Midnight • (Zayn Malik)

an encounter

I spent the rest of my third block making it my soul mission to chip off every last bit of my black nail polish. Not on purpose of course, I just did that when I was nervous. Thanks to Violet's big mouth I have to show a really cute British exchange student- whom I barely know- some of my "stuff". The only people that have ever seen my drawings besides Mrs. Hazel is Monte and Violet. Not even Lucky. And I guess Zain but he doesn't really count. Which made me even more nervous because it's Zain and he will be right there in that same art class, watching me interact with a cute boy and will probably humiliate me in front of him. That just seemed like a Zain thing to do. I swear if he does I will take a wire end pottery tool and scoop his eyes out. I was trying to form other torture methods using various art tools when the bell rang and scared the rest of the black nail polish off of my fingers.

My heart beat aggressively in my chest the entire walk to the art room and I seriously did not know why the hell I was so nervous. Like, yeah, kinda nervous or just plain old nervous is understandable but I was at the point where I had to remind myself to breathe. I tried humming a bit of Medicine but let's be honest, my own voice did not have the magical soothing qualities that Matty's has. Sigh, post-concert depression still hittin' me like a tsunami.

I took a breath big enough to fill the hot air balloon I wish I was on to avoid this whole situation and walked into Mrs. Hazel's fourth block drawing class. I froze when I saw Louis already sitting at the table I sat at. His eyebrows were knit closely together and the electric of his blue eyes were hidden from squinting so hard at the drawing in front of him. The hammering of my heart dulled a little so I figured it was safe to walk to my seat then. He didn't even notice when I sat down, he was so concentrated.

"What've you got going on there?" I asked after a listening to the scratching of the charcoal against his paper.

He looked up at me and I could feel the waves washing over me again. It was refreshing and honestly I wouldn't mind getting used to that feeling. He looked slightly frazzled before he came out from his own world and back into the real one.

He slid his sketchbook towards me, "Just my take on everythin' I'm feeling, moving here and all."

I traced my eye over the dark striking lines of his sketch. It was of a girl with the slightest of smiles gracing her lips, her eyes closed with one hand in her hair and the other arm hugged close to her seemingly naked body- her palm turned upwards. Though I could tell she was bare, her chest was covered by her arms. I noticed the beginnings of what looked like rain pouring down and soaking her hair, face, everything. The sketch only showed the girl mid chest with the focus mainly on her face. That was where I felt all of the emotion. It was beautiful how he could portray all of that in a simple sketch.

"Is this of a girl you know?" I asked first in front of the many questions that would've been better than that one.

"She's more of a symbol. She's not actually a person I've met. Her hair will be a sort of white/sandy color and her eyes will be blue like the ocean. She represents the beach because that's what I associate Florida with," He explained. The way he talked was full of intelligence and I drank in every word. 

I nodded my head, "So the rain is obviously because it rains every two seconds here."

Louis laughed a little and nodded in agreement, "Yes and she's smiling for many reasons. The rain is familiar to me as it rained quite a bit back in Doncaster so I'm happy to have some comfort in a new home. She's also smiling because the rain is washing the slate clean- like a new beginning for me and new opportunities and such. I could go on but I don't want to bore you."

I smiled reassuringly, "Trust me you're far from boring me. It's beautiful- the whole concept. I love it. It kind of reminds me of my own way of thinking when I draw."