Chapter 3

It has been a week since the doctors has told us that Saira’s in a coma. Her mum hasn’t stopped crying since then, and I could see that her dad is trying really hard to hold back his tears. He’s being strong and trying to calm Saira’s mum. I tried my best not to cry either; I actually haven’t cried after the day I found out that Saira was in coma.

Since that day I went to the hospital everyday always hoping that she will open her eyes and talk to me. I don’t care if she’s mad at me or doesn’t talk to me; I just want her to wake up. All of our friends go to meet her as often as they can, but I go every day. A few times they even let me stay with her overnight.

I’m going to eat breakfast and go meet her. I lost my appetite, so I took a few bites of cereal and left. Mum finally let me drive. It took a lot of convincing but at the end she agreed.

I got in the car and drove off. I reached in front of the hospital, parked the car and got out. As I walked my heart raced, every time I walked in the hospital my heart raced with the thought, the hope, that maybe when I enter Saira’s room I will find her sitting on the bed smiling.

“Hey Zayn. Good Morning.”

“Hi Melisa, good morning.” Melisa was the receptionist.

“Oh hey Zayn, you’re here.”

“Hey Lisa.” She was the nurse, the same one that told me about Saira first. She was looking after Saira too. I came here often so I got know some of the people.

“How are you doing now?”

“I’m good. How is Saira? Is she improving? Is there any new news?” I looked at her with hope and desperation.

“I’m sorry to say but there hasn’t been any improvement. It hurts to say this, but I overheard the doctors an-”

“And what? Is she going to be okay?” I was almost yelling. The thought of anything happening to her was killing me. I wasn’t going to give up; I wasn’t going to let her so easily, only if I could something.

“The overheard the doctor say that there is a very small chance of her coming out of coma.”

I couldn’t say anything, I couldn’t move. I just stood there, looking at the floor. Lisa put her hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” I didn’t reply I just stood there. She walked out of the room leaving me alone there with Saira.

I walked to Saira’s bed and sat on the chair that was next to her. I just stared at her, remembering all the times I spent with her. I still remember the first day I met her, it’s like it was just yesterday.

I knew about her before she even moved here. Munisha, her cousin, told us that she was moving here. She showed us Saira’s picture, there was something about her that just caught my attention. I always tried to find excuses to know more about her and I did.

We luckily had same classes.

She came in first period class, English, late. She looked so lost but had confidence in her, anyone was able to see it in her face. She was always confidence, even when she was confused or lost. Her confidence was one thing I loved about her. Everyone had their eyes on her. This made her uncomfortable, but she still wore her confidence. She walked over and handed a piece of paper to Ms. Ciena, our English teacher.

“Okay, class this is Saira, and she is new here. Would you like to tell something about yourself to the class?”

“Hi.” She waved her hand one time “I’m Saira, I just moved here, and I’m from New York. That’s about it. Umm where do I sit?”

“Okay, you can sit…” Ms. Ciena scanned the room “next to Zayn. Zayn raise your hand.”

She came and sat next to me.

“Hi, I’m Zayn.” I gave her a smile.

“Yeah I know. The lady just said that.”

“Yeah she did. So, when did you move here?” She wasn’t looking at me; instead, she was doodling in her notebook.

“Umm…a week ago.”

“How do you like in London?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen anything yet, been unpacking and stuff.”

“Oh w-”, right when I was about to ask her if I could show her around sometimes, Ms. Ciena interrupted.

“Zayn stop talking. You can do that on your own time.”

“Sorry Ms.”

After that, the whole time we didn’t say anything to each other. Saira seemed to be in her own little world, not paying attention to what was happening around her. I thought she took a glimpse of me a couple of times; it could have been my imagination. I kept looking at her from the corner of my eye. She was so beautiful. She had beautiful long, straight black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a plain black hoodie, skinny jeans and vans; besides that she wasn’t wearing any makeup. That was one thing I loved about her, she was naturally beautiful, she never wore makeup or dressed up and still she looked amazing. And the best part was she never tried to impress anyone; she never tried to impose herself on me, like many girls in the school did. Not only that, she never dressed slutty, which I totally respected and admired.

