A New Direction

Chapter 10: Meet the Maliks

~(Zayn's POV)~

After the final bell rang, the boys went to their lockers, and met up in the lobby. Then they all went out to the parking lot and found the van, then climbed in.

"So, lads, how was your first day of school?" Asked Paul.

"It went really well for me. How about you guys?" Liam answered.

"Yeah, good for me, too," Niall agreed.

"Harry and I made a new friend!" Louis exclaimed.

"Good for you," Paul said, "What's her name?" There was an ooooh! and obnoxious laughter from Niall and Liam, and Zayn managed a smile. This spurred Louis and Harry into a debate/brag war, and Niall and Liam started telling Paul about how the day went. Zayn just tuned them all out and stared out at the unfamiliar buildings sliding past the window. He let his mind wander to all the hectic events of the past few days. From hopping off the plane, to moving in, to visiting his family (However briefly), to going to school... it was all proving very stressful, maybe even more so because the other boys were here. in the past few days, Zayn found himself wishing that he were alone. They were here to help him through, but they were all just as stressed out as he was, so the whole situation was just gaining friction.

"Hey Zayn," Paul said, pulling his attention back to the people in the car. "Would you want to go visit your grandfather again today? Your aunt called before I came to pick you up, and she said that now would be a good time, if you wanted to."

"Yeah, definetly," Zayn replied instantly. Paul smiled. "Ok then, you better call your aunt to tell her that you are coming, and that I'm dropping you off in a few minutes."

Zayn struggled to grab his new mobile out of his pocket and started dialing. The car fell completely silent as Zayn brought the phone to his ear. Once his aunt picked up, Zayn told her that he was coming, and she said that granddad couldn't wait, even though they had seen each other not two days ago, and then they hung up. The car was silent for a while, and Zayn wished that they would start talking and joking again as if nothing was wrong.

Thankfully, Liam broke the awkward silence. "So, um, what special class thingy do we have tomorrow?"

"COOKING!!!" Niall exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down in excitement. "Yes!" Harry cried, and reached over Louis to give Niall a high-five. "Aren't you jealous, Lou? Niall and I get to cook food! In school! As a class!" Harry bragged. "And then eat it!" Niall added, clearly barely containing his joy.

Louis just rolled his eyes, and added, "Yeah, and you better cook some for me."

"Hey, who said I had to? I'm the one taking the class, not you!" Harry pointed out.

"Well, you need to practice, right?" Louis countered.

"Yeah, as long as you trust me enough not to 'accidentally' poison it or anything..." Harry said sarcastically, triggering a signature extra-loud Niall laugh.

"Hey!" Louis protested, "Nice guys don't poison their best friends!" he whined.

"Hey! I would never poison my best mate Niall here!" Harry said cheerfully, putting an arm around Niall's shoulders as they both shot him smug grins. The whole car was sniggering now.

"Oh, it's ON!" Louis threatened over the laughter, just as the van stopped. The elation that was overflowing a moment ago suddenly drained out of the car as the boys realized where they were. Zayn sighed inwardly, then glanced out the window at the anticipated sight of his granddad's house. He mumbled a goodbye and pulled open the van door and slid out, hoisting his bookbag onto his shoulder. As he turned to close the door behind him, Paul twisted in the driver's seat and called to him.

"Zayn, just call or text me whenever, and I'll come get you. I don't care if it's in five minutes or five hours, just don't stay too late, ok?" He said with a weird tone in his voice, almost like he wasn't sure whether he should hide the concern in his voice or not.

"Alright, see you in a bit," Zayn said before he yanked the van door shut. When they had driven off, Zayn breathed a sigh of relief. The other boys' awkwardness about this whole thing was almost tangible. It always happened, whenever something about Zayn's granddad came up. It wasn't like he had even asked for them to come here with him, either. They were the ones who hatched this crazy scheme to 'support' him or whatever. They just had to figure out how to deal with it whenever it got awkward.

Zayn took a breath, shook those thoughts from his head and knocked on the wooden door. Someone on the other side called "Come in," probably his aunt. He opened the door and stepped inside. Indeed it was, his aunt was cooking something in the kitchen, and his little cousin Ammar was sitting at the table doing homework.

"Hi, Zayn," He said, looking up from his work.

"Hey, Ammar," Zayn replied, walking over to him. Ammar was working on math problems that seemed too complicated for a seventh grader.

"So, what sort of math teacher gives this kind of homework on the first day?" Zayn asked, ignoring the voice in the back of his head telling him to stop stalling.

"Well, actually we started school last week. The public schools are on a different schedule than the one you're going to." Ammar informed him.

"Oh," was Zayn's intelligent reply. His aunt, well, Ammar's mom, walked up to the two boys, wiping her hands on a towel. "Zayn, I think that Granddad is in the den watching TV with Sami, whenever you want to see him."

"Ok, thanks," Time to stop procrastinating. He turned around and walked into the den. The TV was on, playing old reruns with the volume turned low, because Samiyah, who was curled up on the couch, was listening to Granddad, who was gearing up to tell a story from his favorite spot in the armchair. Sami noticed Zayn's entrance and looked up at him, and Granddad followed her gaze.

"Zayn! I'm so glad to see you again! Come sit! I was just about to tell Samiyah the story of how her mother convinced your father to climb up on the roof to save her kitten from the banana tree! Well, it all started when that darn cat got outside..." He launched into the story. He was always the best at telling stories. His voice was strong and lively, his expressions shifting to match the mood of his words perfectly, but the best part of his storytelling was his hands. They flew through the air, accentuating his words and painting the picture of his tale. When he was telling stories, he was always the happiest that Zayn had ever seen him. When he was telling his stories, he seemed so alive. When he was telling stories, it was almost possible to forget that he was going to die.

Yes! An update finally! Sorry for it being so late and kinda short :( I was sick and didn't want to go spreading germs all over the computer, which my entire family shares XP Soo yeah. Welllll, you get a little hint of a backstory here, and maybe a sort-of almost-counts reason for 1D being in Wisconsin.... o_o soo yeah. That's pretty much all I have to say today. Comments and or votes my strawberries? Thank you much! :) Until Next Chapter, Caitlin