Chapter 3
Ronnie
It was only Wednesday and the days were going slower than ever. I always find myself tired and irritated during first period. I dropped my head down on the desk and closed my eyes. Maybe I could rest a little. I hardly got any sleep with the amount of homework I got, plus the research paper Mrs. Greene assigned. I heard the muffles of her voice and students yelling over each other. If this day didn’t end soon then I might just hide away in the library forever.
I heard the door creak open and steps walk along the side of the desks. “You are?” Mrs. Greene asked. I don’t know who she was talking to but I didn’t bother bringing my head up. Suddenly everything got quiet and I heard a mumbled English accent. “Zayn Malik.. I just moved here” Why was he here? How do you go from England to some unknown suburbs in New York? I still kept my head down. I wasn’t very interested in the new guy. I wasn’t interested in much of anything in this school. “Finally you decide to show up to my class, Mr. Malik.. Don’t let it happen again, you can take that seat back there.” I heard his footsteps again. Why was the class so quiet? I could hear every single move he made. I heard him slump down into his chair and the class started to talk again. I slowly brought my head up and turned to see him. He was two desks behind me. The guy behind me was covering his whole view, I couldn’t see a thing. I didn’t want to make it obvious so I just turned my head back and rested it on the desk again. I couldn’t keep my eyes open so I drifted off to sleep.
Zayn
“You can take that seat back there”, the middle aged woman said. I slowly walked to the desk and dropped my things. Slumping down in the chair, I looked around and observed everything. I did like English, very much actually. I always thought about being an English professor, but if I wanted to go back home I had to stick with the “This is a waste of time” attitude. It’s easy to act like you don’t care. So that’s what I will do. I plugged in my headphones into my phone and dropped my head down. Might as well catch some sleep.
I was awoken from a light tap on my shoulder. The middle aged woman crossed her arms and stared me down. I looked around and no one was in the class except a girl three desks away with her head down. I looked up at the woman. “Since you enjoy sleeping so much you can join Ms. James and me in detention.” I smirked. Great. I rubbed my face and stood up, grabbing my things. I looked at the back of the long haired girl. Was she sleeping too? I walked closer to wake her up. I was about to put my hand on her back when I felt a vibration in my pocket. It was a text. I pulled my phone out and started to walk away, keeping my focus on the text. I looked back at the girl and her head was still down. Maybe the teacher will wake her. I turned back and headed to the library.
Ronnie
“Detention?!, no I can’t have detention” I pleaded as I walked up to Ms. Greene’s desk. “Next time don’t sleep in my class.” She said as she kept her eyes on the papers she was grading. “But-” “It’s just one detention, it’s not going to kill you” she said. I sighed. I have better things to do then to sit in a room for an hour, doing nothing. I had work to do, books to read. This was something I wasn’t looking forward to.
The day went on and again I got so much homework. I closed my locker, remembering I had detention today. I’ve never gotten detention before and I wasn’t going to get in the habit. I held onto my jacket and walked to Mrs. Greene’s room quickly. When I walked in, no one was in sight. I wonder where she was. I took my normal seat and dropped everything. As I ran my hands through my hair I thought about him. I thought about him a lot. More than I should and the more I reminisced, the angrier I got. The thought of him betraying me like that, using me just filled me with rage. But I also can’t help but think why. What could I have done to make him do such a thing. I thought it was real, but I should’ve known. Things would have been better if I never met him. Maybe I wouldn’t be such a freak. The truth is, he ruined me. I pushed everyone away because of him and I’m not sure how to get that back. I hated thinking about this but when I did I started to play memories in my head like a movie. From the beginning to the disastrous end. See when you get involved with someone like that, you lose yourself in their illusion. He found me. I played his game and lost. I sighed and looked down at my bag. I should get some work done.
