Welcome to The Right Direction! Before we begin the story, take this quiz to find out which character is your self-insert. Write down how many a's, b's, and c's you get. Once you know which Pineview girl you are most like, continue reading to see what happens between you and your love interest…
1. What qualities best describe you?
a. Compassionate, intelligent, loyal
b. Elegant, optimistic, motivated
c. Fun, spunky, authoritative
2. What after-school activity would you be involved in?
a. Volunteer clubs!
b. The arts! Specifically theater.
c. Sports, like football and basketball!
3. What's your favorite color?
a. Green
b. Blue
c. Yellow
4. What's your parent situation?
a. Loving and empathetic mom
b. Protective parents who want you to succeed
c. What parents?
5. Who would you want as your best friend?
a. Liam Payne – protective and thoughtful
b. Kendall Night – talented and charismatic
c. Louis Tomlinson – sassy and fun to hang out with
6. What are you most likely doing at a party?
a. Playing truth or dare
b. Mingling and dancing
c. Video games and snacks
7. Who is your ideal boyfriend?
a. Zayn Malik – mysterious, bad boy, but sweet underneath it all
b. Louis Tomlinson – well-dressed, witty, and the life of a party
c. Carlos Garcia – generous, a little nerdy, and treats you like royalty
8. Where would you meet your future boyfriend?
a. Book store or coffee shop
b. A play or concert
c. Football game or party
9. Why would you and your boyfriend argue?
a. He gets protective/jealous easily
b. Your parents forbid your relationship
c. You're afraid you're moving too fast
10. What annoys you most?
a. People who don't pay attention then ask stupid questions
b. Close-minded people who won't give others a chance
c. Snobby people who think they're better than everyone else
11. Who would make the steamiest ex-boyfriend?
a. Logan Mitchell – you broke up due to distance, he still really cares about you
b. Harry Styles – possessive with hard time getting over you
c. Niall Horan – you broke up on pretty good terms, so you stay friends
Mostly a's: You are Maya Payne! Maya is smart, caring, and she has a fun-loving side that comes out when she's with the right people. You can find her reading at her favorite coffee shop or spending time with friends. She's easy to talk to, and her joyful radiance makes people want to be her friend!
Mostly b's: You are Grace Pearson! Grace is elegant, talented, and she is very driven. You can find her lighting up the Pineview stage with her charming smile. She treats everyone with the same compassion, and she has big goals that she works hard to achieve. It's no surprise that boys love her!
Mostly c's: You are Sam Sheffield! Sam is spunky, creative, and she will never back down from a challenge. A born leader, a lot of people at Pineview respect and look up to Sam. She can be one of the bros, but she also has close girl friends who she'd defend to the end!
Now, onto the story…
Chapter 1: Delinquents and Drama Queens
"Zayn Malik, this is the fourth time you have been sent to Sub School by Mr. Styles. What am I going to do with you?"
Zayn slunk deeper into the plastic blue chair across from Mrs. Knight, the Sub School administrator. Because Mr. Styles hates me, he wanted to say, but he had already given her that excuse in the last visit. Honestly, he saw no other explanation, so he chose not to say anything.
"Zayn?" Mrs. Knight's auburn eyebrows rose as she looked at him over her black-rimmed glasses. "Are you listening to me?"
"Yes," he replied quietly. "But I don't know how to answer your question."
She sighed and pushed some of her papers aside so she could give him her full attention. Her hands rested on the desk, and her fingers strummed the wood. "Well, you can start by explaining why he sent you here this time."
"I don't know."
"That's a problem right there," she said, sighing again. A sympathetic expression crossed her pale face. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
Zayn's eyes met the floor. That was the exact same question she had asked in all of his previous three visits. It was also what she said whenever his father sent him to Sub School to talk about his problems… not that Zayn ever actually talked about his problems. His dad was convinced that since Zayn's mother had died, Zayn was a troubled child. But Zayn knew that it was just an excuse to get him out of the house. His dad and he had never really had a steady relationship; Zayn's mom usually kept the peace. Now that she was gone, they were wary to face each other.
