*Emily’s POV (Friday, March 25th)

It’s safe to say that a lot has happened since Valentine’s Day. By the end of February Zayn got thousands more Twitter followers and this month he’s gotten thousands more. He’s in the hundred thousands now and I’m so proud of him. He has a Facebook page, Instagram, and Keek as well. “Expanding your social media ground will help you connect with your fans even more.” Kenzie suggested one evening earlier this month.

He took her advice and it’s been paying off. His EP is still near the top of the iTunes charts and we had a meeting a few days ago about selling the album in stores too. We all think that Zayn and the album are getting popular enough and so many people are asking for a physical version to be released, that it would be a big success.

Also, starting at the end of February, Zayn has done several smaller gigs all over LA. His team thought that it wouldn’t just get Zayn even more known, but it would give the band a lot of practice playing with Zayn’s vocals. That plan is working well so far. We’ve played dozens of places and the music is being well received overall.

There are some who don’t like our sound because it’s different and with the positive tweets being sent to Zayn and even me, there are always some negative ones interspersed. When we see them we scroll and keep reading. There’s no point wasting our energy on something we can’t make go away. We’re happy with the album and so are thousands of others so it doesn’t matter.

Now we can’t go anywhere without getting recognized; not just Zayn but me too since it’s known that I’m his songwriter and in his band. My followings on all of my social media accounts have gone up dramatically and rapidly throughout the last few months as well. It’s almost like I have a fan base too. I have kept one thing hidden from all of the fans though.

I don’t want anyone to know that I’m also dating Zayn. I know that some people will support it and come up with some couple name for us but I’m afraid of the other stuff. I don’t want to receive hate from fans about our relationship or me personally. I’m a strong person but I’m insecure and defensive when people hit me where it hurts: myself and the people I love.

Today, Kenzie and I are leaving to go home for the girls’ spring break. I wanted Zayn to come with but he has to stay behind to do some promotional stuff without the band. He’s even getting interviews now! Niall can’t come because this time he has no good reason to. Yes, Mr. Horan still doesn’t know about the relationship.

I’m pretty damn sure that they’re serious enough about each other that they can tell him now. They love each other so much, they’ve been together practically 10 ½ months, and the morning after Valentine’s Day, Kenzie told me that she and Niall finally had sex!! I’m so happy for them and everyone else that we know and their mom approves…including Niall’s mom! Fingers crossed that the big reveal happens soon.

I grab my bag and go to Kenzie’s room to see if she’s ready to go. “Hey girl it’s about 1:30. Just about ready?” I ask. “Yeah…I just wish the guys were coming with.” she says grabbing her charger. “Well maybe Niall could’ve come with if somebody knew about you two already.” I tease. “Not yet, Em. When the time is right.” she says before going downstairs. I follow her and the boys are waiting for us. They’re taking us to the airport and seeing us off. We all exchange looks and head out.

The drive there is normal, just us listening/singing to the radio. All of a sudden, a song ends and the radio announcer says “Coming up after the break, music from an up-and-coming artist who calls himself ZM. Tonight he will be on this very station answering some of your questions. Stay tuned for the deets!” We all look at Zayn and he’s just as shocked as all of us. We all cheer and I hug him in the backseat. “I can’t believe our music is gonna be on the radio!” he says. “I knew I was being interviewed there, but this is incredible!” he says grabbing me and kissing me.

“I am beyond proud of you, baby. Look how far you’ve come.” I say. “Look how far we’ve come.” Zayn returns. “You’re never gonna let that go, are you?” I ask laughing. “Nope, because it’s true. Your career is taking off with mine.” he smiles. “What’s wrong, lovely?” Niall asks Kenzie. I look over and she looks sorta down.

“I’m really happy for you guys. I just wish my career would take off too.” she says. “Well now that you’re album is on iTunes people will hear your stuff and I’m sure they’ll love it.” Niall says trying to comfort her. Zayn and I agree. She has a voice on her and the songs are pretty great if I do say so myself. We arrive at the airport and we go through security and go to the gate.

Our flight is called to board and we say goodbye before going through the gate. Kenzie and I take our seats and wait for lift off. “It’s too bad Sammie couldn’t pick us up ‘cause of work.” I say. “At least she has a steady job and is safe in high school, plus is living with one of her best friends instead of having to live with her boyfriend’s parents.” Kenzie says somewhat bitter. “You’re not seriously jealous of Sammie? Her life isn’t exactly all roses.” I say.

“I know, but right now she can at least put certainty in school and a part time job. I don’t know if I’ll end up being a successful singer. Maybe I shouldn’t have cut my classes.” She must really be worried. “Mackenzie you’re going to be okay. Believe me, it’s gonna happen for you. Mr. Horan knows what he’s doing.”

