Zayn followed his bodyguards as they carried his bags to his new dorm room,eyes darting across the halls as he took in all the tiny details of the place,just Incase they came in handy someday. This was a skill he had been trained to follow from the time he was a kid.
They found the headmistress waiting for them in his room. "Nice to meet you Zayn." She smiled, holding her hand out to him only to have his bodyguards moving in front of him.
"He doesn't do handshakes ma'am and whatever instructions you have for him will have to be passed through us." Ian,one of the guards told her.
Her smile faltered, intimidated by the two guards in front of her. " It's okay, I left a form on his desk for him to read,it has all the rules he'll be expected to follow, including the punishments if he doesn't follow through." She rushed, wanting to leave the room already.
" We'll look through it." Dave told her firmly, nodding his head to indicate that her work was done.
She quickly left the room, shutting the door behind her. Zayn felt bad for the poor woman,she looked shaken.
" You guys are going to have to leave,you're scaring everyone and did you see how people were looking at me weird in the halls?." Zayn asked them,folding his arms,his foot tapping impatiently on the marble floor.
" Sorry baby, we'll be leaving soon. We just need to inspect the room and everything in here before we go." Ian told him, moving to read through the rules.
" Hurry up then,I want to take a nap."Zayn snapped at them, seemingly irritated by the ordeal. He had wanted his dad to bring him into school and not the guards. He loved Dave and Ian like his own older brothers but he wanted his dad.
"When is my dad coming to see me?" He asked the two men that were making sure there was no threat in the room.
"I don't know,love. Probably as soon as he lands back in England. He didn't say when he leaves America." Dave explained, checking Zayn's new closet and started arranging the boy's clothes and shoes while Ian made Zayn's bed with fresh silk sheets, stripping the bed of the cheap cotton beddings handed by the school.
"I would have liked a roommate." Zayn mumbled sadly, leaning against the bedside drawer.
"You know we can't take the risk,love. We can't trust anyone. Your dad already doesn't like the idea of you being in a boarding school and so do I to be honest but we're all sucking it up for your happiness." Dave explained, pulling the boy into a hug. "You'll be fine. Just make friends and be careful. We love you, Zee."
Zayn sighed, knowing the boredom is going to hit him when the two men leave. " I love you too,the both of you." He told them, leaning his head against Dave's massive chest.
" We're done here, princess." Dave said,moving away.
"We'll be leaving now." Ian told him. "We've already arranged your food and everything,Carla is here to cook your meals." Ian explained, giving Zayn a tight hug, lifting him off his feet.
"I'll miss you kiddo." He said,peppering kisses over the side of Zayn's face while Zayn giggled, trying to move his face out of Ian's way.
"I'll miss you too." Zayn spoke,in between giggles when Ian finally out him down. "And stop overreacting,I know the both of you will be here first thing on the weekend to check on me." He pointed out at the two men who shrugged, knowing it was true.
"Bye princess." They called out, closing the door behind them.
Zayn sank onto the freshly made bed, pulling his white teddy close to his chest as his wide eyes scanned his new home for the next few months.
The room had been painted white as per his instructions, the bed had been swapped out too so that he didn't have to sleep on the ratty boarding school beds. The floor had also been redone and there was an 75" flat screen mounted on the wall.
He dozed off clutching his teddy to him, already missing the comfort of his home. He wanted his parents, forgetting that he was the one who had begged for them to let him come here. He just wanted his mommy to cuddle him while he napped.
He was awoken by tentative knocks on the door.
He rolled off the bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes while his other hand still firmly held onto Snowy the Teddy.
He opened the door, covering his mouth to let out a yawn. "Yes?"
"Dinner is ready Zayn, you have to be at the table ten minutes early but I'll forgive you since it's only your first day." The headmistress told him. " Let's go down so you can join everyone else."
" But my chef is cooking my food." Zayn told her,pouting as his foggy brain still tried to comprehend what she said.
"I know but you still have to come down to the dinning hall, we've already pulled enough favors for you. The students will find it unfair if you get special treatment on everything." She explained.
" 'kay,let's go." He muttered, closing his room to follow her behind.
He pulled his skirt down a bit from where it had risen in his sleep and the socks up, pushing his hair behind his ears as he followed the lady.
"I also wanted to tell you that your uniform will be brought to your room, we finished customizing the skirt for you." She turned, smiling at him.
"Thank you." He beamed excitedly, wanting to try his uniform on already.
She opened the wide doors to the dining room which was filled with loud students sat in groups as they waited for their food. "This is it. You have to be here at a quarter to six both in the morning and evening. Lunch is at Eleven then classes end at Two. Everyone gets to choose an activity they want to participate in for the next hour then you can do whatever you want afterwards. Just make sure you make time for homework." She explained, walking him to a group of students.
" Oh, I forgot to add that lights out is at Ten pm. Failure to comply will have it's consequences." She said, smiling as the group of boys while Zayn nodded, finally feeling the excitement of starting something new.
He had been homeschooled his whole life and had zero friends apart from his bodyguards. Both Dave and Ian were only two years older than him but treated him like a kid. He snapped out of his head when he heard his name being called.
" Zayn? I said this is Harry and Louis. They'll show you around. Harry is a good student, hopefully you can take after him and not Mr Tomlinson over here." She chuckled when Louis gasped, looking offended.
