I was in my bed. Awake. Staring at the ceiling. Waiting for my alarm to go off. Dawn was breaking. I was lying, still. I couldn't sleep the whole night. Hybrid thoughts were churning in my head regarding school, books and Zach. I tried to shut my eyes and drown in dreams but it seemed impossible.
To be honest, I was feeling disappointed because Zach lied to me. I don't know why but my every thought has its tail connected to Zach. Why didn't he just come to me and talk to me? That would be much more acceptable. He is an experienced guy in talking to girls so there was no need to lie.
I was overloading my head with thoughts and so I felt a slight headache. In the meantime, alarm went off, screaming out that it's time to wake up but I already was. I turned it off. Sun was fully born and birds were chirping in my balcony.
I raised off my bed, lazily and marched towards the bathroom,. I took a shower that felt great. Once I dressed up, I heard a knock on my room door. I stepped out of the bathroom.
"Yes?" I responded to the knock but did not unlock it because I feared Harry would walk in and destroy something. That was his routine.
"It's mom, Lisa." An artificial lady's voice came from the other side with a prominent male's voice blended with it.
Indeed, it was Harry.
"So you are trying to get intrusion in my room to invade something?" I asked while brushing my hair.
"You recognized me?" He was amazed.
"Come on, Harry. It was apparent."
I am blessed with a very funny, big brother.
"Alright, I give up. Now open up the door and come out of your room because we are running late." He announced.
"So this is another trick. Nice try." I chuckled.
"No, it's not. If you don't believe me then kindly check out the time." This was one of those rare moments when he sounded serious.
I glanced at my wrist watch and was completely shocked when it hit me that school will start in next 30 minutes. Our drive would take almost 15 to 20 minutes and I hadn't done my breakfast, then. I never went to school late and I did not want to spoil my record.
I immediately grabbed my bag and scarf. My bad, I spent a lot of time in shower, just thinking about useless things. I unbolted the door and began to demount the stairs in a hurry. I halted in the middle of my way when I felt the cold sensation under my feet. I was barefooted. I groaned and took my way to the room, again.
I clutched my shoes and decided to put them on in car. I made my way downstairs. In that whole scenario Harry stood there with his mouth open.
I was running towards the front door when mom interrupted.
"Where are you going? You have not done your breakfast yet."
"I am getting late for school." I neared to the door.
"But at least have some bread slices, dear." Dad said.
"With mayo or jam." Mom completed the sentence.
"No. I will eat something in school or on way. Good bye." Without listening to anyone's response I exited our apartment and rushed to the elevator.
As the elevator was descending I suddenly realized the absence of Harry. I gritted my teeth. I pressed the button that exhibited upward and was now going back to our apartment.
I came out of the elevator, furious. I kicked open the door, stood there and shouted,
"Harry, are you going to stand there like a statue for all the day long in front of my room?" My voice echoed through the entire apartment and the walls reflected my frustration and anger with perfection.
After some seconds, I got his response.
"No-no, I am coming."
-------------------------------------------------------------
I hopped out of the car, setting my bag strap on my shoulder and began to shoot off to our class. I was running so fast that all the surroundings were just a blurred vision around me.
Abruptly, I collided with someone and my water bottle in the side pocket of my bag dropped. I just ignored everything and began to run again.
While running, I saw a girl speeding ahead of me with her dark brown hair waving behind her. And that was through hair I recognized the girl. It was Stella.
"Why is she late?" I mumbled while running out of oxygen.
She crossed the threshold of classroom, first. And I was just behind her.
We both were panting. She did not notice me. I slightly patted her shoulder, she turned around with a terrified baby shriek but then calmed down when she saw it was me.
"Hi." She said, out of breath.
"Hey. Why are you so late?" I asked as I placed my hands over my chest to slow down breathing.
"It's not so important. Tell me, why you have arrived on the eleventh hour?"
"I spent a lot..of..time in..shower." I replied in intervals. "Now may I know your reason?"
"I overslept." She giggled.
We both laughed.
"Want some water, girls?" A deep voice cut through our laughs.
We swirled back and our eyes saw Zach with his friends Reynold and Nick, standing behind us.
Air chocked in my windpipe and I started to cough.
"Are you alright?" Zach asked, concern was overflowing in his voice.
His question made me cough more. I mean, for the first time in history, Zach Johnson is asking me am I alright? The later coughs were because of surprise.
Once my fit settled, I cleared my throat.
"Yes." I whispered. The need for water was growing intense inside my throat.
My eyes fell on the water bottle Zach was holding. He noticed my eyes.
"Here, take this." He said, mellowness dripping off his words.
