Dream Catchers

Thinking that things were getting better, they weren’t.

Turns out that Zayn was starting new at Aubry’s high school. Someone mentioning about him in the hallway broke the news to her, which was ridiculous because Zayn could’ve said something about it before to Aubry.

Still with Mr. Horan, Aubry felt like crap thinking about Zayn in that way. She felt bad about confronting Zayn over the weekend - it was none of her business. She was just worked up about the whole thing. Aubry was sure to be more careful about her and Niall. One warning was enough for Aubry to open her eyes. Zayn was just her blindside in this whole situation.

Sitting alone on a table during lunch, Aubry popped open her diet Coke, making a small glance at her attire – it was hideous. She hadn’t noticed she was wearing her old worn out Vans from the seventh grade, with a pair of faded jeans and used-too-much v neck. Her hair was never better. Braiding her hair to two split sides made her look more unpleasant in general.

Taking in two large sips from her can, Aubry wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, blinking to see that Zayn joined her on her lonesome table. Looking like she was still alone, she got up and licked her lips.

“What did I do wrong?” Zayn asked, smiling like they were old buds. He cocked his head to the side, sliding his backpack off his shoulders. Zayn pulled out his mobile, as if to check the time.

“Everything,” Aubry plainly said.

“Feisty.” He winked, as if to lighten the mood.

Aubry rolled her eyes, almost tripping over herself as she sat back down on the metal chairs. Wrinkling her nose, a lungful of his cologne filled her nostrils. She tighten her jaw, feeling her foot tap gently against the floor.

“Since when did you transfer to my school?” Aubry brought up. She took a small sip from her Coke before he spoke again.

“Just today, actually.” Zayn looked at her through his thick lashes, taking in a sharp sigh.

“How do you like it so far?”

Zayn shrugged his shoulders, “Better than my old school.”

“I could imagine.”

Aubry’s phone vibrated, making her fingers twitch slightly around her mobile. Pulling away from Zayn’s glaze, she reached over for her phone. She opened up the text, realizing that it was from her mom. It was unusual because Aubry’s mother never talk to her via phone. It was strange.

Your dad’s coming over for dinner, clean up good please.

Aubry quickly placed her phone down near her forearms, watching as Zayn furrowed his eyebrows together. Before he spoke, his lips twisted into a small smirk.

“Now who is that?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Aubry simply narrowed her eyes down at the bad boy, ready to explode. She knew snapping at Zayn was a bad idea, knowing that Zayn could tell anyone about her secret. Back firing, Zayn knew that Aubry could spill about his recent addiction. It was a neutral decision.

“Is it…” Zayn, holding the same grin on his face, leaned forward as he arched a perfect eyebrow, “Niall?”

Aubry had to reorganize her brain, debating if she heard the right words coming through his perfect lips. Watching it move in a smooth movement made Aubry’s skin crawl. She felt her heartbeat rate increase. She knew her mind was misleading her because of the little things she was starting to notice about Zayn. Aubry was certain her mind was now demented.

“Don’t worry about it,” she whispered, which was hard for Zayn to hear due to the noise around them.

Aubry didn’t know what the hell was happening. The more and more she tried to ignore this feeling for Zayn, his warm pupils and mesmerizing smile would pull her back into the trap. Aubry didn’t want to feel this way about Zayn, which is when Niall comes in. He’s primarily the main reason why Aubry won’t fall for Zayn. His bad boy image was hypnotizing, it was gruesome in all directions.

After minutes of complete silence, Aubry started to look around the cafeteria. Feeling his eyes on herself, Aubry pulled all of her locks to one side and starting chewing down on her lower lip. Next to a cafeteria lady, a few feet away, Aubry recognized Dj holding a load of chips, gummies and sodas. She was literally a walking vending machine. Zayn noticed Aubry’s small glazes and followed towards her short attention span. Before Aubry could bring Dj on her table, Dj quickly pulled her head down, walking away in a fish of students.

“Was that Demi-jade Richards?” Zayn coughed out, squinting slightly, as if to spot Dj again.

“You know her?” Aubry seemed surprise herself. She turned her body back to Zayn, curious to know what he knew about her best friend.

“Yeah, she’s my ex-girlfriend.”

Some serious shit’s about to go down now.

When did Dj have a boyfriend? And why wasn’t Aubry informed about this?



“Zayn Malik?” Mr. Horan said, catching everyone’s attention. He sat on his chair, taping the tip of his pen on his oak desk, waiting for his class’s attention.

“Yeah?” Zayn echoed, sitting in the seat next to Aubry. This was the one class she enjoyed, not only for Mr. Horan but because she liked Literature. Now it was ruined and hated.

“We’re about to do a pre-test, would you like pass? You’re free to join us.”

“I could keep up.”

Aubry nearly vomited at how full Zayn was of himself. Sighing to herself, Aubry tightened her jaw. As Mr. Horan passed out the last test, he turned towards the board and started to write the agenda for the rest of the class. Right on cue, Zayn tapped Aubry’s arm. It was her fault she answered his slight touch.

“What?” she whispered.

“Are you mad at me?” Zayn murmured back.

“Why the hell would you ask that?”

Zayn shrugged, “Just curious. I don’t like being the bad guy.”

“Too late for that,” Aubry snapped in a hushed tone.

Zayn looked back down at his test, filling in some answers. He made a small glance at Mr. Horan, still having his eyes glued to board, and tapped Aubry once more.

“How about we go out for coffee again?”

“No.”

“Please.”

“No.”

“You two, stay after class.” Mr. Horan turned around, looking directly at Zayn and Aubry. He heard them whispering in the beginning, Mr. Horan was waiting for the right timing to catch them. He had thought they were sharing answers. It was something Aubry wouldn’t do. But Aubry knew fighting back would do more damage, so she kept her silent curses to herself.

Aubry hated Zayn even more.



After the final bell, Aubry and Zayn remained sitting on their desk, looking straight ahead of the classroom. This was torture to Aubry’s fragile mind.

“I don’t appreciate you two dallying in my class like that. Especially from you Aubry. That was a test, you know better not to be cheating.” Mr. Horan took a seat on the table in front of Aubry’s pulling his reading glasses off. He made a glance between the two, crushing his fine lips together, forming a small line with his thin lips. He shook his head, sighing slightly.

Zayn made a obvious glance at Aubry, trying to hold back a chuckle. Aubry kept her head down, tracing the patterns on her jaded shoes. She knew Mr. Horan was waiting for a response from her.

“Mr. Malik, I except more from you. I know you’re new but I want some respect from you as well,” Mr. Horan said. “From both of you.”

Aubry was beyond embarrassed for herself and Zayn. It was yet humiliating that she caught “cheating” with Zayn, now with a small lecture about it from her boyfriend was plain sad.

After leaving Mr. Horan’s class, Aubry felt a sharp pain in her shoulders, feeling that someone had bumped into her harshly. She caught herself, having the urge to flip off at the student who was careless of themself. Aubry stared wide eyed at her friend, wanting to pull her hairs out. She bit down on her tongue and sighed. Watching Dj hesitate, Aubry pulled out her hips, resting a hand on it.

“Why didn’t you tell me about you and Zayn?” Aubry asked firmly, feeling her eyes moist up a bit.

Before Dj could answer, Zayn walked closed behind Aubry, gasping slightly at Dj’s small yet covered baby bump.