Other than English, we had many other classes together. Surprisingly she sat next to me in all of those classes, but we really didn’t say much to each other. We only exchanged our hellos.

At lunch, I scanned the whole lunchroom and didn’t see Saira anywhere; I didn’t see Munisha either. I guess they are probably together. I took a sip of my soda and looked up at the door. I saw Saira and Munisha walking in, they walked towards us.

“Hey guys.” Munisha waved at us.

“Hey.” Everyone one table said at once. I notice they were all looking at Saira.

“Oh, everybody meet her. She's my cousin Saira. She just moved here.”

“Hi Saira.” Everyone said again.

“And Saira, this is Liam, Zanib, Harry, Louis, Niall and last but not the least Zayn.” She pointed to each one of us.

“Yeah I know. We have met.” Saira was looking directly at me.

“Oh really?” Munisha had a smirk on her face.

“Yeah.”

I didn't realize that I was staring at Saira. Niall nudged me.

“Dude stop staring at her and fantasizing, you’re going to creep her out.”

“Yeah, stop creeping her out. She might go back to New York.” Louis had to make a comment. He always does.

“Don't worry I won't leave so easily. Plus after you get to know me than you wouldn't dare to stare at me.” She laughed “Now do you mind.”

I quickly looked down and started eating again. Saira walked around the table and came to sit next to me. I started to smile. But then she could have sat next to me because that was the only seat available, not because she wanted to. It was me, Saira, Harry, Munisha, Liam, Zanib, Louis and Niall.

There was an awkward silence between me and Saira for a few minutes. Everyone was doing their own thing, talking to each other. After three minutes, which felt like three hours, Saira finally broke the silence.

“So, what were you going to ask me in English, you know before that lady told you to stop talking?”

“Oh I was going to ask you if you wanted me to show you around sometimes.”

“Umm…” she thought for a while “Yeah sure.”

I slightly smiled but, inside I was going crazy. I thought this was the perfect time to give my number to her. I wrote my number on a piece of paper and handed it to her.

“Since, we’re going to be hanging out, here’s my number,” she shook her head and saved the number on her phone. My phone vibrated, I took it out of my black jeans pocket. It was her number. I looked up at her, she smiled. I quickly saved her number and smiled to myself.

When I looked up from my phone I saw everyone staring at us.

“What the fuck are you guys looking at?” Wow Saira hates it when people stare at her doesn’t she

“You’re feisty.” Niall was giggling.

Saira nodded her head towards Niall and had a wide smile on her face. When she smiled I got butterflies in my stomach.

“So what are we doing today after school?” Liam was trying to change the topic.

“We should go to Nandos.” Niall practically screamed. He was obsessed with Nandos. Liam slightly chuckled and shook his head in agreement. Saira looked confused.

“What’s Nandos?” She asked, curiously. Niall’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Only the best place in the whole universe!” Niall said. I looked around, everyone was smiling. Everyone knows about Niall’s crazy obsession with Nandos.

“If it’s the best place in the whole universe, why haven’t I ever heard about it before?”

“Don’t question it! It is the best.” Niall seemed offended. Saira just shook her head slightly and chuckled. She moves her hand across me and pinches Niall’s red cheeks.

“Awww, you’re so cute!” She said with a big grin on her face. For a strange reason jealously spread around me. I slightly made a face but removed it immediately. The rest of the time we just laughed and talked.

That was the first time I met her, and it was a time that I will never forget.

Another time that I’ll never forget is when I took her out to show her around London.

I remember walking up to her door and knocking it. Her older brother opened it, Jim.

“Hi, I came here to meet Saira.”

“Oh, I’m sorry she was abducted by aliens.” I looked at him with a confused look.

“Jim, you fucking asshole. I’m going to fucking kill you.” I heard Saira scream while she ran down the stairs. Jim started laughing hysterically and ran away while Saira ran after him. I put my head inside the door and took a peek. She was walking towards me while fixing her shirt. She was wearing blue skinny jeans, navy blue TOMS and a black leather jacket with a blue tank top underneath it.

“Sorry about that.”

