Never be the same

Chapter nine: Stranger

It's Friday morning, Zoe wakes up and checks her phone before getting up. She feels exhausted, fortunately it's the end of the week and she would have time for herself. She gets ready and leaves in hope that Sarah is outside but she's not there. Instead, there is Leo who is waiting for her. Zoe approaches his car and says:

"Good morning, Leo! Where is Sarah?"

"Morning! She is not here as you can see. This morning I will drive you to school but if you insist her to be here, I can go by myself." Says Leo with a warm smile on his face.

"No, no. I'd love to go with you. I was just expecting Sarah" a big smile forms on her face.

"Okay, then get in." As Leo's driving he thinks if he should ask her out. He feels nervous but still decides to try his chance.

"Zoe... are you free tonight?"

"Yes, why?" she asks curiously.

"Will you... go out with me?" he says while his cheeks are blushing. Zoe gets excited and tries to hide the big smile on her face and says:

"Yes, I will" she doesn't know what else to say.

"I'll pick you up at 7pm, okay?"

"Sure" she says. Zoe is so happy. That's the greatest thing that happened to her these days. Maybe everything was going to get better from now on...

They reach the school's parking area and as they leave the car, they see Sarah and Zak smoking and talking together. They seem very happy, Zoe wonders what might have happened last night to make them that happy. Are they officially in a relationship? Or are they still just going out...

"HEY, ZOE" Sarah waves at her. "Guys, what's happening here, you woke up with him or what?" says Sarah playfully.

"I'm not you, Sarah, he just picked me up because apparently someone was having fun with her boyfriend and forgot about me..."

"Hey, I didn't forget you, I just thought that you will come with Rachel or something. And he is not my boyfriend... yet" Sarah says while turning to Zak.

"Rachel... she's not okay, I think that she won't even come to school today. Omar's words hurt her a lot."

"I feel sorry for her... she was such a funny person and annoying sometimes but still. I hope that she'll get better soon."

"Me too... We are going to class, are you two coming?"

"Yeah, we will come." Sarah puts out her cigarette. As she is about to go after Zoe and Leo, Zak holds her by the wrist, gets closer to her ear and says:

"You will be mine very soon" while Sarah is looking at him with an excitement Zak walks away and then she follows him.

They enter the classroom and see that Bella is there with Omar. Bella looks at them in hope that they'll say 'hi' but no one, not even Zoe says anything and they sit on their seats.

"Why is this fucker here?" asks Sarah.

"I don't know..." says Zoe and the school bell rings. Omar leaves the classroom and the first period starts. They all are tired from the things that happened yesterday especially Zoe because she had to take care of Rachel but she still didn't feel any better. They hope that school ends soon so they could have some time for themselves.

...Their classes for the day end and everyone heads home. Zoe stars choosing her outfit for the night while Sarah is getting in her car. She drives to an abandoned place that is 45 minutes away from her house. There is a man, fully clothed in black that is waiting for her. She gets out of her car and starts walking towards the guy. A pesky smile forms on his face as she gets closer.

"I'm glad you're here, Sarah. A long time passed since we last met. I missed your beautiful face. I hope that no one saw you coming otherwise it'll be bad for both of us"

"I brought you the half of the money, you'll get the rest later." She hands him a bag while avoiding eye contact. He grabs her chin gently and makes her look into his eyes. She pushes him aggressively and says:

"If you touch me one more time, I'll fucking kill you!" He laughs out loud and gets closer to her. He grabs her arm and says:

"I think you forgot who are you talking with, you little girl... Shall I remind you or you'll watch your attitude, hmm?" He says glaring into her soul.

"Just take your money and let me go..."

"I will... I will but do you really think that you'll get rid of me that easy? Don't you see yourself, you're dependent on me. You will always come back... Now give me my money and fuck off, you slut. And don't forget to bring the rest"

She turns back to her car without saying anything while holding back her tears and starts driving. As she reaches home, she goes to her bedroom and starts crying but then her phone starts ringing. She wipes her tears away and picks up:

"Hey Sarah! Will you come over tonight? Leo will be out with Zoe and my parents are not in town. I thought that we could watch a movie or something"

"Hey Zak! Yeah, sure. I'll be there at 8pm?"

"Are you okay? Did you cry?" Zak gets worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Sarah, you can tell me everything, you know, right?"

"Yes, I know. See you tonight, Zak. Bye" and she hangs up and tries to forget what happened.

...7pm. Leo is in front of Zoe's house waiting for her. He feels nervous but tries to keep it cool, he doesn't want to look stupid in front of the girl that he likes. He sees that she is coming and starts the car.

"Hi Leo, I hope that I didn't make you wait that much. My mom was asking too many questions."

"Protective mom, huh?" he smiles at her. "It's okay. I came like 10 minutes ago. I enjoyed listening to music while waiting."

"Won't happen again, I'm sorry" she giggles. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah, sure" He starts driving.

"What are we going to watch?" asks Zoe.

"Pet sematary" Have you heard of it? Some of my friends told me that it's a really good movie."

"Yeah, I've watched the trailer. I wanted to watch it with Sarah but she is not into horror as much as I am"

"So, you like horror... that's good to know" Leo looks at Zoe and smiles at her. Zoe likes how he tries to know more things about her, she thinks that Leo is the sweetest and the most gentle guy that she has known. They finally reach the cinema, get their tickets and go in...