A to Z

Chapter 7- Those Green Starbursts

Chapter 7- Those Green Starbursts










"Why didn't you tell me you have a step-brother?!"


It was 11.38 in the morning and Alex had just woken up.


"Good morning to you too." He answered wryly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.


"I'm serious!" I stated throwing a pillow at him.


He shot me a dirty look, the pillow hitting him on the head and bouncing off on to the floor.


"Technically,"he started, squinting his eyes and ruffling his tousled bed hair, "he isn't my step-brother -yet."


I rolled my eyes. "You should've told me!" I cried.


"I did!" He replied indignantly.


"No you didn't!" I cut him off. "You said, a step-dad and a dog." I reminded him.


"Oh Zoe," he said shaking his head. "I was being metaphorical. I wasn't happy with the idea so I called him a dog." He explained, as if talking to a child.


"Stop patronising me!" I cried angrily, throwing another pillow at him.


"Stop throwing pillows at me!" he cried back, annoyed.


Alex didn't say anything and neither did I. Instead, he slumped back into the bed, making the bed shake slightly.


I had been up for hours, angrily rambling to myself in the dark. Alex' step-brother didn't follow me and I hadn't seen him since. I assumed he'd gone back to his room and the thought of him being merely a wall away angered me.


I thought about what he'd said. He had seemed sure that Alex and I had slept together and was overly surprised when I'd denied it. And then he'd called me a bitch. I felt a rush of anger course through my veins. He didn't know me. What right did he have to call me so? I'm not a horrible person. I liked to think I was helpful, considerate and kind and yet he had already labelled me as a bitch. I clenched my fists just thinking about it.


"Why are you annoyed about me not telling you?" Alex asked, buried underneath a mound of pillows.


I sighed loudly. "I met him yesterday night when I went downstairs." I sighed again. "Well no, I met him last week when I was late for class-"


Alex shot up and I heard his back crack loudly. "You were late for class?!" Alex asked in awe and shock. I scowled.


"Yeah. Long story short, I threw a book at him and it hurt."


Alex' eyes widened and he scooted closer.


"Wait a minute," Alex paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "Zoe Faye, was late for class and attacked Aiden Cross with a book."


Aiden Cross. I finally knew brick boys name.


I nodded. Alex let out a hoot of laughter.


"I can't believe you sometimes!" He roared with with laughter.


"Gee thanks." I said sarcastically and a little awkwardly as he was staring at me strangely. I looked at him gingerly but there was an unreadable expression set on his face.


"So you met Aiden last night?" Alex stated, a distant tone etched into his voice.


"He thought we had sex."


"WHAT?!" Alex spluttered, his face turning red. His reaction was even more comical than mine.


I giggled softly. "I know! Imagine. Ewwww. No don't imagine it." I laughed again. Alex was silent. I looked at him and realised he was looking away.


"Alex?"


"Nothing." He turned back to me, grinning, and his face overly bright.


"Forget Aiden." Alex said abruptly. "He doesn't know what he's talking about so don't let that bother you."


I smiled gently, my eyes lighting up. "Yeah, you're right." Brushing off any remaining feelings got to do with Aiden, I hopped up off the bed and pulled Alex' tee down as it had ridden up. Alex scanned the t-shirt and smirked. I remembered Aiden doing the same thing. I lightly smacked his arm.


Alex only laughed.


***


I spent the rest of the weekend waist-deep in homework. Maths, French, Biology, English and History, the pile was daunting. Nevertheless, I forced myself to sit down and open my Maths book reluctantly. French was hard work but left me satisfied by the end. Biology was a bore but I managed to drag myself through, turning the pages of the borrowed book. English I genuinely enjoyed as all we had to do was read an hours' worth of Hamlet. Naturally I read for a lot longer than double the minimum time. And finally History. History was quite easy but took a lot of time. To say I was relieved when I finished would be the understatement of the century.


I arrived at school on the Monday morning bright and early, desperate to leave the past week in the past. I didn't see Aiden.


Tuesday was a good day too. The sun was shining, the teachers were beaming and Aiden was nowhere to be seen.


Day Three. Another great day. Breezy yet sunny, the librarian had smiled at me and we had a brief discussion regarding books turned into films. I wasn't even sure Aiden was real.


