Chapter 27 Ten Years Earlier
TEN YEARS EARLIER
Icrack my locker open at the same time a loud chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ starts from somewhere behind me. Balloons spill out of my locker, one bumping into my face before I flap it out of the way with a laugh.
“Anna, what the heck?”
Still singing, she jumps out from her hiding space behind a pillar and wraps her arms around me.
“Happy birthdayyyyyyy to youuuuu,” she finishes with a beam before letting me go and holding me at arm’s distance. “You don’t look a day over sixteen.”
I chuckle and release myself, turning back to my locker to fish out the rest of the balloons to get to my books. “I haven’t been seventeen for a whole day yet!”
“Precisely. Now hurry up and get your books or we’ll be late for Chem.” Anna picks up her own bag and swings it over her shoulder. “What took you so long, anyway? I’ve been hiding here like an idiot for the last forty-five minutes!”
“My dad made me birthday pancakes. It’s tradition.
The only time Mum lets him in the kitchen.
” I laugh, smiling at the memory of Dad flipping pancakes over the stove this morning like a pro.
He’s made me pancakes for breakfast for as long as I can remember, and it’s always the best part of my birthday.
I grab what I need and am about to slam my locker shut when I notice a small, scribbled note that looks like it was slipped through the crack of the door.
Meet me at our spot for lunch, birthday girl.
My heart soars at the familiar scrawl.
“Hello? Lover girl?” Anna waves a hand in front of my face and I realise with a blush she’s been talking to me. I slip the note into my pocket.
“Sorry, what did you say?”
Anna rolls her eyes, but there’s a hint of a smile playing on her bow lips. “I said, Shakespeare over here,” she nods at the pocket that carries my note from Zayn, “has already booked you for lunch so I’ll have to give you your present at my house tonight.”
“Oh, you didn’t have to get me anything!” I say, my blush deepening at the mention of Shakespeare. I never told Anna what happened between Zayn and I in the library that day, but his sweet words will be branded into my brain until the day I die.
“Of course I did, you’re my best friend.”
“The very best.” I slip my hand into hers and we head to chemistry, discussing the night Anna has planned.
It’s just a small gathering with us, Zayn and Weasley, but I’ve never been more excited to spend my birthday with my favourite people.
When we walk into the chemistry lab, I’m cut off by a large body that steps out in front of me, blocking my path.
“Heard it’s your birthday today, gorgeous.”
Daniel Sanders smiles down at me, and I give him a small smile back. He’s been weirdly nice lately, going out of his way to speak to me or send small compliments my way. I don’t know what to think of it, especially as he knows that Zayn and I are together.
“Happy birthday,” he says a moment later when I don’t respond.
“Thanks.” I go to move around him, but he side-steps with me.
“Any special plans tonight?”
I eye him curiously, but his ice-blue eyes seem genuine as they reflect back at me.
“Just going round to Anna’s,” I reply, looking round his shoulder to where Anna has taken our usual seats at the back.
“Right,” he nods, tucking his hands into his pockets. “Your boyfriend get you something nice, then?”
I look back at him, a frown playing around my brows. Daniel knows Zayn’s living situation, knows that Zayn can’t afford to spend much money on birthday gifts. Why would he ask me that?
“I’m not sure,” I respond, not wanting to discuss this with Daniel. I’m not expecting anything from Zayn, and spending time with him is the best gift I could receive anyway. “I haven’t seen him yet. I better take my seat before class starts.”
“Have a nice day,” he says as I walk around him, still confused by his unusually pleasant behaviour.
Anna is already unpacking her stuff when I drop my bag beside her.
“What did that asshole want?” she asks, glaring daggers over my shoulder toward where I assume Daniel has taken his seat.
“To wish me a happy birthday,” I reply, removing my pencil case from my bag and setting it on the desk.
“I don’t trust him.”
I turn to face her, a frown still marring my brow.
“He apologised to me for what he said about Zayn that day,” I say, reaching down for my books while remembering the time Daniel, a few days after I met Zayn, cornered me after this very class and said he was sorry for being such an asshole.
“I haven’t heard him say anything negative about Zayn since. ”
Anna isn’t convinced. “Yes, but he didn’t apologise to Zayn.”
Why did that not occur to me before now?
“You’re right.” I glance back over at Daniel, who’s speaking quietly to his friend beside him. His friend laughs at whatever he said, and Daniel relaxes back into his seat with a grin on his face. The scene makes me feel uneasy, like maybe they’re talking about me.
