Only two days later, I was in the waiting room for the principal's office. Oh, joy. But I knew I had to do this. As much as I fucking didn't wanted to go back at a real school and all, I knew I needed to. Zayn's mom was by my side and, as we waited for my name to be called, I was remembering the day before. No need to say that I started to smile. And that my heart started to beat like I was on some kind of crazy shit.
...
I was up early, too excited to be able to sleep. I just wanted to jump all around and scream on the rooftop that I was still in England and nowhere near going to France. After walking around the basement for at least ten minutes, I decided to get dressed. Some leggings, a warm sweater borrowed from my boyfriend, a good pair of shoes, some gloves. I put a beanie over my messy hair before getting upstairs. Up to Zayn's room. I woke him up by a sweet kiss on his lips and he smiled as soon as he opened his eyes.
"Come on Zayn, we're going for a run !" It had been months since I last ran. Don't ask me why, but I was fucking dying to that morning. It didn't took long for him to get up and dressed. He was wearing shorts even though it was still cold outside and I bit my lips not to ask him what the fuck he was doing.
Hands in hands, we headed downstairs, only letting each other go once we were outside. Snow started to fall from the sky, but it wasn't bothering me much. I just like that, what we were doing. Running side to side, each in its world but still together. I was struggling to keep his pace, I should have moved my ass a bit more in the last few months. But still. It felt great in my legs, in my lungs, well, in my whole body in fact.
We stopped after only twenty minutes, but that was fucking enough for me. I needed to get back in shape. Zayn grabbed my hand and happiness filled my heart. We kept on going like that for a while, I was getting cold but I didn't cared. It was only an other excuse to keep close to Zayn. I don't think he was complaining much.
After a while - when I couldn't hid my shivers anymore - Zayn took us to a Starbucks not so far away. No need to say that the warm air made me happy. Zayn looked in his pockets, retrieving just enough money to buy us both something to drink. He turned to me, waiting for what I wanted.
"Take me a double chocolate frappuccino." I whispered in his ear, so glad to see the shiver he was trying to contain.
"A frappuccino ? In winter ?" He really looked surprised, maybe even a bit suspicious. Probably thinking that I was kidding. But I wasn't. I've always been some weird kid.
"Yeah, why not ?" I laughed, kissed his cheek before leaving him alone in the line. I fumbled around the room to find us a table with a booth, which I did after a little while. I sat down and whipped the snow from my clothes and my hair. And I looked at him. I couldn't help but smile. I was so lucky to have him. He was so incredibly imperfectly perfect and yet, he choose me. Me, Alexis Dubois, the weirdo girl with as many issues as Vogue.
Zayn came back to me, holding two Frappuccino. His made me laugh - the guy wrote Zaine instead of Zayn. He scold me a bit, and I took my phone out. I brought my straw to my lips and he did the same. In the very moment, I snapped the picture. We were looking great. Both of our smiles were wide and his eyes were shinning with joy. It didn't took me long before deciding to put it as my background. This made him so happy, I knew it by the way he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and kissed my cheek.
No matter what people would say, I knew in that very moment that we weren't just some stupid teenage romance. I knew it was something else. As my heart skipped a beat, I knew it was something true. Something most people would never feel in their whole lives.
He was my soulmate, my forever and always.
...
"Miss Dubois ?" The principal's voice brought me back to present. Mrs. Malik got up and so did I, following her into the office. The man sat behind his desk a file - my file - between his hands. Don't ask me why, but it made me kind of freak out. Like... What if my record wasn't good enough ? What if they didn't wanted me here ? What would I be doing ? I was maybe old enough to own an appartement in town, but I surely didn't have enough money. My mind was going crazy with all the possibilities when the principal spoke again. "I see here that you've been homeschool since the very beginning of what should have been high school. You have good great, but the notes here say that your attendance record isn't as good."
"I'm going to do better." I instantly said. Of course, I was going to do better. I needed to, if I wanted to stay here.
"I'm going to make sure of this." helped Trisha. I turned to her and gave her a smile.
"We're going to give you a chance. Don't blow it up."
"Thank you." I whispered, so glad I was in. He handed me my schedule and told me to start classes the next morning. Once again, I thanked him before getting up.
As we were getting out of the school, Zayn's mom proposed that we'd go shopping for some class articles. So that's what we did with our afternoon. At first, I thought it would be weird, I had never done that with my mother. She used to only give me money and Louis and I would go by ourselves. But it ended up being a great time.
I put everything in the basement when we got back from the shop, putting in my bag all the things I would need tomorrow. After, I went back upstairs and, as I waited for Zayn to come back from school, I helped his mom with dinner. I wasn't a good cook, but she showed me some tricks and we ended up having quite fun. When Zayn and Waliyha came back, they set up the table and then we were ready to eat.
I was sitting next to Zayn and the whole time, his feet was rubbing against mine under the table. It was such a simple gesture, yet, it made me feel at my place. Like no other place in the world would make me feel more whole.
After dinner, Zayn helped his mom to clean everything and his sister and I made our way to the living room. We both sat on the same couch and she turned to me. "I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're making my bro this happy."
"I'm not doing anything" I truthfully answered. "He's doing much more to me than I'm doing to him."
"Don't be so sure about that. I've never seen him smile this much. Not even before everything turned to shit."
To that, I didn't answered and we stayed in silence for a while, the only sound coming from the kitchen.
When Zayn joined us, he had his notebook and some pens in his hands. He softly peeked at my lips, before sitting on the floor in front of me. I massaged his shoulders a bit, leaning in to kiss the top of his head. Waliyha gave us a look, trying to contain her laughers. I gently pushed her shoulder and she broke in. I grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. She threw it back to me and we were both laughing in a matter of time. The war went on on the couch, our laughs filling the room.
"Stop ! Stop, okay, I resign !" Waliyha said after a few minutes of this, totally out of breath. So I stopped where I was, standing in the middle of the room.
In that moment, I really felt like I was part of this family. Waliyha was kind of like the little sister and friend I never had.
"Hey, sit on the floor, there's some hairstyle I want to try on you !" She told me and I did as she said. Sitting crossed leg on the floor, right next to Zayn. Waliyha started to play with my hair and I let her do so. My hand went to Zayn's thigh, gently resting against it. He was still drawing, lost in his world.
But, with the corner of my eyes, I saw him smiling.
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