"Take out your Anthem books and read silently. Don't forget to take notes for annotating and reflecting," the teacher directs the class.
Zay smiles besides me. "Anthem is a personal favorite of mine," he says in a quiet voice.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. The way that Orwell portrays unity, and the need for there to be some form of individualism within society. He describes it with perfect balance."
"Would you look at that. I woulda never guessed you liked literature," I say, surprised at his sudden candor.
He smiles crookedly. "Had a lot of spare time the past three years."
"Your choice. You could have made some friends. But anyways, I prefer writing over reading."
His mouth hangs open a bit. "How could you utter such words? Those things go hand in hand. You end up reading what you write, don't you?"
I think about it for a moment. "Yeah, I guess so. But I write more nonfiction. If I didn't like animals so much, I would go to school for journalism."
"I said silent reading. Do I have to issue you two a detention?" the teacher calls from her desk, looking only at me.
"No ma'am," Zay answers, and the teacher timidly goes back to ignoring us.
We read Anthem quietly for the rest of the hour, not talking to avoid getting in trouble. The silence of the room is broken when the bell finally rings.
Zay follows me out of class and walks in pace with me as we walk to my next hour. I hold my books in one hand and Zay's hand in the other.
"So, why didn't you ever talk to anyone?" I ask him. "All of high school. If you would have at least tried to make friends, you could have gotten somewhere."
"Don't be too sure about that. Half of the people are too scared to start up a conversation. It's the beast in me. Naturally makes people edgy."
I frown at the word beast, but don't comment on it. "I've never felt edgy around you. Quite the opposite actually. I've been wanting to approach you for forever."
He smirks at me, teasing. "So you wanted to before the little stalking incident?"
"Well, yeah. Secretly, I've always had a little crush on you," I share, trying my best not to blush.
Zay kisses my head and I feel him smile in my hair. "How cute," he murmurs.
"Did you ever notice me? Ya know, before the whole 'stalking incident' as you put it?"
He nods thoughtfully. "Sure I noticed you. I even noticed you almost talk to me in the beginning of the year. I didn't think anything of it then, but now I'm wishing you would've done it."
I smile recalling the moment. "Wasn't feeling very brave that day," I admit.
"Yeah, well I should have been less rude and waved back. But I kind of distanced myself from everyone, so I wouldn't get attached.
And I thought you were like every other human girl, just trying to get my attention."
"Technically, that was exactly what I was trying to do," I say through a laugh.
He drops his voice to a whisper. "But you, you're different. You aren't superficial." He kisses my head. "You make me feel alive."
His words force the blush to my face and caress my heart. I smile up at him when we stop at the class door. He cups my face in warm hands and kisses me gently. "You have a great day, okay?" he says after a few seconds.
"Okay. You too," I respond pulling him back for a hug. I can't help but get distracted by the hard muscles under his shirt, and have to peel myself away to retreat to the classroom.
"See you at lunch." He watches me leave, waving with a cute grin. I wave back, holding back a smile at the thought of how lucky I am to have him.
***
At lunch Zay and I meet the rest of our friends at our usual table. We're arguing about wether macaroni should be eaten with a fork or spoon when Savannah nudges me.
"Looks like she's caught him again," she states.
I look up and see Roman standing by Lola near her table, his tray of food still in his hand. He shakes his head at her and scans the lunch room. Eventually his eyes land at our table and he starts to make his way over.
"Amber, Savannah. You mind if I sit with you guys?"
I'm surprised that he turned down Lola for us, but way honored nonetheless. I smile. "Sure, we've got room."
He sets his tray down and takes a seat across from Zay. Hopefully we don't have any more recruits because our small rectangle table has no space left. Everyone is quiet at the table, making obvious observations of him. The mood is awkward, so I take it as my cue to introduce him.
"Guys, this is Roman. He's the new guy. We have fifth hour together." I hope my intro is acceptable because I don't have much else to say. My friends in turn say their names.
"Sup, my name's Ethan."
"I'm Max."
"Savannah," she says unnecessarily.
"And you already met Zay," I say, looking at him. Zay just leans closer to me and stares at him.
"So, do you eat mac and cheese with a spoon or fork?" Max asks Roman determinedly.
Roman looks amused. "Uh, I don't eat Macaroni. So neither?"
"What?! You don't like Mac and cheese?
"No, I really like it. But sadly, I'm allergic to something in the cheese powder."
"That must really suck, you're missing out. But hypothetically, if you were to eat it, what would you use?" Max asks.
"I don't know. A spoon to scoop it with I guess."
"No! You're supposed to use a fork!" Max says animatedly.
"But they're small noodles. They'll fall off a fork," I chip in.
"No, that's why you stab it," comes Ethan.
"Exactly," Max says.
"Ugh guys we're never gonna agree." Savannah interrupts. "We eat it with a spoon, you weirdos eat it with a fork. Next subject, Prom. Did you guys get your clothes?"
"Yeah babe, you'll love it. You know, if I saw the whole dress it would have been a lot easier to match it," Ethan says.
"I can't show you, it's a surprise!"
I turn to Zay. "What about you? Did you get the right color?"
His expression is still sour and directed at Roman when he answers. "Yeah." He slowly looks away from him and kisses my cheek, rubbing my back simultaneously. "I bet your dress will be perfect."
I smile at his extra affection, but not at the reason for it. "Roman, do you plan on going?" I ask, trying to keep him in the conversation.
He glances at Zay before answering "Not sure yet. I don't even have anything to wear."
