of you,” Lea is almost growling, and I know that something really bad must be in the press for her to be this angry. “Look up ‘Zayn Malik’ in the news.” 

            Louis is the first to move after a couple seconds of absolute stillness and silence. “Hold on,” he says slowly, his fingers flying across the screen of his phone. Finally, scanning over the screen for a couple more moments, he lays the screen flat down for us to all see.

            ‘Footage of Zayn Malik fighting security of Jane’s Gems! What’s going on with our beloved boy band member?’ 

            The headline in bold letters almost hurts my eyes, as all the blood just about drains from my body. 

            Is this real? How the hell did they get footage of this? How did they even manage to sneak in there with us?

            If you can, so can they, an obnoxious voice mutters in my head, and though it’s right, it doesn’t make me feel any better about the situation.