Rising Up From Ruin - Ziam (AU)

Chapter 2 - He Doesn't Talk Much

Zayn’s P.O.V.

“Want to come see your new room?”

I nodded, a little hesitantly, and let them lead me up to the top floor of the building. We opened an old beaten door and walked into a room, holding ten beds.

            “We all sleep here,” Harry said, “Your bed is the one by the window, but, you can move it if you want,”

            I nodded and walked over to my bed, sitting down on the mattress that seemed pretty new, compared to the ones around me. They were all worn down and dirty. Harry must have seen me looking at them.

            “You only get one mattress,” Harry said, “But you’ll only be here a year, so that won’t be much of a problem for you,”

            I looked to the bed he was now sitting on. It was the worst one in the whole room, he must have been here the longest. I felt kind of sad, knowing that. He seemed like a really nice guy, and I hated the thought that he had been stuck here for his entire life.

            “So,” Louis said, sitting in his bed, “How come you’re here?”

            There was pause.

            I don’t think I could tell them. Not yet anyway.

            “Uh,” I mumbled, trying to think of a cover-up for my past.

            “Don’t worry mate,” Niall said, “You don’t have to tell us,”

            “It’s just that I don’t like talking about it,” I explained meekly, shivering at the thought of it. They all nodded understandingly. “So, what do you normally do during recreation time?” I asked, trying to change the topic. They all looked at each other, and then Louis spoke up.

            “Well, me and Niall sometimes goof around and break into the nuns rooms,” He wore a smirk on his face as he said this and Niall giggled. “Or, we walk into town…and sometimes we get one of the gaming rooms and play…” Louis continued to list things off. I looked over to Liam though, who was now occupying the bed next to mine. His eyes were focused on the book in his hand. Its cover was crisp, like it was a brand new book he had just gotten. He was biting his lip in concentration.

            “You like to read?” I asked, interrupting Louis’ list. Liam looked surprised that I had talked to him at all, and he nodded weakly, focusing right back into his book. Why wouldn’t he look at me for longer than a second?

            “Don’t mind Liam,” Louis said, “He doesn’t talk much,”

            “Why?” I whispered to myself, still studying the beautiful boy on the bed. None of them heard me, and they started talking about goodness knows what, as I just stared at Liam, hoping he wouldn’t notice my obsession with him and think that I was creepy.

            Suddenly someone barged into the room, slamming the door open loudly. I glanced up to find myself looking a burly boy, probably around my age, wearing a filthy grin on his face.

            “Well, well, well,” He smiled, “Welcome to St. Xavier’s,”

            I nodded, hoping that he had nothing else to say. I wanted to go back to focusing on Liam. But suddenly, the atmosphere became very tense, and when I glanced back to Liam, he looked awfully scared. Was it this guy? Was he cruel to my new friends? Did he bully them?

            “I’m Griffin,” The boy said, “And I will be you roommate, along with these good ol’ chaps,” He patted Harry on the shoulder, maybe a little bit too hard to be friendly.