Claudia

Chapter 10

Claudia's POV

After an entire day of imagining a ton of possible scenarios, thinking of the right words to say, and anticipating everything that could come next, it was finally time. Time to face the music. Judgement Day. What could possibly be the end of my life as I now know it.

It was finally time for lunch.

I know it sounds dramatic, but it's not when you consider the circumstances. Last night, Zach requested that I tell him about my past and what lead to the events from the parking lot today at lunch. Of course, I don't blame him. No normal person would want to stay around someplace where they just witnessed an intense fight. And if said fight involved someone they know, they would like to know what happened to cause it. Zach is lucky he didn't see us fighting any sooner than he did. The people those men work for aren't merciful towards witnesses or outsiders.

Just relax. If anyone should be nervous, it's Zach. He has no idea what you are about to tell him. Besides, he seems to be a nice person and probably won't go around telling everyone your deepest, darkest secret. As awful as it sounds, he doesn't seem to have anyone to tell it to.

I walked towards our usual table to see Zach already sitting down. My stomach ached and it was hard to tell whether it was hunger or nerves.

"Hey, Zach." I sat across from him and began to eat my lunch.

"Hey, Claudia." He frowned as he got a better look at my face. "How is your nose?"

"It's fine," I replied as I bit into my sandwich. Although, it couldn't be much farther from the truth. My nose was unfortunately not fine. I woke up today to see a large purple bruise along the bridge of my nose with a small cut in the center. I would have put a band-aid on it, but that would draw more attention. And the absolute last thing I need right now is more attention.

To make matters worse, it began to swell like a balloon by the time I got to school. Against my wishes, I earned a few stares from my classmates and even one of the teachers. Considering that Zach was now giving me the same look, I could tell he wasn't convinced. Nevertheless, he decided to drop the matter and have some more Goldfish. After what felt like an eternity of silence, he finally started talking.

"Listen, I know I was probably being a real pain by asking you to explain everything one minute and then saying we could talk about it later the next..." He began to trail off, still scared about what happened last night.

"Zach, it's okay. You have nothing to feel bad about."

"I know, but still. If I was there, maybe I could have done something. I could have stopped you from getting hurt."

"As I said, it's okay. Besides, they probably would have hurt you too, and then what? I'm just glad they didn't notice you watching everything unfold otherwise you wouldn't be in much better condition than I am right now."

"The only reason they didn't notice me was because they were too busy fighting you." I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt upon hearing him say that. I've only known Zach for about a week or so but I don't like seeing him upset. 

"Zach, it's not always a bad thing to go unnoticed. If anything, it can work in your favor more often than not." As I said that, unpleasant memories that I had once forgotten began to creep their way back.

"I guess you're right," he shrugged. Zach leaned in towards the center of the table and lowered his voice. He must not want anybody to hear our conversation, not that I'm complaining.

"Last night, you were saying something about how you're a spy of some sort." His face looked serious. It was obvious he wants answers.

"Yeah, so?" I may as well have had bees flying out of my ears the way he looked at me.