All I've Ever Needed

Chapter 11

November 21, 2013

A month had gone by since Zendaya had asked him for space. A month of dodging her in the halls; three weeks of heads buried in books, desperately trying to avoid her gaze. He was angry yet he knew that this was his fault. It was all a mess. He was a mess. He was lost.

Val looked at himself in the mirror. His new uniform felt suffocating and he wondered what the hell he was doing. His reflection was unrecognisable, there was a disconnect happening, He knew nothing about the person staring back at him. He had tried to reinvent himself, tried to run away from the person he used to be but it wasn't working. He had tried so many times that he had lost his essence, who he was. And yet he just kept going. Making bad decisions, running away from problems, hiding behind other. That was what he did best. That's what ruined this family.

--------------------

Zendaya sat in her seat, eagerly turning her head every time someone walked inside the classroom. She hadn't spoken to Val in four weeks and although she had felt incredible hurt and betrayed by his indirect accusation that she was seeing their math teacher, she felt as though something was missing from her everyday life. He somehow made it ... brighter. In a sarcastic, infuriating yet captivating kind of way. She missed him and the pulsating sensation in her chest indicated that she wished he missed her too.

She heard a shuffling and looked at the door. Her face broke into a wide smile as she saw him walk into the room, a smile that dimmed when she saw who he was with. What is he doing with Coral? And Derek? And BIFF? What the hell was this?

"Hey Val ..."

Her words were stopped by another voice, that of Mr. Platt. Val walked right past her, like he hadn't heard her, maybe he hadn't. She couldn't concentrate at all during the next 40 minutes, looking past her shoulder every 5 minutes in as a discrete manner as she could. Finally when the bell rang she shoved her things into her bag as quickly as she could but as she looked up she saw Val leaving, with his apparent new friends. She stood up, deciding that she would try to reach him in the hall. If not she would definitely catch him during lunch.

"Ms. Coleman, could I have a word?"

Oh no. Zendaya turned around, a look of fake interest and curiosity etched on her features.

"Yes Mr. Platt? Something I can help you with?"

Mr. Platt did not have an amused look on his face and Zendaya quickly dropped the act, knowing it wouldn't do any good.

"I think it is imperative that we meet for another session as soon as possible. We've only met twice in the past month and your work ... it's slipping. We need to hit the ground running to make sure this doesn't become permanent."

"Yeah I know, there's just been a lot going on. Especially with the musical and constant rehearsals and ..."

Mr. Platt interrupted her, a tactic Zendaya immediately felt as rude.

"This is exactly what I was worried about."

Zendaya felt confused, not really knowing what he meant.

"What? Why would you have been worried about this?"

"I just knew that this constant pressure would affect our work"

"You hadn't even begun tutoring me when I got the part, I don't understand..."

"Look Zendaya, I'm just trying to make you realize how important this is. You're 16, you're bright and there's so much you can do, but to be able to do great things you have to get out of here. But as things are right now, you're only making it harder for yourself."