Thank you guys for 600 reads. ❤️
Earlier That Day
Zayn woke up by the sound of his alarm on his phone in his now fully furnished apartment. He scrunched his face up because of the sunlight that was coming in through the windows. He forgot to shut the blinds the night before. He quickly turned his head away from the windows, and opened his eyes. He instantly reached over for his iPhone for he could turn off the alarm. Once he turned it off, he sat up, slipped into his fury slippers that Louis gave him (he saw how much Zayn liked them so he decided to give them to him), and he got up, heading towards the bathroom.
Over the course of two weeks, Zayn managed to get the rest of his apartment furnished and decorated. He was fairly proud of how it looked, and saw himself staying in the place for a while. Last weekend, he went back to where he used to stay to get his Mercedes from Louis, giving Louis his truck back. Zayn was happy to be back in his baby, because he really didn't fancy driving a truck. Even though he grew up around people that drove mainly trucks, he somehow became the oddball and stuck with vehicles closer to the ground. He also managed to spend time with Louis and Kendall as well, even though the two had to work. He waited for them, of course, wanting to spend as much time with his friends before he went back.
Once his friends got off of work, they immediately went to the coffee shop they usually hung at. Zayn was sad to see that Sheila wasn't there, because he wanted to see her before he left again.
When Zayn left that day, it was another emotional roller coaster. Even though there wasn't a lot of tears sheared, it was still sad to see Zayn leave the play that he has known as home for the past few years.
Zayn would be lying to say he wasn't happy where he is now. He was finally another step closer in pursuing his dreams, and he couldn't be happier.
Today Zayn had a meeting at the school that he was going to be working at. He decided to use the time before hand to explore the city, seeing as he haven't really gotten the chance to do so since he was moving and all.
Zayn spat out the tooth paste, then grabbed the hand towel to wash his face. After he washed his face, he went into his closet to get his outfit. He decided to wear something casual since his meeting was going to be later on in the day. He grabbed his dark favorite pair of dark blue jeans, his dead pool shirt, and his red Nikes. He slipped out of the slippers and put the pants on. After that he put the shirt on, then the shoes. He exited the closet and went to the mirror in his bathroom for his he could style his raven hair. After he did that, he turned the light off and exited the bathroom.
He went over to his bedside table and grabbed his phone off the charger. He then went over to his coat rack and grabbed his favorite leather jacket, seeing as it was going to be a little cold this morning. He threw on the jacket, and then exited his bedroom to walk to the main part of his apartment.
When he entered the main part of his apartment, he was met with the smell coming from his scented wax warmer. He went over to the kitchen counter and grabbed his keys and wallet off of it. He checked the time on his phone and saw that it was 7:40.
Zayn walked out of his apartment and headed towards the elevator. He pressed the button, and after a few minutes of waiting it finally opened. He got inside and pressed the lobby button instead of the garage button, since that was usually where he got off at. The door closed, and Zayn leaned against the rail on the elevator, waiting for it to reach the lobby. Once it finally did, Zayn got out, walking towards the entrance. In the front was the receptonist, and when Zayn pass her they exchanged a greeting with each other. When Zayn walked outside, he was immediately met with the cold air. He found himself shivering, and he snuggled his jacket closer.
It didn't take long for Zayn to reach the main part of the city. The city was littered with tall buildings beside each other, most of them being buildings of successful companies.
Zayn immediately regretted his decision of exploring the city today.
At first it was okay, but as he walked deeper into the city, there were more people walking on the sidewalk. There were so many people that there were people bunched up all together, bumping into people on their way to their destination. It was easy to overlook Zayn since he was shorter than most of the people that were walking the street, so a lot of them bumped into the smaller lad. Zayn always ended up saying excuse me, and almost everybody on the street ignored his apology. There were also the people that glared at the smaller guy for bumping into them, even though most of the time Zayn tried his best to be careful. Zayn found himself cowering under those people glare, feeling uncomfortable. His body temperature rose, even though it was fairly cold outside, and he knew it was his anxiety rising. It also didn't help there were people bumping into him. Zayn sped up his pace, looking for a place he could sit down for a while, until that there were less people around. He knew that he wasn't going to make it back to his apartment without breaking down in front of all of the people, and knowing most of them they'd all just think he was crazy instead of figuring he had an anxiety attack.
