Different

Chapter 12: Walter

After we finished up our meals, there was the debate of who would pay. Being the gentleman I am, I said I would, but Zaya being the stubborn girl she is, wouldn't have it. "Zaya, I asked you on the date."

She shrugged. "More like gave me an ultimatum. Let's be honest, if I didn't say yes, I probably would've had to drive home in only a towel and sneakers."

"Maybe, but please let me pay. It's the gentleman thing to do."

She laughed. "How about you pay for you, and I pay for me?"

I groaned. "Sometimes, you can be so stubborn."

"I know." She smirked, as she waved over our waitress .

Our waitress  appeared. "How will we be doing cheques today?"

"They're separate." Zaya and I said in unison, us laughing at each other.

The waitress raised her eyebrows, but gave us our individual cheques. "Take your time."

Zaya took out her wallet from her bag, and put a ten dollar bill into the cheque holder. I did the same, and we laid the holders on top of each other. The waiter came back and took them, then left. I sighed. "Do you think we could go?"

She shrugged. "I don't see why not, both of our totals were exact."

With that, we both walked out of the restaurant and headed to the game.

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"Oh my gosh, Kobe, like what the actual hell?" Zaya shouted as Kobe missed what would've been been an awesome layup. So far, Zaya had been yelling at basically all the players, on both teams to be exact. I simply watched her with amusement, especially since I had never seen a girl go this crazy over a basketball game except Christina.

Zaya sighed, and cursed. "This game is devastatingly terrible."

I shrugged, as I leaned back in my seat. "Eh, it's not that bad."

"And why not? The score's been tied at 30 for the past quarter, and no one's making logical decisions." She bit on her bottom lip, in a cute way.

What the heck was that, Walt?

"I'm not talking about the game." I smirked.

She caught on to what I was saying and rolled her eyes. "You get court side tickets to a Lakers' game, and the only thing you're paying attention to is me? Absolutely pathetic."

"It's not pathetic, it's a normal thing to do, when sitting beside a girl as beautiful as you."

She laughed at that. "You're so freaking corny."

"Nah, just stating the truth. I'm just being honest, anything wrong with that?"

"Yeah, it is. You don't know me."

"Then let me know you," I sighed. "Why are you being so shut off towards me? I haven't done anything to deserve that, Zaya."

"Walter, you can't just expect me to automatically tell a guy I barely know, everything about myself. You could be some crazy serial killer or rapist for that matter."

"Can you stop saying stupid stuff like that? It's so freaking irritating!"

The buzzard marked half-time. Zaya stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom, then getting a snack, you want something?"

I simply ignored her, and I heard her mutter, "childish". She stalked off, leaving me alone. I'm not the bad guy here. I've laid off, but sometimes it's hard to keep your cool when a girl like that always seems to want to push your nerves. Then, I have to realize that if I ever have a relationship with the girl, this is what it's going to be like.

After the game ended, we left the arena, and I took her home. It was pretty silent in the car during the ride, except for the sound of us breathing. Zaya sighed. "Look, I'm sorry."

I looked at her to explain. She rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry for being so uptight all the time. It's just I'm not used to a guy paying this much attention to me, like at all."

"Now, why is that?" I stopped the car at the red light.

"No one pays attention to me," She crossed her arms. "I usually was, you know, the suffer in silence kind of girl back in New York. I didn't really want attention, especially since I got ridiculed a lot because of my height and my skin. Being biracial was like my kryptonite, and I was sad that I would even think that.

"My two best friends, Natalie and Rachel, were really my only friends to be honest. I've known them since sixth grade, and they have literally been there for me every time I needed them. They were also the first people to say something to others about the bullying. Actually, I think Natalie cussed some of the out."

We both laughed, and she continued. "Anyways. They made middle school and high school a lot easier to go through. It wasn't until I was twelve that I started dancing. My mom thought I should get into something, but because I was so scared about being bullied, I was really hesitant. She decided to sign me up for beginning ballet and contemporary, you know just to see if I enjoyed. Obviously, I loved it, and continued on in multiple types of dance. My first recital came up, and I literally panicked. My dad prayed that I would do okay, and I basically prayed the whole time I danced. I didn't mess up, at all. Every move was flawless and graceful. That was the time a boy caught my eye."

By this time, we were already in the parking lot of her apartment complex. I parked the car, and waited for her to continue. But I could tell, she was about to talk about something very serious, and it would be a while before she would start.

It was a few minutes later, when she continued. "His name was David. I should've known that he was too good to be true, but me just happy that a guy would even give me the light of day, I let him in."

I stared out the windshield. "You don't have to tell me the rest."

"Thanks. I will probably tell you the rest eventually, but what David did, it just makes it hard for me to trust anyone to be honest. Especially someone who wants to be with me in that way. And I'm so sorry, Walt, for all of the things I've said to you. I'm usually not that mean, to anyone. Sarcastic, maybe, but not mean."

"It's okay," I shrugged with a smile. "We all have our stories and our demons. It's just part of being human, honestly."

"Yeah." She agreed. It was silent for a few moments, before she spoke again. "Thank you."

I raised my eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

"For taking me out tonight," She leaned over, and kissed me on the cheek. "See you at school, Monday."

With that, she got out of the car, leaving me grinning like an idiot.
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A/N

Hey guys!!! This concludes chapter 12 of Different, and the rest of Zaya and Walt's first date. How did you guys like it? We finally got to see a little bit of Zaya's life before California, and how she started dancing. I wanna know what's up with this guy, David, right? Second time he's been mentioned, meaning it could be pretty crazy about his involvement. I don't know. Anyways, I hoped you guys liked it, and I'll try to update ASAP. Only two more weeks till high school for me, wish me luck🙏🙏🙏.

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~Lauren❤️❤️❤️