Love Hate

12

Double updates in one day, updates two days in a row, writer's block has lifted from my shoulders. anyways enjoy the chapter.

The taste of bad cafeteria pizza filled Haven's mouth as she sat on the cold metal bleachers between Austin and Venus. Surprisingly, Tyler was running behind. normally, he would be the first to show up, but instead, V was sat alone with an identical slice of pizza to the other two. Just then, the bleachers began to shake with the vibrations of heavy footsteps. Then Tyler was sat with the three. "Why so late?" Venus questioned taking a sip from her water bottle to wash down the food from the cafeteria.

"Okay, so like Mrs. Greene pulled me after class. I guess she found my youtube channel while looking for something to show in class. She said that she liked that music video we made like last summer and told me about this thing the school board is doing," Tyler pulled out a paper from inside his math textbook and handed it over to Haven, "I guess they want to do this district-wide art show. Winner supposedly gets a scholarship. She said that I could enter in a music video since music and film are like two types of arts. I thought that that was a good idea for myself and then I thought of you Haven." 

The girl looked up at her best friend. His eyes had an excited sparkle to them. As the thought of the contest swirled in her head, she thought about what she could do. Her eyes traveled back down to the paper. Haven had plenty of photos that she could put in the portfolio, but would they be good enough?

"We could go out and take photos for you for the contest, Haven," Austin's voice interrupted the girl's thoughts, "And we could help you film your video Tyler." Venus nodded along with the boy's words.

"Sounds like fun, I have to write a song though, so maybe not this week. Next?" Tyler spoke up. Everyone seemed in agreeance except for one person. All eyes turned to the curly haired girl. She stared back at her three friends, eyes wide, mind turning. With a single nod of her head, everyone smiles grew wider. For the rest of their lunch, the four discussed their plans for the upcoming week. 

Just as Haven exited Tyler's car, she caught a glimpse of the eldest Kuwonu. "Hey!" she called out. Kékéli waved the girl over. In a few steps, Haven was in the Kuwonu's yard in front of her neighbor. 

"How was school?"

"Boring per usual. Is Zion home?" At the sound of her brother's name, Kékéli tried to cover up her disappointed expression with a smile. But Haven could see past the smile. Something was left in Kékéli's eyes that the curly haired girl could see. Earlier, after Haven had left for school, Zion was scolded by his sister about how he acted around her. The two had a long talk and Zion explained how Haven was an 'odd one'. How nobody really liked her. At least, within his social 'class'. To say that Kékéli was pissed at Zion would be an understatement. Once she dropped him off, she refused to pick him up. He would have to find a ride himself. Kékéli had seen how truly big Zion's ego was. And it upset her. It upset her that he acted this way because of his friends and school. It was obvious that Zion was two different people: one around his friends, another around his family.

"Um, yeah." With a bright smile, Haven followed Kékéli into her house. Before she stepped in, the girl stopped her friend, "Haven, does Zion normally start conversations with you?"

Haven shook her head, "No. Normally I'll start the conversation. We don't talk much at school because we have different friends. I know his friends don't like me, but Zion. I don't know. He still talks to me and is nice on the occasion." All Z's sister could do was nod with a sorry smile. The girl stood in front of her was so wrapped around his finger, it wasn't even funny. With that said, the girl with the stupid crush rushed up to his room.

Zion was sat at his desk 'working' on homework. He really wasn't working; instead, Haven consumed his thoughts. Kékéli was so upset with him this morning. The image of Haven and the what happened played in his head throughout the day. His sister rambled about how great Haven was and he couldn't see it. To him, she had always been strange. 

All day Haven received compliments on her outfit. She had been on a confidence boost, because of this she decided that she would ask out Zion. The events of this morning replayed in her head: his widen eyes, the way he got when Kékéli offered a ride. She reached Zion's bedroom door.

A soft knock dragged his attention away from his work. He walked over to the closed door. No one had ever knocked on his door before. Normally his family would barge in. He didn't mind, most of the time at least. When he swung the door open, he did not expect to see her. The grin that was too big for her face formed. While she was smiling from ear to ear, he could feel his expression drop. "Why are you here?" the boy's voice murmured the question.

Haven stood there awkwardly. She knew she came out of nowhere, but she hoped that he would smile like she did. "Well Kékéli invited me over and I thought that I would say hey," she paused and looked down at her feet. The confidence she once felt slowly deteriorating, "so 'Hey'." Her coffee brown eyes met Zion's dark orbs. 

"Hey," he mumbled staring at her. In the back of his mind, the boy added this to the list of Haven's weird moments. "Is that it?"

Taking in a breathe, Haven spoke once again, "Um, no. I was wondering..." she trailed off looking back down at her feet. She needed to get a grip on herself. "Did you want to like go out?" 

Just like earlier, Zion's eyes widened as he stared at the girl in front of him, "What?"

This was out of nowhere, Haven realized that. And this wasn't the reaction she had thought she would get. The girl pictured him to invite her into his room. For them to talk, laugh, actually have a conversation. She thought she would get a 'yes', not a 'what'. Her mind raked for an excuse to hang out with him. "Well, um I'm taking photos for this contest and Austin said he would help me out. I need another model and was thinking that you could be it. I mean we could go take pictures in the morning then get lunch together or something, like the two of us." The girl started to ramble as the boy stared at her. 

Haven had just asked him out. Never in a million years did he think that she would actually do that. "You're serious?" He raised an eyebrow at her. The girl's curls bounced as she nodded. All he did was scoff and Haven could already fell her heart cracking. "Haven. I don't like you. I've never liked you. And you don't seem to get that. I will never like you. You're weird and odd and strange. You wear the same jacket every day, you never look presentable. The one day you wear a decent outfit you decide to wear those awful glasses. Nothing will change how I feel towards you. I don't understand how Austin could even like you. He's cool. You're not." 

With every word that left Zion's lips, Haven's heart broke into pieces. A knot formed in her stomach. Tears started to form in her eyes. Deep down she already knew all of this, but she still held onto hope. Hope that Z would like her back.

With every word that left Zion's lips, he watched Haven's heartbreak. Relief lifted everything off of his shoulders. He was finally able to get everything he felt towards her off of his chest. He hoped that this would get rid of Haven. That he would no longer have to see her.

 As he finished, Haven took in a deep breathe. The words of her mother played in her head, Never let the other person have a reaction out of you. Blinking back the tears, Haven met Zion's gaze, "Is that how you really feel?"

Zion just nodded, an expression of 'duh' written all over his face. Although the girl wore a strong front, he could see that he broke her. That she could cry at any moment. Without another word, Haven turned on her heel.

A single tear fell down both of their cheeks that day as the girl left the Kuwonu household. One out of hurt, the other relief.