While walking, Zayn could see a guy who wasn't paying much attention coming his way. Zayn eyebrows furrowed, wondering if the guy was really paying attention to where he was going, because he was coming straight towards him. Before Zayn had time to react, the guy pace sped up when he looked down at his watch, and he bumped into him. Zayn fell onto the ground, while the other guy stopped, coffee spilling onto his shirt. The other guy groaned, while Zayn just stayed down on the ground, pouting. He guesses the accident was partly his fault too, seeing as he knew the guy wasn't really paying attention to where he was going. He could've moved out of the way faster, and the problem would have been avoided, or maybe, the guy would've bumped into somebody else instead of him.
Zayn tried getting up from the ground, but it was no use, because every time he'd try, he was always knocked back down by the people that were passing and going around the two. This cause Zayn eyebrows to furrow, and his pout to become more prominent. People are so rude here, Zayn thought.
He snapped out of his thoughts once a hand went in front of his face, and he looked up to see that it was the guy that knocked him down. Zayn couldn't really see the guy face because of the hand which was blocking his view, seeing as Zayn was on the ground. Zayn just looked at the hand until it made an impatient gesture. Zayn scolded himself. He knew the guy was just being nice in trying to help him up, and he was just looking at the hand like he was an idiot. Zayn took the hand, and before he knew it he was yanked up by the bigger guy. He dusted his back off, knowing that there was going to be some dust on it seeing as he was just getting up from the ground.
Zayn finished dusting himself off, and he bit his lip. He didn't want to look the guy in the face, because 9/10 there was going to be an angry expression the guy was going to wear, so he settled for acting as if he was still dusting himself off, but he wanted to thank the guy.
"T-thank you for helping me up," Zayn stuttered nervously, now finishing dusting himself. The dusting trick could only go so far, so he settled for looking down at the ground.
"Watch where you're going next time," the guy stated, throwing Zayn off guard. Zayn snapped his head up towards the guy, looking at the guy in bewilderment. He was the one who bumped into me! Zayn thought.
"B-but you're the o-one who bumped into me!" Zayn exclaimed softly, scolding himself for sounding so vulnerable. Even though he knew he probably wasn't going to see the guy again because the city was so big, but he didn't want to come off as weak even though his small frame probably gave it away.
"Moral of the story, watch where you going," the guy deadpanned, storming away from Zayn. He bumped the small lad shoulder, causing Zayn to stumble back a little, bumping into another person, who sent him an icy glare. Zayn ignored the guy, luckily, and turned around to the guy who stormed past him. He could see the guy white dress shirt going into the distance.
"Y-you big jerk!" Zayn tried to insult, but failed miserably. Zayn face palmed himself, giving himself yet another good scolding for sounding like he did. He couldn't help that he gets nervous, even though it was around people he'd probably won't spare a second glance to again in his life.
Zayn turned back around, biting his lip, continuing his journey. He walked the town for a few minutes, and the traffic on the sidewalks seemed to simmer down seeing as it was approaching eight o'clock, the time that most people were working, and he couldn't help but to feel relieved. It made spotting places a lot easier.
It sure did make it easier, because Zayn stopped right in front of a coffee shop that reminded him of the one that he went to back at the town he used to stay at. It was a little bit out of the way from the main part of the city, and it was a fairly good distance away from his apartment. Zayn walked inside of the coffee shop, causing the bell to chime. The coffee shop wasn't all that packed, seeing what time it was, but there was a fair amount of people in the line. Zayn got in the back, trying to decide what he wanted to order. He could only see a bit of the menu, but one thing that stood out the most was the drink that he ordered most when he was at the other coffee shop.
