[*Wary*]

*2*

*Neil in the media*

                             *Zola*
         The school day dragged on, as usual. Couples making out against the lockers as if they were in some soft core porn, advanced placement  teachers giving out mediocre amounts of homework, gossip spreading through the air as if it was the flu, and petty feuds starting over tiny parking spaces. It's an endless routine until June 6th, which was right around the corner.

I barged into my house, glowing with sweat. "Zola!" My mom called out. "Don't be slamming doors in this house!"

I giggled, walking into the kitchen to grab a quick snack. "Sorry ma!" I took a packet of fruit snacks from the counter and darted to my room.

I tossed my bag onto my bed and immediately rid my body of the clothes that I had worn all day. "Ola G! You've got mail!" My mom yelled.

I threw on a tank top and athletic shorts and made my way upstairs to my mother's room.

I leaned on the door frame as I watched my sort the mail. I coughed, signaling to her that I was there.

"Here." She tossed an envelop to me. "It's a check." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Check? I don't have a job?" She smiled.

"I know. You need a job! Anyways, this check is just a little end of the school year gift. You've done well and I think you deserve it."

I tore open the envelop and pulled out the check. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped to the floor. "Two thousand? You're kidding! Thank you so much!" I ran and threw my arms around her.

"Alright, alright! I also wanted to tell you that I'm going to our hometown to visit our family." She sighed. "It's been awhile."

"How long do you plan on staying?" I asked, slightly confused as to why she was leaving me alone.

"Two weeks. And yes, I do trust you to stay here by yourself. Just promise me you won't put yourself in any kind of harm?" I nodded.

"Of course I won't. You know me." I smiled and went back downstairs.

I sighed as I plopped on my bed. I sat my bulky backpack on my lap and rummaged through the neat mess of folders, notebooks, and pencils.

I frantically flipped through my creative writing notebook until I found today's page, which I had wrote a note about Neil's warm up on. Down to earth and not as big of an emotionless asshole as he appears to be. As a reminder to ask him about it, I doodled a small phone next to another note which read, if this isn't genuine, then he's a terrific actor.

As I picked up my phone, an incoming text from Terra showed up on my screen.

bitch..... check Yolanda's Instagram!

I opened Instagram, navigated to Yolanda's page, and clicked on the first photo, which was a picture of her and Neil posing after one of his football games.

yolanda.4: we may not be together anymore, but I'll always have love for you.

This is so dramatic, but I know I would probably do something corny like that after a breakup. I closed out of Instagram to reply to Terra.

wooooooooow

I decided to hold off on probing Neil until this dating drama has subsided and they both have moved on.

I go on YouTube to find some lengthy makeup tutorial videos so I could have some pleasant background noise as I stressed over homework.

*