Chapter Two:
“Nice to meet you Zayn. I see you like tattoos, that’s quite fascinating. I’d get tattoos but I’m not legal yet. My mum would never let me get art on my body at such a young age.” I shook my head, “Harry, you are a bloody idiot.” I sighed and looked back up at the large mirror in my bathroom. I had been trying to figure out how to talk to Zayn all morning. No matter what I said or how I said it I just sounded like I was absolutely mental.
I put on my game face and looked into the mirror once more, “Hey Zayn, sorry about staring at you yesterday. I didn’t mean to offend you I just found your tattoos quite remarkable.” I smiled, “It wasn’t so bad that time. Good job Haz!” I shook my head once more knowing that I had driven myself over the edge about talking to Zayn. It took me hours to fall asleep because I just couldn’t get my mind off of him. I didn’t think that there was any way that he was as bad as Louis had said. If Zayn was really like that then he would’ve cut my throat just for looking at him like that. Not that I was looking at him in a bad way but he probably thought I was judging him. Today was going to be different though. I was going to talk to him and clear up any issues that we might have had the day before.
“Harry! You’re going to be late for school!”
I ran down the stairs with my backpack and saw my mum standing in the kitchen. I sat down at the counter and she handed me some toast. “Thanks mum.” I took a bite out of it and looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. I had 5 minutes until I had to leave for school.
“Sweetie, I have a lot to do today after work and it’s supposed to be quite chilly so I want you to take the car to school. I can’t have you walking home in a blizzard.”
I looked up at her, “What car are you going to take then?”
“I’m taking your father’s car. He’s hanging out with some friends from the office after work so someone is going to pick him up here for work.”
I shrugged, “Alright.”
I finished my last bite of toast and got up. My mum handed me the keys and I gave her a kiss on the cheek before walking out the door. The drive to school was pretty quick. I couldn’t stop thinking about talking to Zayn and before I knew it I was parking the car. I quickly got out and went to my locker and just like every morning my best friends were there.
“I’m telling you Liam, if you want to ask her out then just go for it. She’s not going to say no.”
I looked at Louis, “Where’s Niall? And who does Liam want to ask out?”
He gave me a pouty face and said, “Niall is sick and his mum made him stay home. And Liam over here wants to ask out some girl from another school. I think her name is Winter or something.”
Liam rolled his eyes, “Her name is Summer and she’s wonderful. I met her at the coffee house last night.”
“I think you should ask her out Liam. You could use someone in your life.”
“Thanks Haz. Louis over here is telling me to do it so I can get laid.”
Louis shrugged, “There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting laid.”
“Is that why you’re dating Niall?”
Louis grabbed Liam by the collar of his shirt and said, “Don’t you ever say that. I love Niall.”
Liam put his hands up in defense, “Calm down man. I was just messing around. We all know that you’ve been crushing on Niall for years.”
A big smile came across Louis’ face, “He’s just so perfect.”
As Louis and Liam discussed where the best place to take someone on a first date was I grabbed my books out of my locker and thought more about Zayn.
I wonder what he’s going to wear today. Probably something close to what he wore yesterday, he doesn’t seem like the type to have a very bright wardrobe. He looks so good in black though. Seriously he is just gorgeous. I really hope that I don’t mess up today. I don’t want him to think that I’m a total loser.
“Harold!”
I turned around quickly at the sound of my name and smacked my head on the inside of my locker. I fell to the ground wincing in pain and Liam leaned over me.
“Are you ok mate?”
I held my hand on my head and when I moved it I saw that I was bleeding a little bit. Louis helped me up and said, “Damn. You hit your head hard. That’s gonna be a massive bruise.”
“Maybe you should go to the nurse and have her check it out.”
I nodded and picked up my backpack after shutting my locker. I waved them goodbye and walked down the hall to the bathroom. I wanted to check it out to make sure it was bad enough to have the nurse look at it. I opened the door and standing by the bathroom window was Zayn. He was leaning up against the wall with a cigarette in his mouth and I guess I just stopped moving because he gave me a funny look.
“Are you ok dude?”
I slowly nodded my head and quickly made my way over to the sink. I took my hand off of my injury and flinched when I saw the giant bump on my head. The cut wasn’t too bad but the bump was surely going to get much bigger and it was already quite massive.
“Stupid fucking locker.”
I heard a light chuckle come from the other side of the bathroom and remember that Zayn was also in there. I mentally face palmed myself for not remembering that he was there when I walked in. He sauntered over to the sink next to me and put his cigarette down the drain.
He looked at me for a quick second and said, “You should put some ice on that.” He then walked out of the bathroom before I even had the chance to say anything to him.
I groaned and washed my cut before walking to the nurse’s office for some ice.
Since I was so embarrassed by the whole incident that occurred in the bathroom I decided not to try to talk to Zayn in math class. I could tell that he remembered who I was because he kept trying to look at the bump that I had tried so hard to hide under my hair. If he didn’t see me in the morning then he definitely wouldn’t have known that it was there but since he was he couldn’t stop trying to sneak a peek which made the situation that much more embarrassing. I kept looking at the clock the whole time during class and it felt like it couldn’t move any slower.
Come on you stupid bell! Just ring already!
Just like it had heard my thoughts the bell rang and I let out a sigh of relief. I bolted out of the classroom and made my way over to my locker. Liam was standing there alone which was quite unusual.
“Uh, where’s Louis?”
He chuckled, “He threw up in front of everyone in his Chemistry class. I guess he and Niall were a little too close the other day and they both ended up sick.”
We both laughed and he said, “So you really want to talk to this Zayn guy huh?”
