Chapter 3: 02

'I Knew You Were Trouble' - Taylor Swift

Unedited

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"ZAYN! ZAYN! Challo utho! Tera ek letter aya hai. Zara dekh. Aray chal uth!" shouted Zayn's mum as she barged into his room. Shereen sighed - her son slept like a corpse. Waking him up was one difficult task.

(Come on get up! A letter came for you. Take a look. Hey come on up you get!)

"If you aren't up by the time I count to five, I shall pour water on you, sacchi!" she hollered. (Honestly!)

This awoke Zayn quickly - his mother's threats weren't to be taken lightly. He rolled out of bed, dashing about his room to grab his uniform and legged it to the shower. Once under the lukewarm water he sighed in contentment. The whole week consisted of tensions between his friends, community service and catching up on coursework.

He looked at his reflection. His silver-grey eyes once filled with mirth were dull, emotionless. He had scars in his brows, his stubble giving him a haggard look. He'd lost weight- his cheekbones seemed to protrude and the edge of his jawline was sharp. He even thought his nose looked more pointy. Possibly due to the increasing number of lies he had been spewing. The ends of his thick wavy hair tickled the bottom of his neck, causing him to shiver and close his eyes.

When was the last time he read Quran or visited the Masjid? He barely got by praying 5 times daily. He was so distracted he didn't even need to fast to control his sexual urges. He wasn't married so all he could do was suppress it and distract himself - that's right no porn or masturbation. When he fasted, all he could solely think of satisfying was his hunger, not desires. He made sure to pretend to put food in his bag in the mornings so no one would sus out he was fasting - he was still brought up in a conservative household after all. Now being distracted by his fights, he didn't have time to think of anything, he came home only to collapse on his bed. He didn't give a flying fvck anymore.

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"Beta, you took so long that I opened your letter from your college. Acha jaldi nashta ka phir isko par," voiced Ammi. (Dear), (Okay quickly have your breakfast then read this) (Mum).

Zayn grabbed four french toast with tea and unfolded the paper. It read:

"Milton High Sixth Form College is proud to announce they will hosting an International Day this year! For the next month we will be celebrating all the different cultures of our college students and staff with a break from studies. All courses and lessons will be put on hold for the duration of this exciting event! The main building is now repaired and all students are to report there...."

Zayn stopped reading there. All he could think of was the month-long break from his studies. Heck, he wasn't as connected to his culture as his parents would like him to be but he wasn't a coconut- brown on the outside and white on the inside. He spoke and understood Pashto moderately, due to his father's Pashtun roots, as with Panjabi from his Panjabi mother. He could also read and write in Urdu as he was Pakistani and learnt 2 languages: Arabic for he was Muslim and Farsi as his school required him to learn a language and this was the easiest considering the languages he already knew. At hone his sisters and parents often wore Asian clothes- he wore them every  for every Jumuah (Friday prayer) too. They also mostly ate Desi food at home and spoke in their native languages sometimes too as their mother insisted. She even hung up a Chinese proverb quoting,

"To forget ones ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without root."

So whatever assignment they may have for this he knew he'd ace it. He could finally relax and sort out the tensions in his life and get his shît together.

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"Just take that seat over there Mr Ahmed - yup right there where people from your own ethnicity are grouped together - yes just there quite hard to miss such a large group. How splendid! The more the merrier, eh? Perhaps, wait hold on - hmm, let me check your form, yes, yes marvellous! Oooh I often do just indulge in some history now and then - who could resist such intriguing events - and I know you have quite a lovely history there and well - of course - I'm sure you know.  You know, not calling you ignorant of your own roots but you know youngsters nowadays - absolutely pity - they have no regard for such and, dear me look how I've strayed from what I was saying. Oh dear, what was I saying?! See, Mr Ahmed this is why one should never chat too much and - oh my! I recall one occasion where I was -" rambled Mr O'Malley until he was abruptly cut off but a rather frustrated Zayn.

"I need to go. A little short on time. Thank you." he interrupted, gathering his forms and hastily walking away from the energetic professor.

Zayn sighed and placed his belongings on a table just on the outskirts of the group - he didn't get a chance to grab a quick bite because of  the chatty man. He checked his watch to see he still had fifteen minutes. Better make the most of it, he thought. His friends weren't here as they were in their respective groups but his cousins would be there - Shahzad and Ahmad.

He didn't mind Ahmad - he was completely chill but Shahzad on the other hand? The fool was always doing weird shît or trying to run away from the consequences. Zayn didn't mind it anymore however, it kept the trio preoccupied- unlike before he'd always run away from his first cousin. His cousin would come up with some sort of mischief that'd prevent Zayn from eating and food was one of the most important things in his life.

He got up and turned, quickly swivelling his head to check the clock again and -

SMACK!

Something - well someone to be exact - barrelled into his chest, scattering the papers they were carrying into the air around them. The impact made Zayn stumble and trip over the leg of his chair, landing on his derrière with that someone in his arms. A girl to be exact - she was rather tiny. The scent of lavender filled his nostrils. Zayn raised his head, an insult at the tip of his tongue, only to falter on his gaze fell on her.

