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**Harry’s POV**
~~at school, free period~~
“C’mon, Harry. It’s prom. You can’t not go.” My best friend Louis whines.
“It’s barely even prom. It’s a masquerade ball and you don’t even get to choose your own date. It’s really stupid.” I argue. Our school created an online program that has you answer questions and matches you up with someone based on how you answer the questions. The catch is, you don’t get to know who you match up with until the end of the dance.
“Why don’t you just ask someone to go with you, and both of you can answer the questions the exact same way. That’s what Niall and I are doing.” Louis suggests.
“I don’t know, Lou. I highly doubt the person I want to go with would actually say yes to me.” And that’s when I see him, standing there in all his beauty.
Zayn Malik
He is the definition of perfection. Everything about him is perfect. Well, except from the fact that he was born without his left forearm. From his elbow down was a ‘robotic’ prosthetic forearm and hand.
I, however, couldn’t afford to get a high quality appendage for my nonexistent right leg, so I’m stuck with an old prosthetic leg that falls off when I run. I prefer to keep my deformity a secret from everyone at school except my close friends and physical education teachers, obviously.
“You never know.” Louis puts his hand on my shoulder. “Maybe there will be a question asking if you’re an amputee and both of you click yes.” I give him a look that tells him to drop the topic. “Let’s go to the computers so you can answer the questions and I can look at them.”
“Okay.” It was our free period, so we ventured off to the school library and signed in to use the computers. I quickly log on and wait for it to load. “This is so stupid.” I mutter to myself.
“Stupid or not, you’re doing this. You’re going to prom. Now go to the school website and-“
“I know what to do. I was looking at the questions the other day.” I cut him off.
“Cheater!” He whisper-yells at me. I scoff.
“Because you’re not cheating by watching me take it.” I state sarcastically.
“I’m a hypocrite, I know. Now less talkie more type-ie.” I sigh as I take the test.
What’s your favorite color?
What do you like to do for fun?
What’s your dream date?
“I feel like an idiot.” I admit. I fill out the rest of it with half-assed answers. “And… submit. There. I’m done.”
~~the next week (prom)~~
“I really don’t want to go.” I groan, flopping onto Niall’s bed.
“Harry, get up. You’re going to wrinkle your suit.” Niall scolds. “Don’t you wanna look good for you mystery date?”
“No. I wanna look good for Zayn. And I doubt I matched with him.” I sit up and pout. Niall throws a mask at me.
“It’s perfect. You’re wearing a black suit, gold boots, and you like music.”
“Okay, I have to admit: this is nice.”
“Good. Now put it on. Louis is here.” I oblige and pull the strap behind. I take a quick look in the mirror before following Niall to the front door.
~~time skip~~
“The person you matched with will have the same number as you. Have fun.” I thank the lady and put on my ‘8’ sticker. I wait for Louis and Niall to get their numbers.
“Would you look at that. We got the same number!” Louis announces to Niall.
“Huh. What a coincidence!”
“Why do I associate myself with you two?” I ask.
“Because you love us, obviously.” Louis laughs. “Let’s go find your magic eight card.” Niall and Louis drag me into the gymnasium where prom was being held. They help me look for someone with an ‘8’ sticker, but no one had one; an 85, an 18, and a 48.
“It’s useless, guys. We checked everyone here.” I sigh as I sit at a table.
“Well some people aren’t here yet. Maybe it’s one of them.” Niall says reassuringly.
“We got here late.”
“Well Zayn’s not here yet.” I roll my eyes and playfully shoved Louis’ arm.
“If you two wanna dance, go. Don’t let me stop you.” I notice that Louis was dancing in his chair.
“You sure?” Louis asks. I nod, seeing that he was already half out of his chair, holding Niall’s hand in his own. As soon as I nod, Louis pulls Niall to the dance floor, leaving me to chuckle to myself.
After a few minutes, I decide to get up an grab something to drink. I walk up to the coolers and open the one labeled ‘water’ in fancy blue letters. I pick up a bottle, close the cooler, turn around, and slam into the person behind me.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t wa- hey. Number 8.”
Holy f-cking sh-t. Zayn Malik is talking to me.
I know it’s him because who else could have such a perfect jawline, sparkling hazel eyes, and, y’know, a prosthetic arm!?
