SAFE :: ZAYN

[47]

—

"Jah."

"Hm," Jahdai flinched and looked at her.

"Class is over for right now," his best friend, Marissa told him, "you were daydreaming again."

"Okay," he sat up and blinked one eye at a time, "is it recess?"

"Yeah, Keith is on the monkey bars again, and he won't get off. You're the only one to get him to move."

"I gotta do everything, huh?" he closed his notebook and put it away, "Keith is annoying."

"So are you, come on."

"Rude, Rissa. I have a dentist appointment so I'm going home early."

"But tomorrow is my birthday," she pouted.

"I'm still coming, stupid," he rolled his eyes, "did you cut your hair?" he looked at her now curly hair and frowned.

"No, it shrinks, see?" she pulled a piece and it went down to her waist, "you've seen me with curls before, Jah."

"Yeah, but it's shorter," he put his arm around her shoulders and went outside, "it's looks nice, though."

"Thank you," her brown cheeks heated up and she smiled at him, "did you lose a tooth or somethin'?"

"No, I gotta get them cleaned."

"Ohh."

"Jahdai, honey," Ms. Clarke, the teacher's assistant called him from the classroom, "your dad is here to pick you up."

"Already?" he groaned, "man."

"Aww," Marissa whined.

"Come with me. My momma is probably here."

"She's so pretty," Marissa helped him put his backpack on, "did she say whether you can come to my party?"

"They said it was okay," he reached for her hand and walked wth the teacher down the halls. Jahdai and Marissa had been best friends since he first arrived to the school. He was an outspoken boy, getting along with everyone he met and making sure he was mannerable yet truthful.

Marissa was shy, and she didn't have as many friends as she did before he got there. She was an only child -- for right now, she was expecting a little brother -- and Jahdai instantly gravitated towards her.

Anyway, he called her his girlfriend one day and since then they had been closer than ever. Jahdai was at that stage where girls were either cute or gross.

Marissa? She was far from gross. Her brown skin, smooth and the color of honey, her slightly slanted eyes with short and thick lashes, her button nose and her teeth. He thought it was cute that she had just lost her last baby tooth last week, on the top left.

Marissa was his favorite person besides his family, and they bonded so well that they didn't realize the last day of school was in like two weeks.

Zayn sat on a bench outside the office, his hands tapping away on his phone and his legs crossed.

"Hi, papa," Jahdai greeted, pulling Marissa with him. She often got nervous around adults, especially someone so aesthetically pleasing as Zayn.

"Hey, man. Hi, Marissa," he smiled at them both, looking at their interlocked hands.

"Please tell Marissa that I'm allowed to go to her party," he replied, "she ain't even listenin' to me."

"I heard you," she frowned at him.