All To Myself [one direction]

Chapter 8

I wiped away the tiny specks of rain that had settled on my cheeks before I thought of what was happening more closely. I looked at Zayn across the road and saw he was wearing sunglasses over his eyes -even though there wasn’t any sunlight- and a white beanie over his head; he was also looking around every so often perhaps checking if there was anyone in sight that would recognise him. I couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening -why Zayn was waiting outside my school and more importantly why he had called my name.

I slowly began to take small steps towards him, avoiding a puddle on the road that had formed overnight. I was nervous to confront Zayn by myself; there weren’t any school kids lingering around school anymore and as I saw him remove his Ray-Ban’s and tuck them in his pocket, I was becoming more nervous having his naked eyes on me.

“W-What are you doing here?” I questioned him quickly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

I heard a nervous cough escape him before he rolled up the sleeves of his leather jacket. “Hi.” I heard his voice break slightly as he replied with an innocent smile. I looked up at him, and felt my cheeks redden as I realised I had jumped down his throat immediately without a first word of greeting.

“Hello, Zayn.” I answered back kindly before looking down at my feet, feeling my heart beat echo loudly inside my body.

“I’m sorry, I surprised you.” He began after a moment of silence. “I just kept thinking all day yesterday that… well, I had left without saying goodbye to you,” I looked up at him slowly, twiddling with my fingers as I noticed how nervous he was to speak to me, “and I didn’t even catch your last name.” Zayn coughed again as he saw me looking and brought his hand back over his head to rest on the back of his neck. “Sorry…” He added awkwardly as I stood there speechless.

I didn’t know what to say. His words were exactly the kind I didn’t want to hear from anyone, especially from him. I quickly remembered the time when Michael first asked me out during a practical exercise in Chemistry, and the way I had to run to the toilet because I was going to be sick. I was never any good at dealing with boys, especially when they admitted their liking to me. Not that Zayn was admitting any of that sort, but as I looked as his eyes and the way he was nervous around me, I couldn’t help but feel helplessly paranoid.

“I-“ I let out a groan as I honestly did not know what to say to him. I re-tucked the strand of hair behind my ear, before I decided on perhaps introducing myself. “I’m Dion Horowitz.”

“Dion Horowitz…” I heard Zayn mumble my name, letting it roll on his tongue.

“Yup.” I crossed my arms carelessly, as I tapped my fingers on my upper arm. I saw him look at me intently, a thought playing on his mind, before he offered me a gentle smile.

I returned it quickly, the thought of why he was here rapidly invading my mind and I decided to bring it up again.

“How did you know I would be here?”

The question must have made him feel out of line as he answered clumsily: “Your friend said you guys finished school at three thirty.”

“You remembered…” I said more to myself than anything, but it was somehow loud enough for Zayn to hear.

“I’m sorry…” He rambled an apology again as he rolled his sleeves again, even though they were already rolled up. “I waited, but I never saw you come out. Monroe said you stayed behind to do a lesson and that-“

“You spoke to Monroe?” I asked surprised to hear him mention her.

“I kind of had to abduct her briefly,” He sighed and chuckled silently as he remembered the incident and added, “she was so star struck I had to beg her to be quiet. She just wouldn’t stop shaking, it worried me slightly but she was finally able to control herself. I thought you would be with her, but you weren’t and I just really wanted to see you.” His voice got quieter as he muttered that last two words and scratched his neck again as he bit his lip somewhat apologetically.