Adlewood Academy

Mia’s guitar hadn’t left her side since she woke up that morning. She didn’t know why, but the words were suddenly flowing out of her and every line was met with the perfect chord of her guitar. In just a matter of hours, the quickest she’d ever been, she finished the song and she was truly proud of it.

But, there was still something missing, and she knew exactly what.

Guitar in hand, Mia raced out of her dorm room and toward the recording studio on the opposite end of Adlewood’s campus, where she hoped she would find exactly what she was looking for.

She was winded and completely out of breath by the time she made it to the studio, but she pushed through the door and poked her head into each of the rooms, hoping he would be in one of them.

It was the last room on the left, the one where they often practiced together, and he sat in front of the equipment, toying with the keys in a way that Mia would never be able to do.

She couldn’t help but smile when she saw him, because even though they lost the one thing they were working for, he still looked the same as he always did.

“Zayn.”

When she spoke, he turned towards her immediately, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He stood forward then, slowly stepping towards her. “Mia, what are you doing here?”

“I – I, uh –” Mia paused for a moment, running her hand through her windblown hair. She couldn’t speak all of a sudden, so she forced herself to take a few deep breaths. “I just finished a song.”

Zayn gave her a soft smile, which was so different from all the smiles he had given her before. He gave a nod of his head as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Really? That’s great.”

“Yeah, I –” Mia cleared her throat, forcing herself to quit being the nervous, babbling girl she was being. It was hard for some reason, but she managed to speak again. “I was wondering if you wanted to record it with me. Help me spice it up a bit.”

“But we lost the –”

“I know,” Mia said, interrupting him. Of course, she knew that. Everyone knew that. But she was going to let it get to her, because even if they hadn’t gotten through to the judges, she loved the music they were making together. “I just think I work better with you than I do alone.”

Zayn smiled at that, the huge smile that Mia was used to seeing him with. It was a smile she could get used to, and one that she hoped she’d be seeing long after their time at Adlewood.

After a short pause, Zayn took a step forward, nodding his head in her direction. “Well, let me hear it then.”