I watched as my so-called boyfriend very obviously checked out a girl who was jogging through the park wearing only yoga shorts and a sports bra. Slut, I thought to myself angrily, glaring at the bleach blonde. After two years of being together, you would think that he would be a little bit more considerate of my feelings, especially considering I was leaving to go to college in London in less than two short weeks.
"Joey!" I snapped, slapping his arm.
"What?" he snapped back, but not because he felt bad about being caught, he was annoyed I had realized he was mentally rating that girl from 1-10. He never used to be like this. How was I supposed to trust him from across the sea if he couldn't even keep his eyes off girls while I sat right next to him?
"You said you wanted to make the long distance thing work, didn't you? Or are you going back on that too?" I hissed, suddenly extremely mad. I had so much to worry about with all the things involved with completely moving from comfy and warm Miami, Florida, all the way across the ocean to London. I didn't need to add boyfriend troubles to that list.
"Yeah baby, of course I do." He muttered twisting in his spot to place kisses on my collarbones. I pushed his scruffy blond hair away.
"No, I need a serious answer, Joey. This is going to be really hard, you have to promise me you'll be faithful and really try."
"Ariana Rose, I promise you I will try as hard as I possibly can to keep our relationship strong while you're in London." His brown eyes were so sincere, his voice so sweet, I couldn't help but believe him. But now I wish I hadn't. If I could go back in time, there's a lot I would change.
*2 weeks later*
"I'm seriously going to miss you all more than you can ever imagine. You'll come visit me all the time right?" I gushed, hugging my friends and family one last time before I boarded my flight to London and my new life. I placed a final kiss on Joey's lips before picking up my bag and walking through the terminal.
Zayn's POV
I sat in the plush seats of the plane, waiting to be taken back to London. I'd stayed in America a bit longer than the other boys to visit some friends, but I was now ready to be back home. And sleep for ages. Pulling my Beats over my ears, and let young Michael Jackson soothe me as my eyes drifted shut. I was nearly asleep when a sweet scent suddenly filled my nose. It was an odd mixture of flowers and vanilla. It was intoxicating to me and caught my attention immediately. It reminded me of… well never mind. I opened my eyes, looking for the source of the smell. A girl who looked around my age was shoving her bag in the overhead compartment, her tan, toned stomach hanging over me. It seemed like she felt my gaze and turned to meet my eyes.
"Sorry?" I said, taking my headphones off. She'd spoken but my music had drowned her out.
"I apologized." She said in a soft voice. American, probably just graduated and going on a trip to London, paid for by her rich family, judging by the quality of her clothes, before she went to college. "You looked like you'd been resting; I didn't mean to bother you."
"Oh, it's fine babe. I can't sleep well on planes anyway." I lied. I could sleep anywhere.
"Oh okay. Well I'm sorry I disturbed you anyhow."
"No worries." I insisted. "So you're going to London then?"
"Yes, for college. Full scholarship." She grinned, proud. "I'm going to stay with one of my friends who I met through Twitter." She explained. Hmm, I'd been wrong. Never judge a book by its cover I guess. "Call me crazy, I know, but we have met once, when I went to visit the university. She's not a crazy stalker." She laughed a light breezy laugh, flipping a strand of dark brown hair off her shoulder.
"You're not crazy." I laughed. "But if I see your face on the news one day because you've gone missing, I'll know why."
"Oh gee, thanks for that." She smirked, the corners of her eyes turning up. She was a dark beauty—dark hair, tanned skin, but then you got to her eyes. She had the brightest green eyes I'd ever seen; they were like glistening emeralds. She had an exotic look about her that intrigued me. She was mesmerizing to look at, though I hadn't really looked at a girl, or even considered it, since my very public breakup with Perrie in March. I flinched automatically when I thought about it. I'd been heartbroken and, if I'm being honest with myself, I'm still not over it. I truly did love her and she'd made me so happy, but the relationship had reached its end, she simply wasn't the one. I flirted with American girls whilst on tour to show the boys I was fine, but I wasn't, and none of those girls left any mark on me.
"I didn't catch your name, what is it?" I asked after the flight attendant had announced that we would be lifting off soon.
"Ariana." She grinned. She didn't ask for my name in return, instead she looked at me expectantly, implying with her eyes that was what she wanted.
"I'm Zayn." I said awkwardly, hoping I'd been interpreting right. Also not used to people not knowing my name right away.
"Oh wow. That's so unique! I've never really heard it before except for a few times on the news when they were talking about some celebrity, but I've never been interested much in celebrity gossip."
"Thanks." I chuckled. I wondered if she was being serious, did she really not know who I was? One Direction billboards were plastered in every city we'd been to on tour, and even some we hadn't. I know my breakup with Perrie had been in everything from TeenBop, to Teen Vogue, to the New York Times. "So you don't really watch like, any talk shows then?"
"Not really. I've always been really active with sports, so I didn't have much time anyway. And I don't think that the life of a celebrity is any of my business, they can do whatever they like. Actually, they do, do whatever they like, just like normal people, but they're judged more harshly since it's publicized, which I don't think is fair."
I nodded. She was definitely being serious. By now, any other girl I'd sit next to would be asking for a picture or an autograph or something. She seemed sincere. And I honestly think that a follow on Twitter wouldn't mean anything to her. The rest of the plane ride was spent passing easy jokes between one another and Ariana telling me about her life. She was the oldest of five in her family, the daughter of two doctors, and a lacrosse, field hockey, and volleyball player, as well as a dancer, which explained her rocking body. She lived a normal life and graduated with honors and a boyfriend of two years. She was so different then I was. She was… normal. Not in a bad way. But in a way that I wasn't when I was in school and now I could never be because of my fame.
