THANK YOU FOR READING ILY ALL ENJOY.
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Chapter 11
(Kat's POV)
It's been a week since the agreement. I'd lost three and one fourth pounds. I was feeling confident about the goal but I had been eating a lot less. Cora kept a sharp eye on my diet and I had been running on my dads treadmill and done a couple of exercises off the internet, but if I wanted the job, I needed to work harder.
In related news, I also hadn't seen or talked to Zayn in a week. He seemed really upset ever since the day of the agreement, and he hadn't spoken to me since I'd told him that I was doing the job. Even though he should've been the least of my worries, he ran through my mind every moment of every day.
I put on my jogging outfit and stepped outside into the cool air. I had to fit this run in before it got too cold.
Right when I stepped outside I spotted Zayn, smoking while leaning against the wall. He seemed angry when he'd spotted me and immediately looked away. I bit my lip and prevented myself from looking at him. But I couldn't.
I ran across the street until I stood directly in front of him and cleared my throat. He looked at me then turned away without caring.
"What the hell Zayn? Why aren't you talking to me? What did I do?" I finally spat.
He still didn't face me, instead to took a drag of his cigarette, which made me impatient.
"Zayn, tell me, or I'm leaving."
He still didn't budge. I rolled my eyes and began to turn around to start my jog when I felt something grab my arm.
Zayn immediately spun me around to turn and face him and didn't even try to be gentle. "Why am I upset Kat? Because I care about you. Why else? I don't want you to lose all that weight and become unhealthy because of this stupid job. It isn't worth it."
I rolled my eyes at him, "so do you think this is healthy?" I pointed to his cigarette. "Why should I stop losing weight if you can't stop smoking?"
"That's my problem, not yours." He spat.
"Okay, and how is me losing weight going to affect you?" He stayed silent. "Huh Zayn? Answer that question."
He gripped my arm tighter and looked me dead in the eye, "don't fuck with me Kat. This isn't about me, it's about you and your obsession to be someone who you're not."
I let out a bitter laugh, "oh come on Zayn, how much longer are you gonna keep this up? You're role of actually caring about me? It's not like losing a couple of pounds is going to kill me. Besides, Cora says that they made her lose weight when she came into the industry. And look at her now, she's a successful model who has all the money in the world. Now tell me Zayn, what help does smoking do?" I crossed my arms.
He took a step closer to me, "it helps me get away from bullshit like this."
I rolled my eyes as he continued, "you know what Kat? You're right. Why did I care for you in the first place? I was just being a little protective over you, why? Because I do actually care about you and I don't want you to get hurt. But you aren't appreciating someone who's trying to help you."
"And you think that I don't care about you? Why else would I have told you to stop smoking Zayn? I lost my aunt to lung disease because of her smoking habits and I didn't want to lose you the same way, but that doesn't matter does it!"
I turned around and stormed off, not caring if he followed me or not. I heard him call my name but it didn't matter.
I continued on with my unfinished jogging as I felt hot tears in my eyes. I quickly wiped them away. I wasn't going to cry, not for him.
***
"So how's it going with you and Drew?" I asked Carlee who was sitting on my bed, switching the channels to find her perfect one.
"Actually great, we've been getting along perfectly and he even kissed me last night while dropping me home." She smiled. I noticed how her eyes lit up as she continued on about how he was super polite with Carlee's parents and how they liked him very much.
"So," she asked when she finished talking and landed on a channel, "what about you and Zayn?"
Zayn. I had been thinking about him nonstop since our argument on the sidewalk, but I hadn't even tried to contact him. He called and texted a couple of times but I ignored it.
"We were never together Carlee. And besides, he's not interested in me." I answered bluntly, hoping she'd end the conversation there, but being Carlee, she had to go on.
"Are you kidding?! Do you see the way he looks at you when he talks to you? Forget that, do you hear the way he talks to you? Kat, he really likes you, I can tell."
I laughed louder than I should've which made Carlee stare at me. I cleared my throat, "it doesn't matter. I don't like him anyway."
She raised her eyebrow, "yeah, that's why you have his rose in a vase on your dresser."
I rolled my eyes at her, "so what?"
"So, you obviously like him. I can't tell you how many guys have given me a rose that I've thrown away. Why? Because I didn't like him. Unlike you, who has it in a vase right where you can see it every day." I sighed but she stood up and walked over to it and took it right out of the vase.
"Kat, look at it. It's dead. Who the hell keeps a dead rose in their room. I don't know about you, but nobody that I know has ever done that. I mean, except you."
