Your POV
It's like I'm living in a never ending condescending comedy skit.
One moment, I'm fine. Walking to my friends house and gripping textbooks under my wrist easily.
Next moment? I trip and fall, dropping literally everything I own along with my will to live.
I hastily picked my books up when one of Zane's brothers, Vylad, strolled from his driveway and next to me, offering his hand. I took it and hoisted myself up.
"Thanks."
"No problem. What's going on here?"
He gestured to the papers I had stacked horribly in my hands.
"It was my report on Saturn. But I tripped and it became a mess".
I cracked a smile before he turned around and shrugged.
I could feel the judgement.
"No wonder Zane likes you. You're just like him."
"Excuse me?"
I asked, eyeing him carefully.
"I mean, he can't carry anything without dropping it. He's got a terrible case of butterfingers."
Vylad laughed and attempted to adjust one of my papers. It seemed to bother him that they were out of place.
"Can you tell him that I'm out here?"
"You can tell him yourself."
He pointed at the top floor window. A curtain shut abruptly. I heard shuffling inside the house.
"He's been waiting for you all morning."
"Really?"
I was surprised. Happy, but surprised.
Didn't he have anything better to do?
Zane opened the front door, glaring at his brother and joining us in the middle of the sidewalk.
"What's going on?"
He asked, taking a few papers from my arms. I allowed him to, considering my contribution to the ground earlier.
"Vylad helped me pick up the project after I tripped."
I laughed and scratched the back of my head.
But on the inside I was screaming with the power of a thousand wild animals.
Zane tugged my sweater, pointing at his house.
"Let's go inside. We'll talk to Vylad later."
I nodded, waving to his brother and made my way inside.
"Hello! Are you Zane's friend?"
A peppy voice chirped in my ear. I turned around to find Zane's mother, Zianna, with the biggest smile on her face.
"Oh! You're so cute! Perfect for my Zuu Zuu!"
"M-Mother!"
Zane was a deep scarlet, attempting to drag me upstairs to avoid further embarrassment.
"Hello, Mrs. Ro'Meave."
"Call me Zianna, sweetie!"
She embraced me tightly, causing all the air in my lungs to leave.
"After all, you may be my new daughter in law soon enough. My boys are all extremely popular. You should get him while you still can!"
I could hear Zane actually blowing steam from his ears. My own cheeks splashed pink at the thought of marrying anyone, let alone Zane. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me up the stairs, not even bothering to reply to his mother.
"Awww look at him. Have fun Zuu Zuu!"
She sang after us, returning to the kitchen with a gleeful prance.
"Yea, have fun. Zuu Zuu."
I said and laughed. He dropped my hand and looked at me with a death stare.
"What? It's a joke."
I expected more of a 'Haha' from him rather than a 'die in a fire' look.
"This is why I don't invite people over."
His face was still red from earlier. I sighed and stared at the wall.
"Let's just get to work."
He opened the door to his room, walking in. I closed the door behind us and stared at the blue walls.
They were covered head to toe in posters, drawings, shelves and nick-nacks. His desk had a computer, open with a multiplayer rpg game online. He had several books and a fairly large bed.
I sat on the bed, feeling it move under me.
A water bed?!
This guy was lucky.
Zane threw the papers on the bed, organizing them by type as we started the project. We needed a poster and a PowerPoint by Monday.
Who in the name of Irene gives freshman this kind of homework?
Only Mrs. Roseanne.
We finished half of the poster by 6:00. Why it took so long, I'll never know. Zane kept staring off into space and often putting letters in the wrong places. We had to redo at least 3 of the 5 paragraphs we stuck on the board.
In the end, we decided to take a break.
I was the one doing the PowerPoint, and my slides were almost complete. But Zane just couldn't focus on his part of the project.
He started the break by jumping on his bed, turning on his stomach and screaming into a pillow.
I related so much.
But this situation wasn't for relating.
It was for helping.
I sat next to him, placing my hand on his back and awkwardly rubbing it. I could feel him staring at me.
"What are you doing?"
He asked and pulled his head off the pillow.
"Calming you down."
I realized that I wasn't helping and quickly stopped. He continued to scream in his pillow for what seemed like five minutes.
I decided to speak.
Terrible decision on my part
"Why can't you focus?"
I asked, looking out the window and fiddling with my hair. He rolled over on his side, away from me, and covered his face.
"I don't know."
He fidgeted for a while.
"I keep going over my mother's words in my head."
"What? The nickname?"
"No! The part about you being her daughter in law."
I felt my cheeks flush, quickly reacting how all girls do.
Burying my head in my sweater.
Okay maybe not all girls.
But I do it.
"What about that?"
I wondered aloud. He sat up slowly, finally facing me.
"It doesn't bother you?"
He seemed alarmed. I shrugged and sighed a bit, smiling up at him.
"I mean, it doesn't mean anything really. Just a wishful mother. Mine would probably say the same thing."
I tried to brush it off, acting like I didn't care.
But I cared.
Immensely.
There was something in my gut. Something inside my head thinking about how nice it would be to stay at his house. To be near him all day. The same damn voice that made me friends with him in the first place...
Wanted me to like him.
What?
~~~~~~~~~~~
Admin time?
My first cliff hanger!
What a plot twist.
Don't hate me.