He didn't even realize that he was almost up until the person in front of him turned around with his items. The guy looked Zayn in the eye, catching his attention. Zayn smiled nervously at the guy, causing him to smile back and to wink at him, walking away afterwards. Zayn was a bit shocked for a moment from the guy winking, but snapped out of it when he saw the cashier impatient look. Zayn stepped up to the cashier, who greeted him casually, and ordered the coffee that he wanted, and a piece of strawberry cake. The cashier told him the total, and Zayn pulled out his card and swiped it, putting in his pin code afterwards. Once he did that, the cashier handed him his drink, cake, and receipt, and Zayn thanked him.
Zayn left the line and looked for a seat in the coffee shop. Even though it wasn't necessarily packed, there wasn't a lot of places to sit to begin with. He was happy to see that there was a seat by the window, and he happily went over to it. Zayn always liked looking out of windows, simply because it gave him inspiration and ideas. He liked watch nature, cars pass by, and other variety of things. He took the seat, placing down the cake. Zayn took a sip of his coffee, and he let out a soft moan. It was just as good as the coffee that he had where he used to stay at.
Zayn phone vibrated in his pocket, and he realized that it was a text from the group chat he was in with Kendall and Louis. Occasionally taking sips of his drink and taking bites of his coffee, Zayn texted his two best friends, who were currently messaging him from their jobs. Zayn was so caught up in texting them that he didn't notice the guy from earlier walk to the table. He only knew the guy presence was there once he heard the chair in front of him scrape, causing him to look at the guy. Zayn found himself getting nervous when the guy sat in front of him. The guy sent Zayn a mouth watering smile, which Zayn tried his best to send him one back, but it came out as a nervous one.
"Hi," the guy said to Zayn. The guy had long brown hair, stopping down a few inches after his shoulders, and the most beautiful shade of greenish/blueish eyes. He also had a small stubble over his face. All in all, Zayn found the guy attractive as hell.
"H-hi," Zayn stumbled nervously, feeling a bit self conscious. The guy was way better looking that him, he thought, and the fact that he had the advantage of being taller than him made Zayn feel a little jealous and sad.
"I'm Harry," the guy said, introducing himself.
Zayn looked down and bit his lip and mumbled, "Zayn," into reply to what Harry said. Harry chuckled at the nervous Zayn, finding the guy nervousness cute. Zayn bit his lip and blushed, feeling ten times nervous around the guy especially since he was laughing at him. When the guy stopped laughing he looked Zayn in his eyes, mesmerizing the guy with his orbs.
"No need to be nervous around me, love. I'm a nice guy, calm down," he assured, taking a sip of his drink. Even though the guy told Zayn he had no need to be nervous, all that did was increase his nervousness. All he was wondering at this point was why such a beautiful creature in front of him communicating with him.
"I-I'll try," Zayn mumbled, even though that wasn't the reason why Zayn was nervous. Zayn wasn't used to talking to new people, and the fact that somebody approached him and talked to him caught him off guard. Especially the guy looking as gorgeous as the one in front of him.
For the next few hours, Zayn and Harry sat down in the coffee shop communicating. Harry did most of the talking, seeing as Zayn at the moment didn't really feel comfortable talking in front of guy. Harry understood this, though. He knew he could come off as a straight forward person, which caught most people off guard. The fact that Zayn wasn't saying much wasn't so surprising to him. Zayn did talk for a bit, though. There weren't many people in the coffee shop, which gave Zayn a little boost. He knows that sometime people wasn't to be around peace and quiet for a while, and he didn't want to bother them.
Throughout the hours the two stayed at the coffee shop, Zayn found himself relaxing as he talked to Harry. He found this a little weird, though because he didn't really relax around anybody besides his family and his two best friends. Something about Harry made Zayn feel relaxed. Once Zayn finished his drink, Harry offered to buy him another, which Zayn declined, but Harry insisted. Zayn stubbornly declined though, which Harry smirked at. He got up and went to the line to other coffee, Zayn watching him. A few minutes he came back and handed Zayn the coffee. He told him even though he didn't know what Zayn liked that he would have most definitely like the one that he gave him. Zayn took a sip of the coffee and it most definitely wasn't the one that he usually got, but indeed better. Harry smirked once he saw that Zayn enjoyed the beverage. Harry gave him the name of it in case he wanted to order it sometime in the future.
