Terminal Four (Z.M)

f i f t e e n .

Z A Y N J A W A A D M A L I K

"How far does your family live from here?"

"Not too far away," Zayn's eyes met hers in the rearview mirror, as the car zoomed forward on the empty highway. "Why?"

Caden faltered, glancing away. "Nothing."

He raised an eyebrow, but decided not to press on the subject. Instead, he picked up his phone and opened the Pandora app, selecting a popular playlist so the songs could come at a random. A upbeat, pop song which Zayn didn't recognize began to play and Caden exlaimed, "I love this song!"

"I've never heard of it, but I'm not surprised," Zayn muttered, but proceeded to listen to it. It was one of the typical popular songs of today, but he had to admit, he sort of liked it. He glanced at Caden in the rearview mirror again, and rolled his eyes when he saw her passionately lip synching to the song, using her cell phone as a microphone.

"I'm feeling drunk and high, so highhh, so high-"

Caden began to sing a little too loudly, but it wasn't all that bad. Zayn watched, amused, as she flicked her hair back and forth, a grin on her lips as the beat dropped. She froze when she saw that he was watching her, and an embarrassed flush crept onto her cheeks. 

"Hi," she giggled, before straightening. "Sorry. That song sort of makes me go crazy."

"Yeah, I could tell."

A silence fell between them with only the song playing, and Zayn heard Caden's curious voice break it. "Why do you work so hard?"

Zayn opened his mouth, then shut it. "What do you mean?"

"You finished high school at fifteen, attended Stanford early on a special scholarship program and got a business degree at nineteen, and here you are at twenty, already earning big bucks," Caden said slowly, her gaze fixed on his face, like she was captivated by what she was framing in her mind. Zayn listened closely to every word she said. "I just, don't understand what motivates you to work this hard. Don't you wish for the typical life? Why do you want to miss out on all the best things in life? It must suck."

Zayn tightened his grip on the steering wheel, a little offended. "I think you keep on forgetting that my family never had money growing on trees, Caden. We all can't be spoiled, rich brats, can we?"

As soon as he said it, he regretted it. Caden's expression fell, and she leaned away from him, clearly stung. It wasn't only what he said, it was also the way he said it. Harsh and so brutally cold. 

"What I meant was-"

"I know what you meant," she interrupted him, her head turned and eyes fixed on the window. "I get it."

He swallowed guiltily, as their car neared a red light. He slowed down, and drummed his fingers uncomfortably against the wheel. "I'm sorry...?"

She didn't look at him when she responded, her voice sharp. "Please don't just apologize. You're right."

He wanted to tell her that she really wasn't, but he was unsure whether or not he should continue the subject or not. Instead, he very smoothly changed the topic. "I don't get why you want to change your clothes so bad, they look fine."

"I'm a rich, spoiled brat," Caden muttered, still not looking at him. "I can't stay in one outfit for too long."

She wasn't going to let this go, and Zayn knew it. He decided to let the awkward silence engulf them and just drove, until he forgot where they were going.

Did they really have to go to his parent's house so Caden could change her outfit? The thought was so ridiculous to him, and he had no idea why he had suggested it in the first place. Besides, Caden wasn't exactly a spoiled brat, but she definitely needed to be exposed to the not-so-good life too. Zayn took in a breath.