Nicole's POV
I had to figure what had happened to Zayn. What could have been so traumatic that would cause him to go from being a good kid to a rebel in such a short time period?
I took my time walking over to Zayn's house, going over what I was going to say in my head. I knew Zayn would be there and I wanted to see him. I didn't want to talk to him, because I found him annoying but I needed to see him.
I knocked on the door anxiously, hoping that his mom answered it, praying Zayn wouldn't. Surprisingly it was was Zayn's older sister, who's name I had been told was Nadiya.
She gasped a little when she saw me standing there.
"Uh, I wanted to uh, ask your mom something."
Nadiya fluttered her long dark eyelashes nervously
"Come right in."
I had been in Zayn's house more than once, but never had I met his mum or sister. On any other day I would've taken a nap up in Zayn's room or plopped on the couch to watch some tv but today I seated myself on the edge of the loveseat, my posture tense.
A saw Nadiya and her mom arguing about something in the kitchen. I pretended not to notice but my ears were straining to hear their hushed conversation.
"Why did you let her in?" the mom was saying. Nadiya shook her head and started crying. The mother looked at her daughter wearily.
"We have to get rid of her. She's trouble."
My heart quickened as the tall slender woman joined me in the living room. She didn't sit down though, and for some reason that intimidated me.
"Uhm, can I ask you something?" I said hesitantly.
"Go ahead," Zayn's mom said so politely that it sounded sarcastic.
"What happened, to Zayn?"
"What's that supposed to mean? He got hit by a car. Because of you." I cringed, but I needed this answer so I pushed on.
"You know what I mean."
"Oh so your wondering how Zayn turned bad am I correct?" I nodded.
"I'm not telling you."
"Why not?" Then a sudden realization hit me. "Where is Zayn's father?"
Zayn's moms composure faltered for a moment but she quickly regained her ground. That had to be it. Zayn's problems had started with his dad.
"Tell me what happened," I demanded standing up so that me and Zayn's mom were eye to eye.
"No!"
"Tell me!"
"Zayn is staying the way he is. We can't bear to lose him like we did before. We just can't. Now get out and leave us alone!"
Nadiya, although she was a senior is highschool, was cowering behind her mother, obviously trying to decide who's side to take.
Everyone stopped when we heard footsteps descending the staircase. A tired looking Zayn appeared.
"What's going on? Wait, Nicole! Is that you!"
His face lit up when he saw me. I had to admit it felt kind of nice for him to look at me like that.
"Yah it's me," I said, waving.
"Mum, wha-."
"Honey come on, go do some homework," she said, rushing to her sons side and trying to usher him back to his room.
In all the chaos, Nadiya snuck over to me and grabbed my arm.
"Meet me in the lunchroom on Monday, I'll tell you," she whispered timidly.
----
As I waited around the lunchroom for Nadiya, I thought a lot about Zayn. I had been thinking more about him then ever, trying to decide whether I wanted the old him back or not.
I saw Nadiya walking beside my sister in their miniskirts, laughing. I guess I had never realized that they were even friends. But then again I never really paid attention to what my sister did. Nadiya got serious when she saw me and said goodbye to Tess. Tess glared at me and then sat down with Niall and his friends.
"Hey Nicole," she said. Nadiya wasn't nervous like she had been around her mother. I wondered why she had acted like that before. I didn't have time for sweet talk though.
"Okay tell me."
"Well you see, Zayn found out that, he's.." Her voice dropped. "Adopted."
That explained why Nadiya looked nothing like her brother. She was much paler, with sandy brown hair, and piercing light green eyes. But it still didn't make sense.
"Then over the summer he ran away from home to go find his real parents."
"And?"
"He didn't like what he found."
I wished she would just tell me what happened.
"And what did he find exactly?"
"He found his dead mother. And his abusive father."
A knot formed in the back of my throat.
"He stayed for awhile to try to sober up his father but instead, his dad got him into drugs and other awful things. When he realized that he wasn't changing anything for the better, Zayn came back to us. But after that, he was never the same. We all knew he did weed, I found it in his drawer. We tried to get him to stop but.."
She looked sad and alone. I felt bad for her. She loved her brother and he was finally back to the mindset where he loved her too.
"So he doesn't remember that he's adopted?"
Nadiya shook her head of wavy hair.
"What was that?" Zayn asked innocently.
Where had he even come from? How long had he been listening?
"Uh..." I stammered.
