Lost

Chapter: "The Final Word"

"So, how long has he been here?" Salma jerked her head in Zayn's direction.

"Saw him when I was getting my first cup of coffee."

Salma turned to her.

"And how many did you have already?"

Sarah frowned, counting the coffee cups in her head.

"Four," she finally said, "Hectic day, it had been."

"And he'd been here since your first?" Salma asked, "Which I'm guessing was early in the morning?"

"Yep," Sarah confirmed. "He's been visiting every day since he came back."

Salma raised a brow.

"Is that so?"

Sarah nodded as she took a sip of her coffee, only to turn to her friend and find her giving her a skeptic look.

"What?"

"And in my absenceyou've been babysitting him since?" Salma asked.

Had Sarah not gulped her hot drink, she would have spilled it all out, spraying Salma all over.

"You hit your head or something?!" She gave Salma a head to toe look.

" - Must have -"

"Just because I helped him out a couple times doesn't mean he's a puppy I adopted!" Sarah continued, annoyed, "I only helped him a couple of times with his sister, and may be once or twice with Islam, but then I found out he's got a friend helping him in that and I refused to entertain him when dad wouldd call, 'Sar, the kid said he has some religious questions,'

Salma smiled weakly at Sarah's impersonation of Zayn.

"You'd think I'd be that stupid to fall for it." She shook her head, scoffing. "Oh, and I may have talked to him about you a couple of times."

Salma pressed her lips together in annoyance but didn't say anything and nodded. The two girls stood by the trees in silence for a while, one of them using the cover of the leaves to sip on her coffee without being seen, the other . . . delaying a meeting she dreaded to have.

"So . . . you going in?" Sarah asked, once her drink finished, "I've got to catch my last class."

Salma released a slow breath.

"I guess." She shrugged, feeling yet another knot twist in her gut.

"It'll be fine," Sarah patted her shoulder. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for."

"Says the one who can knock me out with one punch."

"Punches, a loud mouth, that's not all there is to strength," Sarah shrugged, "I know you hate yourself for breaking down the moment you see him, but you never gave in to any of tactics; charm, coercion, pleading, brutal intimidation, blackmail, maybe even love or obsession of some sorts . . . that kind of stubbornness takes strength."

Feeling strangely more confident with her reply, Salma nodded, fixing her bag on her shoulder.

"Go, deal with it, sis!"

***

"And so you thought it wouldn't matter?" Salma asked, looking at him straight in his doe like eyes, except, Zayn wouldn't meet her glare. He had his gaze firmly fixed on the table.

"That you'd apologize, that you'd confess to all you shameless antics and I'd suddenly jump into your arms –"

"Bee, I didn't –"