I sigh and plug my earphones in, pulling up my legs closer to my chest as I make myself comfortable on the bleachers of our football ground. If I have to sit here for two hours, I might as well make myself relaxed.

I hate Paige for not showing up at school today as she drops me at home every day. That leaves me no choice but to stay with my brother for his after school football practice. For these reasons I wish I had my own car so I didn't have to depend on anyone. I hate depending on people for anything because I know how it ends.

When you start depending on someone even for little things, they soon turn to something bigger and slowly you start to lose yourself in the hands of that person only to get broken in the end.

One side of my earphones gets pulled out, cutting off my thoughts as I quickly turn my head to meet the brown eyes I have been avoiding since yesterday.

"Why would you do that?!" I snap, looking at him with a furious expression.

"How loud are you even listening to that thing? I have been talking to you for the past thirt-no forty seconds!" Zayn exclaims, his eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed together as he stares at me.

"You know I can kill you for doing that," I move closer to him, knitting my eyebrows as he stares with his brown eyes into my emerald ones. He does not even try to back away but keeps on staring back at me with confidence.

"You wouldn't do that," he says in a normal tone. He does not even look bothered in the slightest as he puts his fingers on my shoulder, gently pushing me back from him. I straighten my posture, continuing to look at him with surprise.

I can see the fear in people's eyes when they talk to me. They try to maintain at least two-feet distance from standing next to-or in front of me. But this guy; he's different. I see no fear or hesitation in him when he talks to me, or more like sits next to me.

"People get scared of me, why don't you?" I ask him with a confused look written all over my face.

"Why would I get scared of an act?" He shrugs his shoulder, looking away from me for a brief moment before making eye contact with me again.

I quickly get hold of his collars and bring him closer to my face. "This is not an act," I say with anger evident on my face and tone.

"Say whatever you want to hide the person underneath, but not to me. Because I'm not a fool like the rest of the students that you terrify." He makes a point very calmly, placing his warm hands on mine, as he slowly pulls away my hands from the collar of his large sweatshirt.

How does he even look so calm like nothing's bothering him? Whereas for me, I can feel my heartbeat going crazy and anxiety kicking in.

Why am I being anxious instead of angry? Surely what he's saying is not true. My personality is not an act, it is who I am.

"Who the hell do you even think you are? I might punch you right in your face, breaking your glasses and that stupid jaw!" I snap, standing up from the seat.

"I know you might punch me right now, but it won't be because of your anger but because you're scared of admitting the truth that no one has ever told you. Not even yourself." He looks up at me as he again speaks calmly. Seems like he is trying to make a point, but not fight with me. He doesn't look like he is trying to bring me down but it feels something else. I don't know what he's trying to do but it surely is affecting me and it is better if I leave this situation before it gets a hold of me.

I stare at him for one more time before turning away from him to sit on the other side of the bleachers. "You know the offer is still open!" He reminds me from the back about his yesterday's words, making my blood boil as I turn to look at him.

"Screw you and your offer!" I snap at him for the last time before making my way to the other seats.

Why are his words bothering me so much? I could just punch him and end the conversation right there but why didn't I do it? Why did I even let him get to me?

I groan at those thoughts when my gaze travels to my brother and Louis who are in the ground. Harry is trying to teach Louis some tricks as Louis terribly struggles to follow. An unexpected laugh comes out of my mouth despite the angry or anxious state I'm in, which catches Louis' attention since they are not too far and I'm sitting on the front seats now.

I'm glad they didn't hear Zayn and I arguing on the back seats since it's far from them. But my brother might have noticed something because I caught him staring at me with confused expressions. I really hope he doesn't bring that up on our way back home.

I roll my eyes when I notice Louis make his way towards me with Harry. Ugh, the last thing I want to do right now is hear Louis' voice. "What are you laughing at?" he speaks up with a not-so-friendly smile.

"You," I speak in a bored tone, turning on my phone to avoid further contact. He blows a puff in the air, chuckling.

"You got better moves, miss I'm-so-scary-get-away-from-me?" I take a deep breath, closing my eyes for a brief moment before staring into his light blue eyes with a fake smile on my face.

"You don't wanna challenge me right now, Lewis. For the sake of your reputation in the team." I say as I point towards his teammates at the back, turning my attention back to my phone.

"You're saying as if you have a chance against me," Louis starts laughing and I look up at him again taking a deep breath.

I mostly wonder how Paige stays so calm in every situation. I kind of wish to be as calm as her sometimes, so that it would save me from a lot of trouble and my energy as well.

"Alright, two goals, just you and me. If I win, you have to do something I say, whatever it is and vice versa. Deal?" I get up from the seat, placing my things down as I walk towards Harry and Louis. Harry looks at Louis with a 'don't do this' look and Louis shrugs him away, laughing.

"Like I said, as if you have a chance against me. But deal." Louis says, grinning at me, looking overconfident.

Before walking to the field with my head still spinning around Zayn's words, I look up at the other side of the bleachers at him. He sits there staring at me, his eyebrows furrowed, legs bouncing up and down as he seems quite occupied by his thoughts.

"Man, you don't wanna do this, you don't even know what she's gonna make you do if you lose," Harry warns Louis in a friendly way but he just laughs at my brother again.

"Think about what I'm gonna make her do when she loses."

I am thinking about running away right at this moment. Would I be considered a chicken if I do that?

~•~

Why do I have ghost readers who don't vote or comment it's so sad :(

•What do you think about Malory's personality? Do you like the character? She's change from my other books' characters.