Be Mine

Chapter Three

As soon as Zara walked in the room, she could see the bald headed principal with a big grin on his face and that very moment she knew that something was wrong.

"Come in,come in,have a seat."said the principal while smiling at both of them. Zara and Harry took the seats which were just in front of the principal.

It was not untill then when Zara was already so nervous that she had a lump in her throat,Harry's and Zara's hands slightly touched. It felt as if liquid adrenaline was being inserted into her bloodstream and she just twitched convulsively.

For a split second zara could not feel anything. She was so uncomfortable with this sensation.Then suddenly the deep voice of the principal calling her name made her come back to her senses.

'Miss Shanelle and Mister Styles, today, I have called both of you to discuss about something very important.'

Zara had not even felt this much nervousness when she first performed in front of everyone in school.

'Would he stop creating such a suspense and come to the point!' Zara thought as she was listened to him with great curiosity.

"There's an inter-school music competition which takes place every five years,and all of the schools in the city participate in this phenomenon," he said while getting up from his seat.

Zara was relieved to know its just a music competition and it wasnt anything serious.

"Our school has always been great in every sector but when it came to the extra curricular activities,it always lacked a great deal," continued while walking in the small space behind his chair. He stopped and after staring at both of them for a while he said "Now, I need both of you to participate in this competition together,as a duet.

'WHAT. HAS HE LOST IT?! HAS HE GONE NUTS?!ZARA SHANELLE PERFORMS ALONE.

ZARA SHANELLE HASNT LET HER SISTER PERFORM WITH HER,LET ALONE A BOY.'

Zara thought with none of those feelings being expressed on her face and continued to keep the poker face that she kept for so long.
"NOO"she suddenly blurted out

"Excuse me?"asked the perplexed principal.

'Uh-oh,' she thought. "Um what I mean to say is,well,to put it this way,what I am trying to say is, CAN'T I DO THIS ALONE, SIR?"

Oh god,was she too rude? It's not like she thinks she is the ultimate singer of the school and Harry can't sing or anything, (actually, she wonders how he sings) it's just that she likes to do her own thing and is not comfortable with someone else included in her thing.

"Yeah," after sitting there ever since they entered, this is the first thing that Harry said and Zara was more than glad to hear it as it was supporting her argument. "Is there any possible way that we can do this separately?" he said with his husky voice.

"Listen, you two, both of you are in this TOGETHER AS A TEAM and I do not want to listen to anything. I thought about it a lot and I came to a conclusion that if I send you two together to represent the school,the stronger our chances of winning will be than sending any one of you. Yes Harry, I found your youtube channel, you seem to have a great, large fan base, most of them from our school and other parts of the city. And Zara, you're the singing sensation of our school already, you are both good, it's hard to choose. And, Miss Shanelle,when did I say you have a choice?" he asked.

"But..." she hesitated.

"No buts, end of discussion. You may leave."

Harry seemed pretty cool about it, got up from his seat and headed towards the door, while Zara was slowly getting up she was still hoping that principal would change his mind and call her but he was too busy indulged in reading something.

'never mind,' she sighed.

Soon enough she found Grace standing beside her locker.

"hey Z!" Grace said.

"Hi.." Zara replied glumly. They started walking together.

''What's wrong?'' asked Grace while being on her phone.

''EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING IS WRONG. WHYY???WHY ALWAYS ME??"

''Uhh, not again''

''NO SERIOUSLY, MY ENTIRE LIFE SUCKS.HONESTLY,WHY DO I EVEN EXIST. LIKE, WHYY???''

Grace just ignored and carried on walking and scrolling down on her phone.

''AND THEN I HAVE A FRIEND WHO HAS NO INTEREST IN KNOWING WHAT HAPPENED AND IS JUST IGNORING ME.''

''What?? I asked you like a million times and you would not stop ranting like always,you know I'm pretty sure when you were born,you were probably even ranting about how you don't like the hospital your mom gave you birth to.' Grace said and started laughing.

''Oh shut up," Zara said angrily.

Grace continued, 'No, seriously, sometimes-"

"Wait," Zara interrupted Grace.

"What?'' asked Grace, but Zara just motioned by her hand to stay quiet.

And they both went quiet to listen to a person crying really loud that was coming from the washroom.

''Amber!" They both gasped together and rushed towards the washroom.

There she was, bawling her eyes out, with a box of tissue paper on the counter and a pile of used tissu paper surrounding her.
"Girl, what's wrong? Why are you crying again?" asked Zara.

"Nothing. No reason." Amber muttered as she released a shaky breathe. Her voice was broken.

"Tell us, Amber! We aren't buying that, no way in hell!" Grace yelled as she took a step forward towards her best friend, who was just a mess.

Zara stood there quietly with her arms crossed as worry took over her face. Amber just sighed, before throwing the tissue in her hand into the bin.

"Amber. Please." Grace urged, waiting for an explanation.

"It's...it's just," Amber stuttered, trying to find the right words, her mind debating on whether to tell her best friends what really happened. "It was Louis."

"WHAT? I KNEW IT!" Zara yelled as she slammed her hand against the basin counter, furious.

"That filthy piece of-" Grace started but was interrupted.

"There's just..no point. Haha, it's just pointless guys." Amber said as she sighed out a laugh, which seemed forced, trying her best to ease the tension. But her best friend were no fools.

"So what?! We're just going to let that-that- that stupid prideful jackass take the best of you?! He's bullying you Amber! He's killing you! No one deserves it!" Grace shouted at her best friend as Zara repeatedly nodded, agreeing.

The fake smile that Amber had was gone as her face turned expressionless,

"You think I don't know that?! You think I don't fucking know that?! But what can I do, huh? Should I leave this place?! Should I die? You tell me Grace! Because those guys, because Louis? They're right! They're right! I'm fat, I'm worthless, I have the body that nobody wants! Nobody gives me a second glance and when they do it's because so that they can say how UGLY I am under their breathe! You think I don't hear it? You think I don't listen? You don't think I see their disgusted faces when I walk by? I'll never be like you! I'll never be like you, Grace! You are..," Amber paused as she started breathing heavily, her eyes turning red, "Y-you're perfect! You're wanted! Boys want to be with you! Girls want to be LIKE YOU. What am I when I stand beside you?! And Z-zara.. you.. you're just like her. You're amazing. You have TALENT. You're cherished and wanted by everyone because of it! Everybody knows you! What am I when I'm standing with you two?! Huh? What am I? Louis is right. I'm nobody. Im just no body. WHY THE FUCK DID I EVER LOVE HIM, GOD DAMMIT." Amber screamed as she throwed her purse to the mirror, leaving a scratch on it.

Zara stood there biting her lip as Grace was too shocked to move by her sudden outburst. The three of them stood still, until the silence broke with the door slamming loudly behind them.

"Guys..w-who was that? Who was here?!" Zara said with an alarming voice, as Grace's eyes widened.

"Oh shit." Amber whispered, her eyes widening as she stared at the bathroom door with her heart beating loudly in her chest.