Reality

Secret Keeper

Zayn

I watch as Brooke makes her way out of the house, a towel wrapped up under her arm and a book in her hand. She gracefully walks around the pool until she sets her things on the lounge chair beside me, expertly tossing her blonde hair up into a giant bun before setting out her towel. The moment she sits next to me, pulling on her sunglasses and opening up her novel, she turns her attention to the sketchbook in my hand.

"What're you drawing?" Brooke moves her glasses down the bridge of her nose, eyeing the sketch in front of me.

I look down at the pencil lines all over the paper, examining how some of them connect together, seeing the difference in darkness of each line, how they all come together to form a picture that, for once, doesn't resemble a unicorn.

"What's it look like?" I ask, curious as to what she sees.

Tilting her head slightly to the side, Brooke purses her lips as a thoughtful expression takes over her features. A moment or two passes before she looks up at me.

"A panda. Definitely."

"What?" I shift my gaze from her to the drawing in my lap. "How does that look like a panda? It's supposed to be a gorilla."

"Is it?" Brooke furrows her brows in confusion, quickly shrugging her shoulders and giving me a sheepish smile. "I mean, yeah, that's totally a gorilla. I can see the monkey-like features ... I think."

I shake my head and flip the page of my sketchbook, "I could never draw animals."

"Can you draw people?"

"People are my specialty."

"Okay," Brooke sets her book and sunglasses onto the lounge chair. She shifts herself so that she's facing me and strikes a pose. "Draw me like one of your French girls."

"You're kidding, right?" I laugh, taking note of her Titanic reference. Why does everyone say that when I tell them I can draw people? That movie isn't even any good, but everyone quotes it.

She shakes her head, her smile growing brighter. "No, I'm serious. I want to see this real talent of yours."

"Alright then," I pick up the sketchbook and pencil, immediately getting started on the drawing. "But you can't get mad if it doesn't turn out the way you want it to."

"As long as you give me perfect cheekbones, we can still be friends," she laughs, turning her head to the side for me see her facial structure.

Brooke watches me as I glide the pencil over the surface of the paper. I start with her bright blue eyes, sketching each and every eyelash and doing her justice as best I can.

A few times, Niall walked over to us, laughing and getting in the way. Typically, I'd be annoyed, especially when he would accidentally drip pool water on my pages, but he charmed his way out of my bad side. Those blue eyes of his and the inviting laugh are enough to keep me at bay.

He's such a flirt. An outgoing, shameless, and charming flirt. I see the way he sometimes watches my moves and offers a wink here and there, but I also see the way he looks at everyone else in the house. If he could, he would probably get in everyone's pants. Honestly, I'd let him in mine if he asked.

A part of me wants to approach him like another guy I've met at a bar, but the smarter part of me knows that wouldn't be a good idea. We live together, I can't just behave as if I'd never see him again.

Plus, I told myself I would stop with the random hookups. That's not my style anyway. If I get with someone, it's got to be a guy that isn't just looking for some fun. I'm over that, and deep down I want something stable. I need to be on the same page with someone, which is exactly where my relationship with Jacob went wrong, and I highly doubt Niall is in the same mentality as me.