Again «ZM» ✔️

Part Five

Isabelle

I check the time on my phone and frown. It's five already. My mother should be back after five hours. And I'm not sure how long he's staying.

"How long can you stay?" I ask him as I look up at him, "Don't get me wrong, I want you to stay," I add with a smile. He nods. He's still curious. I like that look on him. And he's polite too. By not asking about it.

"Mum said it'd be cool if I was home before ten," he carefully answers. I nod. So he's in a good relationship with his mother. She might come between if we ever have something. That's bad. But I also don't want to ruin it for them, I love that.

"The chauffeur will take you home before picking up my mother," I think out loud, "Okay, we've got a lot of time," I smile and shove my phone in my back pocket. He nods. "Also, Harry shouldn't be a problem anymore. If he touches you again, just tell me. I'll take care of it again," I grin. He frowns. I'm pretty sure that he's getting ideas already.

"What did you do to him?" he asks now. I shrug. What I did is something that I'll always do to protect my friends. And I hope that he sees it like that too.

"I didn't even touch him," I answer, "I just sent Michael to talk to him," I add with a little hint of mischief in my voice. His eyes widen. I slightly tilt my head in question as I see that he has some questions written all over his face.

"You what? You... That muscly guy?" he points at the door, "The one who was just here?" his mouth stays open in shock. I nod. He then closes his mouth and swallows. I sigh. I rather have him safe than be beaten, that's for sure. I like him already.

"Nobody messes with me or my friends," I say and shrug, "I don't care what it takes to keep you safe," I mumble looking down. I feel a bit embarrassed because right now it sounds like I can't stand up for myself. What I didn't expect is him to hug me. I slowly wrap my arms around him and enjoy the warmth.

"Thank you, Isa. That means a lot," he thanks making me feel proud of myself. I smile. We stand like this for a moment, but then he pulls away. "So, you like to play games? What do you usually play?" he changes the topic. I get excited and grin while I think of what I like. There are quite some games that I like, but...

"I like the car racing ones. Gets me the adrenaline that I need," I answer his question, "How about you?" I ask him the same question. He nods and his lips curl up in a smile. It only makes me continue smiling.

"I like racing games in general, not just cars," he answers, "We can play the car racing ones though. I'm pretty sure I'll win you," he smirks as he points at me. I squint my eyes. Well, that's a challenge. I've done it quite a lot, I'm sure he won't win me.

"Game controller or real steering wheel?" I ask him. He frowns. "I'm much better with steering wheel. That's what I use the most when I get bored," I say with a grin. He hums. He didn't expect that. It wasn't in the same gaming room, so I get it.

"I didn't notice a car wheel anywhere in the game room. Is it in your bedroom?" he asks. I shake my head. I knew the question would be coming.

"It's in the second game room. The second one has only the VR games. I don't know how the one VR set got in the first game room, but yeah," I answer, "We'll see how you beat me in car races," I get all excited to show him how good I drive. He laughs. That was not a laugh of fun, he was making fun of me.

"Oh, honey, I am good in many things," he looks in my eyes as he says it. Then the timer goes off. He turns it off. He carefully opens the oven. "Smells very tasty. That's a good sign already," he whispers while taking it out. He puts it on the cooker and takes the cheese. Sprinkles it all over the pizza. Then he puts it back in the oven and sets a timer again for a few minutes.

The pizza really smells amazing. Right when I'm helping Zayn put the slices on the plates, I hear the door close and someone walking with heels. I freeze. I quickly fish my phone out of the pocket and check the time. It's only five forty. Mother shouldn't be here yet. My eyes meet Zayn's. He's looking at me curiously again. Meanwhile I... I'm stressing out.

"Isabelle, where are you? I've come home faster because your father said he would handle the meeting alone," mother's voice appears from the hallway. I close my eyes and sigh. So it is her. I open my eyes again and look at the entry.

"I'm in the kitchen," I call back. Zayn cleans up whatever that was messy here. My mother joins in the kitchen. Her eyes fall on Zayn and then the pizza. She doesn't look too happy, but she also doesn't look disappointed.

"Don't forget about the ball on Friday. He can come as your plus one," she looks in my eyes, then she looks at him as she points her slender finger, "Just wear a suit, preferably a Burberry one. We're advertising them, they're paying good," she tells Zayn and then looks at me again, "Just so you know that I've listened, I called the school today. They said they're willing to take you in whenever you're ready. You just first have to go to the administration to sign in when you start. You have the schedule," she tells me, then turns around and leaves just like that. I roll my eyes, but then I smile because I can finally go to school with them. I look at Zayn. For some reason he looks like he's just seen a ghost. It's only then that I realise why he looks like that.

"You don't have to come, if you don't want to," I smile at him because I realise it's about the ball. He looks at me and frowns. But that's not it. I feel like there's something to it.

"Where on earth would I get a burberry suit?" he asks. Okay, right. I might've forgotten that he's in a different financial status league. I think about it. Well, it's not a real problem. Not for me, at least.

"We'll go to a salon, get your measurements and buy you one." I tell him, "I can just ask my parents to pay for it since they want it so bad," I offer him a smile. He frowns. "It'll be fun," I whisper. He slowly shakes his head.

"It's something that isn't my league, I'm sorry," he looks down. I place my hand on his hoping he'd look up at me. And he does. I look in his eyes.

"It's okay. I get it. We can hang out differently," I say to him and then take my plate of pizza slices, "Now let's go see if you can really beat me in car races," I laugh. He smiles and joins me. We both go downstairs to the VR room. When we enter the room, he looks more surprised than he was about the first one.

"Can I live here in this room?" he quietly asks, amazed by the technology in here. I smile at him. "This is so cool," he looks at the cars that I mentioned. There are two cars for racing. I usually sit in the right one. "You didn't mention there are literally cars in here," he chuckles. I put my plate on the table in between the cars and sit in my usual spot. It's an open car, but it gives the best experience.

"Well, these cars actually move and give you the feeling like you're actually driving," I say and take a slice of pizza, "Make sure to put on the belt," I smirk at him. He gets in the other car. I eat my slice and then I buckle up. "There's a VR set under the seat. Take it and put it on your eyes," I instruct him and do the same, "And press the button on the steering wheel to turn it on," I add. I put the VR headset on and press the button. I see the game now so I choose multiplayer. Waiting for the other player. He joins. "Good luck. We'll see who's better now," I laugh and press the start button which is on the steering wheel as well. I just know all the buttons already. Three, two, one...

"Good luck to you too," is all he says before the game starts and we begin our little competition.