Her smooth caramel skin managed to glisten into the dull lights, slightly tinted red hinting she'd been running. Her full round lips pink from exhilaration. Her little turned up nose with a slight bump on the bridge, her full lashes resting against her cheekbones as her head was against his chest.

He would've stayed in a trance until she wiggled in his arms - well she was more laying down on top of him while he was only half upright. The movement near his crotch, the close proximity with an attractive girl and her scent threatened to wake up junior down there. She raised her head and he was met with a pair of luminous emeralds eyes, peaking up at him in confusion and embarrassment. She paused for a moment until she scrunched her eyebrows and cleared her throat.

It was then he realised he'd clasped her waist during the fall and had not yet let go. He awkwardly cleared his throat and attempted to stand up- key word attempted. He lost his balance and fell back into a sitting position only for the girl to end up in a straddling position on his lap. His body was hyper aware of her, in other words he had a bloody boner. This pissed him off, causing him to abruptly hold her close and stand up, his hands slipping off her body as he put some much needed distance between them.

Her hands hurriedly flitted up to fix her black hijab, pulling it down over her bust and fixing it on her shoulders. He observed her as she smoothed out her white uniform shirt, showing hints of the tiny waist he'd had hid arms wrapped around. She pulled down her black jersey skirt till her ankles and bent down to tie her Puma shoes.

Man you didn't miss a thing, said that one infuriating voice in his head. Ya Allah (Oh God), he thought. Never had a girl done this. Yes he had experienced a fvcking boner before but only due to his body changing, never a girl.

He hurriedly turned around and pulled his shirt out his trousers and yanked it down over his crotch - unfortunately not doing much to hide the tent in his trousers. Crap. He turned and briskly walked to his chair and flopped down, pulling his backpack onto his lap. He didn't look at her. No, he couldn't. Lower your gaze, he repeatedly changed in his head. No more than one look, he continued, discreetly trying to regulate his breathing.

Curiosity took over him; he raised his head to look at her. Man he's never get tired of looking at someone so fine. Yeah, she was hella attractive, but that didn't mean he felt anything for her or was going to. It legit had been a few minutes since her met her but it felt like he had just reached a whole milestone in his life. As if feeling his gaze on her, she looked up, startled to see such an intense and questioning gaze on her. She cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry for bumping into you - I was looking behind me. Not the smartest of ideas but I was trying to get away from someone." she spoke, linking her hands together and not meeting his eyes for longer than quick glance. He didn't care - at least she wouldn't catch him assessing her.

"It's cool," his voice coming out more deeper and rougher than he thought. Fuck my life. What the actual fuck did she do to me. This ain't never happened before, his mind whirred.

He cringed inwardly; she probably thought he was trying to hit on her by deepening his voice - it was obviously not his regular voice- but he hadn't anticipated the drop in his pitch.

She finally held his gaze, and he found himself fascinated by her eyes. He wasn't too far from her to see how the outer parts of her iris blended to a more lime green, fading to a hazel before the outer ring of black. There were small dark green specks dispersed over a grassy green. He could've sworn he saw her pupils dilate before she broke eye contact and said,

"I'm going to the canteen to get some food, do you want anything?" she inquired.

This time when she raised her head back up , her face was void of any vulnerability or hesitation, her posture straight; one eyebrow slightly lifted.

Fine, he thought. If that's how it'll be, that's fine bbygirl, he laughed in his head. She was trying to come off as stern and to the point, but he couldn't help but see how adorable she looked; how they were the same height while she was standing and he was sitting down. He bit his cheek to stop himself from smirking but he was sure she didn't miss the way his mouth twitched.

"Yes, please. I was going to go until you bumped into me-" and gave me a fvcking boner so now I can't bloody walk around with it on fvcking display, "- so, just grab me any sandwich, yeah? And here's the money," he replied, handing over ten quid. He actually would've gone himself but circumstances prevented him from doing so.

"Sure, no problem," and with that she turned and walked away. Don't look, don't look, don't look, he chanted repetitively as he tried his best to not to at her retreating figure, knowing his eyes would trail down to her bunda.

Normally, he didn't find it too hard not to check a girl out - he was raised to have modesty in him - he had no right to stare at them and make them uncomfortable with whatever they were wearing. He'd never focus on it too much, letting his attention go elsewhere. Now that she was the reason for his situation, he found himself digging his nails into his palms to reign in some control over himself. He must've stayed like that for longer than he assumed, for he snapped out of his trance when he heard her approaching, sandwich in hand.

She placed his sandwich in front of him, with her coffee in her hand.

"Here's your change," she held her hand out.

"Naa you keep it cuz you got it for me,"

"But-"

"You can't refuse a gift as a Muslim. Keep it."

She huffed and muttered shukriya, before walking away. (Thankyou)

He ate his sandwich, debating on whether he should join the other people in his group. While debating on it, that same voice interrupted his thoughts,

"So, umm, if you read the papers you'd see that I was assigned to be your partner. You know, for the competition."

Great. Pretty face was now his desk buddy.

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Sooo they met! I didn't wanna stretch that out cuz I want to focus on how it progresses and ngl it'd be kinda boring as well. 2260 words.