shy//z.m(short story)

Panic

When the time comes, Zayn feels jittery; his lips are red from biting it too much.

He looks at Louis near the meter box ready to pull the fuse. He looks at Liam, Niall and Harry trying to calm him down. He looks at the single rose he is holding and then looks at Aura saying her speech of appreciation for her best cheerleader award.

He has to do this.

He nods at Louis who grins at him, giving him thumbs up before pulling the fuse and it gets dark. Zayn grabs the rose in his left hand and the microphone in his right and takes a few steps forward.

When the light returns he hears gasps from the crowd and watches as Aura’s eyes widen as she looks at him and then the rose in his hand.

And the panic kicks in. He knows he’s got to say something. He desperately tries to remember his speech but he’s blank.

He opens his mouth and closes it. He can’t just be blank. Come on Zayn you gotta improvise.

“Hello.”

“Hi,” Aura slowly replies.

“I’m Zayn,” he says. His hands shake a bit and he’s at the brink of fainting or puking his guts out.

He unconsciously takes a few steps towards her and helds out the rose.

“c-can you.....um....like....can you like hold this f-for me?” Zayn stammers.

He suddenly finds breathing difficult. He hates one-sided conversations especially the ones when he is the one talking.

Zayn’s hands burn where Aura’s hands brush against his as she cautiously takes the rose.

He now wants to run, run away and hide but he also wants to tell her. Tell her everything because it is his last chance and he wants to let her know.

Let her know about the sleepless nights he spent thinking about her.                                                                                       

Let her know about so many classes he was sent out of for daydreaming about her.                                            

Let her know how he had punched his walls endless times just because he couldn’t say hello.    

Let her know about those nights when nightmares of her leaving or dying or finding someone haunted him.

Let her know how he sometimes cried himself to sleep because he missed her too much.                              

Let her know how much he simply loved her.

But at the moment he was tongue tied.

So in his desperation he did what he did. He breathlessly three words into the mic before taking off running. Running away from his friends, running away from the school, running away from Aura. He said,

“I love you.”