Storms {z.m.}

Chapter 28

Chapter 28 – Christine

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew me and Zayn could never be friends, but now that he is sitting across from me at this Starbucks pouring his heart out to me and  rubbing my cheek with the back of his hand, I am convinced of this fact.

I can never just be Zayn’s friend. As much as I know that it’s smarter to just stay as far away from him for however long he’s in Bradford, I know I won’t be able to do it. And as far as keeping my feelings in check when I’m around him, if he keeps doing things like rubbing my cheek so softly, I don’t think I’ll be able to do that either.

Every nerve in my body urges me to lean over and plant my lips on his; to use my lips to remove the frown from his. I use all my strength to keep myself from doing this, but instead I lean into his hand to stop him from pulling it away.

His eyes are full of regret and I can tell he’s waiting for my reply to his open-heart confession. I open my mouth to speak although I don’t know what I’m going to say, but instead I hear another girl’s voice.

“Well, well, well,” the American accent makes its way into my ears. Zayn quickly pulls his hand back and  places it on his coffee cup. I look up to see Poppy standing over our booth with a wide smirk on her face.

“Poppy,” I say barely audibly. I normally wouldn’t be this shocked to see her, but something about the look on her face sends chills down my spine.

“When were you gonna tell me you had a new beau, C?” she says in a playful tone, but I can sense the ice in her words as she eyes Zayn up and down.

“He’s not my…” I say at the same time as Zayn tells her we’re just friends.

 “I’m Za…” Zayn begins before I quickly shoot him a death glare. What’s the point of being this covert about leaving the house if you’re just going to introduce yourself to everyone? “Javadd,” he finishes.

Damn it. I know it’s not his fault that I decided to use his middle name to tell Poppy our story, but I can’t help but be furious he couldn’t use the name Stephen again.

Poppy’s face turns from confusion to shock and then back to amused mischief. I don’t know what’s gotten into her but she is scaring me today. I try to think back to the last time I saw her at the party but my memories are still blurry.

“Oh, Javadd, I’ve heard so much about you from Christine! All good things, of course! How’s, Oxford, is it?” she asks in an exaggerated manner. I shoot him a “go with it” look and pray he catches on.

“Oxford is lovely, thanks,” Zayn says quickly and looks into his cup again. He looks just as uncomfortable as I do.

“Am I crazy, or are did I see the other night when I picked up Christine? Are you her neighbor?” she asks him playfully. The fact that she’s talking to him makes me uneasy enough as it is, but her talking about me as if I wasn’t even here makes me angry. This mix of emotions is not sitting well in my stomach and I just want Poppy to go away immediately.

I can see Zayn look to me to help him answer her question, but I’m just looking at my fingernails as I pick off the nail polish. My stomach is turning and I begin to regret even coming here tonight.

“My mum is, yeah,” he responds sounding confused.

“Well, maybe I’ll see you around before you’re back to college,” she says and winks at me. She places a hand on Zayn’s shoulder and gives it a little squeeze before walking away. What the hell was that?