Gina

24.

I remember the day you told me you were leaving,
I remember the tears rolling down your face...

¤*¤FLASHBACK¤*¤
Gina laughed as she sang along to one of her favourites- a Shania Twain song, 'That Don't Impress Me Much' or something.

Henna rolled her eyes in the background! She  didn't fancy her sister's apparent talent.

"Play 'Time After Time.' I am pretty sure she can't sing that," Henna said. Doniyah looked pretty busy on the phone.

Despite being young, she won almost everyone over. The crowd was cheering by the time they got to the chorus after the first verse.

"You can sing! You should sing!"

"You will be a rockstar someday!"

"I love you!" Zayn yelled, making everyone turn to look at him.

"I love you too!" Came a prompt reply from Gina.

"Let's get married then!" He yelled.

Gina blushed before running off to hide. Zayn ran after her, leaving both their elder sisters rolling their eyes as the parents went 'awww.'
¤*¤END OF FLASHBACK¤*¤

Gina smiled to herself as she held the pink bracelet in hand. She had never taken it off. Zayn had given it to her years back.

She couldn't forget how it felt to have him staring straight at her. She had expected him to be angry at her for hiding her other talent. Instead, she had been angry.

"I'm such a drama queen!"she managed to say. "All he ever did was be nice, and all I ever did was the exact opposite."

She turned on the music, dancing to her emotions. She blocked everything out and focused on how she really felt.

Her movements were easy to understand, yet hard to do. One could see she was busy miming the words as she moved. Her mother watched from the door, smiling quietly to herself as she thought back to her past.

"She's just like me," she realized. "Except that I can't sing as well as she can."

*&*&*&*&

Zayn lay on his bed, watching recent videos of Gina dancing. She had taken part in a lot of dance competitions, and won quite a number. Except the one where she had a dance-off with Beck. Funny thing though, they made a pretty good team. They could predict each others' next dance moves. He found it attractive, but didn't like thinking that Gina was liked by more guys than he could handle.

Smiling, he found himself reaching for a pendant he always wore around his neck. The lid popped open and he saw her face. His angel, the girl he had always loved.

When I first came to New York, I couldn't settle down. My years in this city were spent searching for something I couldn't find then.

"Then I found you," he said to himself, staring at his reflection. "I don't know why I feel this way about you Gina, I just do. I feel like we are meant to be. Like we belong together."

He looked at the photo in the little locket. "I always thought you were Henna. Apparently, you were her sister. Why did I ever confuse you two?! You looked nothing like each other!"

He got up and walked to the mirror. He closed his eyes and in his mind, he saw Gina teaching him to dance. Her hands lingered on his waist and he held on to them. He wanted her to hug him, hold him close, and never let him go.

You are the only person I love.

I will always love you Gina, even when I don't say it. You and I belong together. You and I are meant for each other.

"I love you Gina!" He said out loudly.

"Oi Zayn! Who are you talking to?!" He heard, and his eyes snapped open. Right on his bed sat Safiyah, his youngest sister, and she was grinning up at him.

"Err... nothing."

"Isn't Gina that pretty girl who used to be our neighbour?" Waliyah asked, "wasn't her sister your friend?" She asked Doniyah who nodded.

"Henna's actually the cover model for Cosmopolitan this month. She'll be so happy to see you guys finally found each other! Let me message her on Whatsapp!"

Zayn gasped. "I don't know what you are talking about!"

"We know her so well Zayn! You can't stop talking about her!" Safiyah said while grinning adorably at him.

"We just need to see her now. A face to a name. Scratch that, the face to the name," Doniyah said. Wahliyah nodded eagerly.

"Invite her over for dinner!" Zayn's mum said from the doorway. "Her family can come too. From what I heard, Henna is visiting soon. We can invite them all over and spend time together like we used to."

"I don't remember," Safiyah spoke quietly.

"Well, she loved you loads," Tricia said to her daughter. "She always mailed us and said hello to you and Wahliyah."

"I guess I should go tell her then," Zayn said while grabbing his jacket.

"While at it, please get her phone number and stop bugging me!" Hussein called from the corridor.

"When did he get here?"

"When you were standing in front of your mirror," Safiyah said. "Mum sent me to tell you."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you were thinking about her and you couldn't hear me if I told you..."

Zayn coloured. "Okay, I get it! I'm on my way out! See you later then. And please stop eavesdropping on me," he said loudly.

"Ouch Zayn, leave already!" Hussein called.

*&*&*&*&

Gina exited the garage and walked to the front door to go pick something at the front lawn.

Her heartbeat was fast, but it was supposed to be slower. She felt it pick up as she walked up to her frontdoor.

"Zayn...?!"

"I love you Gina. Do you love me too?"

Her eyes widened. Oh wow! That was too much to take! Why was he here? For that? Why did he tell her that?

She wanted to say 'yes' but... what about Husseina? What about Hussein? Max? Fiona? Henna?

So, instead, she shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. You must have had me confused for someone else."

Zayn got up and smiled at her. "My family wants you to come over for dinner. Are you available? And your family?"

Gina's eyes widened. Whoa... okay. "Yeah, sure. My mum will call your mum and arrange something, I guess."

They stood there looking at each other for what felt like hours, but was, in actual sense, a few seconds.

"Do you still have feelings for me?"

"Your topic change is giving me whiplash!" She said, blinking, and still unable to break the spell Zayn had her in.

"So...? Do you?"

They stared at each other for a while before she spoke.

"No."