Someone Different [Zayn Malik Romance]

5. Stars

                "Hello everyone, sorry I'm a bit late." To my pleasure, a man that was very much not my father walked in and flashed a smile, scanning the room.

                When his eyes landed on me, he stopped, and my breathing stopped.

                "Ms. Edwards, always a pleasure." He said with a smile, letting me have a breath of relief released as I smiled back.

                "Indeed," I said happily.

                Zayn's hand slid into mine under the table, and I glanced at him with a smile. He grinned back, happiness dancing in his eyes. For some reason it looked foreign; he never looked this happy in pictures or in interviews, but in this moment, he just looked so happy that it made me equally happy.

                But like it was meant to ruin the moment, Perrie's phone started ringing loudly, and I widened my eyes and excused myself out to the hallway. Reluctantly, I left Zayns' side and slid into the hallway carefully, looking around to make sure my dad was nowhere in sight. Luckily, he wasn't, so I answered the phone.

                "Hello?" I answered, as there was no name on the screen: just a number.

                "Hello, my little twin," Perrie said on the other line, and my eyes widened. "What's up?"

                Again, I looked around carefully. "Dodging a disaster and making sure the boys don't compromise us... you know, the usual."

                "Hm, sounds fun." She sighed.

                "Where are you?"

                "On an island," Perrie told me, and I could hear how relaxed she was; and the waves of the ocean in the background. "Sun tanning. I should bring you some time; it really relaxes all your muscles."

                I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, whatever. Anyway, we need to talk. What's your relationship with everyone? Why do they get so weirded out when I'm nice to them?"

                "Maybe because I don't like Zayn's friends..." She said after a thought. "I don't know."

                I let out a loud breath. "Why didn't you tell me that before?! I'm around them all the time! Listen; why are you even doing this? If you're so stressed out from them, why don't you just break up with Zayn and get on with your life?"

                It pained me to say it for some reason. I didn't want to 'break up' with him, even though we weren't even going out. But still, I had to say it, considering curiosity was eating away at my insides. I mean, why did she have to run away to an island for an entire summer just to 'get away', rather than solve the problem upfront?

                "Publicity," She said, as though it was the simplest answer ever.

                And it kind of was.

                But then in the background, I heard a male voice said: "Come on, baby. Let's go back to the hotel."

                My eyes widened, and I started to shake my head and covered my mouth instantly. Perrie mumbled something to him that I couldn't quite hear while I was in the middle of a freak out. She was cheating on Zayn! Her boyfriend!

                "No, no, no!" I whisper-shouted. "You can't cheat on him!"

                "Listen, Lela, I have to go. I'll call you later. Bye!"