“I guess we matched.” I spluttered stupidly. He just grins at me and offers me his right hand. I place my hand in his. “Wanna sit?”
“I was actually thinking we could dance. Isn’t that what prom is all about?”
“Yeah.” I look down, blushing. “Um, just let me put this down at the table.” I cannot believe this is happening.
We walk over to the table and I put my drink down. I then allow Zayn to pull me to the dance floor.
“Just so you know, I’m not the best dancer.” Zayn warns.
“I highly doubt that. But even if you are bad, you cannot be worse than me.” I laugh.
When we reach the dance floor, we start dancing. The DJ is playing some electronic song; not exactly my style, but Zayn seems to like it so I keep dancing. As the next few songs play, I either get whacked in the head or someone knocks into my arm. It’s not long before I get pushed to hard that I end up on the floor. While trying to not laugh, Zayn helps me get back on my feet then leans in towards my ear.
“You really are bad at dancing.” He nods his head over to an area with less people. We move to the less-crowded area and Zayn leans in to whisper to me again. “I’ll hold onto you this time.” He winks at me. I let out a breathy chuckle.
“You don’t have to.” But he already is. Zayn places his hands on my hips and pulls me closer to him. I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as we dance a little more. I want to kiss him so bad, but I can’t. He doesn’t even know who I am.
“I’m sorry. Is this weird?” He asks. I shake my head.
“No, not at all.” I smile at him, which he returns. “But, you’ll have to excuse me. I need to use the restroom.”
“No problem. I’ll wait for you at the table, yeah?”
“Okay.” I watch for a few seconds as he walks away before I quickly walk to the more crowded part of the dance floor to find Niall and Louis. Once I find them, I grab their wrists and pull them to the bathroom.
“This better be good, Styles. They were just about to play the Cha Cha Slide.” Niall whines.
“This is better than good. I matched with Zayn!” I admit excitedly. I watch as their faces light up.
“When did you find out?” Louis asks. I tell them everything that has happened in the last hour.
“But I had to make up an excuse because my leg is falling off.” And with that I walk into one of the stalls and readjust the old prosthetic leg. When I was done, I left the stall and quickly washed my hands. “Do either of you know when they’re going to announce king and queen?” I question.
“Around 9 I think.” Niall answers. “It’s like half 8 now, so soon.” I nod my head and turn and walk out of the bathroom, not bothering to see if Niall and Louis were behind me. I make my way back to the gym and over to the table where Zayn was sitting.
“Hey. Sorry it took so long, the toilets are ages away.” I laugh lightly as I sit down next to Zayn.
“No problem.” He smiles at me. “They said that prom king and queen will be announced in about ten minutes. That was right after you left so they’re doing soon. I don’t know if you know any of the nominees, but my friend is up for king and he wants me to be near the front so I can take pictures for his mum.” Zayn rambles. I find it absolutely adorable. “Would you mind standing up there with me?”
“Of course not. Let’s go.” We stand up and walk through the smaller crowd of students until we reach the front. We dance a little bit, waiting for the music to stop.
“May I have everyone’s attention please? It is now time for me to announce this years prom king and prom queen. Will the nominees please join me.” The principal waits for the people to walk through the crowd and stand next to him. “For prom king you voted for…” and I stopped paying attention. I really didn’t care about this. The only reason I asked Niall about was because I know there is a long slow dance after the crowning, and I really want to dance with Zayn. Instead of listening to the winners, I watched as Zayn’s face lit up. I’m guess his friend won because he was cheering very loud. He put his phone, which he took out to record his friend, back in his pocket. “Now every one please clear the dance floor as the king and queen start off the slow dance.”
The DJ turns the music back on and plays a slow, pretty song. Wait- can songs be pretty? Oh well.
“May I have this dance?” Zayn offers me his right hand.
“Certainly.” I grin. I take his hand and we moved towards the center of the dance floor. He wraps my arms around his waist and places his hands on my shoulders. “I love this song.” I say when the second verse of the song started. It was more to myself, but I guess Zayn heard me.
“It’s one of my favorites.” He pulls himself closer to me.
“Yeah, the Scorp-” I get cut off by Zayn kissing me. Wait. What?
Oh my god.
Holy f-cking sh-t. Zayn Malik is kissing me.
But he doesn’t know who I am. Why is he kissing someone he doesn’t know?
