THREE WEEKS LATER
It's finally the first week of march. Our dance club excelled through the Qualifiers and regionals of the All star dance competition and most of our dances are proceeding to the finals. Mrs Barlowe has requested for our club to be excused from all classes this week to practice for Nationals on Monday next week. We are travelling to L.A. on Saturday to practice in the venue itself. A whole week with Zaccai, who I've been avoiding as much as I can. Not like he's been eager to talk to me anyway. I told him I kissed Dez and he didn't react well. I mean, he didn't throw a tantrum or anything but he wasn't exactly cool with it either.
Three days ago { 3rd person POV}
"Let's take a break, please!"
Zaccai pleaded after falling to the ground from exhaustion.
"Okay princess, we can take a five minute break"
Sarah mocked
"Fifteen!"
"Ten."
"Deal."
Sarah sat down on the floor next to Zaccai.
"I have a feeling dating you isn't going to be easy. But it's worth it."
Sarah froze when she heard the words 'dating'. She instantly remembered what happened between her and Dez, and guilt flooded her heart for reasons unknown to her.
"Look, I already told you. I'm not going to date you."
"I'm not going to pressure you but I'm not going to give up either."
Unsure about whether to tell Zaccai the truth or not, Sarah decided to test him.
"What if I started dating someone else? What would you do?"
Zaccai turned to her and his face expressed his feelings clearly.
"Why? Is there someone else you're thinking of dating?"
Sarah became conflicted when she saw how much it obviously hurt Zaccai to even think of Sarah dating anyone else. But if she did get back together with Dez, Zaccai would find out eventually.
"I kissed Dez..."
She blurted out.
Zaccai's eyes widened in shock and Sarah patiently waited for his response.
"You... kissed Dez? Why?"
"I don't know, it just happened. He showed up at my house saying he wanted to talk to me, we talked, i found out that he isn't as much of a jerk as i thought and he kissed me..."
"Didn't he hurt you? Isn't he the reason you gave up on love?"
"Yeah... but turns out what happened wasn't entirely his fault. And... well, I guess I never really got over him."
"Oh..."
Zaccai faces the floor in visible despair. Sarah remains silent for a moment before deciding to speak again.
"I mean, I told him we can't get back together just like that because..."
She contemplated telling him the reason was because she felt guilty but decided not to because she isn't sure why she felt guilty and didn't want to give the poor boy false hope.
"....We've been over for a while and so we can't just pick up where we left off, you know?"
"What about him dating Erica? Didn't he cheat on you with her?"
"How did you know that?"
"Jeanna texted me the whole story. Well , not the whole story, she obviously wanted to make you look like the bad guy, but she told me enough for me to figure out what happened."
"Oh... well, Erica started the rumor that they were dating but before he could clear it up she begged him to play along because some senior guy was pressuring her to date him. Turns out that was a lie, so..."
"And you believed him?"
Zaccai's frustrated tone forced Sarah to realise how heavy the situation actually was. She remained silent as she contemplated his question but before she could answer him he got up to walk out the studio.
"I think we are done for today. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not hurt by what you've told me but I'm not going to hold it against you because I'm not entitled to you in any way. I just need time so... I'll tell Jake to drive you home"
After that, Zaccai and Sarah only spoke to each other when necessary and even though he wasn't exactly avoiding her, Zaccai didn't put any extra effort into spending time with Sarah like he used to. Sarah wasn't comfortable with the tense atmosphere and so she decided to avoid him. Despite this, their duet was awarded the top spot in both sectionals and regionals.
Present
"Saraaahhhh!"
Mom bursts into my room and jumps onto my bed.
"Why are you so noisy? It's eight in the morning."
I know exactly why she is so loud. Regrettably, I went to her for advice about the whole Dez and Dalton situation. I didn't tell her what exactly is happening though, especially not that Dez is involved.
"I'm just happy that my baby is having a boy dilemma. I want to hear all about this other boy when you get home from school today. I'm on Team Zaccai till then."
"Mom, I just asked you if there is a way to tell which one I have feelings for..."
So I can avoid him until the feeling die
"Sweetie, that fact that you are wondering if you have feelings for them means you have feelings for them, the question you should be asking is who do you like more."
"But what if I just feel bad for one of them?"
"Knowing you sweetie, it wouldn't matter if they felt bad. No offense, but you have an ice cold heart. If you didn't have feelings for them, whether they felt bad or not wouldn't even cross your mind. You'd tell him straight and forget about it."
"My heart isn't ice cold...."
"Oh sweetie.... The arctic could be seen as a dessert when compared to your heart"
"Okay, how is this not offensive?"
"Like you always say, it's not mean, just true."
Using my own words against me, talk about karma.
"Well, looks like I should start getting ready for school."
I sigh as I lazily drag my body out of bed. Today is going to be a long day.
___
I've successfully managed to avoid talking to both Zaccai and Dez for the first half of the school day. Since I've had dance practice morning to evening all week, Dez and I haven't crossed paths and besides dancing, Zaccai hasn't really made much effort to interact with me. Things are going better than I expected, although it is weird having Zaccai mad at me. I feel like I just stepped on a puppy's tail. However, I'm not going to complicate things any further by succumbing to my guilt. If I do that Dez will feel bad and the cycle of guilt will continue. Best course of action is to ignore the problem until it goes away.
