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I lean my head on his shoulder gently. "There are so many barriers in between us."
I feel his arm loop around my waist. "That's all the more reason to knock them down."
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"Oh my f-ing God!" I hear a yell down the corridor as Rebecca runs towards me. "You won't believe what just happened."
"I know Rebecca," I start, trying not to rant, "It happens every single day."
"But not like this!" She argues, still excited.
"Oh really? Well I'll tell you what normally happens and you can play spot the difference." I deadpan. "First you walk in and Mace is there waiting for you. He takes your hands in his and kisses you like the dream boyfriend he is. Then he walks you to your first lesson, still holding your hand, and compliments you. And finally, just before leaving, he gives you another long, beautiful kiss."
"Yeah, but—" She tries again.
"No Rebecca. I've heard the story for the last week now. I've heard it all before." I grunt.
If you haven't already guessed, I'm in such a bad mood at the moment. I'm having a 'hate on all' day.
I glance at the collage of pictures stuck on the inside of my locker door. I have a few with Rebecca, but also some which all of my friends took in a photo booth. Zeke has his arm around me and we are both laughing. Mace is pulling a face, James is wearing a pirate hat along with Myles who is dressed as his parrot, and Dillon is looking cute as he simply smiles for the camera. We all look cheerful. Happy.
"What's wrong with you? You're in a weird mood." Rebecca states.
Rule number one: never tell someone who is in a shit mood that they are being grumpy. It doesn't help.
"Nothing, Rebecca." I reply moodily.
Zeke then strides towards us. "Hey." He smirks as I look him up and down. He is wearing a leather jacket and looks smoking. Not that I care..
"Hi." Rebecca smiles. "Hayley's in a bad mood."
"I am not!" I shout and slam my locker door shut.
"Woah, what's wrong with her?" Zeke asks Rebecca, his eyebrows scrunched together.
"She's been grumpy ever since I tried to tell her about me and Mace. I think she's jealous—" Rebecca says unhelpfully.
"I am not jealous and there is nothing wrong with me!" I yell.
Zeke laughs and continues talking to Rebecca as if I'm not even here. "Yeah I think you are right. Definitely jealous."
"Ugh!" I growl and turn away from them.
I'm angry. I'm angry with Zeke. I'm angry with Rebecca and her stuck up boyfriend. I'm angry with Dillon for liking me. I'm angry with Kevin for trying to break into my life. I'm angry with my mother for letting him. I'm angry with the world. I'm angry with life.
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🔱Zeke's POV🔱
"Hayley O'Sullivan?" The teacher calls her name out in the register.
I look around. Where the hell is she? I always love this lesson because I get to annoy her.
"Where is Hayley?" Miss calls again.
I share a worried look with Rebecca. "I can go look for her." I offer.
"She must have gone home sick," Miss dismisses and I sigh until she adds, "But you can check the nurse's office."
I nod and hastily leave the room. The nurse's office is empty and so is the rest of the school. There is no one in sight.
Where else could she be?
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"I thought I'd find you here." I smile and duck under a loose wire dangling from the ceiling.
"Go away Zeke." Hayley mutters and I can tell she's been crying.
"You've been gone all day, did you not think people would come looking for you?" I raise an eyebrow even though she isn't looking at me. "Dillon is so worried, he's checked every room in fucking college just to look for you." I say and roll my eyes.
I'm a few meters away from her but can still hear her sigh.
I ended up finding her by the big tree where my father died. My thinking place.
I kneel down next to her and brush her hair away from her face. Her features are blotchy, and her beautiful brown eyes sparkle at me. "Don't cry." I murmur gently and frown as my voice comes out abnormally soft.
Another tear runs down her face and she turns to look at me. "Zeke.." She pauses with a frown. "What are we?"
I don't know what to say. I've never asked her out because she doesn't want me to but I do care about her. I don't want to say we're friends in case it destroys the possibility that she thinks we're more than that. Instead I decide to purposely miss the point.
"Umm..." I laugh nervously. "We're definitely humans."
She rolls her eyes at me and looks away. I know I've missed my opportunity. Why can't I just man up and admit it? But then she did say how she's scared of being with me. Scared of... Me?
"Tell me what's wrong." I sigh. "Please."
She sniffs. "Nothing's wrong."
"Seriously?" I moan. "You're gonna do the girly 'I'm fine' bullshit when that's actually code for 'I'm dying inside'?"
She avoids eye contact. "Yes."
I sigh and settle myself next to her on the floor. She rests her head on my shoulder. I've always liked it when she does that.
"Did you know," I try to distract her from feeling sorry for herself. "You remind me of my sister sometimes."
"You have a sister?" She asks, her wide eyes searching my face.
"Yeah." I feel my face heat up slightly and look away from her gaze. "She's two years older than me. I remember when her first boyfriend broke her heart. I beat him up of course, but she cried in her room for ages. I never knew how to make her happy again. I tried dancing for her... and singing." I smile fondly at the memory and Hayley chuckles slightly.
"So that's where you get you're voice from; all that singing you did for your sister." She smiles.
"My voice isn't that good." I laugh. "She always told me to shut up."
"What's her name?" Hayley's head leans on my shoulder again. She's only just tall enough to, and it's cute how small she is... I need to tell her that at some point.
Actually no way, then I would be like some romantic teddybear. Ugh.
It's almost as if I would be sad enough to concentrate on how close her hand is to mine. Or how I could easily slip mine into hers. Not that I care, obviously.
I drag my mind back to the topic of my sister. "Artemis." I say as I look up at the tree. In my mind I can still see her; my big sister's thick black hair cropped above her shoulders and her thick rimmed glasses balanced clumsily on the bridge of her nose. She's changed a lot since then. College transformed her and she got a new look, new friends and a new home. I haven't seen her in what feels like a very long time as her heart seems to be set on staying in Antigua even though she has so many childhood memories at home. Although that's probably why she likes staying away. "But I've always called her Missy." I finish, my voice fading.
Hayley shuffles slightly and her hand sneaks closer to mine. Or am I just imagining that. "Sounds like you miss her."
"Yeah I guess." I admit. My mind drags my attention back to her hand.
Just man up! You're Zeke Westley for gorgeousness sake! You have the power over the ladies. They all love you, what's one more?
But when I think about it Hayley isn't like the rest. She hasn't tried to make a move on me, and that's not the reason for her wanting to spend time with me. She's simply got to know me. And I've got to know her. She's bubbly, funny, beautiful, and... okay that's my 'man up' speech over. After a couple of seconds debate, I sneak my hand forward and our fingers intertwine.
It feels good and her hand curls around mine, tiny compared to the size of my enormous fist. She leans onto me and my lips brush her forehead slowly and softly. I think she gasps when I touch her, but it is a happy, surprised and almost relieved gasp. I smile as my lips brush against her skin. When I pull back, I wrap an arm around her and let her snuggle into my side.
A couple of minutes later, she speaks again. "Zeke?"
"Yeah?"
"Would you do something for me?" She sits up, her eyes not far away from mine.
She seems so close to me, her eyes dilating into mine and i watch her glance down at my lips as I speak. "Anything."
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