The Spilt Secret | A Zamika Fanfic

Chapter 15

"Is that why you didn't accept my feelings Tomika? Because of Jet?" I asked as soon as we got back home. She ignored me and continued walking forward. I pouted my lips, adjusted my scarf, and ran next her. Thin layers of ice cracked underneath my boots, and I was kinda' scared that I could slip any moment.

I got beside her, she was actually... Smirking? I blocked her path when she tried opening the door.

"Explain, Tomika. Now," I growled. I was annoyed, confused, and jealous. I let out a sigh, then she grabbed my scarf and sneered at my face playfully.

"So what if I didn't accept your feelings because of Jet?"

I broke away from her, and she looked at me, surprised. My face heated with so much anger that I felt the snowflakes melting on my cheeks, dampening it.

"I knew it. Darn it," I say, before getting inside, where Red was waiting for us on the couch, with a bowl full of popcorn.

"I'll be heading upstairs," I mumbled, not even daring a glance at the Reese siblings. I quickly packed a shirt and jeans for tomorrow and some undergarments. I jogged down the stairs, and was at the door until Red stopped me.

"Where do you think you're going, mister?" he says over his shoulder, munching on his popcorn.

"I'm staying for a night at a friend's house," I responded before leaving. Tomika was silent and she was at the kitchen cooking, but I was pretty sure she heard me leave.

Yanking my phone out my back pocket, I dialed a friend. He was just back from his abroad study and he was going at the same university as I was. The phone rang once, twice, thrice, until Call me Maybe echoed at the background when he picked up.

"Yo, dudes," my friend greeted informally. Boy, did he not learn chivalry at his last school.

"Can I stay for the night?" I asked, the winter cold seeping slowly through my coat. He laughed and he stopped the song that was irritably ringing.

"You a hobo now, Zack?" he teased.

"I'll explain later, meet you at your house, Little Drummer Boy," I teased back. I got into my bike, my phone still sandwiched by my shoulder and cheeks. So, this was it, I was meeting my friend again.

"Okay okay, Zack. Fredboy is out, peace," he boomed against his speaker.

"Idiot," I mumbled back before I buried my phone back to my pocket. I started my bike with two kicks and then I drove away.

_____________

She was good at pretending that I was invisible. Whenever she had errands that included me, she always found a way to avoid me. And everytime she went home, she always asked Jet to ride her home.

"Is she worth your trouble, boy?" Red asked me once as we played Halo on their living room couch. He was pretty sure his sister must've gone through something life-changing in her high school days. He also noticed that Tomika usually touched her pendant whenever she was nervous or afraid, in which she regularly did these past few days.

"Zack, you ready?" Freddy asks me, breaking my train of thought. He looks at me from head to toe, and gestures somebody to hand me a guitar. He sits behind his drum set, and two guys started tuning their guitars, and a ginger haired girl started playing a tune on her keyboard. Another girl with a lip ring did a vocal warm-up.

We were at a pub, and people started filling up the place. They bought drinks and sat with random people, making new friends or possibly, enemies. Then, all the lights dimmed and all of us guitarists did an intro before the singer started singing Secret Love Song. We played a few more songs before we wrapped up and went to our own little party.

As we got out of the pub, I caught a glimpse of a familiar brunette walking at the sidewalk in a pair of black leggings over a denim short. She wore a black top over a denim jacket. Her ombre hair in a loose braid, and her brown leather high tops clacking against the gravel. She was alone, but she was listening to her headphones. It was Tomika.

I was about to call her, but Freddy beat me up to it. She mustn't have heard us because she continued to walk away from us. Then she opened her arms in the air and started dancing, it was kind if cute, because she swayed her hips to a hip-hop beat.

Freddy ran up to her, and tapped her shoulder. She turned, her brown eyes filled with surprise and embarassment. Her mouth fell open and she hugged Freddy and squeezed him tightly. He took her hand and led her towards us.

She took off her headphones and she met my eyes. I looked away and the singer with a lip ring a while back linked her arms around mine.

"I'm Lycka. I heard from Freddy that you're new to our band," Lycka says, batting her eyelashes playfully. I glanced a terrified look at Tomika, but she just grinned lopsidedly.

"I'm Zack, and yeah, I'm new," I slid her arm off politely. Lycka gave me a confused look, but she just nodded and walked away. Then everyone boarded their own bikes, but Freddy invited Tomika to climbed my bike.

"Where are we actually going?" she touches her pendant that I haven't noticed that she was wearing.

"Somewhere memorable, now board the dude's bike," Freddy climbs one of the guy's bike as he gestures my bike. Tomika reluctantly climbs behind me.

"Here," I handed her my helmet, but she insists that I wear it instead. So she slids it on my head and she wraps her arms on my waist.

"Let's go, gang," a guy says and drives away, and we all follow him. When we got to a small building, Tomika starts to shiver.

"You cold?" Freddy asks, but she shook her head violently.

We got inside, where led lights lit up the plain room with abstract colors. It was kind of warm so Tomika relaxes and took of her jacket. I took it from her and hung it on my arms. Her bare arms were peeking through her black top, and it had white scars showing too.

"Are those scars?" I whisper in her ear. And she looks at it before she attempts to cover it with her hands. "Where did you get it?"

"Must be the light," she says at me for the first time since yesterday that she hasn't talked to me. Everybody scattered the room with cups in their hands, and they laughed. Freddy steps onto a make-shift platform and speaks through the mic.

"Good evening, gang," he booms, and everybody cheered. More people arrived and they cheered on. "I would like to call a very special guest. We just met a while ago and I heard she sings over a pub nearby the pub, where we work."

Tomika shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and she touches her pendant again, then glances at the girl who plays the piano and walks next to Freddy.

"Let's give a round of applause to Tomika Reese!" Freddy leaves the stage before handing Tomika a guitar.

She plays a familiar tune and she taps her feet to a beat. She hums and sang Symphony by Clean Bandit. Her voice was both haunting and beautiful as she continues the song. The room became quiet until she finishes the song. Then I started clapping, breaking the silence and everyone beamed a smile and cheered.

"That's my Tomika!" Freddy cheers, and he walks next to Tomika as she gave a little curtsey. She smiles at Freddy, then goes back down and stands next me. She bit her lower lip, attempting to hide her smile.

"You seem glowing," I lean closer to her.

"Because I am happy, dimwit," she rolls her eyes dramatically and she took her jacket from me and wears it over her shoulder.

"The scars are real, isn't it? You know, you can tell me anything, it's not like I'm gonna be terrified if you told me anything dark and brooding about yourself," I sneakily interlocked my pinky finger around hers. She interlocks the other fingers and kissed it playfully.

"I'll remember that advice, friend, but let's enjoy the night life for a moment and get drunk with the mysteriousness of my soul," her fingers still interlocked with mine. And ever since that night she's gotten more close to me, but she still wouldn't tell me anything about her.

So I guess, I am in love with a puzzle piece. Such mystery she beholds, and I vowed to make sure I find it out. And if all that mystery is too scary and dark to handle...

I'll make sure to be the same as I am now.