Selena's P.O.V
"Come on then," Niall said as I looked down at him "Take a seat. Why are you standing anyways?," he asks as I shyly smile back at him.
"No reason," I say and take a seat on my chair as Harry chuckles
"Where are you from?," Liam asks as Zayn looks at my direction, expecting an answer
"I was born here in Malaysia," I say as they go wide eyed "What?,"
"You don't look like it," Louis says
"Oh really?," I giggle "I get that a lot. You see, My great grand parents were Americans and they lived here. My great grand father was involved in the British army and served in the British occupation. Soon after the country got it's independence, they left. Then, my mum came here from America and my dad came from Britain. They fell in love, got married and poof! I was born!," I explain as they laugh. I managed to catch Zayn looking at me and blushed as he did not take his eyes off me.
"So, you studied here. In Malaysia?," Niall asked as he put his elbow on the table and placed his head in his hands.
"Yeah," I smile "I did,"
"so, you can speak the national language?,"
"You mean Bahasa Malaysia? Of course," I smiled.
"Then say something," Harry urged
I laughed at his statement "Like what?," I asked
"Anything at all," Louis said as I smiled "We just want to hear how it sounds like,"
"Okay," I say as I turned to look at a certain someone. His caramel brown eyes were glued to my brown ones as I took in a deep breath. His pink lips were curved up into a smile as he took in his steady breaths. "Awak suka saya tak?," I asked in a fast speed as he looked at me with pure confusion. His expression was sooner shifted to amusment as he laughed.
"That was amazing," Zayn said as he smiled, showing off his pearl white teeth as he scratched the back of his neck, sitting up straight and pushing his chair closer towards the table "What does that mean?,"
I smile shyly "I means urmm," I start panicking as I look around the room. I really didn't think this through. I should have said something else but I had to say that "I means How are you!," I lie as I let out a weird laugh before scanning their facial expressions.
"How do you pronounce it?," Zayn asked me as I looked back at his face. He smiled widely, excited to learn something new. My eyes were once again glued onto his face as I realize his smile could light up the room if it were dark. It was the most brightest smile I've ever seen and I was so aroused in it.
"You-uh," I regain my memory as I look back and forth from Harry and Zayn "You have to pronounce it like this. Aw-ak su-ka sa-ya ta-k," I teach them as they all follow me.
"Awak suka saya tak?," Niall asks Zayn with a little chuckle as he smiles back at Niall
"I'm fine," he says as I snicker lightly. If only they knew. He then turned his face and fixed his gaze with mine "Awak suka saya tak?," he asks me as my breath hitched. I looked at him wide eyed as he smiled widely at me "What?," he asks "did I say it wrong?," he asks with his thick accent.
"Uhh. Nope," I smiled as I blushed "you said it just right," I said
"Then come on now," Zayn rushed "Awak suka saya tak?,"
I smiled as he looked at me with his cute, wide, caramel brown eyes. He practically looked like a 5 year old waiting to open his Christmas presents "Suka," I say as he looks at me with confusion. I chuckle lightly "Suka means I'm fine," I lie again as he nods before he tries saying it himself
"Alright class!," Professor Syed says, catching our attention as we looked at him "I will be giving out paper for all of you. It will be your first assignment together and it is obviously a group presentation and I expect all of you to show some team effort," he says as he starts handing out the papers to all the students "If even one of you do not involve in the presentation, your marks will be deducted. Do I make myself clear?," he asks as everyone nods and I get my paper handed to me.
I look down at the thin sheet of A4 paper and gasp as I read he tittle of our presentation. "How to handle misunderstandings in communication," it read. I lift my head up and look at my team members as they share the same expression as mine. Except a certain familiar face who was smiling as he read the tittle of our presentation. He immediately pulled out a pencil from his pencil box and started scribbling on his paper. I looked at him in complete awe as he scrunched up his eyebrows while he concentrated on his paper. He licked his pink lips as he pulled his pencil moved from right to left as he spilled his thoughts in the form of words.
"He is writing already?," Harry asked in shock as he scanned Zayn's movements. I looked down at the piece of paper and back to Zayn as my expression turned from confusion to adoration. I observed his every move as he kept running his pencil all over the white paper. His creamy brown eyes roamed all over the wordings that were printed on the face of the paper.
"Zayn," I call out as he lifts his head from the paper and his shining brown eyes catch ahold of mine "Can you give us a hand?," I ask as he smiled at me.
