West End Story

Chapter One

Zayn hesitated. He was fighting an internal battle, unsure whether to just give up already or check the list. After an intense debate, he slowly made his way to the door, keeping his head low and hands in his pockets. Everyone else had already checked the list, he knew. He had been watching from a cafe across the street. Most everyone who had walked away had seemed pleased, especially her. He had spotted her platinum blonde hair as soon as she stepped from her car. She was grinning as she left, so he could assume she had gotten a callback. But his audition wasn't as smooth as he had hoped.

Zayn gulped just remembering the threats his mother gave him if he didn't go to tryouts. He had wanted to-- after all, he had seen West Side Story before and loved it-- but he was scared to audition for such a well-known director. But he finally relented, and so now he was standing in front of the theatre, nervous eyes scanning the list for his name. And- there! There it was. A little past halfway down the list, his name, Zayn Malik, stood out. He grinned to himself. So maybe his audition hadn't been too bad after all. He smirked to himself, turning away from the door as he started on his walk home.

"Hurry up Lou!" Zayn's head snapped up at the sound of another voice. Glancing around, he spied two people rushing towards him. They looked quite familiar-- perhaps they went to his private school-- but Zayn didn't know their names. One of them, the girl who yelled, had long light-colored hair that wasn't quite blonde, but defiantly wasn't brown either. She seemed quite young. The other (Lou? Was that what the girl called him?) must have been her brother, for they had the same bright blue eyes. The boy, on the other hand, had chocolate brown hair and looked to be a year or two older than Zayn. He chuckled, stepping out of the girl's way as she ran past him, aimed straight for the list. A screech rang in his ears as the boy rushed past Zayn.

"I got one, Lou! I got one!" Even with his back to the two, Zayn could hear the grin on the boy's face as her brother said, "I told you, I told you! Now look for me."

"There you are, right there. Of course you'd get a callback, Mr. Drama teacher," the sister teased.

"Seems you were right!" the boy exclaimed.

"I can't wait to tell Mom! We might finally get to be in a show together!"

"Quick, check for Stan's name... There he is!"

"What about Niall?"

"Yeah, he's on here, course."

Niall? Stan? Zayn didn't know any of these people. He gulped. Maybe auditioning hadn't been the best idea. Zayn only knew one person who auditioned, and he never spoke to her. He was too afraid to. But maybe this show was the exact thing Zayn needed to give fate a little push in the right direction. After all, he hadn't spoken to her in years, even though she was in his thoughts every day. With his back to the rejoicing siblings, he left them to their conversation and started on his way home.

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"Hey Mum," Louis called out, walking into his brightly-lit house.

"Hey sweetie!" his mother called out in response. "Where's Lottie?"

"She saw some friends at the park and stayed with them," he answered, entering the kitchen and dropping into a chair. His mother, dark-haired and beautiful (or so his friends told him), stood in front of the stove, stirring a pot of what seemed to be pasta.

"You know, Phoebe, Fizzy, and Daisy wanted to visit the park as well. Do you mind taking them?" Jay asked, smiling sweetly at her son.

Louis nodded. "No problem. I'll give Niall a call and see if he wants to meet us there."

She nodded. "Sounds good. Oh, and what about callbacks?"

Louis couldn't hide his grin. "We both got one."