Broken Beauty (Zustin) [ON HOLD]

Deux

"Why'd you call me?" I ask mom.

"We have new neighbors, Justin." She says, happily.

"Um, so?" I wasn't a people person.

"What do you mean, so? Go meet them!" She urges.

"Ugh, mom, please," I curl up on the sofa, plugging in the headphones and resuming the movie.

I feel her yank the headphones off my head and shut the laptop. "Justin. Out. Now."

I wanted to so badly roll my eyes. I didn't see the big deal. I mean, they were only new neighbors.

Mom makes sure that I walked towards the opposite house by staring at me through the window. I went to their doorstep and give her a thumbs up. She shakes her head and pulls the curtains, blocking her view. I quickly make a run, grab the skateboard off of the doorstep of my house and skate away. The behind of our house had many trees, and there was a lake, which was in a hideous color of brown. Usually no one came there, but this time I spotted a boy sitting at the swing which my father had built for me back when I was a kid. He was facing the opposite direction of me, towards the murky lake.

"Hey!" I yell, startling the boy. I place my skateboard down and walk over to him. 

He got down from the swing and threw something on the ground, later crushing it with his foot.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I haven't seen you around." I explain, standing next to him at a distance. Unlike some people, I respected personal space.

He looks at me with the corner of his eye and quickly turns away, sitting back on the swing.

"You know, that swing was built by my dad."

The boy gasps and jumps up from the swing and mutters something that sounded like sorry. I almost laughed at his comical behavior. I had seen people act like that only in movies and books, so it was funny to see it in real life.

"It's cool. I'm too old for it anyways. But sometimes I like to swing there."

He nods and sits at the edge of the lake.

I sit on the swing. "It's such a dirty lake, isn't it?" I ask. He simply nods, making me laugh. The lake had been dirty since the beginning, but mom said that some ten years ago it was so clear you could swim and bathe in it.

"Are you the new neighbor? I have seen you around." He nods again.

I get off the swing and sit down next to him. He doesn't move. I finally get to see his facial features. He had raven black hair and a little beard. He had dark brown eyes, unlike mine which were a lighter shade of brown. Over all, he was attractive.

"I'm Justin by the way." I stick out my hand, for him to shake.

He looks at my hand but doesn't say a word, nor shakes it.

"It's cool. What's your name?" I ask, bring down my hand.

After a few minutes of silence he replies, "Zayn." 

Instead of teasing him by saying something like, 'The thing can talk!' or 'Finally!', I say, 

"Zayn? That's such a dope name." 

I see his cheeks turns pink. He was blushing. And for whatever reason, I found it sort of cute.

"Hey, you have ear piercings too! I got mine when I was five." I say, pointing to my earlobes. He looks at me for the first time properly and smiles softly, quickly looking away.

"I'm sorry. Am I...am I annoying?" I frown.

He widens his eyes and shakes his head. I exhale in relief. "Thank god. I always get the feeling that I'm annoying. No wonder I don't have any friends." I laugh.

Zayn looks at me with pity, something I loathed. 

"Oh, it's actually fine. I hate people anyways. Netflix is life."

Zayn nods his head, looking away. I rethink what I'd said.

"And if you're wondering, I don't hate you. I can't, 'cause I don't even know you." I chuckle, earning a grin from Zayn. 

I look at my watch. "I should go. I was actually supposed to go to your house and meet you and family and all. But I came here. Well, I got to meet my neighbor so, it's kinda the same. See ya later." I get up, dust the back of my pant and grab my skateboard. 

"Do you wanna come with?" I ask before leaving.

He shakes his head.

"Suit yourself." I say and walk away.

On reaching home, the first thing mom asked me was, "So? How are they?"

"Um, the guy's parents were not at home, so I just talked to the guy. He's cool." I reply, shrugging and walk towards my room, locking it. I was in no mood to listen to my mom and dad arguing. Like hello, just get a divorce and let me live in peace. 

I scoff and get ready to do the homework.

*~*~*

"Justin, honey!" Dad's home!" Mom yells. I groan and shove me head into the pillow.

"Oh pillow, if only you could consume me." I mumble.

"Justin! Come out of that room right now!"

I groan once again and push myself off the bed, slowly walking towards the door. I unlock it and tread slowly to the dinning room, where dad was sitting and mom was setting the food on the table. 

I sit at the seat farthest from dad. 

"Won't you acknowledge your dad, Justin?" Mom says with a tight lipped smile.

"Hi dad." I mumble.

"What was that, Justin? I couldn't here you." Dad says, with a play smile on his lips. I wish I could wipe that smile off right off his face.

"Hello, father." 

"Now that's better." He leans back on his chair.

I wish that chair could break right now.

Mom smiles again and places the food on the table. I immediately shove the food in my mouth.

"Justin! What are you doing?" Mom asks in disbelief.

I look at her with my mouth full of food. I slowly chew and swallow it, mumbling, "Sorry."

She sighs and starts to eat her food. I continue to eat my food, this time at a slower pace. I couldn't help it! I was hungry. It's part of being human.

"So, Justin. I heard you met the new neighbor." Dad starts.

"Yeah I did." I reply flatly.

"Won't you describe him or her?"

 I wanted to get out of the room. "His name is Zayn."

"And?"

And I want you to shut up.

"He's cool." I chew on the food.

Dad leans forward. "Is he...attractive?"

I choke on the food. Mom gasps and rubs my back.

Ever since I was little, dad knew that I was different. He knew I wasn't attracted to girls. 

And he hated it. All the Bieber's were only straight. Being gay was like a taboo.

So he tried in every way to make me 'become straight'. But that didn't stop me from being gay.

"I'm done." I announce, getting up. I walk straight to my room and lock the door. After brushing my teeth and stripping off all my clothes, I head to bed. I about few minutes, their arguments were about to start. I grab a book from the study table and read. It's said that reading helped sleeping. After few pages, I slowly started to fall asleep. The argument had begun, but it seemed muffled.  

 *~*~*

So... they meet.

I promise as the story progresses, I'll try to make the chapters longer. For now just bare with me.