Try For Me | Zelink AU

Boss 429

Impa is still in my bed with a pillow over her head by the time I'm dressed and ready to leave. And she was the one who wanted to leave early. All to catch a glimpse of a boy that may or may not exist.

"Come on, Impa," I say, snatching the pillow off her head. "I thought you wanted to discover made up boys today."

"He's not made up!"

"I'll believe it when I see it. Now get up!" She groans and rolls over, swinging her legs out from under my pink floral comforter.

"You'll never see him if you move slower than a snail," I tease.

"You'll make a great mother someday."

"I feel like your mother." I grab my hairbrush, ready to attack the tangles to make her presentable for the public eye.

"I can do that myself, thank you very much," she snaps, taking the brush and raking it through the length of her white locks.

While she brushes her hair, I dab a little color on my lips and coat mascara on my light lashes. I enjoy a little bit of makeup so I look less tired on days I stay up late studying. Last night, it was Impa's fault for not getting to bed sooner.

She dresses in flared jeans with embroidered flowers around the bottoms and a bright tie front shirt with bell sleeves. I wore jeans as well since we're going roller skating later and I didn't want to do that in a dress.

Once we're ready for school, we collect the last of our things and head down to the kitchen. Father is sitting at the table with the newspaper. The first headline I notice is about the war. I wish it'd end. There's too many dying.

"Greetings Dr. H!" Impa says while peeling a banana. I make toast for myself. I don't usually like to eat in the morning but I know I'll regret it later if I don't eat something now.

"Goodmorning," he says without taking his eyes off the article. "Hadn't I said no sleepovers on school days?" I knew he'd be upset.

"I begged," Impa says, jumping in before I can apologize. "She said no and I came anyway."

"I see. From now on, no sleepovers on school nights."

"Yes Father," I say. Impa didn't need to lie for me. I would've accepted the consequences. But seeing as he's in a good mood... "Since it's Friday, do you mind if we go roller skating later?"

"Is your homework done?"

"I'm ahead."

"Then it should be fine as long as you're not out late." That's easy enough. I hate being out late.

"Thank you, Father."

"Mhm." He goes back to the newspaper. He hadn't looked up once. It's nothing I wasn't used to. His focus can't always be on me when there's more important things going on.

We finish our small breakfast and get in Impa's slightly rusty car. Her dad gave her his old one when she turned sixteen. Father said he'd buy me one when I turn eighteen. Until then, it's walking or getting rides from Impa. Not that I leave the house very often anyway but maybe I'd go out more if I had the means to.

She picks an eight track tape and plays it too loudly for in the morning. How she can go from being a corpse in bed to ready for a concert is a mystery to me. The only times she's quiet is when she's sleeping. Even then, she talks in her sleep or snores occasionally.

I get out my notes, reviewing them one more time before we get to school. I should have a couple more chances to study since the test is during the last class of the day.

A loud car engine interrupts my focus. It comes from my side and stops next to us at the light. It would seem Impa isn't the only one who doesn't mind being loud in the morning.

I look over out of pure curiosity and I can't believe my eyes. I see the exact boy everyone has been talking about at school. The blond ponytail with messy bangs and sideburns. The pierced ears. Even down to the cigarette pinched between his thumb and finger. His window is rolled down like mine and he turns his head lazily, blowing smoke. My cheeks betray me along with my senses, letting me look silly as I stare at this boy.

"There's no way," Impa says, her voice full of untamed excitement. "That's a Boss 429 Mustang!" I couldn't care less about the car right now.

He revs the engine, facing forward again as he takes another deep breath through his cigarette. My eyes are still glued. Out of the boys I've seen, he is by far the prettiest one.

When the light turns green, he hits the gas, his tires screeching on the road before he takes off. I can't believe I just fell down the same hole the other girls tumbled down when they saw him. He stole my attention like it belonged to him.

The next thing I know, Impa is snapping her fingers in my face, interrupting my thoughts. "You still in there?"

"Y-yeah." I look back at my notes in a hopeless attempt at hiding my red cheeks. I should be focused on my notes anyway. He's just a boy. A cute boy but still a boy nonetheless.

"I told you he was real!" she brags. "I mean he's okay looking, but his car? That I can drool over!"

"I guess it was cool..." I hadn't paid any attention to his car. How could I when he had a face like that?

"And you were calling me googly eyed. Look who's obsessed now!"

"I'm not obsessed!" I defend myself. "I just thought he was kinda cute."

"Kinda or a lot because your face tells me you're falling!"

I cross my arms over my chest as my face heats up. It's not my fault that the boys at school aren't much to look at and the boys who graduated already are signing up for the army. But I've never seen this one before and I've lived here my whole life. He must have just moved here which would explain his sudden appearance. And he never goes into school so he must have graduated. Why then does he go there in the morning and wait in the afternoon? Maybe he really does have a girl already and he gives her rides in that loud car of his. I wouldn't be surprised. A boy with that face wouldn't be able to stay single for long.

The not so fake boy is nowhere to be found when Impa takes a parking spot. With the way he was driving, he could've cut the time it takes to get here in half.

"Looking for your boyfriend?" Impa snickers.

"No!" I say, denying that I had been looking for him. And I thought the other girls were silly for having a crush on a boy that obviously didn't care about the ruckus he was causing. Here I am lumping myself in with the rest of them.

"Good because Groose is coming." She cocks her head to the side and I groan when I see him. I can smell his hairspray just by looking at him. The headache is already on its way.

"Hey Zel!" I roll my eyes. My name is already short and yet he insists on shortening it even more for the sake of feeling like he's closer to me than he is. He'll always be kept an arm's length away.

"Good morning," I grumble. After seeing that boy earlier, Groose looks even less attractive. If he'd give up the style choices and toned it down on the hair, he'd look more handsome. At least to me. He has his fair share of droolers that he ignores, choosing to go after a girl who doesn't want him as anything other than a friend.

"So about tonight–"

"I said I'm not going out with you!"

"Yeah and she's going out with me," Impa jumps in.

"What are you guys doing?"

Before I can stop her, she opens her mouth to spill our plans. "Roller skating and dinner at Urbosa's." I shoot her a glare. Now he's going to invite himself. I guess I can't be too upset though. It's not like our plans are very different from most Friday night plans of the other students. Everyone goes to the one roller rink and everyone knows Urbosa, so much so that we call it Urbosa's diner and not the true name, The Bazaar.

"Good to know." He smiles. I know I'll be seeing him later.

I stomp away before I can give him another excuse to make conversation. I need to turn my attention back to my test, not boys. Father said they were distracting and he was right. Groose bothers me at every chance and now I have this mystery boy stuck in my head. I can only imagine how much worse it would get if I had a boyfriend.