Mrs Barlowe has given us a lunch break but i forgot my lunch in my locker and now I have to go all the way and get it. Usually I'd just wait to eat it later but nurse Daisy has been making me eat lunch with her everyday since I collapsed. It was annoying at first but now i don't mind because it's the perfect place to hide from Dez, Zaccai, Audrey, Her councilness and her minions.
"Sarah! There you are!"
Some random girl yells as she runs towards me.
"Uhm... who are-"
Before I can finish asking who she is she grabs my wrist and drags me behind her in a hurry.
"You need to hurry!"
She seems shaken. I wonder what's going on. And how did she know who I am? I'm sure i've never seen her before. Have i? And what kind of emergency would I need to solve? It's a prank, isn't it? Or maybe she is luring me into a bully circle. It's not like I can't deal with bullies but it's such a pain.
I see a large crowd as we turn into the hallway where my locker is located. At least they chose a convenient spot, now I can take my lunch and leave. A sudden loud bang and the horrified gasps from the crowd forces me to break pulling the random girl back towards me a little.
"The heck was that?!"
I demand
"Come on, Hurry! You have to stop them!"
She pleads.
I push through the crowd and my brows rise at the sight of Zaccai on top of Dez, holding him by the collar. I would say deja vu but this wasn't exactly how Dez's last near death experience was set. He has a bloody nose and his teeth are stained with blood too, it's really gross. Before I can even blink, Dez grabs Zaccai by the neck and strangles him forcing Zaccai to loosen his grip and allowing Dez to throw him off. Before Zaccai can recover, Dez kicks him with terrifying force, causing him to basically fly and collide with the locker behind him, specifically, my locker! Ugh, that's where I draw the line.
"Okay, that's enough!"
I command as I walk up to the two morons right before Zaccai can tackle Dez. Zaccai gets up and they both turn to me in shock as they hadn't realized I've been watching. Zaccai also seems to be pretty hurt. He has a deep looking cut on his right cheek with blood dripping out and his left eye is already starting to turn purple, not to mention he also had a bloody nose.
I walk to my locker, open it, take out my lunch and shut it again.
"Okay, you can continue if you want. I got what I needed."
I relay as I maneuver through the crowd again. Boys will be boys I guess. Maybe a teacher will come and stop them.
___
"Sarah! I was about to come get you. I thought you might be standing me up."
Nurse Daisy hails as I walk into her office.
"Nah, some idiots were fighting next to my locker and there was a crowd so it was a pain getting to my lunch."
I didn't hear any commotion start up again when I left the fight area, maybe I ruined the flow of the fight so they didn't have the psych to continue.
"A fight! Is everyone okay?"
She exclaims
"Nah, pretty sure tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber are going to show up here. One with a bloody nose and bruised face, the other with a bleeding mouth and a bloody nose too. At least, those were their visible injuries."
I throw a baby carrot into my mouth but am unable to chew in peace because of the horrified expression Nurse Daisy is giving me.
"Are you serious?"
she asks with wide serious eyes
"Relax, would you? Guys fight like that all the time. I've seen my brother walk away from fights with worse injuries. He was sort of a trouble maker and picked fights all the time. That fight was nothing major."
"Okay, first, I'm seriously concerned for your brother and second, didn't you say someone was bleeding from the mouth? That could be a sign of serious internal injuries!"
"Or, he was punched and his inner cheek got cut by his teeth..."
"Ugh, where was the fight?"
"Second floor, lockers by the stairs. But I doubt they're still there."
Our conversation is interrupted by a loud knock on the door.
"Come in!"
Nurse daisy invites
"Hey, i was wondering if-"
Dez cuts himself off the moment he sees me in the room. Ugh! I kinda figured one of them might show up but I was hoping they wouldn't.
"Dez! You look awful!"
Nurse Daisy exclaims.
"Ha! You should see the other guy."
"You mean the guy that beat you up?"
I join in
"It was a fight, not a beating."
"Mmmm.... Looked like a beating to me."
Okay, it was a fight and definitely looked like a fight, but there is a part of me that's still bitter towards Dez so...
"Come on, he didn't walk out of there unharmed."
Dez sits on the bed as Nurse Daisy scrimmages for the first aid kit. I decide not to comment further and continue eating my lunch.
"Why are you eating lunch in the nurse's office?"
"So that I can be sure she's eating to avoid another episode."
Nurse Daisy answers before I can. She emerges out of one of the cabinets below her desk holding a big white metal box with a cross on the lid.
"Where's the so-called 'other guy'? If he has injuries I need to treat them too."
"He's still in the deputy's office. A teacher saw the fight go down and reported it."
I let out a sudden loud burst of laughter before holding a hand over my mouth.
"What's so funny?"
I turn to Dez who is watching me with an arched brow while Nurse Daisy cleans his wounds with a cotton ball soaked in antiseptic.
"Nothing... I just... Nevermind."
Before he can speak further, there's another knock on the door.
"Come in!"
Nurse Daisy calls. Although, I really wish she hadn't because I have a pretty good idea about who's about to walk in.
The door opens to reveal a familiar chestnut haired boy. The room suddenly feels too small and the atmosphere becomes increasingly tense.
"Zaccai. You're the other guy?"
Nurse Daisy announces in shock. As if it wasn't awkward enough. Zaccai doesn't respond beyond a slight nod. Dez and Zaccai both avoid looking at each other fiercely.
"Well... I have stuff to do and places to be so I think i'm going to leave now."
I announce while picking up my stuff and preparing to escape the tense situation. I rush out the door and pretend not to hear Nurse daisy when she tries to call me back