Paranoiac [Ziall]

1.

It was a dark and stormy day, one of the worst Bradford had seen in years, when Niall and Louis arrived.

The two didn't look like much. The shorter lad, Niall, was blonde and had the clearest blue eyes you would ever see. The older, Louis, was presumably his brother even if they didn't look the same in the slightest. He had brown hair, and his eyes were also blue, but deep as the sea. They didn't dress weirdly, nor did they look as if they had something wrong with them. Two normal looking boys, really.

They did, however, manage to turn more than a few heads. Very seldom did their school see new students, and it was even more seldom that they stuck around. Many assumed that Niall and Louis wouldn't last long here.

Zayn shared his English class with Louis. He's heard that the boy is a senior, and he himself was only a junior- naturally, he assumed that the older lad just hadn't gotten the credit at his old school. The teacher didn't make a big fuss of showing him to the class. She simply directed him to his seat in the back of the room, near the window.

It was only natural that Zayn observed the newcomer. He watched closely, yet there wasn't too much to see. Louis kept his gaze directed out the window for most of the hour. Not that there was a whole lot to see, other than the courtyard and the pouring rain. He had a notebook open on his desk, not that he was taking notes or anything- but Zayn was curious nonetheless. He attempted leaning over a slight, to see if there was anything on the page.

There was. A black scribble running along the margins. He was unable to make out exactly what it was, if it was supposed to be something. He came to the conclusion that Louis was rather dull, and looked away- trying to focus on the lesson.

At lunch, Liam announced that Niall was in his Latin class.

"Not entirely sure why," he shrugged, poking at the mass of food on his tray with a fork. "The teacher gave him a knowledge check of sorts to check what he already knows, and he seems like he's pretty damn fluent."

"Hm," Harry grunted. "Maybe he took it at his old school."

"What's he like?" Zayn inquired.

Liam chewed his food once, twice, before answering. "He's not really like anything. I don't know- just a normal kid. He's rather quiet."

Zayn sighed quietly. He decided that being quiet and uninteresting must run in the family. "His brother is in my English class. He's not that interesting."

"Great," Harry grumbled. "Everytime we get new students, they either leave within a few months or are as interesting as dry grass. They're probably going to be both." He paused, took a quick glance around the cafeteria, and his eyes settled on the table where the brothers in question sat. Neither boy had food, and they didn't seem to be speaking to each other. They were alone. "Christ- they're already isolating themselves."

Zayn sucked on his lower lip in anticipation, trying not to make it obvious that he was interested in the boys. They seemed to be attached at the hip- Niall had been waiting for Louis after class, and if that didn't say "close", Zayn wasn't sure what did. He didn't know any siblings their age who still did that.

"You're not being very optimistic about this, Haz," Liam frowned, and Harry scowled. "They could be very nice people, for all we know."

"Right, so then they'll be just as dull as you are."

Zayn stopped watching the new boys to focus on his mates. Liam rolled his eyes, rather used to the way Harry seemed to always be putting people down. Sometimes he did it on purpose, others not, but he didn't seem to be able to hold a conversation without offending someone. Zayn had known Harry for a few years longer than Liam had, so he had heard just about every joke in the book at this point.

It was also solid fact that Harry was probably the biggest pessimist in the entire bloody world. This was a concept that Liam hasn't quite grasped yet, apparently. Though smart, he most definitely didn't catch on quickly.

"Hush up, Harry," Zayn scowled. "The only personality you have is the dick inside of you."

"Should be speaking for yourself, love."

This got a snicker out of Liam, to Zayn's utter surprise. Nonetheless, it did momentarily shut him up, because shit. He always forgot how sharp Harry's replies were. Because he was Zayn's best mate, they usually didn't hold back on insults.

He was about to shoot back when there was suddenly a loud slamming noise, and a nearly inhuman screech echoing through the cafeteria.

"You don't fucking touch him."

The three boys looked for the source of the noise, but it didn't take long to find. A crowd was surrounding the table that the new boys had been seated at, and there was quite the commotion- yelling, or more like cheering. Zayn could see that the older boy had his arm in a strong grip by one of the football guys, but in half a second, their situation was reversed and the lad's arm was twisted behind his back at a rather uncomfortable looking angle.

"Christ," he could hear Harry hissing under his breath as Louis smashed the lad's face into their table, and he could hear the cracking sound from where they were seated. He couldn't spot Niall anywhere, and it further peaked his curiousity. "Wonder who the hell pissed in his cereal."

Zayn didn't want to know, but he could take a pretty good guess that the jocks had been messing with Lou's little brother. He was protective over his own siblings, so he could understand that much. He's not sure he would break someone's nose on a table for them, however.

When the cafeteria monitors made it over, he had lost track of how many times he'd seen Louis smash the boy's face- he'd done it over and over, and if Zayn had to guess, he would say that the poor lad was probably out cold. He arched his neck a slight to get a better view of the table, and he could definitely see a little pool of blood. He shuddered, and settled with watching Louis get dragged out of the cafeteria, while two more people had to take the jock to the nurse's.

If Louis had intented to make an impression on everyone, he had. The buzz was completely alive in the cafeteria, and Zayn could hear the people at the next table over speaking about it. From what he was hearing, he had been correct. The boy had been messing with Niall, and apparently something about that had set Louis off.

Thinking about Niall only peaked Zayn's curiousity further- the blonde seemed to have completely disappeared.

"I'd hate to be on that kid's bad side," as expected, it was Harry who ended up breaking the silence at their table. "Like...shit."

"If that's the case, you better never talk to him," Zayn replied, just glad that the tension seemed to be dissolving. He could feel his skin crawling- something about the whole situation had just unsettled him. The new boys just didn't strike a good chord with him. "Or it's inevitable."

In a strange way, Zayn felt he might end up being right.