His throat felt dry. "Not really." It was the same answer he gave her every time she had asked the question. He had spoken to Mrs. Knight more than he had anyone else in the past three months, and it was a little embarrassing how much this middle-aged woman knew about him thanks to his dumb dad.
"Does Mr. Styles think that you're not paying attention in class? Have you started doing your homework every night like I asked?" she questioned.
"I always pay attention. Yes, I've done my homework even though I already understand the material." Mr. Styles was one of those teachers who seemed to think that every student learned the same way. Zayn wasn't stupid; he could pick up the calculus quite easily. On the exams, though, that was another story.
Mrs. Knight observed how Zayn slouched in his seat and his dark t-shirt, black pants, and how his hair flipped up in the front. A small smile spread onto her face. "I think I begin to understand where Mr. Styles is coming from," she said, eyeing him knowingly. "First of all, I suggest that you sit up straight when you are in class," and Zayn fixed his posture. "Second, I believe that he is so hard on you because he thinks you are not putting effort into his class."
"But I -" he began, but Mrs. Knight held up a hand.
"Let me finish," she said quickly. "You may put loads of effort into calculus, but your appearance doesn't show it. Do you want to know my advice, Zayn?" she asked.
"Sure. Anything to stop him from being rude to me all class."
"I think that you should go to him at the end of the day and ask him if there's anything you can do to bring up your grade. It's just a few test scores bringing you down, right?"
"But Mrs. Knight, I don't think -"
"I think that this will work," she said with a hint of finality. "You can even tell him that I sent you to do it if that'll make this easier. If you show an interest in doing well in his class, he may lighten up a bit."
Zayn frowned. This lady was good at a lot of things, but wrapping her mind around a teenage brain was not one of them.
"Will you promise that you'll do that for me, Zayn?"
Zayn would rather drink out of a toilet than ask Mr. Styles to help. But Mrs. Knight was one of the only people these days who was always nice to him. What could he say?
"Sure."
Mrs. Knight smiled and turned back to her papers. Dismissively, she told him, "Taking these little steps may turn everything around. You never know."
Zayn picked up his black backpack and slung it over one shoulder.
"Sure, Mrs. Knight."
"Have a good day," she called as he exited Sub School.
Most people would probably walk out into the hallway and head to lunch without planning to meet with their least favorite teacher. Most people would probably forget they even had the conversation. Unfortunately, Zayn Malik was a guy who honored his promises, especially to people who cared about him.
But that didn't mean he was looking forward to this afternoon.
Louis Tomlinson's feet rested on his desk, crossed at the ankles. He kept his navy shirt tucked into his jeans and his dark hair looking constantly windswept. His emerald eyes glanced back at the sophomore girls who were trying to inconspicuously whisper about him. Louis was also the master of the smoldering smirk, so when he shot them one, their blushing reaction was more than expected.
He was also a bit of a conceited jerk.
"Teacher alert," his friend Carlos Garcia, the only other senior in the Theatre II class, whispered to him.
"Mr. Tomlinson, feet down."
The effortlessly loud voice of their drama teacher projected around the classroom, and Louis reluctantly removed his feet from the table.
"Let me know when the star on your door is too bright for you, Mr. Tomlinson. I'll let you soil my furniture then," Mr. McDonald remarked. Louis smirked again because this man hardly ever made sense to him. "Now," he continued, addressing the whole class. "I have exciting news for you all."
Everyone in the classroom seemed to perk up even though they should've known better. Whenever a teacher says he has exciting news, it has a hidden connotation… what's really exciting is when the teacher gets to watch his class's reaction to the news.
"I have a new requirement for this class!" Mr. McDonald declared.
Everyone groaned, which made the grey-haired man smile.