It was about eleven, three hours later, when Harry decided to leave. He had to go to work.
"I have to go now, Zayn," he said standing up. Zayn eyebrows furrowed a little, disappointed. Even though he didn't communicate much, Zayn was sad to see the guy he just met leave. Harry was a nice guy, and it was fun being around him.
"Alright," Zayn mumbled, biting his lip. Harry grinned, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked it and went into the contact app, then held it out in front of Zayn. Zayn furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at the device, and looked up at Harry curiously. Harry couldn't help the eye roll that came.
"Put your number in, silly," he chuckled. Zayn eyes widened and he blushed in embarrassment, grabbing the device. He typed in his number and handed it back to Harry. Harry smiled at Zayn, and started to walk off. "See you later, Zayn!" He said over his shoulder a bit loud, causing some people eyes to snap their way. Zayn blushed from the attention, and quickly looked down, avoiding the eyes.
"Bye," he mumbled, but Harry was already gone. Zayn sat down at the table for a little while, looking down at it. He heard his phone vibrate, and he looked towards it. It was a message from an unknown number, and he unlocked his phone to look at it.
Hi! It's Harry! The message said. Zayn unconsciously smiled, and saved Harry number. He responded back with a Hi, then locked the device, shoving it in his pocket. He grabbed the coffee that Harry bought him and stood up. He walked towards the exit and opened the door, the bell chiming on his way out. Zayn made his way back towards the main part of his city to get back to his apartment.
-
"Zayn! Calm down buddy!"
Zayn was on FaceTime with Louis and Kendall, who were currently at Kendall's place. He was standing in front of his mirror dressed in a white dress shirt, black pants, and black dress shoes. His hair was slicked back, shining with the product he put in his hair. He also shaved the little stubble off that was growing, giving him a clean appearance.
Zayn couldn't help the nervousness that he was feeling as he was getting ready. He was going to the facility meeting that started at four, finally going to be introduced with the people he was going to be working with. A million thoughts were forming in his head, predominantly thoughts that pertained to his appearance. He didn't want the other workers to think he was some lazy slob just looking for a job. He wanted to look professional.
"Zayn! Hello! You're doing it again!" Louis yelled through the FaceTime call, snapping Zayn out of his thoughts. He could feel the sweat forming on his skin, and he felt like any moment he was going to break down into an anxiety attack.
"S-orry, I-I c-can't help it. I-I'm nervous g-guys, h-help m-me," Zayn whined, running his fingers through his hair, biting his lip. He then noticed what he was doing and scolded himself. He reached over to his dresser for his hair gel, putting some on his hand to fix his hair. He hasn't been this nervous in a while, and a certain craving that he managed to push back over the years were coming back.
"First of all, calm down dude. You're acting like you're going to be preforming at the super bowl or some shit," Kendall said. Zayn shot her a look as if saying not helping, causing her to hold her hands up and raise an eyebrow. "I'm kidding dude, but in all honestly, calm down. You look good, you're nice and sweet, your colleagues are going to fall in love with you."
Zayn sighed and put the product back on his dresser. He grabbed the laptop that was on it and went over to his bed, sitting on it. He looked at the screen with a pout.
"I'm so screwed," he mumbled, but his friends heard him.
"Shut up Zayn!" Louis whined, causing Zayn eyebrows to furrow and for his pout to deepen. "Dude you're good! Like she said you have nothing to worry about! If people find anything wrong with you than they must be living a really fucked up life!"
"Thank you," he mumbled. Zayn doesn't know where he would be right now if it wasn't for his friends, probably suffering a full on anxiety attack. They were calming down his nerves down slowly but surely.
