Exception (Harry Styles)

Chapter 4

"Hey man. What's up!" Louis's loud mouth rings out before he even gets all the way up to the table. Zayn looks up and smiles a little as he gives Louis the "bro shake," or at least that's what I call it. "Nothing much, just trying to get this graffiti to work right. Who you have hiding back there?"  I am standing behind Louis, a nervous wreck. I feel like a little puppy lost in a huge city.

"You know I won't bite right?" Zayn says as he leans over a little bit to look at me behind Louis. I peek around and part of me relaxes. He has a friendly smile across his lips, and his brown eyes and long lashes sparkle with amusement. I laugh a little and nod my head yes as I step from behind Louis shyly. My eyes automatically fall on the big piece of paper  in front of him. It's just downright beautiful. Colors of red, black, blue, and white fill the paper. They are mixed and blended together in a beautiful way. I can't really make out what it says at first, but i can tell it is two words.

Zayn must notice my staring and turns the paper facing me. I stare at it for a minute, then I see it. Mixed in with the colors that seem to match so well together, are two words, plus a small letter A in between them. I look at the letters that spell Live a Little. I smile at the piece of art. It's simple, but at the same time has meaning to it. Zayn must have read my mind because I hear his voice answer my thoughts. "It's suppose to mean to let go, stop worrying, and live your life while you are still here. Don't fret on the meaningless things, forget the bad, enjoy the good, and don't be afraid to put yourself out there." I look up at him as he said these words. Maybe he is right, but he just does not know me. I will remember those words that he just said, and I'll try to put them into action. However, in my life, things are not that easy.

"That's amazing." I say, and mean it. I would have never guessed that Zayn was that creative, or had that kind of thoughts running through his mind. "Thanks, it was just a little something I started, might as well finish it, yeah?" He smiles and turns the paper back around to him. I notice he is still using the pencil i gave him on the bus. I laugh in my head at the sight. Zayn looks like your average bad boy, and the pencil he is using has pink flowers all over it. Then i realize, Zayn may look the part, but he is very far from it on the inside. On the inside he cares.

All of a sudden the late bell rings and Mrs. Ellie comes onside the classroom. "Would y'all like to sit over here today?" Zayn asks. Before I can respond, Louis speaks over me. "Sure thing, I'll go get our stuff," and with that, he walked off. I restrain myself from "accidentally" sticking my foot out, and watching Louis face plant. I know he was just trying to help, and was probably thinking I would decline. I sit down in the seat in front of Zayn as Louis comes back with our things.

"Damn Avery, what do you have in here, it weighs a ton!" Louis exclaims dramatically, making me laugh.

"Aw, it's not that heavy Louis, your just a little weakling." I say back, making him laugh just as much.

"I am not a weakling," he answers as he flops down in the chair beside me.

The rest of the class is spent with me and Zayn ganging up on Louis and his deformed drawings. Before I know it, it's almost time for class to end. We go put our artwork up, and then go pack our stuff up.

I have not had that much fun in a class in a while. Zayn looks intimidating but he is really nice and very creative. Something I did notice throughout class, was his phone. It kept going off from text messages. Almost everyone texts in art class because Mrs. Ellie doesn't mind if your phone is out, just that you do your work. With Zayn though, there was something off. Every time his phone went off, he would quickly read it. His eyebrows would come together, and a slight frown would take place on his once happy expression.

I didn't say anything, I didn't want to ruin.... our friendship? I don't know if that is what you would call it or not. Making a new friend seems foreign in my mind, but Louis did practically force me over there, so maybe it paid off.