Heartstrings ➳ z.m.

prologue

Prologue

Zayn

            Zayn Malik wakes up at 12:59 every day. Harry’s show ends at 12:56, and it take him 1 minute and 32 seconds to get to Zayn’s room.

            It does not take long to wake Zayn up.

            Once awake, Zayn stretches, rolls his shoulders, and yawns. 2 times, each.

            It takes him 41 steps to get to the bathroom, and in the 1 minute and 9 seconds that it takes to warm up the water in the shower, he brushes his teeth, uses the bathroom, and washes his hands. In that order.

            If he does not have to use the bathroom, he sits on the closed lid and stares at the grey wall until it’s time to wash his hands.

            Then he takes a shower. Exactly 4 minutes to bathe, and 6 to wash his hair.

            At exactly 1:17 every day, Zayn Malik enters the kitchen to find a breakfast of exactly 2 ounces of Fiber One cereal in a bowl with a cup of milk.

            In the 12 minutes that it takes him to eat, Zayn looks at the schedule for the day, left on the counter by Liam.

            If the boys have nothing to do, then Zayn retreats to his room, pulls his sketchpad off of the right side of his desk, lies in his bed, and draws.

            Zayn Malik does not use colors.

            They’re too bright, and too sharp, and it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

            Zayn does not stop drawing when his hands hurt. He stops when it is lunch time, and resumes until dinner.

            He does not allow himself any time to think.

            Thinking is not fit into his schedule.

            Zayn Malik follows the same schedule every day.

            If you were to ask him why, he would not answer you.

            Zayn Malik does not talk.

            But if he did, his answer would be simple.

            Because it’s easier that way.

 

Skylar