TAINTED | Zayn Malik

Chapter 37| Responsive

The very long car ride to the gala was filled with low talks of the strategies they would take, if anything were to happen and which floors would be the safest to leave out of and so much. At one point I was listening carefully just so I can stay within the loop, but after a while I just decided to lean back and focus on myself. My thoughts being very determined to come back, making me quite weary of the sketchy bitch in the front seat. Denzel sitting beside me far away, as if it was meant to be a dig towards me. I've been through worse so his reasons of not wanting to be near me didn't bother me one bit, I would actually not rather being constantly bumped, touched and spoken too. The constant talks of who to shoot, what to take and everything made me quite sick that eventually I had to roll down the window. My stomach feeling queasy of all that I had to encounter before, I just hoped tonight wouldn't end up in a disaster. But I knew luck was never on my side, and Zayn wasn't exactly a gentle person when it comes to his respect or what he needed. If you were in his way, you would be moved forcefully... dead or alive and that's what scared me the most about him. He didn't really seem to care about the relevance of people's life in general, no one else outside of his circle was valuable to him. I guess I was just thankful of being the key to whatever he needed, also Taylor and Harry being another source of that. Harry being a new friend to me, but it didn't take long to earn both of us to earn each other trust. It also had to be due to the fact Harry was an open book to me, which could be a good and a bad thing. I never knew what he was going to reveal to me, but it made me happy that he saw a part of me that seemed warmth and comfort. Most people in that house seemed to lack in that category, hell even I knew a ton more about Harry than I thought I did with Taylor. Everyone else just either doesn't like me, doesn't trust me or just wishes that I was gone already. If only they knew I felt the same exact way, I wasn't too happy about this arrangement. But I refused to let it dwell on my mind and play with my emotions, I had enough on my plate to worry about.

The car stopped a few feet away from the entrance, Zayn slowly pulling into a dark alley beside the house. Many of the cars were lined up outside of the gate, waiting to be allowed inside which made me realize that it took me not being there placing a hold on everyone else's entrance. Before my mother would just start the entire thing without me being in the line to greet anyone, usually she would have everyone line up by the door and shake hands to greet people that decided to grace us with their presence. It usually stopped after no more than a hundred and thirty people, but I was never there to actually witness this happen. Most of the time she didn't find me important enough to be introduced as everyone walked past to speak as they announced who they were to my mother. I was once such an unimportant factor to this, so the fact now she refuses to start without my entrance pleased me in ways that shouldn't be in consideration of loving to most. But that was just my own ways of being petty, no one would get my reasoning behind most things. I will get there soon enough, she can just wait for me to arrive or start it without me for all I care. It would make this process a lot easier....

Zayn stopped the car a few inches inside, flicking off the headlights as people walked past in expensive gowns, exaggerating in loud conversations to express their happiness about tonight. I almost wanted to snort and roll my eyes if it didn't cause me any attention in this car, I sighed leaning back as my eye flicked over the rearview mirror. I paused once I seen Zayn's eyes looking back at me intensely before N'dra pulled his attention me, the end of my lips twitched as I looked away facing the window as they talked quietly to themselves.