"There has been a bit of a shortage of people who want to audition for the school's theatrical productions, and there is a lot of talent in this room. Auditions for our fall show are next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and I want to see everyone in this room there on one of those days."
"You're kidding," Louis grumbled.
"I don't know, Louis. I think it could be fun!" Carlos had a huge grin on his face that made Louis want to spit. "I've never had time to do a show, but now that it's a requirement, my mom has to let me do it!"
"That's the spirit, Carlos," Mr. McDonald said approvingly. "Callbacks are on Thursday, and the cast list will be announced the next day."
Louis crossed his arms but said nothing. He had only decided to take Theatre II in his senior year because his counselor had accidentally signed him up for a Personal Fitness class. He could exercise badly on his own, thank you very much. The smelly locker rooms also drove him crazy (but apparently, the theatre's dressing rooms were only a little bit better).
Still, Mr. McDonald hardly made them do anything besides a few duet skits in class. Louis had grown accustomed to applying little to no effort in Theatre. Making them audition for a full-length production was something else. Maybe he could just not show up…
"I'll give you credit when you audition, so don't even think about not showing up," his teacher continued, smashing Louis' hopes and dreams.
"If you get a part, do you have to keep it?" Louis asked.
"If you get a role, then it would be rude to deny it, but if your schedule does not permit you to be a part of the production, then I can work something out with your parents," he replied.
Well, that was no help. Louis snapped his fingers in disgust a little too obviously.
"Mr. Tomlinson." Mr. McDonald turned to Louis. "I believe that auditioning for this show will be beneficial to your high school experience. It might even dim that blinding star on your door for the better."
"What's the show called?" one of the girls behind Carlos spoke up.
"The Man Who Came to Dinner," Mr. McDonald said proudly.
Louis scowled as the drama teacher proceeded to talk about what the show was about, what the main characters were like, how difficult the set would be to build, and other boring stuff that Louis didn't care about. He quietly came to the conclusion that this new requirement had just ruined his day.
Plus he was frustrated because he never understood the dumb star metaphors.
That afternoon, Zayn dragged his feet to the math wing, feeling crappy. Mrs. Knight didn't seem to understand that he and Mr. Styles just did not get along. At all. She was convinced that there was some logical reason for people not liking each other. But sometimes, people's personalities just didn't click. No explanation necessary.
There was a nagging in the pit of his stomach as he approached the doorway. When he stepped into the classroom, he saw a girl with dark hair pulled into a high ponytail talking to Mr. Styles. "Harry wanted me to tell you that he needed to stay after school with his science teacher," she was saying. "Is there anything you needed to tell him?"
Mr. Styles shook his balding head with an inquisitive expression. "I only wonder why he decided to send his girlfriend to tell me this news instead of getting his butt over here himself. Did he say why?"
Harry's girlfriend shrugged. "Something about remediation, but you didn't hear that from me," she told him.
"Oh, I would've heard about it from someone sooner or later. There are no secrets when your father works at the school," Mr. Styles sighed, rubbing his temples. "I assume he's still heading over to your place when he's done with his Chemistry teacher?"
"If it's alright with you, of course," she replied.
"Yes, yes." He sighed again. "Thank you, Grace. Have a good time at the game tonight."
Grace slung her backpack over her shoulder, almost hitting Zayn.
"Oh, excuse me," she said as she headed out the door.
Zayn watched her leave then swallowed hard and turned back to Mr. Styles who was making a conscious effort not to notice him. The math teacher smoothed his white button-down shirt and sat down in the swivel chair at his desk. He then opened his laptop and began to type. Zayn's eyebrow twitched in frustration.
"Mr. Styles," he finally spoke.
Mr. Styles didn't even look up as he shuffled through some papers. "What do you want, Mr. Malik?" he asked. His tone was significantly ruder than it had been a few seconds ago when he was talking to his son's girlfriend. Zayn's frown deepened, but he tried not to show it in his voice.
