Monday, August 7th, 2020.
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I was carrying my schedule as I moved along the corridors crowded with students.
I made an effort to concentrate on just one thing: getting my hands on my locker so I could organize my belongings.
I checked my schedule to see my first class, and it turns out my first class was math. Starting well.
I was moving so quickly that I almost forgot Rowan, a friend of mine, was with me. Rowan and I first crossed paths while we were in elementary school.
During recess time, I noticed him sobbing in the middle of the playground with a barely perceptible cut on his knee. I was able to help him, and we have remained as close ever since.
Rowan finally caught up to me panting, "Dude, what's the rush?"
"Sorry, there's too many people. And plus for someone tall, you walk like an old man." I teased knowing his only reaction is to give me a punch on the arm.
"Ouch." I sarcastically whined when I felt his punch on my arm, as expected.
"Shut up, Zayn," he says, glaring at me. He then lost his glare and adopted a confused expression.
"Why did you walk away when the girl was in the middle of apologizing to you."
I looked at him with the same confused expression that he was wearing right now.
"Isn't it obvious? She already apologized the first time, why does she have the need to apologize the second time?" I already heard her apology so there's no reason to stay and hear her apologize again.
He then groaned and shook his head, obviously disappointed by what I had done. Thinking he was being dramatic, I ignored him.
I gathered my things and reached for my locker. I also grabbed my notepad, some scrap paper, and several pens in preparation for my first class.
On the edge of my locker, I heard a thump. Rowan had his arms crossed and was leaning on the lockers.
"Can you at least appear to be more friendly?" he said. I then closed my locker with a loud bang, glaring at him.
"I am friendly, Rowan." I said while gritting my teeth, emphasizing the word "am".
"What I mean is, you should LOOK friendly." he said, eyeing my whole appearance.
"What's wrong with my look?" I sound so puzzled right now, I tried to figure out what Rowan meant, but I don't see it. What's wrong with me?
"There's nothing wrong with your look, trust me. It's your facial expression. You always wear this cold stare which sends shivers down people's spines." He attempted to reassure me. His assurance isn't even working, and I doubt that it's improving the situation or clearing up my confusion.
While carrying the textbook and materials for my first class, I raised an eyebrow at him.
"What are you trying to say?" Rowan looked at me like what he was trying to say was so obvious.
"What I'm trying to say is, try and make friends, you know?"
"But I do have friends."
"Who?" he said tilting his head.
"Of course, you and..." I trailed off as I tried to think before continuing, "And..."
I heard Rowan sighed. "See what I mean?"
"What's the issue? You are the only close friend I have, and you are the one with whom I have first shared what I've been through. You being my only friend is more than enough." I don't see a problem in this argument.
What is he even trying to do?
He wrinkled his brow. I detest when people stare at me as if I'm a stray cat; I detest that gaze of sympathy. "Can you stop giving me that look? You know I hate that."
He nodded before proceeding, "Just try, alright? Having one or two more friends won't hurt. It's not like I'm leaving you, I just want you to open up to others as well," I gave what he said some thinking, and I sort of agree with him that it's probably time for a change.
"Alright."
When Rowan heard me, his eyes brightened instantly, and he patted me on the back. "Atta, boy! Why not try befriending the girl you met in the office?"
As I could still hear Rowan babbling, I decided to make my way to my first lesson. I guess it's a habit of mine.
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It took almost half an hour to get to the right room.
This school was huge therefore getting lost is unavoidable. Rowan already went to his history class. He didn't have any trouble finding his class because the room happened to be close to the cafeteria.
Mine though was more like a maze. I kept walking in circles with no clue which way to go.
Is it just me, or does it seem like there are more bathrooms in the halls than there are in the actual rooms?
Sigh
After a couple of minutes, I was finally able to find my math class.
I walked in the room and it looks like I just arrived at the right time.
I took a seat, trying to listen to the discussion. Boring
It went like that for a couple of minutes.
That's until someone caught my eye.
It was her.
I've seen her a couple of times,
She thinks I don't notice but I've seen the way she looks at me.
I know she thinks that I don't notice the gestures she does.
Her trying to take a peek
Her flustered face
Her trying to avoid me, but always seems to fail.
Her taking glances, curious to see as to what I was doing.
