Coffee

Gardens cause drama

Danny's POV
I pace the room, hands running through my hair. It's Saturday once again and I haven't gotten a call from Zahra all week. Maybe that day really was a one day thing and she doesn't want anything to do with me because I'm not special."Everyone is special,including you. Don't ever think otherwise."her words echo through my head. I

groan and lay on my bed, thinking. I finally get up off my bed and go downstairs to get a drink. When I arrive back in my room,my phone goes off."Hello?"I pick up."Hey! It's Zahra . Um,you said you wanted to hang again right?"she asks. I make a small noise."Oh,I apologize,I don't even know who this is. Is this Danny?"she asks. I manage to say a small 'yes'. "Okay,so are you free today? I am. If so,what do you want to do?"she asks. I'm always free. I clear my throat."Yea,um I'm not sure. Whatever you want."I reply."Okay,meet me by that bench in the park. See ya!"she says and hangs up. I quickly check myself out in the mirror and tease my hair a bit. I shrug. I look decent. I shut off my lights,grab my phone,and head out."Where are you going Honey?"my mother asks again."Out."I reply."Ok be safe and don't get in any trouble!"she calls after me and mops as my ten year old brother plays video games on the carpet in the living room. I nod my head and shut the door.

I stand outside my door for a few moments, hands in my pockets,small wind slightly bowing my hair. I then start off on my way.

I reach the park to see Zahra sitting on the bench looking quite lonely."Hey,did I take long?"I ask,checking my watch."No,I actually came a bit earlier."she smiles and stands up. Her wavy hair is in a high ponytail and she's wearing grey shorts with a grey tank top. Her sandals are silver and grey,matching her silver jewelry."So where are we going?"I ask,finally snapping out of my reverie."Somewhere."she replies,her smile growing more mischievous. She grabs my wrist and we go to the bus stop.

Once the bus finally arrives,we take it to the more wealthy part of town that had penthouses. We get off and start walking past all the sights until we really get to the penthouses."Why are we here?"I ask her. She continues to hold my wrist and walk."Ever since I was young,I've loved this part of town. The apartments were so nice,everyone took care of the appearance of their house,and all the entertainment was over here. I always swore to myself that I was gonna be something big so I can live like this when I get older." I smile at her."Big ambitions,huh?"I say."Huh,oh yea."she says,seeming to snap out of a reverie."Well what else do you want to- oh I have an idea!"I exclaim,interrupting myself. I

swallow my fear and grab Zahra's hand. I quickly start to lead her down the block and around a corner. We turn to be head-on with a giant fancy gate. I start to yank it until it finally creaks open."What's this? Are you sure we can be here?"Zahra questions. I grab her hand again and walk in. All around us,many flowers and pretty gold benches and stones align the alley."This is a garden created by some artist before he died. He bought the small alley and used all his life savings creating this,knowing he was to soon die. I found this place back when I was thirteen,and I've only told two other person about this,my best friend Sam,and you." I explain. She nods in understanding."Well why is it so abandoned? And are we supposed to be here?"she asks, eyeing me."Sure we are,it's open to the public. And I guess it's because not many people come here."I assure her.

She smiles,let go of my hand,and sits down on a bench. I frown a bit at the loss of contact. She leans over and look at some pink flowers,studying them. I just watch her. She's so different and amazing,how one minute she can have fun in the streets,and the next she can appreciate art. I sit down next to her."Thanks Danny,I love this place."she smiles and tilts her head."No problem,I'm actually glad I found someone who appreciates art and nature as much as me."I reply. She smiles at me and I can feel my face heat up.

We walk around the garden and watch it in silence."Zahra? Girl is that you?"I hear a loud female voice shout. Zahra looks at the big golden gates like a deer caught in headlights."What are you doing here?"her friend asks,flipping some braids over her shoulder."I-umm, I just came here to-" "Who is he?"she interrupts and gasps."He better not be your boyfriend or somethin'!"she exclaims."No! No,he's not my boyfriend. I just came here to clear my mind,and I happened to run into him. I remembered him from school, so we decided to just walk around here for a bit."Zahra lies. It hurts me that Zahra lied about us hanging out together. Her friend eyes us for a minute."Okay...but call me when you get home,okay girl?"she finally says."Ok."Zahra replies and her friend walks off. I just stand there,hurt. Zahra finally turns to me.

"I'm sorry I had to lie about you. I just didn't know how to tell her about you. I'm afraid she'll tell everyone and then people wouldn't like me for hanging with you."she says looking me in the eyes. I know exactly what that means. She's embarrassed of hanging with a white guy in public because of what her friends will think. Instead of confronting her of the subject,I decide its for another time,and make a small grunt indicating I understood. She smiles."Great! Wanna go get some lunch?" "Sure." I agree and we walk out the garden,shutting the large-yet-old golden gates behind us,and head to a nearby diner.

Zahra's POV
After a lunch of sandwiches and milkshakes,Danny and I go home our separate ways. The bus I sit on trudges down the new road. New roads? This is gives me another reason why I want to live here when I'm older.

I think of Danny and sigh. I hope I didn't hurt his feelings when I told that in the garden. He really is an amazing boy,but I'm afraid of what people,especially my friends,would say if they found out I date white boys. I personally don't find anything wrong with them,but unfortunately not everyone I know thinks the same. The bus stops and I get off. I quickly head to my house,still thinking of Danny,and and go to my room to pick up my room phone.

I dial my friend Keisha's number and let it ring."Hello?"she answers."Hey girl. I'm home and you told me to call you when I could."Oh yea! I wanted to know, what's up with that little white boy you're hanging with? You like him?" I feel my face heat up."No,we're just friends,and don't say that. He's not 'little' he just as normal as any other boy I hang with."I reply."Yea,except he's white."Keisha says to herself low."Hey I heard that! And what does his race have to do with anything?!"I retort."Nothing! I'm just surprised..."she trails off. My eyebrows narrow."Why?"I ask slowly."I didn't think that the breakup with Sean would hurt you so bad the where you'd downgrade to a white boy." I fume with anger."What does his race have to with any damn thing?! How the hell did I 'downgrade'?! He's way better than Sean ever was! I know you shouldn't be talking,you're with a dude who cheats on you every other month!"I exclaim."He only did it twice,and this has nothing to do with me. Face it Zahra,you downgraded to a white boy because no one likes you."she replies.

I start to giggle a bit."I can't believe it."I say and start to laugh more."What?"Keisha spews out."You're jealous of me aren't you? You always have been..."I trail off,smiling."Yea,you wish! Why would I ever be jealous of you?"she retorts."You are....you always tell me bad news first to bring me down,you tell me not to do things because they'll fail, you send bad messages to me, you're negative."I say."No, I'm just being the sensible friend who knows right from wrong."she counters."How? Sensible people don't tell you how 'that color looks terrible' or how 'some girl wants to fight you' or even 'maybe boys don't like you because you're gaining weight. Keisha, you need to face it. You're jealous of me. I don't want you calling or speaking to me anymore,I don't need the negativity in my life. So what if I hang out with a white guy,it's none of your business,I do what I want. And you better not spread rumors about me if you know what's good for you."I say calm,but still getting my point across,and hang up.

She tries calling me back a few times during the evening,but I ignore her. I don't have time for games.

Author's notes:
I'm sorry it took me a while to update, my life has been busy lately. I'm also going on a two week vacation so I'll only be able to write when I can. I promise to update as soon as possible! I also hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much I did writing it! So like, comment, and follow me! Thanks ~Brooklyndiva02