Go Away (#TheWattys2015)

Chapter 11: Protective or Just Has Anger Issues?

About a few days later I was out of the hospital and mostly healed. Big cuts lined my stomach (which I kept hidden under many tank tops and a long sleeved shirt) and the tiny scratches on my face were fading away and so was the pain. The bruise on my cheek was beginning to fade away so I didn't look too messed up. I stepped into the school and walked towards my locker. Ignoring the giggles and jokes Casey and her small clique were making. I slightly glanced towards Zacks locker down the hall and found him staring at me. I quickly looked away, gathered my things, and stared at the ground while briskly walking past Zack, trying to hide my smile. My arm started tickling even before he grabbed it and gently pulled me close to him. Just great. "Hey,uh, how...how are you feeling?"
"Great."
There was a small pause. This was so awkward. "Do the cuts still hurt?" "Kind of, I haven't really touched any of my injuries,unless I'm changing my stomach bandages which hurts like crazy."
He put his hand up towards my face. "Do you mind?"
"Umm..."
His hand gently outlined one of the small cuts on my face. He squinted at the bruise on my check and held my chin up to get a better look. "Whoa, how did this happen?" I looked away. "Uh, nothing really I just, uh-" His face became a mask of concern and a flicker of something was in his eyes. Was that...anger?
"Daija did someone do this to you?" His grip tightened on my arm and I looked into his eyes shocked to find them full of anger, completely dwarfing the usual spark of adorable happiness that made me want to hug him all the time.
"No, I just-"
"Daija." His eyes bored into mine. "Who. Did. This." The anger was clear in his voice and his grip was getting painfully tight on my arm. "Zack it's really not a big dea-"
"Not a big deal!? You were put in the hospital!" Some people started to stare at us.
"Hey!," I hissed. "Keep your voice down." The anger in his eyes seemed to build up and it felt as though he was trying to cut the circulation off in my arm. "H-hey, let go." His grip only tightened. "Zack, your hurting me." "Daija, please, tell me who did this to you," he persisted.
"I don't know ok! I don't have a clue who or what did this. Now please. Let. Me. Go." His hand loosened up and I pulled my arm free and rubbed where he had gripped it so hard. I stared in shock at the red handprints on my arm. Tears welled up in my eyes and I blinked them away hoping he didn't see. Until one little tear decided to ruin my success and slide down my face. "Daija I-"
"No," I said cutting him off. "it's okay." I wiped the tear away with my thumb and walked off as fast as I could to my next class ignoring Zack shouting after me trying to apologize, but I didn't want to hear it. Did everyone just want to hurt me these days?

The rest of the day was so boring. I zoned out most of the classes, skipped math to avoid mrs. Malone, cried in the bathroom for about 20 minutes, and ate lunch in the hallway where no one really walked by. Everything was going fine until Casey and her little crew decided to come by. "Look at the little loser eating lunch all alone. What happened geek? Your little nerd club kick you out?"
"Give it a break Carly," I sighed. She squinted her eyes at me in annoyance. "Um, it's Casey. Get it right." I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"Casey, Carly, Wannabe Popular Brat, whatever the heck it is, it's ruining my lunch."
I rolled my eyes and went back to nibbling on my BLT. From the corner of my eye I saw her lurch forward but one of her stupid Barbie doll looking followers held her back. "Come on Casey, she's not worth it. Don't waste your time on this loser." I smiled. "Yeah Casey. Wouldn't want to get caught would you?" I said pointing up at one of the new cameras that had been installed in the hallway.
Casey was pissed. "Who do you think your talking to?" I laughed. "A stuck up spoiled brat who gets everything she wants,thinks ruining people's lives and believes interrupting their lunch is fun, and needs to get a better hobby." With that she lunged at me, but all of her friends(or minions whatever you wanna call them) held her back. She shook them off and stormed away with her little group of followers and mumbled something about revenge, just to come back and throw my empty lunchbox across the floor and storm off again. Some 'revenge'. Shaking my head I smiled to myself seeing how stupid she had just made herself look. Tasha jogged down the hallway towards me, picked up my lunchbox, and sat down giving me a friendly slap on the back. "That. Was. AWESOME." I forced a smile. "Thanks." She looked at me with a worried expression. If anyone knew what the difference between a real smile and fake smile was, it was Tasha. "Everything okay?" I shook my head. "Wanna tell me about it?" "Sure," I sighed. I told her about Zack and to my surprise I started crying. No, I think bawling would be a better word. Tasha wrapped her arm around me and let me cry on her shoulder. "That would explain why he barely touched his food today. He looked really depressed." I shrugged. He shouldn't be depressed. He wanted to hurt me. He knew what he was doing. Didn't he?