The plane ride ended quickly, Ariana's head resting on my shoulder as she breathed in deeply and slowly. I shook her lightly, trying to wake her.
"Huh?" she muttered, her eyes fluttering open.
"We're here now." I whispered, trying to startle her.
"Really? That was fast! I can't believe I'm actually here in London and I'm going to be living here now. This is insane!" she jumped up and babbled on, not affected by sleep like I would have been. I chuckled and handed her the bag from overhead compartment. "Thanks." She grinned happily, before it turned a little sheepish. "So Zayn, I know I just met you and all, but you seem really nice and sweet and not a crazy stalker so would you maybe be willing to give me a ride to Camila's house? I don't think I have enough money on me to pay for a taxi and frankly taxis scare me. I would owe you forever! I'll be your best friend please please please!" she talked quickly, a hopeful glint in her eyes. I wanted to give her a ride, I really did. But I knew the second I stepped off the plane I would be bombarded by fans. I had neatly avoided any mention of being famous for the entire journey, but if I gave her a ride, she would obviously figure it out. I looked back at her. Her emerald eyes shone hopefully and her smile was wide and warm. I sighed, I couldn't say no to that.
"Sure I guess. But there's something I should probably tell you first." I hesitated, glancing into her eyes to judge how she would react. "Remember how you said you heard the name Zayn before? Zayn Malik, that's me. I'm part of a band called One Direction."
"One… Wait, I think I've heard of you guys before. I know I have a few of your songs on my iPod. Wow, that's incredible! Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, you're one of the first girls I've been able to talk to who hasn't known me for my fame and judged me as the celebrity I am. It was nice for a change." I sighed, knowing this occurrence was rare and probably wouldn't happen again.
"That's silly." She giggled. "I wouldn't have judged you for being a celebrity. I don't like judging people at all actually. But why did you need to tell me this before we got off the plane?"
"Well, as soon as we walk off, we will be surrounded by teenage girls screaming for me, and probably at you since you'll be with me. I just wanted you to be prepared. I'll text my body guard to let him know that you'll be coming with me, so he won't let anything happen to you."
"I trust you or your bodyguard won't let anything happen to me. And I can deal with the screaming, I have three sisters and a brother." She grinned confidently. I didn't think she truly knew what was about to come, but I didn't have much longer to wait. The flight attendant was eyeing us with annoyed eyes, we were the last ones on the plane.
"Okay, let's go." I sighed after I sent a quick text to Paul. Just as I suspected, as soon as we were out in the lobby I was blinded by bright flashes and deafened by girl's screaming. I turned to look at Ariana and was surprised by her expression. She didn't seem bothered by any of it. Her face was tranquil, with nothing but a bit of curiosity alight in her eyes. I grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the exit, Paul gently pushing girls out of the way. Thankfully, we didn't have to stop to get any luggage because Paul had gotten mine already and Ariana's had been shipped over ahead of time to Camila's place.
We reached outside only to be surrounded by another small crowd of girls. They were much quieter and calmer than the others inside had been, so I stopped to chat with them for a bit and took some pictures. Some asked Ariana who she was, and she calmly explained she'd met me on the plane and I was giving her a ride. A few even asked to get pictures with the both of us. I heard one whisper excitedly to another "She's gorgeous. They'll be dating in less than a month, and we'll have a picture with both of them." Her friend giggled and quickly asked for one too. Finally, Paul insisted that we leave, the crowd was multiplying and the newcomers weren't as calm. We headed toward my car, Ariana sliding in without hesitation. She seemed like a fearless kind of girl, one who did pause over little things like other girls I knew. Ariana gave me Camila's address, which I typed into the GPS, and we were off. Ariana sat with her back against the door, knees pulled up to her chest, and her head resting on her knees. I glanced over at a stoplight and realized she wasn't wearing any makeup. A natural beauty, something I'd always admired. Nothing like the tons of celebrity girls who got thrown at me at after parties and such.
"Is this the new iPhone?!" Ariana gasped, grabbing my phone out of the cup holder where I set it down. "This isn't supposed to come out for like another two months!"
"Well, me and the boys, Louis, Liam, Niall, and Harry, my band mates, are sort of promoting it. We got one of the first ones." I answered, embarrassed. Sure, it was cool, but I didn't want Ariana to think I used my fame to get cool stuff.
"Wow that's awesome! Can I check it out?" Her voice inflected none of the judgment I'd been worried about.
"Sure," I nodded. I watched out of the corner of my eye as she took pictures of herself using the new and improved front camera. She clicked around on the phone, pursing her lips when some new feature confused her, but grinning when she figured it out.
She set the phone back where it was. "That is so cool. I can't wait 'til I can get mine."
All too soon we reached Camila's house. I was a bit sad to see her go, but she promised we'd see each other again. She gave me a hug and waved, just as a thin girl with long brown hair hurried out the door, a huge grin plastered on her face, and ran straight at Ariana. I waved back and sped off. The drive home was long, I'd really gone out of my way, and it was late, and I had to get up early for a meeting with the boys and our label. I sighed, pushing my hair back with my hand. I had absolutely no regrets though. Ariana was extremely cool and I really hoped she'd keep her promise and we would see each other again.
Just before I was about to fall asleep I went to send a quick text to Harry. While scrolling down my contact list I noticed Ariana had put her contact information on my phone with one of her goofy pictures. She put a bunch of different emoji's next to her name. I chuckled to myself, I'd just met her, but it fit her personality well. For the first time in a long time, I went to sleep smiling, anticipating texting Ariana tomorrow.