“I think he’s playing a long game,” Anna says skeptically, interrupting my thoughts. “There’s just something about him that gives me the ick. Which is annoying.” She sighs, like an opportunity has been wasted. “Because he’s irrationally good looking.”
Daniel is exceptionally handsome in a wholesome kind of way, with dirty blonde hair, sky-blue eyes and the body you’d expect the school’s football captain to have. He could never compare to Zayn though, who’s dark, edgy attractiveness leaves me weak at the knees.
“Zayn doesn’t like him,” I say, just as our teacher, Mrs Delaware, enters the room and the chatter around us dies off.
Anna throws me a curious look. “Obviously,” she whispers slowly, her eyes flicking from mine to the spot beyond my shoulder. “He knows he has something that Daniel clearly wants.”
There’s a skip in my step at lunch-time as I hurry along the outside perimeter of the school gymnasium.
It’s a sunny, crisp spring day and the cobbled footpath is like a sea of violet beneath my feet as the fallen jacaranda leaves soften my steps.
Sunshine tickles my face and is responsible for the light sheen of sweat that coats the back of my neck.
I take a moment to appreciate the beautiful day.
However, there is no sight more beautiful than the one that awaits me as I round the corner that leads to our gazebo.
Stretched out in his spot on the concrete step, with a book in his lap and his black hair spilling over his furrowed brow, is Zayn.
“Something wrong?” I ask with a smile as I approach, my eyes grazing over the complex anatomy book he’s poring over. “Don’t tell me you actually find something hard.”
His head snaps up and I’m met with his striking eyes. They look lighter today, the sunshine making their usual black more like the colour of espresso.
“I find lots of things hard. Until I figure them out.” He slams the book shut and tosses it to the side, then stands to meet me. “And nothing can be wrong when you’re here.”
He gives me one of his rare smiles, my favourite one. The one wide enough that his dimples come out. Daniel’s words from earlier flash into my mind, and I can’t help but think to myself there is no better gift in this whole world than being the one responsible for that smile.
Bending down, Zayn’s lips meet mine. “Happy birthday, baby,” he murmurs before he kisses me.
I wrap my hands around his neck as his find my hips, drawing me closer until I’m pressed up against him. When he deepens the kiss, forcing my lips open with his, so many things happen inside my body at once.
My heart skyrockets. My fingers tingle like they suddenly have the ability to conduct electricity. I feel breathless as his tongue slides against mine.
We haven’t taken it further than a kiss yet, but I want to. I haven’t said it in so many words, but the way I press my body up against his now is confession enough.
A deep groan escapes from Zayn’s throat and he gently pulls away, running a hand through his unruly hair.
I stand panting before him, not even bothering to blush.
I don’t know what’s come over me, but it’s getting to the point where if Zayn doesn’t touch me somewhere, anywhere, soon, I feel like I’m going to spontaneously combust.
“I got you something,” he says, clearing his throat and changing the subject from the unspoken words between us. Shaking his head as if physically clearing his thoughts, he reaches down for a present I hadn’t noticed until now.
He hands me the perfectly wrapped box, complete with a pink bow on top. This, combined with my reaction from the kiss, makes me so overcome with emotion that I embarrassingly, without warning, start to cry.
“Zayn! You didn’t have to get me anything!”
I clutch the gift in one hand and swipe at my tears with the other. The last thing I expected was for Zayn to spend his money on me when he so desperately needs it to take care of himself.
“Of course I did, you’re my girlfriend.” He grins, helping me wipe my tears away with his fingers. “If you could stop crying every time something nice happens that would also be great, thanks,” he says, assessing my face, “you’re going to give me a complex.”
“I’m just so happy. You make me so happy. I only ever cry happy tears when you’re here.”
I sit down and place the gift on my lap, already ripping off the paper by the time Zayn takes a seat beside me. I have no idea what to expect, but I’m excited that Zayn picked something out for me himself. The gesture makes me feel special.
My chin falls to the ground when the last of the paper comes away.
“You got me a kindle!” I squeal, my hands flying over my mouth. “Oh my God, Zayn! How?”
Zayn has the biggest smile ever plastered across his face. The sight is breathtaking.
“How?” He laughs, the throaty sound striking me right in the chest. “I went to the shop and bought it?”