The Sketchbook

Chapter Five

Ashley's POV

Chapter Five:

"So what are you confused about?" Zayn asked before pulling his physics textbook out of his backpack.

"Pretty much everything," I answered before plopping onto the ground and reaching for my physics book that was underneath my bed.

Zayn slowly sat on the floor across from me. "Okay well I guess we should start from what we learned at the beginning of this year," he said while flipping through the many pages of the textbook.

"How many friends do you have?" I asked him.

"What does that have to do with physics?" He asked before looking up at me.

"I was just curious."

"None. I don't have time for friends."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now," He sighed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," I apologized.

"No you didn't upset me. Look I will tell you some other time," Zayn said.

"Deal," I smiled back.

"Why did you invite me here? I'm almost certain it wasn't so we could study," he asked.

"So we could talk," I told him.

"Why talk to me though? You have plenty of friends you could be talking to," He replied.

"Well you're different."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you are not a dumb, stuck up, boy-crazy teenage girl."

"Hmm," he pursed his lips, "Fair enough."

He slowly stood up and grabbed his backpack. He shoved his physics textbook into his already overfilled backpack.

"What are you doing? I thought you were going to help me," I said before standing up also.

"I'll come over tomorrow. I need to go home now though," He said while putting the straps of his backpack over his shoulders.

"I will drive you home then. Where do you live?" I asked him.

"I can walk," He answered.

"Where do you live?" I asked again while grabbing my keys that were sitting on my bed.

"You are not driving me home," He said again.

I sighed. I could already tell I wasn't going to win this argument. "Fine," I told him. I scribbled my address and phone number onto a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"What is this for?" He asked.

"So you know were to go when you come over tomorrow," I smiled at him.

"Right," He laughed before folding it and putting it in the pocket of his jeans.

"Thanks for coming over though," I told him while walking out of my room and towards my front door.

"No problem, I had fun," he smiled.

"Me too," I smiled back.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow," Zayn said.

"Bye," I replied while opening the front door for him.

The next day Zayn came over. And the day after that and so on. He would basically come over on the days he wasn't working. We would just study though, nothing more nothing less. We managed to keep everything secretive, avoiding each other at school.

"Where are you going now?" Harry asked.

"My mom needs me home to help with her wedding plans," I lied. I tried to stand up but Harry pulled me back onto his bed.

"But you just got here," he complained.

"I know and i'm sorry but I have things to do," I slipped from his grasp and slipped on my shoes.

He sighed and stood up. "Whatever i'm just going to go to Josh's house then," he said before disappearing into his closet.

"Bye Harry," I said before leaving.

I rushed out of Harry's house and drove away. It wasn't quite seven yet, which meant Zayn was still at work. He wasn't supposed to come over tonight, but I still wanted to see him. There was something about Zayn that made me crazy. Something that made me crave being in his presence.

I parked my car in one of the parking spaces in front of the almost empty bakery. I rushed to the door and looked over to the counter. Zayn stood behind the counter, flipping through one of the product sample books.

"Hey Zayn," I smiled.

He looked up and smiled back, "Hi Ashley. What are you doing here?"

"To see you. Duh," I leaned against the counter and watched him.

"Well I have to copy these orders down so you might get a bit bored," He said before looking back down at the book.

"I'll be fine," I told him. I watched him flip through the pages and write things down on a piece of paper. Everything about him was beautiful. Even his writing. I quickly looked away when he noticed me staring at him. 

 "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I guess," I answered

"Where is Harry?" He asked.

"He went to Josh's house. He wouldn't want me at Josh's house," I told him.

"What do you mean?" He gave me a puzzled look.

"It's probably hard for him to mess around with Jessica knowing his girlfriend is around," I answered.

He looked around the store. "Give me just a minute," Zayn said. He grabbed the piece of paper and walked to the managers office.

I stood up and looked around the store waiting for Zayn to come back. It was empty. A few minutes later he returned and grabbed his jacket from underneath the counter. "Let's go," He said while walking towards the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"To my house. That is, if you want to go." He looked over at me.

"That sounds good to me," I told him.

What was happening? He wanted me to come over to his house. I had never been to his house. There was nothing wrong with me going over to his house though, right? We were just friends. There was nothing going on between us. There would never be anything going on between us.

I was completely wrong.