Zayn looked at the other boys as they looked back at him with a hopeless face. Zayn chuckles at the boys before his eyes land on mine. My breath hitched once again as he gave me a spine shivering look. If looks could burn, I would be ashes by now. His gaze could have impaled my body as i looked back down at my paper and back to him. His pink then formed into a curve as he smiled lightly at me.
"I think I can give you a hand," he smiles and looks at the boys "Guys, I think you guys can ask siri or google for help. I think I'll be busy," he says as he looks back at me making my cheeks heat up at his boyish gesture.
"What The Heck!," Louis says in disbelief "You help the girl and not us?!," he asks as he pulled out his phone.
Zayn laughed "Didn't you heard of the line," he says as his eyes land on me "Ladies first,"
My whole world had froze as I looked at him. His boyish grin plastered on his face as he showcased his stack perfectly flossed teeth. He looked back at the boys and gave them a wink before getting up and pulling his chair to place it next to mine. He then smiles at the boys who looked at him with confusion as he sat down next to me before ignoring the presesnce of the boys.
"Alright then," he takes a pen out of my pencil box as he gave me a toothy smile "Shall we begin?," he asked as my heart fell right down to my stomach.
-
"Alright!," we hear Professor Syed announce "I think it's time for us to present!," he says as he clapped his hands.
He takes out a thin sheet of paper which had our groups written on it. He blindly places his finger on the paper and calls out Anastasia's group to preset their topic first. I sat back into my chair as I observed their presentation. I noticed that the girls were shivering as they spoke, probably nervous as they were forced to talk infront of a crowd. As they finished their presentation and uttered their conclusion, Professor SYed gave his comments and they were asked to get back to their seats. He took the thin piece of p[aper back into his hands as he blindly called out another group.
"Selena Gomez," he called out my name as I gasped before looking at Zayn.
I carefully get up with my paper in my hand as the boys follow my actions.I took a quick glance at Zayn as he looked back at me. He gave me a reassuring smile as he came closer towards me before we started walking towards Professor Syed's Desk.
"I'm nervous," I tell him as he smiled at me
"Don't worry," he says "You'll do great. I know you can do it. Besides, you are a brave girl aren't you!," he reassures me "I am positive you will nail this," he encourages me "I know you will do this and all you need to do is believe in yourself because I believe in you and I'm really sure you will finish this without any problem," he tells me as I smile at him .
"thank you Zayn," I say as we reach Professor Syed's table.
"Go on," Professor Syed urged "Don't be shy," he says as I take a slight look at Zayn who showed me a thumbs up. I smiled widely at him as I turned to face the crowd infront of me.
"Hello guys, My name is Selena and these are my group members," I introduce the boys while I pointed out their names " Today we will be presenting the ways to handle misunderstandings in Communication," I say as I take a deep breath before looking back at Zayn who had a wide smil, his Caramel brown eyes glued on me as he whispered a 'You can do it' before looking back at the crowd "Misunderstandings ruin relationships. Whether its a marriage, a business partnership, or your neighbour, a misunderstanding can cause a lot of damage.," I smile as I continue " To overcome these Communication Misunderstandings we have to Ask for permission to discuss about the situation. This might sound really basic. But its not. In fact, if you ask for permission, you then have a willing participant, and you've acknowledged their choice to not talk about it then and there. You are now both engaged in the conversation. Secondly, Ask questions and really listen to the answers. Acknowledge the person and their reality, even if it's different to yours. If you go into a conversation wanting to be right, or to prove that you are right and they are wrong, you're in trouble before even you start. Thirdly, Find the source of the misunderstanding and correct it. By asking questions, you'll find the exact source of the misunderstanding. It could be a word, a sentence, or even just a bit of body language that was used. You'll know when you find it because all of a sudden, there will be an observable change. The room might feel lighter, or the other person all of a sudden lightens up, or breathes a sigh. There are lots of positive indicators that an happen. Furthermore, Check that understanding has been reached and the emotions dealt with.When a misunderstanding occurs, there is often emotion involved. The severity of the emotion will be dependant upon the topic, and who is involved. If you get the lightening up of the situation as described above, it will then help to confirm that understanding has been reached. Ask questions and confirm that you both have the same understanding. It pays not to rush this. Observe whether or not there are any emotions still hanging around. If there are, ask more questions about this. Lastly, Confirm that this understanding is now in place and move forward. This seems like a simple step, or like a repeat of my previous point. Bu it's not. It's about confirming and acknowledging together that we both agree on our understanding, and we're ready to move forward," I say "And with that, I conclude my discussion" I smile at the crowd as they look at me wide eyed.