He extended his hand to give me that water bottle. I looked at Stella because I was hesitating in taking the bottle from him.
Stella nudged me, trying to make me say yes to Zach's offer. I looked at Zach who was waiting for my response.
I don't know what hit my mind and I rejected his offer.
"Thank you very much but I am okay." I lied.
Zach's eyebrows shot up in shock, not just his but of the other three people standing there. Stella's ,Reynold's and Nick's.
"What are you doing?" Stella whispered with a stiff texture in her voice.
"I am nervous." I whispered back.
"Let me handle this." She said, confidently.
"You know a girl ran from the parking area all the way to this class, that is situated at the other end of school, so definitely she will be thirsty." Stella said as she took the bottle from Zach's hands.
"Um, but I think she just refused." Zach said while looking at me. Disappointment flashed in his eyes.
"She is just nervous, you know." Stella grinned.
Zach shook his head in understanding.
I smacked Stella's shoulder.
"The first step got slightly stumbled." Reynold remarked. And within no seconds Zach shoved his elbow in his chest.
"I-I mean, don't be so nervous, come on. It's just water. We are not selling you drugs." Reynold entirely changed his statement.
"Ignore him, Shimmer." Zach shook his head.
The word Shimmer ran shivers down my spine. It made my organs flutter. It made my skin drip with honey. I just don't know why but I felt like a character of a fairy tale when he called me Shimmer. I felt special. So I could not resist that name.
"Actually you collided with me in the middle of corridor and you dropped your water bottle that got damaged. Water was leaking from it and you were in so much hurry that you did not bother to neither look at the person you collided with nor collect your water bottle." Zach explained.
That was a shock to me when I found out the person with whom I collided. My lips gaped for a while in shock but I collected myself.
"Oh." That's what came out of my mouth.
"So I thought you'd be thirsty by the time you reach the class so I went to canteen to buy a water bottle for you." He smiled and his dimples hatched on his cheeks to melt my heart.
"For this bottle, I had to take a long, long and long way to canteen." Nick added.
"I was also with you." Reynold slapped Nick's shoulder.
"So what do you think? I went to canteen in a majestic ride?" Zach gestured.
His words made me giggle.
"You like that, Shimmer?" He smirked.
When I learned, he brought water for me just because my bottle got damaged as a result of collision with him, I decided to take that water.
"I need water." I took the bottle from Stella's hand and she got hyper excited on my decision.
I saw Reynold clapping when I was gulping down the water.
"Hard work bore fruit!" Nick exclaimed.
And Zach's eyes were glued on me. I placed back the lid on bottle and straightened my arm towards Zach. His lips molded in a cute smile.
"Thank you." I said.
"My pleasure." He said while taking back the bottle.
His fingers brushed against mine but I was quick in drawing my hand away. A giant smirk was dancing on his lips.
"So Zach, you only saw Lisa running in the corridor?" Stella interrupted and I must say her question was valid.
Zach seemed to be taken aback by Stella's words but he composed himself quickly. He scratched the back of his neck and sliced his lips for his answer but Reynold cut in.
"When Lisa is around, world means nothing to Zach." Reynold said but quickly shut his mouth by slapping his palm on his lips when his eyes met Zach's glare.
"I think we better go and take our seats." Nick grabbed Reynold's arm and perhaps saved him from Zach.
Zach's glare was enough to scare the hell out of us.
Nick began to walk away, dragging Reynold behind him.
Zach looked at us with his lips compressed. Reynold's words were revolving in my head and perhaps screaming in Stella's head.
Zach cleared his throat. "I guess you reached the class before Lisa so I could not conclude if you were running." Zach answered to Stella's question.
"But I was out of breath, too." Stella shot back.
"That's why I said, want some water, girls?" Zach replied, emphasizing on the word"Girls."
"Alright, I surrender. Now give me that bottle." Stella said.
Zach gave her the bottle. "Take this to home as well." He laughed.
His laughter, one of the best laughs I have ever heard.
And then my least favorite thing happened, the bell went off.
"Okay, I have to go now. By girls." Zach smirked as he emphasized on the word girls with a tint of mischief.
"I have surrendered already." Stella said.
Zach laughed. "See you soon, Shimmer." He winked at me and then walked away.
My breath got tangled in throat but I controlled the cough.
"How adorable!" Stella remarked as she finished drinking water.
I smiled.
But then a stingy memory hit my mind and that was Zach lying to me. I felt uneasy and decided to ask him next time, when he's alone.
-----------------------------
Author's Note
Hey, there you go.
I have typed this chapter in a hurry so please ignore the mistakes. I will edit it later.
~Mahvash.