You were the school nerd. The kind who preferred books to parties, coffee to soda, baggy coats to tight clothes. The one who knew the periodic table by heart, but stuttered if someone cute started a conversation.

And, ironically, you fell in love with him. Zayn. The bad boy. The king of the school. Arrogant, mocking, full of fame and with zero patience for feelings.

Even knowing that, you confessed. In front of the entire school.

"I… like you, Zayn. I've always liked you."

He looked at you. And laughed. Loudly. The sound cut through the air like a blade.

"You? Are you delirious, huh, nerd? What is this, April Fool's Day?"

The laughter exploded. People filming. People whispering. But you… just took a deep breath, even with your heart in pieces.

And, with the sweetest voice in the world, you said:

"It's okay… I'm sorry."

You turned your back and walked away.

And it was at that exact moment that Zayn started to lose his head over you.

In the following days, he saw you everywhere. And you didn't look at him anymore. You laughed with your friends. You existed without him. And that made him go crazy.

Zayn started to notice something he had never seen before: How beautiful you were when you explained something with passion. How soft your voice was. How light your presence was… and addictive.

He started to dream about you. To follow you with his eyes. To hate any boy who got close. To desire you in an almost sick way. He didn't just want to kiss you. He wanted to have you — all of you, all his own.

But how could he get close to you after everything he'd done?

Then, in the middle of the crowded courtyard, with the school full of people, Zayn appeared. He approached you with a completely blank piece of paper in his hand. Everyone stopped to look at it. He cleared his throat, nervous, and gave the most lame excuse in history:

"Hi... yeah... can you help me... solve this... this assignment here on... water breathing in fire? I don't know... it's just that... the teacher gave it to me, but... I didn't understand anything."

A silence formed.

Everyone stopped.

A girl murmured "What?"

One of his friends laughed and said: "Are you sick, man? Water breathes? What assignment is that?"

Another commented: "He just wants a reason to talk to her... look at his face, bro."

Zayn turned red. Distraught. But he didn't leave.