Out of my Mind

Chapter 9

I wake up to the static-like sound of my radio. It's 6 a.m so I have an hour before my bus comes. I brush my teeth and my hair in the bathroom. I'm not really up for a shower, and besides I took one last night. I'll just wash up in the sink. 

As I'm staring into my closet, I have the sudden urge to go shopping. I have plenty of sweat shirts, t- shirts, and jeans, but nothing is fancy or looks like I spent time and money to get it. Maybe I should get a job. It would be a lot easier for Lavinia to pay the bills if I could chip in with money, and I could save up to be more mainstream with my clothes. Not that I want to be main stream. I just want to have some more name brand things and cute clothes. 

I push those thought out of my mind and rush to get ready. My bus decides to come early so i don'thave enough time for breakfast. I'm going to have to grab some at school. The bus ride is short, and I sit with Alexa because Korey isn't on. 

The beginning of the day goes by slowly. My language arts teacher assigns a project, and announces that she will give us our partners tomorrow because she runs out of time. I get to fourth period and take a seat next to Korey. She immediately asks me, "Why weren't you at the community service meeting this morning?" 

"Oh man! I completely forgot. What happened in it." I don't care so much for clubs but I need to earn credits for college. If I am actually going. Korey's friend Mila convinced us to do it, then decided not to join herself. It didn't make much sense to us but she's a friend so we didn't get mad at her. 

Korey informs me, "They said we have to do some hours this week so I signed you up for the animal shelter. I'm helping clean up the park. Boring!" She exclaims, "You're lucky I got you the half fun job."

"Why didn't you just sign up for the pet shelter with me?" I can't help but asking. The teacher gives me an evil stare, I assume for talking. So I mouth a sorry and turn back to Korey a few minutes later. 

She tell me that there was only one spot for the animal shelter. She was really generous for letting me get a partially fun job, instead of picking up trash in the park. 

During the class period we watch a video and have to take notes to study. Extremely bored, I doze off and wait for the lunch bell. 

After school, Korey's mom comes to pick her up so I ask if I can get a ride too. Being the nice person she is, she accepts. I go home get a snack and change a t-shirt and jeans for the animal shelter. I text my sister where I'm going, then I'm off.

Not knowing the exact way to get to the shelter, I use my phones GPS  to find my way there. When I get there a nice lady greets me at the front desk. She looks like a natural red head and she's very slim. "How may I help you?" she asks.

"I'm here for Bermont High with the community service program."

"Ahh. Evangeline?"

''Just call me E." 

She smiles and corrects herself, "E. Well if you would go into that brown door over there you'll be introduced to Max and he will get you started."

I follow her instructions and just as she predicted, a nice man meets me on the other side. He leads me to a room with full of cats of all kinds. Black, white, and mixed. 

He shows me where the bowls and cat food are, the faucet, and how to open the cages. I tell him I understand and he leaves without a second thought. I start to fill the bowls until the door opens. I ignore whoever it is and keep doing filling bowls. 

I hear Max call my name. I turn to him and see Zayn standing next to him. Max asks, "Can you tell him what I told you so he can get started?" he gestures towards Zayn. I hesitantly nod and he rushes out to do something else. 

Zayn waves to me, "So...what do I do?"

I don't answer his question but say, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah, my mom wants me to do community service, so I thought, why not animals?'' I nod and wave for him to join me at the sink. 

"Fill these bowls. I'll get the food." He obeys, while trying for a polite conversation. 

He catches me off guard causing me to drop a bowl of cat food when he asks, "So are you and Harry a thing?" I drop to the ground to pick up the mess. He comes to help me. 

He asks once again, "Well are you?'' 

I don't look him in the eyes, "No, why would you think that?'' 

"Well at IHOP you were staring at him a lot, and at Niall's house you both mysteriously have to use the bathroom at the same time, and you come out together, also he told me that you slept over at his house a few days back." Did he really think we were going out? Yeah I slept over at his house, but it was as friends. I didn't even notice that I stare at him. I wonder if he stares back at me.

"Oh.'' is all I manage to say.

We clean up the mess and stay quiet for a few minutes until I see Zayn pull a cat out of it's cage. Immediately the cat starts to squirm and jumps right out of Zayn's hands and into a corner. "He scratched me!'' Zayn yells out while holding his arm. 

I go to the sink to get a wet paper towel and check under the cabinet to find some band- aids. I grab them then go to Zayn. There's blood on his hand from where he was holding his arm. I guide him over to the sink to wash his hand and the wound. Afterwards I put the band-aid on it and he thanks me.

We try to get the cat out of the corner and surprisingly he jumps right into my lap. I pick him up and look to Zayn, "Maybe he just doesn't like you." He stifles a laugh. I get him back to his cage and lock the door. "Please don't try to hold anymore cats." I beg him.

We finish giving all the cats food and water. To my surprise almost three hours has passed. we clean up and I tell Zayn I'm going to go. I start to leave but I notice that Zayn is following me. I turn to look at him with a questioning glare. He shrugs his shoulders. 

At the front desk I sign my name and how long I was here and she signatures the paper. Zayn does the same to his own. We leave and he decides he wants to walk me home. I give into him because it doesn't seem like he is going to leave me, so I might as well make the best of this moment. 

We talk about how I hate chocolate syrup on ice cream and how he loves pie when it's a la mode. He's a shy guy at first but he can be really funny once you get to know him.He's only been to amusement parks a few times of his life. I tell him that there is a Busch Gardens amusement park and he says we should go sometime.

The walk home goes fast and when I get to my step I notice his arm was around my waist. Nothing too intimate, but how did I not feel his limb on me. I must've been too caught up in our  conversation. 

He walks me to my door and gives me a beautiful smile. I open my arms for a hug. We quickly do a friendly embrace and I open the door. As I am stepping through he grabs my hand and says, "I'll see you around." I can feel my cheeks burning. I smile and step inside. What just happened? 

My phone buzzes in my pocket. A text from "Boo Thang" a.k.a Harry.

"So what'd you do today??"