Life With Mr. Malik (ON HOLD)

Chapter 19: Sexy Six

At seven in the morning the next day, the whole family was in the garage, helping me load the car I was taking to University. The one Zayn got me, to be exact.

Even Connor and Elliot were there but instead of lending a hand, they were taking turns hitting my dad's punching bag. Or at least they were trying to. Instead of aiming hits at the bag, Connor ended up hitting Elliot in frustration, earning them a glare from my mom. Mom was extremely anti-violence.

One time, dad was forcing her to slap Connor because he ate the Gingerbread house three days before Christmas. Mom tried to talk him out of it, but it was no use so she did what she was told. Personally, she looked more like she was checking how bouncy Connor's butt was, not slapping him.

"Call every weekend, okay? Or any time you need somebody to talk to." Mom said, turning to face me as she gave my arm a light squeeze.

"Payphone hours are from 7 am to pm." I added helpfully. "I checked the school's official website."

Dad and Austin slammed the trunk shut before approaching my mom and me. Austin tried his best to look like he hadn't been crying even if I knew all too well the sobs coming from the bathroom were his. He's one of the star players in the track and field varsity at his University which means he has a really tall and strong frame.

But he's a softie.

"Take care of yourself." Austin said before adding, "They say if you make a friend on the first day, you'll be fine."

See?

Softie.

"Kelsey and I met on the second week but okay," I said before approaching the three of them for a group hug.

They wrapped their arms around me and pretty soon, Connor and Elliot joined because they, in Connor's words, "should experience love."

"Miles, you be a good girl." Dad said as they released me. "Don't do anything you might regret later on."

I flinched because that sounded easier said than done. I'm not saying I'm really stubborn when it comes to policies . . .

Okay, fine. I am. So staying out of trouble was going to be a really difficult task for me, but I nodded anyway as a form of reassurance to my family. I didn't want them taking me out of school before I even got there.

"Just pray I don't feel the need to rip out anyone's intestines and use them as a jumprope."

In the middle of my sentence, both mom and dad had covered my little brothers' ears.

"Miles . . ." They said in unison.

After we said our final goodbyes, I hopped in the car and drove off to a new chapter in my life.

College.

The drive took an hour and a half which wasn't so bad, considering how some of my High School friends (wow, Miles has high school friends!) said their house to their university was a three-hour drive. I didn't really mind it because there were a lot of fast food chains and by the time I was close to the school, I had had about four burgers.

Plus, it was an open road and if I took the top down my convertible, I felt like I was living the American dream with my hair being blown by the breeze and all. Like, all I needed was to turn up the radio and you would think I was trying to copy Katy Perry in her Teenage Dream music video.

When I got there, I felt a Harry Potter atmosphere because Bradford University looked and felt like Hogwarts, making my inner Potterhead squirm with delight. The buildings looked like ancient palaces and right in the middle of the entire thing was an old tree. I swear, I was practically resisting the urge to scream the first paragraph of the first book in the series.