Jeudi. Madame Clement had praised me, with a rare smile and a crisp nod of the head. Aiden? Aiden qui?


Thursday was starting off well.


So naturally, as I skipped into History, I thought Thursday would be a good day. Imagine how I felt when I saw Aiden Cross in the seat next to mine.


I felt strangely calm but on edge and as I walked towards my seat, I noticed he was busy texting on his phone. He had the same phone as me but in black and the thought made me scowl. How dare he have the same phone model as me?


Instead of settling down next to Aiden and scowl for the double period, I decided to confront Aiden and tell him to move. So I stood by his shoulder and tapped it quickly but firmly. After a couple of seconds he looked up, one eyebrow raised. He looked mildly surprised.


"What are you doing here?!" I hissed angrily.


"Milking a cow." His eyes narrowed and he tapped the top button on his phone, locking it. "What does it look like I'm doing?"


I ignored his sarcasm and snarled back. "You're not in my History class. You weren't here last week."


"Well I'm here now." And with that he turned back to his phone.


"Oi!" He ignored me but I was not going to back down.


"Someone sits here. You'll have to move." My voice was cold but full of authority.


"I'll move when they arrive." He answered lightly, teasing evident in his tone.


"That someone puked here once. When we were on WWI." I stated, changing my tactics.


"Good thing it's been cleaned up then." He replied brightly.


I scowled.


"This seat is cursed. All those that have sat on it have suffered lifelong diarrhoea."


"Seriously," Aiden said, turning to face me, obviously amused. "Lifelong diarrhoea?" he cried in mock horror.


I huffed loudly, fed up. "Can you just go sit somewhere else?"


He gave me a look. "Please? I added, widening my eyes.


He looked back at me and his expression softened. Finally, I was getting somewhere. I had to hold in a smug grin. He made to get up while pocketing his phone. Now standing up, I saw he was a lot taller than me and quite built. His eyes were a steely grey and his black hair lay messily falling over his forehead. He looked straight into my eyes and it felt as if he was looking into my soul. I stared back, my lips parting slightly and my breaths coming out shallow. It was pretty intense.


"No."


"Than- wait-what?" I said, stumbling over my words.


And he sat back down, stretching back. I stood silent for a while, dumbfounded. It took me a few moments to comprehend what was happening but as soon as I did-


"You're going to move!" I yelled at him, eyes blazing. Aiden turned to look at me when he opened his mouth to answer.


"You're going to stop screaming and sit down."


But the voice wasn't Aiden's. The voice came from behind. A cold, hard, aged voice. Aiden had a smirk on his face as he looked past me. Slowly, I turned around to see Mr Jones towering over me, his moustache bristling. His face held contempt and I shrank back and squeezed past Aiden to sit in my seat. Angry Mr Jones was not good.


Aiden sat, smirking beside me. Abashed and red faced, I remained silent.


I opted to ignore Aiden and focus on redeeming myself, however, within the first 10 minutes, Aiden had decided to tap his pen repetitively. I knew what he was doing and he knew that I knew what he was doing yet still; it was as if he wasn't there. I endured the slow torture with amazing perseverance I never knew I had in me.


But then he started shaking his thigh, making the table we shared vibrate. My writing took on the form of a 5 year olds and my arm shook as if I suffered from tourettes. I gritted my teeth and ignored it.


The tapping and the vibrations went on for a further 15 minutes until I had had enough.


"Do you mind?!" I hissed a whisper, glaring angrily.


"No I don't but thanks for the concern." He answered obnoxiously, not sparing me a glance.


I felt my anger heighten. "I'm serious!" I whisper-shouted. "Stop it!"


"Stop what?" he asked, feigning ignorance.


Faster than a speeding bullet, I reached to grab his pen but instead, accidentally clutched his hand. As soon as my skin touched his, a rush of something electrical burst from the point of contact and he snapped his hand away from mine. My still outstretched hand hung limp for a moment before I withdrew it back to my side quickly. We were both silent for a moment.
My hand throbbed a little.


"Just stop the tapping." I murmured quietly; shy now because of the sudden contact. What was worse was that he had shrunk away from me. How embarrassing.


