Shadowood- H.S

eight |8|

Song of the chapter:

Mad world- Adam Lambert

Enjoy!

Xx Naomi

-

Zayn watches me as I put some new books away onto their according shelves. I try not to look up at him, knowing that he might be staring at me if I did so. As I move from the rolling cart filled with books to the shelves, I feel his eyes following in sync. I try my best to stay calm, tempted from his presence just to look over and strain to see the tattoo on the back of his neck.

"So," I start, trying to make conversation. "How long have you been working here?"

"A while." He doesn't hesitate to answer.

I continue to avoid gazing over at him, knowing that he's still watching me. As I move books from the cart and onto shelves, I try to think of something to say, something that will eventually lead to the tattoo on the back of his neck.

"Do you have any hobbies?" I casually ask.

He sighs and I hear him stand straight up from the old book shelf he was previously leaning against. I swallow hard as I feel the distance between us decreasing. He grabs a book out of my hand and flips through the pages.

My eyes finally land on him as he goes to lean back against the shelf, still flipping through the book. His body is real lean and tall, but he's pretty well built.

"Is this an interview or something?" He asks.

I furrow my eyebrows and cross my arms, a tendency I have when I defend myself. "No, I'm just curious," I say, which is absolutely true.

"Curious about what?" He shuts the book, looks up at me, and gives me his full attention.

"I don't know, I mean I've lived here for a while, and I've never seen you before." I shift my weight onto my other leg, still staring at him for an answer.

"I thought you just moved here?"

"I moved back here, I've lived here my whole life up until last year when I loved to Manhattan for about eleven months, but we just recently moved back."

"How old are you?" He asks.

"Nineteen," I reply.

"And you still live with your parents?"

"Yes, I'm going to community college until I can get into a real university." I watch his face as I talk to him, his features have softened a bit since I first started questioning him, but I can tell he's working his way around my questions, as if he doesn't want me to know something.

"Makes sense," he says. "Where at?"

"Lakewood Community college," I say, but am quick to avert the subject back to my questions. "Are you going to school? How old are you?"

"Twenty," he says without hesitation. "And no, I never finished high school and I don't plan on going to college."

"Oh," the volume of my voice slightly decreases. I feel kind of sad for him, I can't imagine my life without school. Yes it sucks and I hate it, but I have no idea what I would be doing with my life without it.

Zayn doesn't say anything else so I turn back around and continue to put books away on the shelves, leaving the conversation as it is.

After about five minutes, Zayn grabs a stack of the books and walks over to another part of the book store and begins to put the books away. We're both silent, the only noise coming from the shuffling of books and the classical music that Mr. and Mrs. Chesapeake play quietly throughout the small store.