Zayn looked up at the time and his eyes widened. He had fifteen minutes left until the meeting started, and it took ten minutes to get to the school, probably longer since there was going to be a bit of traffic. Zayn felt his anxiety rise again and he threw his laptop on the bed, causing his friends to look at the screen with confusion. He stood up and almost ran his fingers through his hair again before he caught himself.
"I-I have to go. I'll t-talk to you guys later," Zayn said, grabbing his phone off the dresser.
"Bye Zayn!" His friends shouted. Zayn sent them a nervous smile and ended the FaceTime call. He closed his laptop and threw it towards the middle of his bed. He grabbed his bag and threw it around his shoulder, landing on his hip. He exited out of his room and went into the kitchen where his car keys, house keys, phone, and wallet sat. He grabbed those four things and rushed out of his apartment. He went to the elevator, which luckily opened as soon as he pressed the button. He entered the elevator and chose the garage button, and the elevator closed, descending down to the garage.
Once it finally reached the garage, Zayn rushed out of the elevator, going towards his parking spot. He pulled out his car keys and pressed the automatic start button. He could hear the luxurious sound of his Mercedes CLS starting up. Once he finally reached it he pressed the unlock button and got in, taking off his bag and throwing it in the passenger seat. He pressed the push to start button and the car fully came on. He put on his seat belt and backed out of the parking space, then put the car in drive, exiting the garage.
By the time Zayn reached the school, the meeting had already started. He drove into the first opened parking spot that he saw once he entered the parking lot. Once he got in it, he put the vehicle and parked, quickly pressed the button to turn it off, took off his seat belt, grabbed his bag, and hopped out of the vehicle. He threw his bag over his shoulder and quickly entered the two story school.
Zayn walked towards the room that the meeting was being held at according to the message he received a few days ago, which was the where he had the interview for the job. He rushed through the halls of the empty school, and in came the view of the facility room. Zayn pace sped up as he heard the muffle voice of the principal coming from the room. He grabbed the door handle and twisted it, opening the door, and just in time too seeing as what the principal had just said.
"Please join me in welcoming Mr. Malik!"
Applauses littered around the room, and Zayn found himself getting nervous all over again. He closed the door, bit his lip and held his head down, looking at the ground.
"Mrs. Erin, do you mind getting Mr. Malik here a chair?" The principal asked the middle aged secretary. Zayn snapped his head up to the principal, and towards the direction he was looking at.
"I-It's okay, I can stand up," Zayn assured, looking at the woman. She shook her head and smiled at him. She didn't know him for a minute yet but she already liked the young lad.
"It's alright dear, I don't mind," she said, standing up. Before Zayn could disagree anymore, she was already out of the room. Zayn sighed, crossing his arm and looked down at his shoes, avoiding the pairs of eyes that was looking at his nervous self. It was like he could feel all of their eyes on him.
Luckily for Zayn he didn't have to wait long for the secretary to return. She brought the chair in and sat it beside hers. Zayn told her thank you, being the sweet gentleman he is, and took his seat while she did the same beside him.
"So Mr. Malik here is going to be the art teacher starting next week. I've had a chance to personally evaluate his work, as long with more people on the school board, and we're all proud to say that he is going to be a great addition to this school," the teacher bragged, causing Zayn cheeks to glow red and for him to bite his lip, looking down at his lap. He knew everybody eyes were on him, judging him. Every time somebody would brag about what Zayn does, he knew that people in their minds were calling him a show off.
Once the principal moved onto another subject, that when Zayn got the courage to raise his head. He was glad to see that nobody eyes were on him.
Or so he thought.
While surveying the room, he came eye to eye with a vaguely familiar face. The guy eyes were trained onto Zayn's, making him feel uncomfortable under his gaze. Zayn crossed his legs and looked away from the nice shade of brown eyes, now trying his best to focus his attention onto the principal, but he couldn't help but to wonder why the guy looked so darn familiar.