He didn't answer but the tapping and the shaking ceased. I thanked him mentally, too hesitant to voice my thoughts. He stayed silent too but when I peeked up to look at his face, he seemed indifferent, as if nothing had happened. I hid behind my carefully positioned hand, feeling silly for being so over-analytical. Nothing had happened, I told myself. Don't act as if it has.


For the rest of History we were quiet and it was more than fine, if not a little awkward. He still smelt of fresh leather and lemongrass but the baby smell puzzled me. I found myself, subconsciously leaning in. I almost smacked myself when I realised what I was doing.


Other than the scent situation, nothing more happened between us. I was still angry at him and I suspected he was angry at me, but I was slightly puzzled too. Before I could dwell on the thought, the bell rang and the class moved simultaneously for the door. Naturally, I left last; unaware it was time to leave.


"Hey!" I heard someone call out. I instinctively turned my head around, towards the voice. It was Chanel.


"You ignoring me?" she commented lightly.


I shook my head. "Sorry. Just thinking." I mumbled vaguely.


"Huh. Shouldn't do too much of that. Over-thinking is scientifically proven to lead to a shorter life span."


"Right."


"Ok, tell me what's wrong. I just made that up and you know I just made that up." Chanel commented, planting her feet firmly on the ground.


She was good.


"Actually, there is strong evidence linking over-thinking to shorter life spans and-"


I stopped noticing Chanel's raised eyebrow and defiant pose.


"I'm fine. Just excited for the weekend." I answered lightly.


"Right." She said mimicking my earlier response. I ignored it.


While we walked we talked about the Romeo & Juliet play being moved from the Friday to a day earlier, that Thursday. Chanel passionately ranted about the school favouring the football department over the drama department, calling them 'ignorant and wrinkly fascist slugs that can't use ATM machines so are stuck using roman numerals and dung as money.' I mentally praised her creativity.


Chanel then had to rush off after being called for last minute rehearsals. I offered to go with her but since I wasn't allowed, I made my way home, annoyed since I'd be returning in a couple of hours. Alex had promised to pick me up at half 6, straight after his football practise.


I enjoyed the walk home petting Noddy, my neighbour's cat along the way. It was a nice day. Windy but sunny, not too hot but not too cold. I reached my front door and fit my key into the hole, turning it smoothly.


I headed straight for the kitchen, grabbed a quick snack and traipsed upstairs, to my bedroom. I decided to pass the time reading a good book. And so I sank into a fluffy beanbag with my battered old copy of The Shining, bought from the local charity shop.


There was a knock at the door. I was momentarily confused. Alex couldn't be here already. It was only 6. I pondered for a few more seconds when the persistent knocker rapped again, jolting me out of my daydream. I placed the book down on the floor, folding down the tip of the page and struggled to get out from the beanbag.


After rushing back downstairs, I opened the door slightly, wondering who it was. Beaming at me was old Mrs Pud. I smiled back, opening the door a little wider.


"Hello dear," She started, "just thought I'd pop by to give you a slice of Josh's birthday cake! There was an awful lot left and it would be a waste to throw it out." Josh was Mrs Pud's grandson. He didn't live with his parents but lived with his grandparents instead. He was spoiled to within an inch of his life but they were very nice neighbours.


"Thanks Mrs Pud. How old is Josh now?" I replied politely.


"Seven now." She beamed proudly. "He's very clever. I expect he'll become a doctor or something fancy like that!" She added, not a trace of doubt in her eyes.


I smiled back, happy in her happiness. "Well wish him a happy birthday from me."


She nodded a cute little nod then trotted back across the road. I waved at her and she waved back before closing her front door behind her.


After closing my own door, I placed the hefty plate in the fridge and returned back upstairs. I decided to get changed. I pulled on a floaty white top and left my black skinnies on. I washed my face quickly and combed my hair softly, pulling it up into a messy pony tail, letting my side fringe hang loose.


A swipe of mascara and a slick of lip balm later, I sank back into my comfortable beanbag with my dog-eared book and waited for Alex.


***


He was early. Shrugging on my green coat and pulling on my boots, I exited my room only returning to grab my knitted black scarf.


