Adlewood Academy

Honestly, Mia was surprised how well her rehearsals with Zayn were going. It seemed like no matter what song she played he had a beat to match, and they always sounded better with their music mixed together.

If anyone had asked Mia a week ago if she’d work with Zayn Malik, she’d have said no, but he was turning out to be her light at the end of the Finals Showcase tunnel, and working with him wasn’t nearly as difficult as she had imagined it would be.

She and Zayn sat in the recording studio, her holding her usual guitar while he mixed on his computer. They were playing one of her newer songs, which she thought she would love, but the more she listened to it the more she hated it.

“It’s just not right,” Mia said, groaning as she gave a loud strum of her guitar. “There’s still something missing.”

Zayn bit his lip as he turned his attention away from his computer and towards Mia. He was trying to find the perfect beat to mix with her song, because he thought it was beautiful, but even though he thought it sounded good it was never good enough for Mia.

It was clear that she was getting frustrated and he knew they wouldn’t be able to make much more progress with her feeling that way. He had to cheer her up, and he thought he knew the perfect way to do it.

A large smile on his face, Zayn sat up from his stool, walking right over to Mia. She had her eyes locked on him as he came towards her, unsure of what he was going to do.

“Play your song,” Zayn said, nodding his head towards her as he grinned. She looked at him with confusion as she tilted her head to one side. “Just trust me.”

Mia looked as though she wanted to protest, but she let out a deep breath as she began strumming her guitar. It was the same beat that had never sounded right to her, but she played it anyway, hoping that this time would be the one that felt right.

While she played her guitar and began singing, Zayn walked back over to his laptop and pressed a button, causing music to shoot through the speakers. It was a beat Mia had never heard, and though it sounded wonderful, it was still missing that special something to her.

Zayn’s intention wasn’t to wow her with his music, but simply to cheer her up, so he walked back over to her with the smile still on his face while he clapped his hands together.

She looked at him in confusion, attempting to still play her music despite his distraction. She wanted to laugh at the crazy smile on his face, and she was powerless to stop the smile that fell to her own lips.

Before Mia knew what Zayn was doing, he began rapping, spitting out words she had never heard before. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing – not because it was so spur of the moment but because it just sounded so special.

Mid-sentence, Mia stopped playing her guitar, causing Zayn to be the one to look at her with his head titled in confusion. His eyes looked worried and he spoke slowly. “Did I do something wrong?”

Mia shook her head quickly, a wide smile falling to her face. She stood up from her seat and held her guitar in one hand, while the other wrapped around Zayn’s neck. Her arm squeezed him tightly and Zayn’s eyes widened even more. Mia had never even come close to touching him before, so he was more than shocked that she was suddenly hugging him.

“Is everything alright?” Zayn said, chuckling at her. She pulled away from him quickly, shaking as if she was trying to brush off what she had just done. She hadn’t meant to get so excited, but Zayn was just so brilliant that she couldn’t help it.

“It’s perfect,” Mia said, nodding her head at him. “What you just did – that was perfect.”

“You mean the rapping?” Zayn asked with his eyebrows raised. “That was just a joke.”

Mia shook her head, holding her hands up. “No, it was perfect, Zayn. Can you do it again?”

Zayn looked more confused than she had ever seen him, and he tilted his head to one side.

“Please,” she begged, batting her eyelashes at him. She didn’t know much about Zayn, but she did know that the few times she’d done that before he had caved, so it was her best bet.

Letting out a deep breath, Zayn bit his lip before giving a soft nod of his head. He had a small smile on his face, as though he was still joking, and began spitting out another rap. It wasn’t anything special, he thought, just whatever came to the top of his head, but it had Mia smiling like crazy.

“That’s it,” Mia said, beaming at him. “It’s perfect.”