Rogue (Zayn Malik)

Chapter 1: Stranger

Anya's POV

The path that led to the obscured place that Ellie was leading me to, was scary to say the least. It was past dawn though the sky still stayed inked with beautiful colours that I knew were going to be on display only for a little while in the next hour--it was typical New York summer where the sun set at eight at the night.

"Right this way." Niall, Ellie's boyfriend motioned for us.

I wasn't really sure why I was running as the third wheel to their so-called alone time but I did not have anything else to do on a Saturday night and accompanying them here was the brightest I could get.

"I'm so excited." Ellie shrieked as she padded a little faster and linked arms with Niall while I sulked behind the love-struck pair.

Love-struck was one tag, another could be obsessed and trust me all their public displays of affection made me want to puke.

"Who knew you had such a violent streak." His voice was filled with amusement similar to my thoughts.

The dark alley of Brooklyn that we were crossing in order to reach the place Niall was taking us, led to an Underground. Undergrounds were the infamous illegal fights that happened in the secluded areas on this side of the town. See, the dark streets of Brooklyn were ruled by gangs and since I grew up on the out skirts of the sparkling city of New York or better yet Secaucus, this information was all I had.

"So who's playing today? Who's side are we on?"

"Liam, from the Savage Skulls and-"

The couple were starting to murmur irrelevant ideas for the upcoming match that I was totally tuning out. She, Ellie, was elder to me by just a few years and worked as a resident doctor at the Belle Vue Hospital while I completed my masters degree in social work about a year ago. Now, I worked for a government company that aimed towards rehabilitation and welfare of the homeless in the city.

"I'm so excited for this match, Niall." My crazy friend shrieked for what seemed like the hundredth time and I could feel her boyfriend get all lovey-dovey at mentioning it so many times while all that I wanted to do was smack her for it. Niall and her had been dating for almost a year now and I sensed them getting a lot serious with the relationship even within such less a time.

"So how far is it?"

My feet in my new shoes were starting to get sore and getting a shoe-bite wasn't exactly on my to-do plans tonight.

"Few more minutes, I believe." Niall waved his hand above his head without looking at me walking behind.

"It's okay Anya, keep walking." Ellie added.

Like I had another option.

I fixed my loose dark hair back into my messy hairdo that I learnt from a YouTube how-to video last week when I had too much time on my hand. My attire was one of those that glorified my lazy days; a creamy pink blouse teamed up with dark jeans and suede sandals. I had barely spent minutes over it considering I had no one to actually impress where I was going thus my nerdy glasses that sat on my nose like a crown on a princess' head. I was the kind that hid behind the huge glasses, too afraid to open up to the world and get hurt. But I guess, that was just being philosophical--for no apparent reason.

"Here we are." Niall announced like we had reached the peak of the highest mountain in Himalaya--I would know the name if I had ever paid attention in my geography class. Honestly, historical subjects and geography were always my weakness.

"We walked seven blocks for this?" My frown was inevitable given the shabbiness that the place was dipped in.

Both Ellie and Niall chose to ignore me.