"When you sent me to Sub School this afternoon, I talked to Mrs. Knight," he began. Mr. Styles made no indication that he'd heard a word, but Zayn plowed on anyway, "She advised me to come to you and ask if there was anything I could do to help my grade."
"And what exactly would you like me to say?" Mr. Styles questioned, still not making complete eye contact. Zayn wanted to slap the papers right out of his stupid hands… but he didn't.
"I just wanted to ask you if there was anything I could do to help my grade, Mr. Styles," he said as pleasantly as he possibly could.
"Well, Mr. Malik, if you wanted to do well in this class, you should've done the work the first time."
"I do want to do well in this class," Zayn assured him.
"Well, you certainly don't show it, now do you?"
"That's why I came to talk to you, so you know that I care." His diplomatic attitude was quickly diminishing. "I understand the work you do in class, but the tests are messing me up."
"Maybe you just don't care to study enough," Mr. Styles said dismissively.
"I study plenty!" Zayn snapped. He exhaled slowly to calm himself. "I just want to know if there's anything I can do."
Mr. Styles finally stopped looking at his papers and met Zayn's eye.
"Since you claim that you study so much, then I don't know if there's anything we can do. I can't magically make you do well on the tests, you understand. I'm not really sorry, but if you refuse to do the work, there's absolutely nothing that I can do for you."
Zayn was ready to strangle this teacher. I'm not really sorry? Who says that?! Somehow, Mr. Styles always managed to turn everything Zayn said against him. It was ridiculous. This was the exact reason why Zayn didn't like talking to him.
"That's all I needed to know then – "
He was interrupted when a girl with bouncy dark curls came into the classroom. She had her bag slung over her shoulder and held her sleek, black winter coat in her arms. Mr. Styles noticed her entrance and completely left his conversation with Zayn to speak with her.
"Hello, Maya, what brings you here today?" he asked.
Maya glanced over at Zayn who was unsuccessfully trying to hide how annoyed he was. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?" she asked nicely. "I don't mind waiting."
"Oh no, not at all," Mr. Styles replied for both of them. "How can I help you, my dear?"
"Mr. Styles, I just got my progress report. I remembered that at the beginning of the year, you promised that if I spent a certain amount of time tutoring, you would bump up my grade half a letter," she explained. Mr. Styles nodded.
"I did say that," he agreed.
"Does that still stand?"
"Of course it does."
"I stopped by to find out how I would go about doing that," she prompted politely.
Zayn and Maya both watched as Mr. Styles thought for a second. His eyebrows rose all of a sudden as an idea occurred to him. Zayn saw his eyes shift from him to Maya, then back to him, then back to Maya, and Zayn knew what was about to happen.
"Maya, I am quite sorry to do this to you, but here is your first tutee," Mr. Styles said. Maya peered at Zayn again who didn't meet her eye.
"Okay," she said nonchalantly. "Thanks, Mr. Styles."
Zayn didn't do so much as nod at the man as he followed Maya out of the classroom.
"What's your number?" she asked once they were in the hallway out of Mr. Styles' earshot.
Zayn gave it to her then smirked as he watched her plug it in. He added, "My name is Zayn, by the way. Zayn Malik." She blushed.
"My name is Maya Payne," she said, looking a little flustered. "Wow, I totally didn't ask… Nevermind. Sorry about that. I'll text you when I'm available to tutor, Zayn. Is that okay?"
"That's fine with me," he replied. She looked rather pleased with herself as she slipped on her jacket.
"I guess I'll see you later then, Zayn." Maya threw her periwinkle bag over her shoulder again then walked down the hall, a slight bounce to her step. Zayn watched as her hair swished back and forth with each step she took, and he had to smile. Maybe Mrs. Knight was right. Maybe this tutoring thing wouldn't be so bad.
Which love interest are you (Maya, Grace, or Sam)? Leave a review, and let me know!
Sneak Peak: Chapters are posted every week! Next time, we'll meet Niall Horan, Carlos Garcia, James Diamond, and of course, Sam Sheffield!