Crooked Neighbor, Crooked Heart

"Hmm Zayn ..." She meets my eyes. "I think I'll call you Z instead." She says it like she's giving a name to her new pet hamster or something. What the fuck is wrong with this girl?

"And what can I call you?"

"By my name." She does that half smirk again.

"Yeah no shit." I reply as rudely as possible complete with a dramatic eye roll.

She doesn't seem offended and doesn't react to my sarcasm. Instead she laughs.

Laughs.

And yeah, it's sorta an amazing sound.

She leans forward and turns her head a bit to the side so I can only see a portion of her smiling face. She looks at me sideways with a smile that reaches all the way to her eyes before catching her breath and responding, "Call me Ava."

With that she stands up and begins to walk away, leaving me speechless and scrambling to catch up.