"Oh come on Carlee, that means nothing. I saw the rose and was planning on throwing it away but never had the time to. I've been busy you know?"
She laughed and walked back to the bed, putting the rose back where it was. "Whatever Kat, you just lost yourself a pretty hot boyfriend."
Yeah right, I thought. We were never dating in the first place. And besides, he wasn't going to try to ask me out or anything. Whatever, I didn't understand him anyways. One day he was happy and cheery and telling everyone about himself, then the next day he became protective and rude and smoked cigarettes. After seeing him like that, forget about him.
"Anyways Kat, show me what Cora bought you." Carlee said, breaking my train of thought.
"Okay," I said as I walked to my closet taking out the various shopping bags that had brand new clothes in it.
Carlee and I examined every cloth of every shirt. She was a huge fashion critic. And completely honest I might add. She was always telling me if my outfits approved and sometimes when they weren't at all what she liked, she'd give me something of hers to borrow for the time being.
"Yuck, the color of this is gross." She pointed out to a forest green vest with studs on the collar. "But you know it wouldn't look so bad with this." She said, changing her opinion while putting the vest against a floral sundress.
While she paired up some more outfits a thought struck my mind.
A rose.
A rose.
A rose!
I remembered telling Zayn about how I liked it when a guy asked me out with a rose, showing a little effort. And he came to my doorstep with a rose in his hand. He was about to ask me a question but we were interrupted by Carlee. Oh my God.
Come on Kat, you're just being paranoid. What if he was about to ask me another question? Stupid, you're acting just like Carlee. Snap out of it.
"Did you buy any shoes?" Carlee asked which once again caused my thoughts to be disturbed.
"Uh, yeah," I nodded towards the dresser as she got up and ran to it.
After a while of investigating the clothes, Carlee got a call from her parents saying that it was late and she needed to get home. I walked her downstairs as she said goodbye and walked out the door, shutting it behind her.
And suddenly, it became dead silent. Dad was at work and so was Cora, Carlee had just left and then I realized I was alone. For a minute I just stood there, admiring the silence but then I heard a faint "meow" coming from the back porch.
A smile suddenly appeared on my face as I ran to the pantry, grabbed the bag of cat food that I had hid behind everything. I ran to the back door and flung it open.
There, I saw Tigger sitting there patiently. When he saw me, he walked over to my legs and circled around them, pushing himself against me while purring. I giggled and sat down on the floor which made Tigger hop onto my lap.
Tigger was one of the neighborhoods many cats. He was a brown and white tabby with the whitest belly you've ever seen. I took care of him a lot, but I couldn't make him my pet since my dad was allergic to him. I gave him food every time he came to my porch, brushed his fur whenever it looked rough, and often gave him baths whenever dad wasn't home and he started to look gray. I loved him. He was the only thing that could cheer me up on a tough day.
"Where have you been buddy?" I spoke to him softly while petting him slowly.
He stood on his hind legs and pressed his other two paws against my shirt. Then he reached up and licked under my chin as I giggled. "Ouch, your claws are awfully sharp, you know that right?"
He continued licking my then stopped when I reached over to the bag of cat food. He immediately left me and followed the bag as I poured food into the bowl I had set out for him. He immediately started crunching the food with his teeth and eating as if he hasn't ate in forever. I wouldn't blame him, I would kill for one decent meal.
After setting out the small cushion I had bought for him, I stayed outside for a while until it got too cold. Tigger had fell asleep in my lap for the time being, so I slowly and carefully put him on his cushion before walking inside.
The house was still silent as I walked upstairs and into my room. I checked the time, 10:30. I knew it was earlier than usual, but I needed to go to sleep. My head was spinning with the thoughts of Zayn and his rose. But before I went to bed, I walked over to the rose and picked it up.
Carlee was right, it was dead. The once bright red leaves were rotting into black. The thorns were soft and welted as if they weren't ever meant to harm you. But I watched it as a leaf fell off, floating all the way down. It seemed so helpless and suddenly I felt bad for it. As if the leaf was supposed to stay with the rest of the leaves, now it was all alone. And it could never find its way back.
But what could I do? It was gone now. I picked it up along with the rest of the rose and walked to the trash can. I stood there for a second, the rose and its abandoned piece hovering over the trash can. I took a deep breath and walked away from it, with the rose still in my hand. I opened the dresser drawer and set it inside, setting the alone leaf right on top of the others.
It was meant to go, but that didn't mean that they weren't meant to be together.
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