"Seriously? You were at the mall Saturday, why didn't you get anything?"
"You saw him Saturday?" Zay asks slowly.
"Yeah, we saw him in the food court," I explain.
He turns to Roman. "Are you following her?" he demands.
Roman widens his eyes. "No, of course not."
"Zay!" I chastise him. "No, he wasn't! We just happened to pass each other. He was there with Lola," I explain, astonished at his accusation.
The scowl on his face deepens and I feel his arm tighten beside me. I grasp his hand under the table and squeeze it, partly to let out some of my frustration. "Relax," I say under my breath.
He clenches his jaw, and focuses on our hands. Everyone else at the table is busy focusing on anything other than Zay's outburst.
"And uh, no," Roman says, answering my earlier question after giving Zay a wary look. "I wasn't sure if I was going. Didn't want to waste my money."
"Well you should, it'll be fun," I say.
"Yeah, and if you come with us, Maxy here will have someone to hang with," Savannah adds, noticing the conflict fading.
"Solo power man. Unless you have a lady friend that doesn't go here?" Max inquires.
"Nope, no girlfriend," he replies.
The sound of someone tapping on a microphone fills the lunchroom. I look to the front of the room and see Patrick Ales, a guy from the prom committee, start speaking into it. "Attention student body, or to be specific the seniors! Prom tickets are now being sold, one for fifty dollars and two for eighty. Tickets will be sold during lunch and after school until Friday. Come up to the table and get your tickets now! Also, come up to vote for this year's Prom king and queen!"
"Let's go before the line is long," Savannah says eagerly. She jumps up and pulls me from my seat. Zay follows quietly, not letting go of my hand. Everyone else comes along after us quickly, and we get there before mostly everyone.
Ethan refuses to let Savannah buy her ticket, and Zay doesn't even give me a chance to pay. Max gives Roman a thumbs up when he decides to buy one with us. By the time we're all done voting for Savannah and Ethan, lunch is over and we split up to go to our classes.
As soon as we're alone, Zay finally talks to me. "You didn't tell me you saw him at the mall."
"No, I didn't think I had to."
"I told you I didn't want you to talk to him."
"You don't get to tell me who I can or can't talk to. And why would you even care if I see my friend at the mall?" I ask, emphasizing friend.
"Because, I don't like the way he looks at you!" he says furiously.
"I don't like the way half the female population here looks at you! But you don't see me yelling at you for it, do you?"
He takes a deep breath. "Amber just, please. Don't talk to him anymore."
"No, not unless you give me a legit reason to stay away from him. One that doesn't include your petty jealousy problems."
He stares stonily at me with no reply.
I roll my eyes. "Ok then, you figure that out. I'll be in class."
I walk the rest of the way to class alone.
***
Fourth hour passes too quick, leaving the dreaded hour of Spanish. The teacher makes us silence our phones and start our test right away. I whisper a quick good luck to Roman and proceed to try my best.
As soon as I'm done, I stare at my desk before answering its call to be laid on. Before I know it, I've dozed off, but what seems like seconds later, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I peek out of my arms and slowly raise my head.
"Hey sleeping beauty, you have a pencil I can borrow?" Roman asks, displaying his broken one.
"Funny," I say with a yawn. "I swear it's just fifth hour. Makes me wanna crawl into bed and never get out again."
I give him my pencil and rest my head in my hands, keeping my eyes open. When I feel less out of it, I turn back to him.
"Sorry, for Zay earlier. He shouldn't have said that."
He gives me a tight smile. "I get the feeling he doesn't like me very much."
I sigh. "Yeah, he can be a little... excessive sometimes."
"Hey don't worry about it, I'm sure we'll get along eventually," he assures me.
I really doubt it, but I keep that to myself. Theres only a few minutes left in class, so I start to get my stuff together.
"Tomorrow we have Home Eco fifth hour right?" he asks finishing his last questions and packing his stuff up.
"Yeah."
"This school is really weird. Why not just have the same schedule for everyday?"
"I have no idea. We still have the same classes, they're just in different hours every other day. Pretty pointless to me, but I just got used to it," I say.
"Yeah, seems pointless. But anyway, could you send me the home work pages from last class? I want to make sure I'm caught up."
"Yeah, let me add your number." I take out my phone and go to my messages. I notice I have two new messages, from my mom and from Zay. I open Zay's.
Zay: I'm sorry
I examine the text for a minute, and then I go back and add Roman's number. "I'll send it to you when I get home," I tell him just as the bell rings.
We gather our supplies and begin to walk side by side to our last hours.
"What school did you go to? Before you came here?" I inquire.
"I lived in Outville, it's a little south of here. You heard of Outville High?"
"Yeah. Doesn't that school bring their actual mascot to their football games?"
"Yep, that's the one," he confirms. "A real live snake. Imagine if this school did that."
I laugh as I picture us cheering our team on while a rhino is charging at the opponents.
At that thought, my mind wanders, and I find my fingers itching to text Zay back to tell him I forgive him. But I don't text him, not yet. He should spend more time thinking about how unnecessary his behavior was, even if I already forgive him.
Something catches my eye up ahead, a dark blur of movement almost too fast for me to process. The blur weaves in and out of the throng of students, quickly approaching the hall I usually turn down to get to my last hour.
Roman is saying something next to me, but my focus is in front of me. I can't tell who it is, or why they look so out of place in the crowded hallway.
But at the last second the blur slows down, and I see the oddly familiar black hoodie move briskly around the corner.