MEDICINE | alex rider

four

Alex Rider was conditioned to notice the small things from a young age. So it wasn't a surprise when he noticed the way Zarah would tug at the bottom of her skirt every time she would stand up, or how she would always wear her curly hair up, or even how whenever someone would try to talk to her, a frown would pull at her lips. Granted he's only known her for a few days and hasn't said more than a handful of words to her. She appeared to not want to be bothered but there was something that seemed to draw him to her. Nothing was out of the ordinary when it came to her- except maybe that she was American but so was Jack. Or maybe it was the spy in him that had the need to solve mysteries.

He stared down at his book with a blank mind, it was his study period and he was supposed to be catching up on work that he had missed from the past couple of weeks but he could seem to focus. Across the table from him sat Zarah, she was looking through the paper with her brows furrowed.

She clenched her right hand into a fist before letting it fall to the table in frustration, Alex peaked at the paper to see her looking at a page of job listings. "I know a place that's hiring," he spoke before he could stop himself, he seemed to do that a lot in the past couple of days. Tom had been making fun of him for it when they had hung out the day before and in return, he threw a pillow at his head.

Instead of glaring at him like he expected her to, she raised an eyebrow, urging for him to continue. He hide his surprise before he said "There's a flower shop near my house I used to work at before- It pays pretty decent, I can take you there after school."

She gave him an odd look searching his face, but for what? He did not know. After a few seconds, she finally said "Are you trying to kill me?"

"What? No, of course not!" He sputtered "Why would you think that?" Did he give off a murderous vibe? It made sense for her to ask since he did ask to bring her to a random place in a country she hadn't even lived in for a month. Great, now he seemed like a creep. He would never live down scaring away the new girl.

She tilted her head, shrugging "Sure."

This time he couldn't hide his surprise letting a small smile slip "Okay, great, I'll meet you in the courtyard after last period."

Without saying another word Zarah stood up from her chair, sliding her bag on her shoulders, she didn't show any sign of her hearing him or if she was even listening but he had a feeling she did. She walked out of the classroom but he wasn't quite sure where considering it wasn't the end of the period. In the short amount of time Alex has learned to not wonder too much about Zarah because it would only lead to him having more questions.

________

Alex stood in the courtyard waiting for Zarah, it had been 10 minutes since the last bell had rung and he was beginning to think she ditched him. He regretted telling Tom that he could take his bike back to his house for the day. He let his shoulders fall and right as he was turning to leave he caught sight of her pushing through the last few kids leaving the building. He felt his lips twitch at the sight of her walking toward him.

"I thought you ditched me." He joked as she got within earshot, but in reality, he was filled with relief, he wasn't sure if he would be able to show his face at school if she hadn't shown up. 

"People are slow walkers." The distaste was evident in her voice as she turned around to shoot what he assumed to be a deadly look at the students that were behind her.

When she turned back around he nodded at her to follow him. Walking next to her, Alex glanced at her, she was tall, only standing a few inches shorter than him. He noticed she had on her joggers underneath her skirt while her tie was tied lazily laying on top of her visor. Her tight curly hair was pulled away from her face the same as it's been the past few days, whether it be in french braids or just in a simple bun.