“Nah, it’s okay.” I giggled “By the way you look really beautiful.”

She looked down and shyly said “Thank you.” and looked up at me.

“Just being honest,” I said smiling at her. I could tell she was being flattered.

“So, ready to go?”

“Yeah, lets go.”

We walked towards my car, sat inside and drove off.

“So, where are we heading first?” she questioned. I could tell she didn’t trust me yet by her expressions.

“Well, do you like shopping?”

“Um ... yeah.”

“Good because there’s this great shopping mall that I was thinking you would like to go to.”

“Oh, that sounds fun.” She smiled at me. Her smile made me smile.

Our hands touched when we were about to turn up the volume of the radio to the song “Take Care” by Drake ft. Rihanna. She looked at me and smiled flirtatiously, but quickly pulled away her hand. After that things got a little awkward but we luckily reached the mall in few minutes.

She ran into a little boutique. I entered behind her and saw this beautiful dress; I pictured her in it, wearing the red ruched halter dress. She would look beautiful. I took it out of the hanger; my eyes than landed on these shoes, Rosette Platforms, that would look perfect with the dress. I took the dress and shoes and gave it to her.

“Try this; it would look really beautiful on you.” I hope I wasn’t asking for too much. She didn’t seem like a person that would wear this.

She looked at me for a few seconds.

“Ummm...Sure, I guess.” She seemed hesitant.

She went in the dressing room and changed. She came out looking down at her dress, she seemed very uncomfortable. It seemed like she was having hard time walking in the high heels. But she looked amazing; I couldn’t take my eyes off her. As they say, the most beautiful girls are the most insecure.

“Wow!” I widened my eyes.

“Yeah. I think I should change now.”

“Why? It looks amazing on you.” I said honestly. She looked down.

“Really?” She was still uncertain. She saw me staring and a smile slowly crept on her.

“Well, this dress is really expensive, so it would be better if I changed.”

“Do you really think I would let you pay? I’ll pay for it.”

“You would buy me a dress? I barely know you.”

“Sometimes you don’t have to know a person for a long time to know how important they will be in the future.” I smiled at her. “Plus this dress was made for you. It would be sad if you didn’t get it.”

We argued for a couple of minutes, but she eventually gave up.

“Ughh. Fine, you could buy me this dress. Are you happy now?”

“Very.” I smiled cheekily.

She kept the dress on, I paid for it and we left. After going to a few more stores we were really tiered, and we were starving.

“I’m hungry.” Saira whined.

“Yeah me too.”

“Okay so where are we going to eat?”

“Umm. I was thinking about taking you to this restaurant that is famous here. It will make you forget about all the restaurants in New York.”

“Oh, well that’s going to be hard. New York’s restaurants are AWESOME.”

“We’ll see about that.” I was giggling.

“Okay.”

We left the mall and drove off to the restaurant. We entered the restaurant and already I could tell that Saira loved it. Her eyes widened as she saw the fountain in front of the Ivy Restaurant.

“Wow. This place is beautiful.”

“Yeah I know.”

“It was be really expensive. You really didn’t have to do this.”

“Well, it’s no problem. It’s worth it, being in such a beautiful place with you.” I saw her blushing. “Well let’s go in.”

I held the door for her and watched her enter. She truly did look beautiful in the dress.

The waiter came over and asked how many people. I told him there were two people and he led us to our table. He gave us our menu, and left.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Ummm. I’m not sure. Whatever you order.”

“Okay.”

The waiter came over and I ordered the food. The whole time the waiter was looking at Saira, and flirting with her. It was like I wasn’t there. I could see Saira was getting uncomfortable and didn’t like it. He laid the napkins on her thighs for her, smiled at her and left. She started to eat but was hesitant.

“Is everything okay?”

“Ummm...Yeah.”

“Then why aren’t you eating?”

“Because that creepy, asshole keeps staring, and I can’t eat when someone is staring at me.” I traced my eyes at the direction that Saira was looking at. The waiter was staring at her, and when he noticed that she was looking back he waved. She quickly looked away.

“Do you want me to get rid of him?”

Her eyes widened. “What do you mean by ‘get rid of him’?”

