Song: Manic by Coleman Hell
"And she gave me a zero. A zero! I mean, Madame has no proof that I Google Translated my whole French essay, how can she just fail me like that?"
"Did you Google Translate your whole essay?"
"Yeah, but she has no proof!"
"Zhang, teachers know these kinds of things, you can't outsmart them," laughed Dashiell.
As Zhang went on, my mind drifted elsewhere.
"Are you thinking about Zaavan?" asked Ahmed with a smile.
The blush on my face was enough of an answer.
"Yeah. It's just...everything feels so messed up without him. He means so much to me and now when am I going to get the chance to tell him that? I haven't seen him for nearly a week. It's as if he's purposely avoiding me. I just...I can't take this silence anymore. It's almost worse than having him hate me."
"Are you guys talking about Zaavan?" asked Zhang curiously.
"You know, I don't think he's even been at school lately. I mean, it's not that big of a school, someone would've seen him around. Besides, he hasn't shown up to practice - even coach Wilson's wrath isn't enough to make him come," added Dashiell. "Katja's really worried. She says he hasn't been answering his phone and she even went to go check on him the other day but no one was home. He wasn't at mass this Sunday either and he never misses mass."
"Could you go check on him after practice? Just to make sure that he's okay? I really want to give him some space but I'm starting to get worried," said Ahmed.
"No way. I'm the last person he wants to see right now," I said quickly. Honestly speaking, I was scared that Zaavan was just going to reject me again. Sometimes, ignorance truly is bliss.
"Dude, how are you going to study for the math test tomorrow? You left your textbook at his house, you need it. I'm sorry bro, but you know I can't study with another person, it's just too distracting," said Zhang.
"You can use that as an excuse to go visit," added a relieved Ahmed. It was clear that Ahmed really cared about Zaavan and was really worried about him. I just couldn't bring myself to say no.
That and I didn't want to fail my math test.
"Okay fine, I'll go."
"Too bad the test isn't on Friday. You know, it's not fair that they always have math and science tests on Thursdays. Why not Friday? Then we won't have homework for the weekend," complained Zhang.
"They do that so people won't choose to skip the test and get the weekend to study. Plus then they'll just do the test on Monday and then the teachers have to create another copy of the test."
"But someone's always absent the day of the test, they'll have to write another version anyways."
"How would I know? I'm not a teacher."
"Huh, and they tell us that our mental health is important. How can we take care of our mental health when school overloads us like this? Everyone's expectations are unreal."
***
On the outside, Zaavan's house looked just like any other house. Brown bricks with a tan painted garage with beige blinds and square windows.
Nobody knew what a mess of a family lived inside these walls.
Despite my nervousness, I smiled as I pressed the doorbell. Not many people could find it. It was on the ledge of the window inside the storm door area. Nobody ever got around to putting it up on the wall where it belonged so visitors usually knocked. Not many people knew about the doorbell, but I did. Just like how not many people knew Zaavan, yet I did.
YOU ARE READING
Wandering Fireflies
Teen FictionOne road trip. That was all that it took to tear Zaavan Fleetwood and Vance Dallas's lives apart. It wasn't fair - walls are always built for a reason. The two smoking hot, incredibly athletic rivals were two of the most popular boys at school. If a...