After the flight…

We just landed and it’s about 7:00. Hannah and Susan are supposed to be picking us up and taking all of us to my house. We come through the gate and look for them. We find them after a few minutes and run to each other having a very happy reunion. After all, we haven’t seen each other since Christmas. “What time did you guys get in?” I ask Hannah and Susan.

“Around 10:30 this morning. We wanted to be here to see Sam before she had to work.” Hannah says. “Yeah we probably should have thought of doing that.” I say. “She said she would come over after work though, and that she would try and get off early.” Susan says. “Oh good! Shall we?” I ask. So we all pile into Hannah’s parents’ car she was allowed to borrow and head to my house.

We get to my house at about 7:45. Right when we get there, I bring up Zayn’s first ever radio interview at 9:00 tonight. Everyone wants to listen so we get some snacks and pull up the radio’s website. We keep it turned on in the background while we eat and play a few rounds of Cards Against Humanity (Hannah’s idea of course). We’re laughing so hard and loud that we almost don’t hear when the radio announcer says that Zayn will be on next.

We decide to do one more round before we listen. At 9:00 on the dot the announcer says “Welcome back, everyone. You’re listening to 102.7 KIIS-FM! JoJo Wright here with up-and-coming artist ZM who dropped by to answer some of your questions. We asked you tweet them to us @1027KIISFM with the hashtag #AskZM. Good evening, ZM. How are you?”

“I’m doing well, thank you.” I hear Zayn say. Aw, I miss him already. “All right let’s get right to the questions. Nicole from LA asks ‘What is your favorite color?’” JoJo says. “I’d have to say it’s probably red. It’s…bold.” He gives the best explanations. “I like it. The next one is from Alexandra in NYC: ‘How did you and your songwriter Emily meet?’” Oh my gosh…I wonder how he’s gonna tell this story.

The other girls lean in as close as they can to the computer. “Ha…well…I was trying to find a composer who had a different sound than anything I’d ever heard. I found original music of hers on SoundCloud and thought it was everything I was looking for. From there, my A&R contact at Columbia Records talked to her and she came to the label to meet me. The rest is history.”

“Sounds like a great story.” JoJo says clearly smiling. “That is so cute!” Kenzie says. “He is so crazy about you, Em.” Hannah pipes up. “Yeah well I’m crazy about him.” I say blushing. “Sssh!” Susan says. “Also, I want to say that Emily also writes for another up-and-coming singer named Mackenzie O’Brien. Her album is on iTunes and anyone who’s listening should buy it. She’s quite good.” I cannot believe Zayn said that!

“Give her a follow online as well. She posts some funny stuff. She’s gained tons of followers since her album came out but she deserves so many more. Her Twitter is @macadoodledo if you aren’t already following her.” Kenzie has the biggest smile on her face. “I can’t believe he did that for me.” she says. “Me either, that’s so sweet!” Hannah says.

He answers a few more questions including why he calls himself ZM. He explains the whole mysteriousness thing which I don’t even get. He’s doing great for his first interview. He doesn’t seem nervous at all. I love how confidently he presents himself to people. “Okay, we have time for one more question and it has been blowing up this hashtag. Everyone wants to talk more about Emily. She is your songwriter and is also in your band as the pianist, correct?”

What’s this about? “Yes she is.” he says. “Well there have been loads of tweets asking you if she is also your girlfriend. You’ve been seen out together a lot and oddly enough, there are people tweeting that they saw you two out with Mackenzie and Niall Horan whose father owns Capitol Records.”

Oh holy shit. Kenzie and I look at each other in disbelief. Word must have really gotten around about all of us by then. More than we thought. “It is true that the four of us have gone out together several times. We’re all very good friends.” Nicely handled, Zayn. “But you haven’t answered the question. Are you and Emily together?” Wow, this guy isn’t giving up. I really hope Zayn does the right thing here.

“Yes we are. We’re very happy together. We’ve been together for just over 10 months. I love her.” The girls say “Aw!” except for Kenzie. It was such a sweet answer but now everyone knows. I told him to not tell anybody because of hate. I guess I should start preparing for it now. The interview ends with JoJo telling everyone to follow Zayn on Twitter @OfficialZM along with Kenzie @macadoodledo and Kenzie’s phone rings.

“Hold on, it’s Niall.” she says going out of the room to answer it. “Is he the sweetest or what?” Susan asks. “Yeah he put it so nicely. It’s only a matter of time before the fans come up with a couple name for you.” Hannah says. “Yeah and here comes all the hate too.” I say sadly. “I didn’t even think about that. I mean it happens to everyone who’s famous. You’ll be able to get through it, don’t worry.” Susan says coming to me to hug me.

“Yeah, there isn’t any issue that we can’t help each other with. We’re the unstoppable team.” Hannah jokes coming to join us in the hug. Just then, Kenzie comes back in having just hung up with Niall. We all look to her and she says “You guys are not going believe this.”

Notes