Seconds, Minutes, Hours

3

"Will Zayn Malik please report to the office." The voice came from the intercom, which was a bit hard to hear from outside. Zayn stood from where he had been sitting, brushing off his clothes. He knew he was in trouble, so he didn't bother avoiding the consequences. The sentence had been 4 seconds long, he had of course, counted. Sometimes he wondered why he did that, it wasn't like it would give him any more time. But perhaps being aware of the time he did have would make it more meaningful. Or maybe he was just making stuff up.

He hopped the fence much easier than Harry and Louis had, and was inside the school quickly enough that there was defiantly the possibility that he had been in class when he was called. But every one knew that wasn't true, so he wasn't sure it made any difference.

The office was full of workers walking to and fro. He headed straight for the vice principles office, knowing she'd be waiting for him to show up. Probably with pictures of Louis and Harry to prove that he deserved a suspension. And indeed, the vice principle was waiting for him in her office. Not with pictures, but with the actual boys, sitting in the chairs in the office.

"Mr. Malik. Good of you to join us." The vice principal greeted. 3 seconds, very nearly four. Harry and Louis both looked somewhere between intimidated, annoyed, and concerned. Zayn wished he could wipe the concern off their faces, but punching some one in the vice principal office was just asked for an expulsion. And Zayn knew his parents would never enroll him in another school if he got expelled. He had practically begged to stay in this one.

"I'm not late. You called for me like two minutes ago. Sadly, I have yet to master teleportation." Zayn responded sarcastically. Six seconds.His head hurt, but not badly enough that he was craving a cigarette. At least not much. He was of course, wishing to be smoking. He always was. But it wasn't severe like it sometimes was.

"Harry and Louis have some accusations against you." 3 seconds. The principal ignored Zayn s earlier statement.

Zayn rolled his eyes. "Such as?" Just under a second. Zayn was used to being in here, and wasn't intimidated by the vice principal.

"They said that you were smoking in class again." 4 seconds. Zayn raises an eyebrow.

"They aren't even in my class. If you had taken the time to look up their schedules, you would know that." 7 seconds, but Zayn had made a very good point. He was around, he couldn't always come up with arguments that good.

"Mr. Styles and Mr. Tomlinson have already admitted to skipping class.  Were you smoking again Zayn?" 8 seconds.

Zayn scoffed. "Of course I was &%#?!%& smoking. Why wouldn't I be?" 5 seconds.

"Language Mr. Malik." The vice principle reprimanded. Close to 2 seconds, but not quite.

"Can't take a little cursing?" Zayn taunted. An honest 2 seconds The vice principle looked genuinely angry, as though he was about to explode. But Harry intervened.

"He doesn't mean it. He's just scared." In 3 seconds The curly haired sophomore somehow managed to diffuse the situation without even trying. Louis was grinning widely at the younger boy.

"You're right Harry. Zayn, we're only trying to help. Smoking is unhealthy Zayn." 5 seconds. The principle reminded Zayn for the thousandth time in his life.

"You think I don't #%&*~#% know that?" Zayn suddenly exploded. "I can't go an hour without coughing up a lung and you think I don't know that smoking is #%&*~#% dangerous?" 11 seconds.

"If you would quit smoking, you wouldn't cough as much! And if you took the medicine you might not cough at all!" 8 seconds. The vice principle stood up, matching Zayn s stance. The bad boy had never sat down. Louis and Harry are watching the argument intently, knowing they are missing something crucial here.

"I'm not gonna live like a #%&~?*# condemned man! I'm gonna have a life before you imbeciles find yourself laying me under six feet of dirt!" 17 seconds. Zayn yelled. The principal flinched, as though she thought Zayn was going to hit her, but she needn't have been worried. The second Zayn was done with his little outburst, he dissolved into a coughing fit. It was a long one too, nearly 3 minutes, and by the end of it, He was stumbling into a chair, his face paper pale.

"Are you okay?" 2 seconds. Harry walked over and rubbed Zayn s back as he caught his breath, ignoring the death glares his boyfriend was sending him for helping the boy who had beat him up.

"I'm fine." Only a second. Zayn s voice was softer, less angry as he seemed to regain his composure. Harry left his side as Zayn Sat up straighter, returning to his boyfriend who pulled him closer protectivly. Zayn rolled his eyes at the possessive action, despite still being a bit lightheaded.

"I'm straight Tomlinson. You haven't got anything to worry about." 4 seconds. The older boy smiled a bit and there was perhaps a level of trust in his blue eyes. But of course, the vice principle had to go and break what could have been a bonding moment for the boys.

"Enough of this. The important thing is that you broke a rule Zayn." 3 seconds. The vice principle stepped in. Zayn rolled his eyes.

"Remind me in the future that my health is not nearly as important as the rules in the school." Zayn muttered. "Until then, I'll be on my suspension. I'll be back in say, five days?" 12 seconds total, Zayn assigned his own punishment, storming out of the office, leaving an upset vice principal, a terrified Harry Styles, and an utterly baffled Louis in his wake.

He was outside of the office, sitting in the hallway and trying not to let himself break. He didn't walk to cough, didn't want to cry. He was just having a hard time with that.

"Are you okay? I heard you yelling in there." 4 seconds. A girl comes and sits next to me, watching me. I feel rage bubble up in the pit of my stomach at her bad timing.

"I'm not really looking for a girl to take home right now. I appreciate the effort, but seriously just #?&% off." 8 seconds. He half screamed at the girl, who simply concealed a laugh.

"I am not about to go home with you Malik. I hate to break it to you, but I'm not a huge fan of the bad boy act." 6 seconds. Zayn looks up at her in surprise.

"Why are you here then?" 2 seconds. He snapped at her.

The girl shrugged. "I heard yelling and was worried." 3 seconds.

"I'm fine." One second. Zayn insists, though he can feel the need to cough pressing in on his chest.

The girl shakes her head. "You aren't. I saw you coughing earlier."

"What the %?&#. You were watching me?" Before Zayn could get any farther in his rant, he began coughing uncontrollably. He patiently counted the seconds as the girl patted his back. Then, at about a minute and 3 seconds into his fit, he had a sudden realization that he had forgotten to time the last two sentences they had spoken. This realization made him cough even harder and lose track of the seconds. What he does know is that when he does manage to stop coughing, he is seeing spots from oxygen deprivation as the girl stares at him in shock.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Zayn stood, a bit shaky in his feet, and walked towards the door of the building. The girl he had been speaking to stands but doesn't follow.

"I just got suspended. Happens all the time. Nothing to worry about." He assured her.

Zayn was well out the door when he realized that he hadn't counted the time of the last two sentences either. Well, ?&%#.