“Not like that. Wait, you’ll see.”

I called the waiter over while Saira waited to see what I was going to do anxiously. I could see she was worried. The waiter came over and looked directly at Saira, like I wasn’t even there.

“What can I do for you ma’am?”

“Excuse me I called you over.”

“Oh, sorry sir. How can I help you?”

I took Saira’s hands and held them. They were really soft and warm. Holding her hand was an incredible feeling. Outside I looked calm, but inside I was going crazy.

“My girlfriend here was feeling uncomfortable because of you. So do you mind and stop staring at her, or else I will have to talk to the manager. I don’t think you would want that, now would you?” I looked over at Saira, she was stunned.

“No, sir. I’m incredibly sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Good, know you may leave.”

“Sorry sir.” With that he left. Saira was still surprised, she was speechless.

“You really didn’t have to do that.”

“Why? You wouldn’t want to be my girlfriend?” She looked offended.

“No, I didn’t mean like th-”

“So you would want to be my girlfriend?” I cut her off and smiled widely. She looked down and chuckled and looked back up again.

“Are you trying to ask me out?”

“Maybe.” I smiled cheekily.

She laughed; we were interrupted by the waiter. He brought the bill. We got up and gave him a tip. The way he was looking at Saira was annoying me. It was the look of lust. So I took Saira from her waist, brought her close to me. I could feel her breath on me; before she could say anything I gave her a soft kiss on her cheek.

“Did you enjoy the dinner love?” Her face was priceless, and the face of the waiter was hysterical. I moved her to the direction of the waiter, she saw him and I guess she understood why I did that.

“Umm. Y-Yes.” She stuttered. The waiter just looked at us one more time and looked away embarrassed. Saira quickly pulled away and adjusted her dress.

“Okay let’s go.”

“Okay.”

We left the restaurant and walked back to the car. It got dark outside.

“So, where are we going next?”

“The carnival.”

“Really?” Saira was really excited, she loved the carnival.

We went to the carnival and there Saira saw the Ferris wheel.

“OH MY GOD. I want to go on the Ferris wheel.” She got really excited and looked really cute. “Come with me?”

I looked down, I was scared of heights. I haven’t been on a Ferris wheel in my entire life,

“Ummm. Are you sure?”

“YES.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay.” I muttered to myself. “Zayn, you can do this.”

She looked up at me as we walked towards the Ferris wheel. “Are you sure you want to go?” She asked concerned.

“Yes! I love Ferris Wheels.”

We waited on line and as we got closer, my heart was beating faster. Saira was beaming with excitement. It was finally our turn. I looked up and realized how high it was. My heart dropped. We got on it and my hands were becoming sweaty. As we went higher, I realized how close I was to Saira. Our shoulders were touching and our hands were brushing together. I looked at her. She was looking at the view, smiling. She turned her head my way and I quickly turned away. When I turned away, I saw how high we were. I quickly shut my eyes tightly and clenched on the bar.

Suddenly, I felt Saira’s hand linger on my hand. She held it tightly.

“You know you could’ve just told me that you were scared of heights?” she smiled at me. When she smiled, all my fears and troubles flew away. I didn’t even realize we were on the highest point of the Ferris wheel. I just held her hand and looked into her eyes.

After a few minutes, I broke the silence and awkwardness between us.

“I had a good time with you today.”

“Yeah, me too. I finally feel more comfortable here in London. I really was missing New York but, not anymore,” she smiled.

“So, would you like to go out with me?” I said, I kind of screamed it. She could tell I was nervous and my hands got sweatier. She giggled and smiled widely.

“Yeah, sure. I would love that.”

That’s when I realized that Saira was the one. I was afraid that I was going too fast but, it felt right. I know we’re too young to talk about forever but, with her, it really felt like that.

Now I wish I could go back to that moment, and keep it forever.

I snapped back to reality. A tear rolled down my cheek. I took her hand and held it.

“Come back Saira. I love you.”

Slowly her hand clenched tighter in mine, and I saw her eyes twitch a little.

Notes

Hope you guys enjoy!

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Thank you! :)

-MS