“I-i gotta go.” I say when he pulls back. “I’m sorry.” I take my hands off of him and break into a sprint out of the gym, down the hallway and to the front doors of the school. However, when I reach the doors, I fall over.
My leg has fallen off.
I can hear someone walking down the hallway. I get up, leaving my leg behind, and hop out of the school and to Louis’ car. Luckily, Louis often forgets to lock it, so I get in. I quick text Niall and Louis to let them know where I am and I tell them to take their time.
~~the next day~~
I wake up on my living room couch. My bedroom is upstairs and I didn’t feel like attempting to go up there without a leg. Conveniently, I keep a pair of crutches in every room of the house. I ask my sister, Gemma, to bring me clothes to change into. For some reason my school decided to have prom on a Thursday day and then make us go to school the next day.
Because that’s a great idea.
By the time I’m dressed, Louis’ car is stopped in front of my house.
~~at school, end of free period~~
I keep my head tilted down and I crutch down the school hallways, trying to avoid the stares from the other students. A couple people try to ask me what happened, but I just ignore them. I eventually make my way to Louis’ locker.
“Well hello there, una pierna.” Louis greets.
“Did you seriously just call me ‘one leg’ in Spanish?” Louis laughs and nods, continuing to put his books in his locker. “Is that a hickey?” I ask. I can see his cheeks turn red as he slaps his hand on his neck.
“Shut up.” Louis mumbles. “If you think this bruise is bad, you should see the other guy. He can barley walk.”
“Okay, ew. I did not need to know that.”
~~time skip to Harry’s house~~
I finally get comfortable on my couch, but then somebody thought it was a good idea to knock on the front door. Since I am the only one home, I have to answer it. I struggle to open the door, but when I do, I reveal the person who decided to interrupt my peace and quiet time.
Holy f-ucking sh-t. Zayn Malik is at my house.
“Uh, hey. Zayn right?” I try my best to remain calm.
“Yeah.” He exhales. I notice that he is fidgeting with his fingers, most likely meaning he’s nervous. “I don’t know if you know this, but, um, we matched at the dance last night. I mean, it probably wasn’t that hard to tell.” He lifts up is prosthetic arm.
“That explains a lot.” I laugh, trying to keep up the act that I didn’t know he was my date. “How did you know I was the one you matched with?”
“You’re probably gonna think I’m a creep after this.” He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “We have History together and I noticed that you walk with a limp, so when my date walked with the same limp, I knew it was you.” I can’t stop the amused smile that forms on my face.
“That’s not creepy at all.” For the first time since I opened the door, Zayn makes direct eye-contact with me.
“That wasn’t the creepy part.” He chuckles awkwardly. “Once I confirmed that it was you this morning, I started asking around to see if anyone had your phone number. I finally ran into your friend Niall and asked him for it. Instead of texting or calling you, I decided to look up your phone number and found your address that way.”
“Wow.” is all I am able to say, but I also have an amused look on my face.
“Before I embarrass myself any further, I have your leg at my house, and um…” He trailed off, seeming at a loss for words.
“Are you asking me to go over your house?” he nods. “In that case, I’d be happy to.” I smile at him before excusing myself to out on a shoe. Once I return, we exit my house and get into Zayn’s car.
~~time skip~~
“Thanks, Zayn, but I could have done it myself.” I tried to hide my blush. Zayn is currently kneeling between my bare legs.
“It’s no problem, but I do think you’ve been putting this on wrong.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Well there is this little latch thing here which should prevent the leg from falling off. Have you been latching it?”
“I didn’t even know there was a latch.” I chuckle. Zayn looks up at me and smiles quickly before he finishes with my leg. He moves back and stands up.
“Okay now get up and tell me how it feels.” I oblige and stand up and take a few steps. At first, it fells a little uncomfortable, but now it feels more secure.
“It feels great. Thank you.” My actions get the better of me and before I know what I’m doing, my arms are wrapped tightly around Zayn’s shoulders. He didn’t seem to mind as he moves his arms around my waist. “Hey,” I say, pulling back slightly, “I believe I have something to return to you too.”
“And what is that?” I answer him my placing my lips on his. He hums lightly and smiles against my lips.
And we live happily ever after.
The end.
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I am the actual queen of cutting things short. Soz.
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