I slowly nodded, “Yea. I know it sounds stupid but I just feel like he needs someone, you know? I don’t think he’s made any friends or anything. Everyone needs friends.”
He put his hand on my shoulder, “Alright then buddy. Do what you have to do and I’ll back you up on it but just stay safe. If he tries to hurt you or anything then back away. Ok?”
I smiled, “Ok. Thanks Li. We should probably get to class.”
We both said our goodbyes but before he could walk away I grabbed his arm and he looked at me, “Yea Haz?”
“Ask that girl out. I know Lou was giving you a hard time about it but I really think you should do this.”
He smiled, “Thanks Hazza. I’m gonna give it a go after school today.”
“Good luck. Tell me how it goes. And don’t forget to charm her with that gorgeous Payne smile.”
He laughed, “Alright, I will.”
“See ya later Li!”
He waved and then headed off in the direction of his class. I watched him turn down a different hallway and I smiled. If anyone deserved a nice relationship it was Liam. I ran down the hall because once again I was going to be late for class and my mum wouldn’t be very happy if I told her that I had gotten a detention for being tardy. And once again I sat through the last hours of school thinking about the gorgeous human being that was Zayn Malik.
I was extremely happy that the school day was finally over and I could return home to my warm bed. I was going to think of more ways to approach Zayn that weren’t so awkward. I was almost home when I passed the park down the street from my house. I looked out my window and saw the dark figure of Zayn sitting under a tree.
“Now’s your chance Harry. Just park the car, walk over to him, and start a conversation.”
I pulled into the nearest parking spot and took a deep breath before getting out of my car. I shoved my hands into my coat pockets and as I got closer to him I began to shake. I didn’t really have a reason to be nervous but my stomach was turning and I couldn’t get myself to stop trembling. I thought that maybe turning back was the best thing to do but when I looked at him I saw that he was looking right back at me. There was no turning back now unless I wanted to make everything even more awkward. When I got about five feet from him I stopped and forgot what I was going to say.
I just stood there staring at him for a few seconds before he broke the silence, “Got something to say Styles or are you just here to stare at me again?”
“I, uh…umm…you shouldn’t be sitting out here. You could catch a cold.”
Wow Harry. Could you get any more ridiculous than that?
He snickered, “I think I can take care of myself.” He took a long drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke into the air. For some reason I had found myself being a little jealous of the cancer stick and apparently he noticed me staring at it. He took out a pack from his pocket and held one out to me, “Want one? You look like you could use one right now.”
Just say no and walk back to your car Harry. It isn’t too late to save yourself from being embarrassed. But then again if you don’t take it he’ll know that you were staring at him instead of his cigarette and then you’ll be embarrassed anyway. You’re screwed.
“Uh, thanks.” I leaned over and grabbed the cigarette out of his hand and put it in my mouth.
He raised his eyebrow, “You got a lighter or what?”
You’re a bloody idiot Harry. Once again you have failed.
“Oh. No I forgot mine at home. Do you mind?” I got closer to him so he could light it and then I realized that I had never smoked in my life. I watched him take another drag and attempted to mimic what he did. I sucked in a huge puff of smoke and started having a coughing fit. I took the cigarette out of my mouth and started hacking like there was no tomorrow.
Zayn shook his head and grabbed a water bottle from his bag. He motioned me to sit down next to him and I did without any hesitation. He handed me the water bottle and I quickly grabbed it from him. It didn’t really help with the coughing but it did get some of the nasty taste out of my mouth. After a few minutes my lungs were fully restored and I had stopped coughing.
He lit another one of his cigarettes and tried to hand it to me. I winced and he laughed, “I knew you weren’t really a smoker.”
I put my head down, “Is it really that obvious?”
“Well before the little coughing fest you just had it was just a guess but after it was just common sense.”
“Sorry I wasted one of your cigarettes. I just didn’t want you to think that I was a total loser.”
He chuckled, “Losing one was definitely worth the laugh. And I didn’t really think you were a loser until now.”
I must have looked disappointed because he slapped me on the back and said, “I’m just kidding. Relax.”
I looked up at him, “Thanks. After this morning I was kinda embarrassed with myself I guess.”
“Well you were pretty fun to watch in the bathroom.”
Before I knew it I was blurting out what was running through my mind, “Why don’t you hang out with anyone? You’re always alone and you don’t really talk to people. You just kinda watch everyone from afar.”
There was a long pause and then he looked at me, “That’s kinda personal. As far as I’m concerned that’s not really any of your business.”
I sighed, “I’m sorry I just want to get to know you. I feel like you need some friends. Everyone needs to have someone in their life.”
He shook his head, “Harry, you don’t want to be my friend. You don’t understand the types of things that I get myself into and I really don’t feel like dragging anyone into my life anyways. You should listen to your little friend and just don’t even say my name. I’m dangerous and the things that I do are nobody’s business but mine.”
“You heard what Louis said?”
“Every word. And it’s wise advice.”
“But Zayn I don’t think that you’re really a bad person. You just need some help.”
He got to his feet and glared at me, “Help? I don’t need any help Styles. If I wanted help then I could damn well get it. What I need is for you to back off. Got it? Good.”
He started to walk away but I quickly got up and followed him, “Zayn I-“
He cut me off, “No! Just go home and leave me alone! I don’t need anyone!”
With that he ran off and even though I wanted to I just didn’t have it in me to chase after him. If he wanted me to go home then I would but I wouldn’t stop trying to get him to open up to me. I didn’t care if he was dangerous. There was something about him that was different and I was going to find out what it was whether he wanted me to or not.