I looked over at Zayn as he lightly clapped his hand before looking at the crowd "My turn!," he said, grabbing their attention
-
"That was Amazing!, " Zayn told me as we grabbed our bags from our table. The boys haf already left but we stayed a bit longer to help Professor Syed to clean the class and to arrange the tables. Professor Syed had left a few minutes ago, leaving the two of us to be alone before we leave. " you were so brave!, " he said as I smiled
"It's all because of you, " I laughed while we pushed in our chair and I looked back at him as his eyes shone with happiness "Your encouragement was the only thing that kept me away from running away, "
Zayn chuckled at my statement as he let his signature black bag hang from his right shoulder as he led us towards the front door of the lecture room. He twisted the door knob as it swung open and switched off the lights and Air Conditioner in the room. He then gestured me to walk out first as he followed behind me and shut the door as it locked automatically.
"Really now, " he smirked at me as he looked down at me. I smiled at him as I noticed how he towered above me. God! Was he tall! I looked back down shyly as I felt too short at his presence "Oh no, are you shy because you are short?, " he asks
My eyes went wide at his question "What? No!, " I lie as I look back towards the ground and fiddle with my hands
"Well I know you are, " he says as we reach the lift. He pressed the button which shows an arrow facing downwards as he looked back at me "And I believe you shouldn't feel shy about it, " he says as I look back at him "It's cute, " he smiles as I blush. He laughs as I quickly look back down and hide my face "man! You get shy so quick, " he says as the lift opens and we walk in
"I do not!, " I protest as he hits the close button and the Ground floor button before looking back at me. The lift door closes and I feel the lift move downwards "I just feel you know..,"
"Nervous?, "
"No, " I say as he smirks
"Timid?, "
"No!, "
"Reluctant?, "
"Okay now you're just listing out synonyms, " I say as he laughs "I just feel a bit overwhelmed. That's all, "
Zayn chuckles as I look down to the floor "Don't look down ," he tells me as I look up at him "you're a brave little lion and I believe you're a pretty one too, " he smirks as his Caramel brown eyes fixed itself on mine. I blush once again as he scans my face, looking for something to say "You were great at the presentation today. You looked completely composed and you were absorber with all the thing you were saying. Like you owned what you said. You were confident and poise, " he complemented me as the lift door opened and he gestured me to walk out first and he followed me behind.
"Thank you, " I say as he comes infront of me. "You really made me understand the topic and made me present it properly, " I said as he smiled widely "You're a good mentor,"
"Well then, " he clasped his hands together "maybe when you have any problems, you can always search for me and I'll be there to help. And not just for homework, " he said as I blushed all over again "Just one call and I'll be here, " he says as I giggle.
"Sure, " I say as we head out of the campus. "I think I have to go, " I say as I look out of the gate.
"Sure. See you tommorow, " he says as I nod at him with a smile and take my slow steps ahead of him but I stop dead on my tracks as I heard my name being called. I turn to look at the owner of the voice and spot Zayn looking right back at me. "What?, " I ask a bit loudly since we were a meter or two away
"Awak suka saya tak?, " he asks me as my breath hitched. I stare back at him with wide eyes as he smiles widely. I lock my Doe brown eyes with his creamy Caramel brown ones as I scanned his facial features. His smile was wide as he waited for my answer while I blankly stand in my position as I looked back at him. " you're supposed to say you're fine shawty!, " he says as I realize the little white lie I told him today and laugh lightly.
"Suka, " I say as he gives me a toothy smile, showing off his pearls before nodding his head and slowly turned at his heels and skipped away.
I look at him with a grin plastered on face as he skipped away, his thick black hair bouncing up and down with each skip he took. I saw him fade away with the sunlight as he skipped down the road, as I knew his cute wide grin is plastered on his face
I slowly turn on my heels as I look at the empty road in front of me. "Suka?, " I ask myself as I shook my head no and start walking a few steps but stop dead on my tracks again just to shake my head yes.
"Saya suka, " I smiled as I continued my slow steps on the road.
Glossary
The actual meaning for:
Awak Suka Saya Tak? - Do you like me (informal)
Suka - like
Saya - me
Saya Suka - I Like