I sort of find it funny to see how flustered she is everytime we meet. I don't know if she's even paying attention to class anymore.
Class ended quickly and I saw her rushing towards the door with her belongings in hand.
I chuckled at her behavior.
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When school finally finished, I immediately went straight home since my part-time job won't start till next week.
Last week, I applied for a job to help pay the bills and buy food for us to eat.
I'm not sure if "help" is the proper word, but it feels more like I'm carrying out the responsibilities that a father was supposed to do, and that is providing for the family.
I have to go straight home to make sure my little sister is alright. I don't trust that old man staying on the same roof with my sister when I'm not home.
Who knows what his drunk ass would do to her. My mom wasn't home either, and I couldn't care less about her.
Once a two-story house entered my view, I immediately rushed towards the door and opened it with a spare key that was hidden under the pot.
As I was about to get inside, I was greeted by a little girl wearing two braids and a blue dress.
"Zayn, you're back!" It was my 8-year-old sister.
"Hello there, Zoey" I greeted her back, rubbing her head and giving her a little swing.
"Zayn, can we go to the park? I want to try my new shoes that you bought for me!" She exclaimed excitedly.
For her 8th birthday, I gave her a brand-new pair of pink shoes. At first, she seemed a little upset that it wasn't a toy, but she has grown to love them.
"Sure, let me change for a minute, okay?" I said, she then nodded and went straight to her room where she kept the shoes.
I went into my room and changed into a shirt and a grey jacket. I made the decision to carry my camera so I could capture some photos.
We arrived at the park and my sister started running around chasing butterflies.
In my eyes, she was just an innocent little girl dancing with butterflies unaware of the harsh reality. She is my everything and I would do anything to protect her.
She was still playing around so I took out my camera cause I had to take a photo of her beaming smile as a butterfly flew directly above her head.
I grinned at the image and then turned to take pictures of the surrounding landscape, including the trees and birds.
When I looked around, I spotted a familiar silhouette, it was the girl I met earlier and she was giggling.
I couldn't help but find her chuckles endearing and captivating. It was one unique laugh I must say, but her smile is something else.
All of a sudden, I looked at the lens, focused it on her and then clicked. I observed the picture that I took and it was her smiling so brightly with her hair in a messy ponytail.
I then looked at the time and saw that it was five o'clock. Shoot, I still have to cook dinner.
I called out for Zoey's attention, grabbed our stuff and went home, satisfied with my sister's play time and the pictures that I had taken.
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Monday, August 21st, 2020
Couple days went by and I haven't seen her, not until today at the library.
We were both studying with our friend but they ended up doing something else and left us alone with a heavy atmosphere.
We decided to busy ourselves.
I was still glancing at her, my textbook in hand.
I saw her sigh a couple of times and scribble some drawings on her scrap paper.
At first, she wasn't too focused on her drawing, it was like something was occupying her mind.
But then, she got serious and sketched something. She seemed very careful on what she was doing but I couldn't see it properly from this view.
Luckily her friend, who I believe is Yugo, asked her to come over to his side.
I took the chance to glance at her paper and took a minute to watch all the scribbles she had done.
Yep, I noticed the paper casually laying on the table in the library. My curiosity got the best of me and decided to check it out.
And that's when I found a sketch of a person who looks exactly like me.
I was mesmerized by her skills.
And especially the sketch.
I chuckled as I looked at the piece of paper, or should I say, the sketch that she made of me that was now in my hand.
I mean, she drew me without consent so it's only fair if the subject took the piece.
I noticed that the sketch was detailed and copied the posture I was in a few moments ago.
She's good at drawing. I'll give her that.
By now, I have come to a conclusion that she probably has a crush on me. I think it's cute
I can see that she's trying her best and that she's confused as to what she's feeling.
But hopefully she'll be able to get rid of that, as I don't have any time for a situationship or a relationship.
And at the same time, I wanna continue to focus on my goal and I really don't want to hurt her feelings. She looks like a nice girl. A crazy, nice girl.
I shook my head and smiled at the thought.
I was snapped away from my thoughts when I heard the bell ring.
Oh well. Time to go.
See you when I see you, Ell.
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Zayn's POV is finally here. Sorry if it took long.
School's about to start :'))
Word Count: 1,874
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