"Hey!" I said cheerily, letting a gust of cold air travel into the car. It was a lot colder now and was steadily growing darker.


"You're happy." He commented dryly.


"You're not." I replied back.


"I'm tired." He said wearily. "Coach works us too hard." He moaned, slouching in his seat.


"He's only preparing you for tomorrow. When you win, you'll see it's worth it." I said, confident.


He shot me a look. "If. If we win."


"When." I said simply. He didn't reply. "Come on then," I said, shifting the conversation subject slightly. "To Verona."


***


It was packed. The tall, royal and circular theatre echoed with the sound of incessant chattering, 'excuse me's', shuffling, 'thank you's' and grumbling. The theatre was a deep red and gold, set in a dark mahogany wood, with hundreds of slanted seats, not unlike a lecture theatre. It was very classy.


Alex sat beside me, hesitantly shifting away from the ridiculously large man next to him. I laughed mentally, knowing exactly what he was thinking. And no. I was not swapping seats.


I took my coat off, struggling in the confines of my small seat, and placed it behind me, before turning to Alex.


"Right." I started. My voice was low so Alex could hear me better over the staggeringly loud screeches from the people around us. "I'm going to get some sweets from the thingymabob. Save my seat."


Alex simply nodded. I got up and manoeuvred myself through the swarm of people, finally exiting the hall into a considerably cooler corridor. A short walk through the empty corridors was very refreshing and I hummed a forgotten song under my breath. I reached the vending machine and slot a few coins into the machine, pressing the number 7 and the number 4. The machine whirred for a few seconds before dropping a bag of starbursts and a bag of Haribos into the little compartment. I retrieved them and made my way back to the hall.


It was dark. The lights had been turned off and the only sound was a few hushed whispers and quiet chewing. I shuffled back towards my seat apologising awkwardly to the many people I disturbed along the way. I plonked back into my seat beside Alex when I realised we seemed to be closer to the stage. I didn't think much of it. I couldn't see Alex but I knew he was there.


"Here. I got some starbursts." I whispered quietly.


He ignored me.


"Oi." I poked him in the arm.


I saw his head shift towards me and he had a surprised look on his face. But it wasn't Alex.


"Zoe?"


It was Jason. And just then the large red swathes of fabric flew open and a single spotlight shone on a single girl, centre stage.


"Two households..." And the play began.


"Would you like a starburst?"


"No, thank you."


"Are you sure?"


"Positive."


"I'll let you have a green one."


"No thanks."


"Are you-"


"I don't want a bloody starburst, ok!?"


The people around us turned to shame us with tutting, tittering and glares of death.


I remained quiet. I could feel the tension around the both of us. He was very stiff. I was very awkward. So I left it. I tried to concentrate on the play. When that didn't work, I tried to concentrate on Chanel. That almost worked.


Chanel was amazing on stage. She had this sort of presence that even I could feel, way out in the audience. She wore a beautiful white gown and wore her hair in elaborate curls around the crown of her head. She looked like a princess. I mouthed her lines along with her. I'd read it so many times and helped her rehearse it so many times, I knew it from heart. I felt like a proud mother.


Dan who was playing Romeo, looked very handsome-in a rugged, olden-timey sort of way. I noticed the two of them were flawless around each other. Their movement corresponded perfectly as did their tone of voice. They looked perfect for each other too.


Despite this, I was still very much aware of the green-eyed heart throb beside me. Our relationship had been nice. He was actually the perfect gentleman. He made me laugh. He made me blush. It was lovely. While it lasted anyway.


But he was controlling. He didn't like the thought of Alex and me spending time together. Whenever another guy even talked to me, he would wrap his arm around me and warn the guy off-just with his eyes. I didn't like being his property. Eventually, it got so bad between Jason and Alex, Jason told me not to see him anymore. He told me to choose between the two of them. So I did.


I chose Alex.


Not-so-surprisingly, that didn't make Jason happy at all.


Jason shuffled uncomfortably beside me.


"Can I have a starburst please?"


Surprised and pleasantly shocked, I turned to Jason and smiled widely, offering him the little yellow bag.


He took a green one.




***
Hi! This is a pretty boring chapter but I promise you the next chapter will be explosive. And I mean explosive explosive. Haha


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