I reached into it for my Calculus textbook and a pen, keeping my head low. I heard footsteps, but I assumed them to be Ms. Greene. I heard a desk in the back move. As I was about to turn my head to see, I was interrupted by Ms. Greene walking in. “You.. up here.” she said as she pointed to the desk next to mine. I heard the desk move one again and footsteps approaching. I saw the blur of his body in the side of my eye but i kept my focus on Ms. Greene. “Alright, I’ll be in the copy room so no talking.” she said as she walked out. I tapped my pen and looked down at my textbook. I tightened my hold on the pen as I could feel him staring.
Zayn
As I sat down I noticed the girl that had her head down before. I couldn’t see her face. Her hair covered her profile and she had her head deep in her textbook. She kept herself occupied as for I had not a thing to do. I looked down at her bag and noticed a book sticking out. It looked familiar, though I don’t think I’ve read it. She shifted uncomfortably. I think she can tell I’m staring. I smirked and turned my head away. Why won’t she say anything? Did she really want to stay silent the whole time? I don’t know why I wanted her to say something but I had nothing else to do.
Ten minutes past by and there was nothing but silence. Not once did she bring her head up. I wonder why. More than that I wondered what she looked like. I couldn’t get not a single peep. Was she doing it on purpose? Did she not want me to see her? She shifted again and moved her arm, knocking down her pen. I reached down to get it and so did she. Our fingers touched and I felt it again, that zap of energy. It was very odd. Her hand retreated, so i picked it up. “Here” I said. She pushed her hair behind her ear and looked up. “Thank you” she said as her eyes started to widen.
It was her. Library girl. Same big brown eyes, same cute little American accent. In the library she never gave me the chance to say a single word, to get her name. I thought about her a little. For some odd reason I couldn’t get rid of her face in my head. Those eyes.. it was something about those eyes. I coughed and handed it to her. “You’re welcome” I said dryly. Should I say something? “You’re in my English class, yeah?” I said and faced her. She nodded. I looked around. “Are you mute?” I asked. She giggled. I felt a knot in my stomach when she did. This doesn’t happen. What’s going on with me? “I’m not one to break the rules, I mean we are suppose to be quiet.” She said smiling. There goes that knot again.
“Rules are meant to be broken” I smiled. “I’m Zayn and you are?” She turned her body to face me. “Ronnie” she stated. “Ronnie? I’ve never heard that name for a girl before.” I said in an interested tone. “It’s short for Veronica, a name I don’t like” she said as she tapped her pen. Veronica. What’s wrong with that name. I think it’s quite lovely. Again, why am I thinking this?
I thought about something to say. Her voice interrupted my thoughts. “What part of England are you from?” She asked. “Bradford” I stated. “What are you doing here then? There’s never been someone from England around here” Her voice is smooth. You can almost here the uncertainty in her voice. “My mum wanted to move out here, I guess” I said with a shrug. “Well are you liking it here?” She asked and looked right into my eyes. I smiled. “It’s alright but the music here is shit” She laughed. “It is, isn’t it? I don’t know how people actually listen to it” she said. “You know about music?” I asked raising a brow. “Not everything around here is shit. I could show you a few bands. You’d be surprised.” she said, confidently. “You’ll have to prove me wrong then” I smiled cheekily. She smiled back and blushed. I leaned closer to her. “Why don’t you give me your nu- The teacher walked in. “Didn’t I say no talking?” she said intently. Ronnie faced forward and kept put her focus on the teacher. She looked at them time, then back at us. “You can go now, and I better not see you sleeping again in my class. You can do that at home” Ronnie began to put her things away. She stood up and smiled at me. I grabbed my bag as she stood and began to walk out. I needed to talk to her again. I began to make my way to her but the middle aged woman cut in front of me. “Mr. Malik, seeing that you’re in a new school I wouldn’t make a bad name for myself.” She stared me down. I looked behind her and Ronnie was gone.
“I’ll try not to” I said with a sigh. I wanted to know more about Ronnie. I was very observant, so I could read people well. But with Ronnie, I knew nothing. We needed to have a proper conversation. Then I smiled realizing we have first period together.
