Can We Start Over Again?

5. Intense Dislike

Pov ZANE MACMILLAN

FLASHBACK SCENES

"We're dead!" Ray cried looking ahead of us.

"Sir!" I said, dropping Sam's hand as quickly as a flash.

"Zane?!" The head of the institute Mr. Blake was bewildered to see me amongst two girls. He in fact looked disappointed.

Then he shifted his attention to the girls and his face changed into exasperation, "Oh them?!! The notorious ones, how did I not believe the man?"

"Aha!! There I told ya!" Cried the bald man, happily, as he too joined us, "I was not lying."

"Mmm, you had not lied," he said to the man before turning in on us "You three," he roared wiggling his pointing finger, "had not only sneaked into the house, but also had assaulted this man, when he came to inspect!" 

"Get into the office. NOW!!" He roared at us.

I sat waiting inside the office, dreading the outcome, if my dad made an appearance.

He was not the nicest of man, and to make things worse he was friends with Mr. Blake and all our teachers, because he, himself, was a lecturer at a leading University in the country.

"I can't believe this, Zane, I thought you were better than this."

"Sir, you've misunderstood," I pleaded helplessly, looking at Mr.Blake,"I thought they were in danger and went to help them."

"But I caught you in the middle of the action." Was his response.

No matter how many times, I tried to tell that I had nothing to do with this 'crime' . It fell on deaf ears.

It was a Saturday, and where I lived, most of the parents sent their high schoolers for extra classes on the weekends hoping that their children would get good grades. 

But I was easily the best student in the class and school, I was the nerd and now, I was sure I had damaged the reputation that I had built all these years.

"Zane Macmillan, your dad's here."

I glared at the girls, but they looked at me apologetically, as my dad entered in his usual bad-tempered mood.

I straightened myself up to explain, but he didn't even waste his time on listening, he just slapped me hard on my face and boomed, "You're a disgrace to the family."

Humiliated, I turned to look at the girls - Ray, her glasses askew, looked horrifyingly at my dad, and Sam, her golden green orbs filled with a sea of tears, peered into mine guiltily.

I stood staring at those eyes,  and then her real face came into focus - a gold digger she was!  A bitch! A LIAR!

……..

Pov SAMANTA RIVERS

I stared at him, afraid to blink, because if I did, I thought he might disappear. And I didn't want that. What I wanted was to drink in every little detail of him. Keep admiring his features and get lost in his gaze.

Everything in him had changed… a lot!

His once short and neat hair now looked much longer and wavy but he'd slicked it back neatly for the occasion. His once clean shaven face had now been styled with a designer stubble beard. His once vacant ear had a stud on it. 

I wondered if his heart was vacant too.

As he too reciprocated the stare, a sense of hope started to bud in me, but before I could heave a sigh of relief, his eyes hardened and looked at me with intense dislike.

Once upon a time, his eyes only showed warmth and love.

His thin lips, with contempt in them read out, "I wondered where the stench was coming from, so now I know, it's from her!" 

I felt hurt. It's been freaking 2 years now since I hurt him, yet he hasn't forgotten nor has he forgiven me.

That means three hundred and sixty five days into two… Umm, how many days must that be?  

Do the calculations please? I suck at maths too!

While I busied myself with mental maths in an attempt to overlook his hurtful remark, Ryder as usual stepped in to fight back for me,

Zion, Abbie and Rayna stood shellshocked at Zane,

"A smell you say?" He asked Zane mockingly, "It's definitely me."

"I had that Grilled Fish!" He remarked at Zane, sarcastically, "I'd say too many garlics in them."

Zane has not forgiven Ryder too, it was evident as his already thin lips narrowed into a very fine line, as Ryder spoke. 

He ignored Ryder and asked Abbie,

"Why do you even invite slum dwellers, sis?"

I stared at him hurt. Zane had always been a sweet person, always spoke with gentle words so hearing something this hurtful from him, brought tears to my eyes.

I was not a slum dweller, but I was also not from a rich, wealthy family. I was somewhere in between.

He knew it, yet he said it only to hurt me.

Sometimes I used to wonder how I became friends with an elite clique. 

And I did ask them too, and all they said was that they like me for who I was and not where I come from.

Abbie looked at me uncomfortably. "DONUT!, shut up." She hissed at Zane, "she'd get upset."

I've been put to shame many times before too. Maybe, I wouldn't have cried if Abbie hadn't said those words, but somehow those words triggered my feelings and I dashed away from them, trying to control the tears that were falling.

I heard voices behind me, rushing to stop me, to console me, but I moved away from them and crashed myself on to an incoming figure.

"Sorry." I mumbled, but the figure observed my face closely and took me in for a hug.

"Sam? What happened?"