Girl of Gold «ᴢᴇʀʀɪᴇ»

14

“What did she say?” Louis immediately asked.

Louis was the one who’d come up with the idea of asking Perrie out, but not necessarily telling her it was a date. I had the goofiest smile on my face when she accepted. Louis’s cunningness was a very good thing after all. I practically skipped all the way back to the bakery, where all of the guys were waiting. I sat down, the goofy smile still on my lips.

“She said yes, didn’t she?” Liam said with a smile. My smile grew wider, and that was enough of an answer for the guys.

“I TOLD YOU IT WOULD WORK!” Louis exclaimed. We all looked at him with confused places. “None of us doubted you in the first place,” Harry muttered, which cause Niall to chuckle. Louis’s face flustered with realization, and he put his arm down.

“Oh, yeah…” Louis muttered. “Well, I’m just so used to you doubting me that I had to make myself feel proud.” We all laughed at Louis, and he gave us a playful smile. It felt nice, joking around with each other. What made it better is that Perrie was going out with me tomorrow. Then again, she doesn’t actually know it’s a date… Should I feel bad?

“Mate, are you feeling guilty?” Niall asked softly. Harry smiled at him, most likely proud that his boyfriend is nice and caring. Then again, how should I know? Harry is always smiling when he’s with Niall, when he talks about Niall, when someone mentions Niall, and because of Niall. Harry is so smitten with the blonde boy, I swear.

“A little bit,” I admitted, looking down at my lap. Would Perrie hate me if I didn’t tell her it was a date? Would she be glad I didn’t tell her? I really don’t know. Now I was starting to rethink Louis’ plan. “Don’t worry about it, mate,” Niall said with a smile. “Just enjoy the time you’ll spend with her.”

I let out a sigh. Niall was right. I shouldn’t feel guilty. I was going to spend some quality time with Perrie. What’s so bad about that, right? But what if everything goes wrong? What if I mess something up? What if I ruin everything and Perrie never wants to see me again? I can’t let that happen!

“Zayn, stop worrying!” Louis exclaimed. “Everything is going to be fine!” he said while shaking my shoulders. Liam put his hand on my shoulder reassuringly, but Louis flicked it off. “Ow…” Liam muttered softly. Louis glared at him. “It’s my turn to comfort Zayn, Li. Go away.”

Liam pouted, but still put his hand on my shoulder. I tried my best not to laugh, and so did Niall and Harry. We always try not to laugh when Louis is being played with or joked on, because he’ll go berserk. Funny thing actually—it’s usually Liam who is purposely trying to piss Louis off. Louis huffed, grabbing Liam’s pinky and dropping his hand like it was garbage.

And Liam put his hand on my shoulder yet again.

“It’ll be okay, Zayn,” Liam said, giving me a smile. Louis huffed angrily, and Liam put his hands off in surrender.

“Everything is going to be fine, Zayn,” Louis said seriously. “Say that to yourself.”

Everything is going to be fine.

“Say it aloud, Zayn,” Louis said, rolling his eyes.

“Everything is going to be fine,” I repeated. Louis nodded curtly. I sighed again, taking a sip of tea. Hopefully everything will be fine.

✘✘✘

Forget sleeping in. Today was my date with Perrie, and I had to make a good impression. I had to make myself look good, and make her feel appreciated. And—never in a million years would I have thought I would say this—what do I wear?!