"Okay Daija,I'm not taking sides or anything but by the look on his face in there I really don't think he meant to hurt you." Tasha said.
"But still, he did and it scared me half to death." She shrugged. "Maybe he's just the type of guy who doesn't know how to control his anger. Really, when someone gets that mad over someone hurting you, they definitely care about you." I shook my head. "Why would he care about me?" Tasha nudged me with her shoulder. "I think someone's got a crush on you." A giggle escaped my throat. "That's not possible."
"Oh, but it is young padawan." "What?"
"My little brother got me into Star Wars."
"Oh." We sat there for awhile not really saying anything. Until Tasha said: "So are you gonna talk to him or nah?"
"I dunno, maybe."
"I dare you," she teased.
"Not doing it."
"Come on."
"Nope."
"Please?"
"Nah."
"Pretty please?"
"No."
"I'll give you ten bucks."
"Okay, whatever."
"YAY!" She jumped up and pulled me to my feet. "Come on,let's go get you cleaned up." I hugged her as tight as I could and she hugged me back even tighter. "Love you Tasha."
"Love you too Daija." A kid bumped into us and started to run away after screaming: "Lesbians!"
Tasha chased him down and around the corner where, out of the cameras sight, we threw him into a wall, and walked off.

We walked into the bathroom and she pulled out soap and a wash cloth. "Might I ask why you were carrying around soap and a washcloth?"I asked. She smiled. "Always come prepared."
After school I followed Zack downstairs staying close behind him. I took a deep breath and just before he pushed open the door to leave I poked him. He spun around and looked into my eyes. I stared back into his and completely forgot what I was going to say. His eyes were full of sadness and I could tell he was trying to look away but for some reason he couldn't. I cleared my throat. "Hey, um, sorry about earlier I didn't mean to run off like th-"
"Daija don't apologize when you didn't do anything wrong. It's my fault and I'm so sorry. I swear I never meant to hurt you,its just... the fact that anyone put you in a hospital really bothers me. I don't know if you believe me but I really am sorry. I just care about you that's all(Tasha called it). I'm so sorry Daija. I never wanted to make you cry. I feel awful. Really, I do. You agreed to be my friend and you've been nothing but nice to me and all I've done is cause you pain. I'm really, really sorry Daija." His eyes started to tear up. "Hey," I said, when my voice finally wanted to work. "It's ok. I forgive you." He sniffed and looked down at the ground. "You shouldn't." "But I do. Just please try not to do that again. It scares me." He looked up and his eyes met mine again. A spark of happiness shined in them. "I won't I swear. I'm sorry." I smiled. "You can stop apologizing." He smiled back. "Sorry." I laughed and my eyes widened in shock as he wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. I hesitated but hugged him back. I allowed myself to sink into his arms and relax.When I pulled away he was looking down at me with a giant grin on his face. He threaded his fingers through mine and I laughed at how ridiculously happy he looked. "You look beautiful when you laugh," he said. I looked down trying to hide the enormous smile spreading on my rapidly heating face. I fought down the butterflies bursting in my stomach. "Thanks." We walked out of the door together and I didn't realize we were still holding hands until we were about to go our separate ways. Zack looked down at my hand holding his and for a moment we just stared at our hands unsure if we should let go or not."So I'll see you tomorrow?" I said breaking the awkward silence. "Yeah, see ya." He gave my hand a final gentle squeeze, then turned and walked away.

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Eeeeeek!! Are Daija and Zack developing something more than a friendship? I was excited just writing this so I hope you guys enjoy. Lemme know what you awesome peeps think and I'll try to keep updating. Love you all!!