Come Back To Me

Chapter 1

I was sitting in my bedroom on my queen sized bed flipping through channels on my TV. I came across a One Direction interview on MTV and immediately changed the channel. I couldn't do it - not right now.

"Payton!" I heard my little sister Neya's cheerful voice from down the hall. Her voice always made me feel warm and happy inside. Neya was only seven years old, and she was always happy. I hope it stays that way too. 

"In here Neya!" I replied through the door. I saw her brunette head pop inside the doorway and I smiled. She ran over to my bed and jumped on top of it, right next to me.

"Whatcha doin?" She asked flashing a toothy grin. She snatched the remote from out of my hand and flipped through the channels. Great, she found the One Direction interview.

"Payton! That's Zaynie isn't it?" She said pointing to the tan brunette on the screen. I half smiled.

"Yeah, that's him babe." She wrapped her arms around me tight.

"Have you talked to him at all?" I heard my mother pop in the door. She had obviously been listening this whole time. I shook my head at her as I felt my eyes start to water. I looked out the window to calm down. My window had a view of a lake, and it always relaxed me.

I guess I should explain. Zayn Malik is my best friend - Well, he used to be. 

***

"Zayn, I'm scared. I don't want to go to middle school!" I said as a tear fell from my eye. He whiped it away and hugged me.

"Pay, it'll be okay! We'll have each other, I promise." Zayn looked into my brown eyes and smiled - trying to reassure me. It didn't work.

"What if we stop being best friends?" I looked into the eyes of my eleven year old best friend. 

"We'll always be best friends! Don't be silly!" 

"You promise?" I murmured. 

"I promise, Pay." Zayn hugged me again.

***

"Payton, I'm dating Riley Huston." Zayn said looking at the ground. I shook my head.

"Zayn! You know what she did to me!" I screamed at him. He tried calming down by holding me but it didn't work. We were only thirteen anyways, why did he need a girlfriend?

"I'm sorry Pay, I know! Don't hate me. Stop it!" He yelled back as I was hitting him.

"Get out." I said through clenched teeth. He stared at me in disbelief.

"Payton." He tested me.

"It's me or her, Zayn." I told him. I immediately regretted it, but I didn't take it back because before I could he walked out the door. Just like that. 

He really chose the girl that wrote my phone number on the bathroom stall and wrote "Call Me For A Good Time!" next to it. He chose the girl that made a Facebook page called "Payton The Whore". He chose that girl over me - his best friend since he was five years old. 

***

That was the last time I spoke to Zayn Malik. We were only thirteen. I'm eighteen now. It's my last year of high school. I know what you're thinking - who cares? Just forget about him. Well it's not really that simple, because I'm in love with Zayn Malik. I have been in love with him since we were eleven years old and he told me we would be best friends forever. He lied.

Imagine my surprise when I was sixteen and my mom screamed for me to come downstairs into our living room because Zayn was on national television. When I saw him standing on that stage I couldn't help but feel happy for him. He had wanted to try out for The X-Factor ever since we were kids.

Zayn never new this of course, but every week I picked up the phone and voted for his new band, One Direction, because I wanted his dream to come true. I didn't pay much attention to the other members of the band though. I was so happy for him, all I wanted was for him to succeed.

Then I watched the interview that changed my mind about him and the whole band. It was an interview from Sydney, Australia. There was a young brunette woman interviewing them and asking them a lot of fan questions. I always watched these, so most of the questions I already knew the answer too. But one question was different, and it caught my attention.

"Zayn, why don't you tell us about your life before One Direction..any best friends or girlfriends?"

Zayn looked at her smiling. I was smiling too, thinking he might bring up my name.

"Well actually, I kind of kept to myself most of the time at my old school." Bullshit.

"I didn't have many friends, except this one." I smiled, feeling warm inside.

"Her name was Riley. We had been friends since we were so little. I told her everything. We ended up dating when I was thirteen, but it didn't last long." My heart shattered.

Riley? Riley was his "childhood best friend" he told everyone about? I had known Zayn since he was five years old. We did everything together. 

My mom found me crying on my bed and she watched the interview too. She cried with me for what seemed like hours. Ever since that night, I hadn't watched a single One Direction interview or special. I hadn't listened to one song, ever. I didn't care anymore. That's what I always told myself. It was complete bullshit though because deep down I knew I cared. I always had. 

***

I was walking downtown to the local cafe and I decided to get a newspaper. I slipped the coins into the slot and took it out of the metal container. Of course. 

LOCAL BRADFORD STAR ZAYN MALIK RETURNS HOME FOR FESTIVAL

He would. He would be returning to Bradford for the same stupid church festival I worked every year. Why now? He never returned home before. Just my luck I guess.

I shoved the paper into my bag and took a seat at the table. I ordered some coffee and just sat there . I didn't want to see him. I didn't want to have all the feelings come flooding back to me because of his stupid face. He didn't know how I felt about him, so I couldn't blame him. 

The only thing I really had to be mad about was the stupid fight we had when we were thirteen. I'm sure he had forgotten about that by now. But then again, he obviously didn't forget about his precious Riley. I felt disgusted so I left.

The rest of the night all I could think about was the Bradford boy I hadn't spoken too in five years. I tried listening to some Coldplay to take my mind off of things. I checked my Twitter to see what was going on in the world.

@zaynmalik: Just got home in bradford ! lovin it :) x !

Yes, I followed Zayn on Twitter. So did every other teenage girl on the planet it felt like. I tweeted him back a snarky remark knowing he would never see it.

@PayGrimshawxo: @zaynmalik maybe you'll actually have time for your "friends" that you don't seem to remember anymore! oh wait, you probably wont.

That felt good. It was like letting my anger out but knowing it wouldn't hurt anybody because Zayn would never see it. Again, I was wrong about him.

@zaynmalik: @PayGrimshawxo I guess you'll find out , won't ya payton?

Shit. My life was Hell, I swear.