Chapter 35 Ch. 23.1
Zara stood in front of the mirror, lip gloss in one hand and her brows slightly furrowed. Her hair was already done, her lashes curled, and she’d even dabbed a bit of highlighter on her cheekbones. For what, exactly? She didn’t have a presentation. There wasn’t a photo day. So why was she trying this hard?
She leaned closer, uncapped the gloss, and brushed it across her bottom lip. Then she stared at her reflection for a long second, tilting her head slightly.
"This is dumb," she whispered to herself, dropping the lip gloss back into her bag as she touched her lips with two fingers. The memory from yesterday flashed across her mind. She could still feel Ethan's lips slightly brushing hers, and no matter how hard she tried to get it out of her mind, she just couldn't.
Her phone buzzed on the table. She looked down and saw Noah’s name on the screen.
Noah: yoooooooo
Have you done your chem hw?
She sighed— she had completely forgotten that there was a homework from the last class. She didn't even remember what it was, she just knew Mrs. Lawrence had rambled off something to them.
Noah: btw car’s fixed. You coming with me or your dad?
She didn’t reply, zhe just locked the phone and slid it into her back pocket.
“Zara,” her dad called from the kitchen. “Let’s go.”
“Coming,” she said, grabbing her bag. She walked down the stairs lazily, and when she walked into the kitchen, her dad was pouring syrup on a stack of pancakes. She glanced at the plate, then grabbed a paper towel and wrapped up a few slices quickly.
“You’re not eating?” he asked.
“I’m not hungry,” she said, avoiding his eyes.
He reached for his coffee. “Is Noah coming with us?”
“He fixed his car already,” she said.
Her dad raised a brow. “Oh, okay. Since you’re not having breakfast, I’ll pack mine.”
“No, I’m catching a ride with Noah,” she said quickly. "You can stay home and eat."
“Wow,” he said, giving her a look. “Just like that, I’ve been abandoned.”
She laughed a little, even though she didn’t feel like it. She opened the door and stepped outside.
Wasn't it funny he joked about being abandoned?
She didn’t wait go to Noah's house, and she didn’t text him back either. The last thing she wanted was to be around anybody these days so she decided she was going to walk.
The air was cool, and the sun wasn’t too harsh yet. Her backpack felt a little heavy, but not enough to slow her down. She kept her head down for most of the walk, just counting cracks in the sidewalk and avoiding eye contact with the kids already heading in.
When she was a block away from school, a loud engine from a motorcycle passed beside her, making her to look up.
It was of course, non other than Ethan.
He didn’t stop or say anything to her, but he looked back once, just briefly, then kept riding.
She got to school a few minutes later, entered through the side entrance, and walked straight to class. Miss Penelope looked at her and sighed but didn't make a comment.
Noah was already there, leaning against the desk and scrolling through his phone.
“You’re late,” he said, glancing up. “Why didn’t you respond to my texts?”
Zara pulled out her notebook and sat down. “Didn’t see them.”
"Liar," Noah replied. "You're like, always on your phone.
Zara simply shrugged.
Miss Penelope was already moving around the classroom, handing out worksheets and going over yesterday’s chapter. As she passed by Zara’s desk, she rested a hand on her shoulder gently.
Zara looked up, surprised, but Miss Penelope just smiled and kept walking.
She tried to focus, but her mind was so not in class. She glanced toward the hallway through the small window on the door. After what seemed like an eternity, class was over. She wasn't happy to attend a few more classes especially after she was scolded but Mrs. Lawrence for not turning in her homework, but she was glad when it was finally lunch.
It wasn't that she was particularly excited about it, she just could not stomach another class for now. Noah walked beside her to the cafeteria without saying anything, just walking awkwardly beside her and using his hands to guide her shoulders whenever she went in the wrong direction.
She sat at the edge of the table with her tray in front of her, untouched. She was listening to another table even though she wasn’t part of the conversation.
“Some crazy journalist lady stopped me yesterday,” Rita said, laughing as she popped a fry in her mouth. “She literally asked me if I thought Ethan was a vampire.”
The girls around her burst into laughter.
“No way,” one of them said, giggling. “That’s insane.”
“She was so serious too,” Rita added. “Had her little press badge and everything. This woman literally stalked me I swear. I posted that shit from a reddit account that was literally not linked to me."