The Zachary Donovan Enigma - (( Watty Awards! ))

The Zachary Donovan Enigma - (1)

Chapter one.

(1)

I still remembered the first time we met.

Emma and I’d been sitting in math waiting for class to start when this tall, dashingly handsome, dark haired boy walked in - the mysterious new boy who had moved here to live with his uncle, after his parents had died in a car crash.

 At the time I’d had the hugest crush on the blonde boy sitting two seats in front - and one of my newest friends - Zach Donovan. But I could still appreciate how stunning the new guy was. And so could every other female in the class.

I swear even old Ms Shore gave him a second glance. As soon as he walked through the door - even before he got his name checked off with the teacher - his grey eyes scanned the room, searching for someone.

And then his gaze met mine, and he grinned. A breath hitching, movie-star sparkling, smile.

I couldn’t help being slightly taken aback. Out of all the girls in the room, his attention was on me – the quiet one no one usually noticed was there; the best friend to the teacher’s pet. It was so cliché I wondered if I were in a book.

The way he smiled made me think he’d recognised me from somewhere, like I was a family friend he hadn’t seen in years. But surely I would remember seeing a guy like him around. Right?

With a nod to the teacher, he weaved his way through the desks to the spare seat beside me. All the while, every other student in the class watched on with a mixture of surprise and jealousy. But he didn’t seem to notice, his eyes never left mine.

As soon as he’d taken his seat he’d extended a hand and introduced himself as Eli Parker. So apparently, he didn’t know me. I shamefully remember staring, my brain still trying to figure out what was happening. To work out if this was a dream.

Emma, luckily came to my rescue; politely introducing the both of us while I gawked on, still too surprised to speak. But fortunately, as the lesson wore on, I gradually got used to the fact that the hottest boy in school was sitting next to me, and eventually joined in on Emma and Eli’s hushed conversations; as Ms Shore droned on about calculus.

 And that was the beginning of our friendship.

The previous duo became a trio as Emma, Eli and I spent every lunch time together, and most afternoons after school. While Eli probably had one of the biggest female fan groups in the school, he only ever hung out with us.

Fast forward a few months, and all the other girls had given up on the boy that never gave them a second glance; and Eli and I had started dating.

Eli had moved here almost two years ago now to live with his uncle, after both his parents had died in a tragic car accident. He was that kid who could get away with rolling his school sleeves up, calling the teachers by their first names (because they’d just come to accept it), and not doing his homework for no reason at all, because he was incredibly, amazingly, smart; which you never would have guessed if you saw him.

Emma, on the other hand, had always been one of those students who was captain of the environmental committee and interact club, was on a first name basis with all the teachers (because she spent more time in the staff room than half the teachers), did about ten extracurricular activities, and still managed to ace all her subjects. She was the perfect all-rounded student.

And then, there was me. The stupid one. Struggling to pass math and physics, while living in the shadow of her two best friends - and the two smartest kids in school. That kid who would always go to athletics days and just sit in the grandstand – there more to support the athletes, than actually competing, and the one who always got dragged into helping Emma with her latest act in saving the planet.