The meeting lasted for about another hour. The principal went over the schedule for the next month, what should be expected of the students and staff, and more. After going over all of these things, the principal decided to wrap up the meeting. Zayn checked the watch he wore, and it was about 5:45. The principal adjourned the meeting, and everybody started to stand up. Zayn got up from his seat, not wanting to stay behind to communicate with everybody else. He was about to walk out of the door until a hand touched his shoulder, causing him to jolt up from the touch. He turned around and his breath was caught when he came face to face with the guy that was staring at him during the meeting.
"U-uh, hi," Zayn spoke nervously, once again feeling uncomfortable until the chocolate eyed beauty gaze. It seemed as if the guy's eyes were staring deeply into his soul.
"Hello Mr. Malik," the guy deep, raspy voice said, sending tingle down Zayn's body. "What's the rush? Don't you want to stay behind and communicate with the others? I'm sure they're curious about you."
"I-I-," Zayn stumbled, "I have things to do. I-I'm sorry," he lied. Truth be told Zayn was just planning on sitting on his couch in his mickey mouse pajamas (courtesy of Louis) and watch Netflix all night.
The guy hummed, and raised an eyebrow at Zayn. Zayn thought the guy somehow knew he was lying, probably because his stuttering gave it away. "Have you seen your classroom?" He asked the nervous Zayn. Zayn shook his head. The guy let out a small smile and asked, "How about I show you it before you go? You should know where you going to be teaching."
Zayn nodded his head. Of course he was going to need to know where he was teaching. He didn't know what he was going to be working with. The guy took his hand off of Zayn's shoulder, and he felt as if a million pounds has been lifted off of his shoulder.
"Follow me," the guy said. . Zayn nodded his head, and the guy opened the door. Zayn followed closely behind the guy to his classroom. They went towards the stair case and up the stairs to the second floor.
On the right side of the hall, the guy stopped in front of a classroom that had 'art' on the door. He opened the already unlocked classroom and went inside, flicking on the lights. Zayn entered the classroom, and he was at awe for a moment.
The room itself consisted of bright walls, which Zayn thought was a great thing, because to him it was always great to work in a comfortable or bright environment. There were tables on the walls, littered with art supplies. There were different variety of canvas, paint, brushes, everything that a person would need. He was proud to see that he already had a lot of stuff to work with.
Zayn snapped out of state once the guy, who he still didn't know the name of, approached him, standing a lot of inches above him.
"So this is the room," the guy said, gesturing around the room.
Zayn gave him a small smile. "T-thank you for showing me," he said. The guy grinned at Zayn, and it wasn't no surprise that Zayn cheeks turned red. "I-I'm going to go now. Thank you once again." The guy raised an eyebrow and nodded his head. Zayn slowly turned around and was about to walk out of the room until a voice stopped him.
"You know, I'm a little disappointed that you don't remember me, Mr. Malik," the guy voice spoke. Zayn stopped and snapped his head towards him. So they have met before, but when?
"U-um, w-what do you mean?" Zayn stumbled nervously. The guy took a step towards Zayn, which made him step back. The guy smirked at the smaller lad, and shoved his hands in his pocket.
"Does big jerk ring a bell?"
-
Chapters are going to start coming out a little slower because we're getting to the main part of the book. Zayn is an art teacher, and honestly my knowledge on art is very low, so me trying to explain stuff while he is teaching gonna sound stupid or take a while to get together.
I don't know if there's going to be another chapter this week, but imma try.
Hope you enjoyed! let me know what you guys think and what i should improve on. Your guys thoughts are always helpful.
Sorry for any mistakes. Tried to rush this out before I go to bed.
Please like a vote and a comment! Follow me if you would like to know when I post future projects! I have a lot in planning for this page and my other page!
Speaking of other pages, if you're into heterosexual books (mainly fanfictions of jb), go give it a look! : bvlletsandtvmblr
I have a book called Arranged With The Wrong Sister I plan on updating later this week.
Until next timeee. 🖤 (black heart cause why not lel)
not edited.