Chapter 36 Ch. 23.2
Zara looked down at her tray, pushing a grape around with her fork. Her lips twitched feeling like they were wrong to laugh.
A voice suddenly rose from the other end of the cafeteria.
“Alright, listen up!”
It was Mason, one of the seniors. He stood on a chair with a grin on his face and pointed toward the front of the room.
“I’m calling it now. Prom’s coming up, and I’m officially staking my claim. My date is going to be the very lovely, very smart, very smokin’ hot—”
He paused for dramatic effect. “—Yvette.”
The room burst into laughter.
Yvette rolled her eyes and threw a napkin at him. “Piss off, Mason.”
"Hey, my feeling are hurt,” he said, bowing slightly and gripping his chest as he stepped off the chair.
The cafeteria erupted in laughter again. Zara rested her chin in her hand and looked across the room then picked her fork zoning out completely while she absentmindedly stirred her pasta around her plate, barely taking a bite.
"You okay? You’ve stabbed that thing like, twenty times."
She forced a small smile. "It’s fine. Just not hungry."
He watched her for a second, then leaned his elbows on the table. "You haven’t said a word all lunch. That’s not like you. You didn’t even laugh when Jamie tripped over his own shoelace trying to flirt with Taylor."
Zara shrugged, pushing the pasta aside. "It wasn’t that funny."
"Zee, come on. You’ve been weird since like... Forever but today you're just... Did something happen?"
She shook her head, then winced a little as the pressure in her chest returned. It had been getting worse again. Her eyes caught sight of Ethan, seated ok a table not paying attention to the girl who was flirting with him. She scoffed and looked away.
"Are you joining the prom committee?" Noah asked, changing the subject. "It’s all you talked about last year. You even had a color-coded Pinterest board."
Zara opened her mouth to reply but then gasped, her hand flying to her chest.
Noah stood immediately, an expression of worry taking over his countenance. "Zara?"
She felt like something twisted inside her ribs. She shoved her chair back and stumbled to her feet.
"I—I need a minute."
She barely made it to the girls’ bathroom. The moment she reached the sink, she leaned over and threw up. Her arms shook, and her head felt too light. She rinsed her mouth and stood still for a second, gripping the sink, trying to breathe. The pain was still there, but she managed to step out.
When she stepped back into the hallway, Noah was already there. And next to him—Ethan.
Zara blinked. "What... what are you doing here?"
Ethan looked tense. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his hoodie, and he was watching her closely.
"You okay?" Noah asked, stepping forward. "You didn’t look good."
She nodded, even though she felt like she could collapse. "I just—need air."
"You sure it’s not more than that?" Ethan asked, titling his head.
Before she could answer, another wave of pain moved through her chest. Her knees buckled slightly and she almost fell to the floor, but Ethan was quick enough to hold her.
"Hey," he said softly, his eyes searching her green ones. "What's wrong?"
"Get off me," she said slapping his hands away and rushing away. Noah tried to grab her, but she was quicker. "Just leave me alone for fucks sake! Is it hard?"
She stormed away to any empty class room, Ethan refusing to leave her. Even though she had her weight presses against the door, he easily pushed it open.
"Zara," he commented swallowing hard. He shouldn't have cared, it should have been easy for him to walk away every single time, but he couldn't.
"Can you stop? Please? How much do I have to beg you?" She asked, fighting the tears but that battle was lost on her. "I have a race in... Three... Sorry, two days. Please Ethan.
"I'm not doing anything, I promise," he replied.
"Okay, that’s it," Noah said, stepping into the room, just in time to see her clutch her chest again. "We’re going to the nurse."
They walked her there, both of them keeping pace beside her.
"Ethan— oh my goodness, isn't that Coach Santiago's daughter? What's wrong love?"
Zara said nothing as she was gently placed on one of the beds to sleep.
"What's wrong with her?" The nurse questioned.
"Chest pains and she's also having headaches too often," Ethan said making Noah to whip his head around too fast. He was wondering how Ethan knee and he didn't.
Zara always complained to him, so he could not help but feel a pang of jealousy that she had told Ethan first.
Then again, didn't Zara hate Ethan? How many days has it been that she called him a jerk?
"Oh, when did they start?" The nurse asked, looking between them all, not knowing who exactly to direct her questions to.
"I don't— shit," Ethan whispered.
The nurse didn't bother asking any more questions before she went to her desk, grabbed her phone and called an ambulance. Zara didn't want that, but was too out of it to argue.
And the last thing she saw before her world went blank and they wheeled her out was her father rushing into the building, his phone in his hand and panic on his face.