Zayn watched in amusement,the curly haired boy next to Louis was smiling fondly at his friend,his eyes bright green under the lights. Zayn stared at him wanting to get a closer look at the dimples.
"I'm a good student too Ms Reese." He argued, pouting at her to show that he was offended.
"Sure you are Lou." She laughed. "Now,help Zayn get settled."
She left them, leaving a tired Zayn to the scrutinizing eyes of the two boys.
"Hi, I'm Zayn." He smiled brightly, holding out his hand for the boys when he settled in the seat opposite them, forgetting his dad's rule about shaking people's hands.
Louis introduced himself and the boy next to him, refusing to shake Zayn's hand.
Zayn quickly dropped it,his smile fading for a minute before it was replaced. "How long have you two been here?" He asked, folding his arms on the table.
"Since freshman year." The blue eyed boy answered,while Harry just played with his fingers. "We're scholarship students." He said, giving Zayn a tight smile.
"You must be smart." Zayn mumbled, feeling intimidated already.
"You barely look fourteen and you're already in your senior year, you must be pretty smart too." Harry finally spoke,his slow,deep and gravely voice washing over Zayn's ears. He went back to staring at his fingers, almost as if he was shy to speak.
Louis looked stunned when Harry spoke,his eyebrows rising to his hairline,a confused frown on his face.
"I actually turned 16." Zayn corrected. He knew he was tiny but he felt offended when Harry referred to him as a Fourteen year old.
"Haz,I'll get our food." Louis asked, dismissing Zayn.
"Sure. What do you want to eat,Zayn? Lou can get it for you."
Harry wrote on a napkin and handed it to Zayn, blushing when Zayn smiled at him.
"Don't worry about me, my food will be here soon." Zayn told him,just as Carla walked up to the table, putting a platter of food in front of Zayn.
"I made some extra for your new friends too, princess." She informed him when she saw the surprised look on his face at seeing how much she had prepared.
"Thanks, Carla." He smiled at her. Carla had been his chef for five years now. She was only 25 but she treated Zayn like her own. "And don't call me that in school." He blushed, hiding his blushing face in his hands.
She chuckled, kissing the top of his head. "You're welcome,love and I'll try not to call you that,okay?"
Zayn nodded, looking up to give her a wave while the two boys just sat there speechless.
" Why do you have to eat differently?" Louis asked, narrowing his eyes at Zayn. " And why did you bring your nanny?"
" She's my chef. My dad didn't want me eating random food provided by the school and wanted me to have something familiar here. I refused to have my bodyguards with me so he brought Carla, Incase someone tried to poison me." Zayn explained, putting a slice of Pizza on his plate as if what he had just told them was a normal thing for everyone.
"Are your parents celebrities or something?" Louis asked, eyeing the food in front of them.
"Or something." Zayn smiled, biting into the pizza. "Aren't you guys going to eat?" He asked, looking up at the two boys who were looking at him like he had grown two heads.
"What?" He raised his eyebrows,not understanding why they were looking at him like that.
"Nothing." Louis mumbled, making a plate of food for Harry and one for himself.
They ate in silence, Harry and Louis enjoying proper food for the first time in so long. The school food wasn't bad but it got boring after some time but they couldn't complain since it was better than whatever they had eaten at the orphanage.
"Thanks for the food, Zayn." Louis said, speaking for both him and Harry when Harry just gave Zayn a dimpled smile.
"No problem. I'm sure Carla will be making food for all of us from now on." He smiled once more.
"Harry, you don't talk much,do you?" He frowned in Harry's direction.
Harry clutched Louis' hand, a sweat breaking on his forehead at the sudden question. He shrunk back into his seat, his breathing becoming labored.
He waited for Harry to answer but Louis cut in when he saw that Harry wasn't going to speak. "Harry is selectively mute." He explained, pushing the boy's curls out of his face.
"Haz,you're okay. He didn't know ." Louis told the boy, rubbing circles on the back of his hand as he waited for Harry to get his breathing under control.
Zayn made a face of realization, nodding at the boys. "I'm sorry, Harry. Do you guys want to come to my room for a bit? Carla will clear the dishes." He asked,not wanting to go back and be alone.
"Zayn, I hate to be rude to you but Harry and I are better off alone. No one talks to the scholarship kids and you'll soon realize that. Thanks for the meal and everything but I don't want Harry to get attached to you,only to have you leave when you realize that your kind doesn't hang out with people like us." Louis explained, grabbing hold of Harry's large hands as they stood up to go.
"I really want to be friends. I won't leave. You guys seem cool." Zayn looked at them,not wanting them to leave.
Louis laughed." That's what they all say."
He led Harry out of the dining hall,not even glancing back at a crestfallen Zayn.
"They'll come around, baby. You're a sweet child, anyone would want to be friends with you." Carla told him as she gathered the dishes. "If they want to be douchebags then find other people."
"Thanks Carla." He faked a smile, leaving the dinning hall and the stares of the students who had been eyeing him throughout dinner. He felt out of place. Everyone seemed to be partnered with someone and he was all alone.
He suddenly felt the urge to cry when he fell onto his bed. He wanted to go back home and be with Dave and Ian.
He spent the rest of the night curled up in his bed,his cries muffled into the pillow.
***
Story idea by HazzieZaynie
Hope you guys like it xx