Handkerchief

Chapter 2

"Hey Shorty", someone calls from behind. Zayna didn't have to turn around to know who it was. There was only one person that calls her that.

"Josh", she faces him with a bored look

He ruffles her hair and she swats his hand in return.

"Ow...you violent little girl",he teases

"Remind me again why we're friends?",she asks in fake seriousness

"Because i was prince charming and you were Cinderella but instead of a glass slipper, you had a handkerchief",he grins. She rolls her eyes and starts walking to class with him not far behind.

"I should really burn that handkerchief",she says playfully. He feigns hurt and places a hand on his chest.

"Thats like saying you're burning our friendship. I thought you were better than that, Shorty",he says

"Drama queen",she mutters as they enter class. After the incident where they first met, they became quite good friends, having shared some classes together and sharing the same interests.

"You coming to practice?",Josh asks as they exit the class after a mind bleeding discussion from their teacher. He was talking about the Yearly dance project that the whole school makes students participate in where chosen students from each year level would have a dance contest.

"I don't really like the outdoors",she says. He rolls his eyes.

"Thats because you'd rather be in your room with a blanket wrapped around you as you binge watch your shows", he states

"Hey, its a good Friday night routine",she defends

"Its just an event in some forest camping site",he says. The school always puts the venue on the camp site because the school grounds was not big enough to host such events.

"Its not like i have a choice",she was one of the chosen people to participate and represent their year level. Curse her for showing her talent.

"Exactly", he grins and puts an arm around her shoulder as they walk in the gym where practice was held.

After a very tiring and sweaty practice, they were finally able to go home.

"Remember! You have to have your complete costume by Friday! We have to practice before the show on Saturday!", their team leader yells at them.

"Do you have a bandana?", Josh asks

She shakes her head.

"Me neither. Wanna buy one now?",he asks. She thought about it. Her sister had a date tonight and her mom was working late so she would be left alone with leftover food. She quickly texted her mom and sister.

"Sure. But you're paying for food",she smirks

He pouts but doesn't say anything as they go to the mall. They chatted about the randomest things. Once they finally found the part of the department store where they sold bandanas they were greeted by a rainbow of color.

"What color are you getting?",she asks as she looks at the selections of colors.

"Hmm", he says as he picks up a black bandana while she pick up a yellow one.

"Eyyy",they both say and laugh

"Black and yellow",she sings.

When the time came for the dance contest, Zayna was in full costume. Wearing a white sleeveless shirt, black shorts and black converse. Her bandana perfectly placed on her head.

"Is everyone ready?", Tyler, their leader asks. They all nod in agreement before fixing some last minute touch ups.

"Damn, shorty. You actually look decent",Josh says. He was wearing the same thing, his black bandana contrasting his blond hair.

"You don't look bad yourself",she says honestly. Someone calls her name causing their attention to shift back to Tyler.

"Zayna, could you get the C.D with our song on it to the sound check? My hands are kinda full",he says and hands her their C.D

"I can go get it", Josh offers but Tyler shakes his head.

"You can help Adam with the props",he says. She pats Josh's back and walks toward the place full of speakers. Suddenly she loses balance and fall to the ground. She felt a sharp pain on her arm. She looks to see a huge gash bleeding from the sharp end of the branch that was next to her.

"Zayna!", Josh calls as he drops the props he was holding, not even caring if it would break, and runs towards Zayna.

Other students pile in on the scene."get the clinic nurse", Josh says in an authority voice Zayna has never heard before. The students nod and hurriedly go towards the medical tent for emergencies.

Josh gets a tissue from the nearby table and places it on the wound. He takes off the bandana and wraps it tightly around it. Zanya winces in pain.

"What about your bandana?", she asks

"Its fine",he says.

Almost immediately the school nurse fetches her and brings her to the medical tent. Luckily, it was only on the arm. The nurse removes the bandana and gives it to her. She cleans the wound and wraps it up with bandage.

"Are you sure you don't want to rest?", the nurse asks her. She shakes her head and walks towards her team. She couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't just an accident. She knew someone tripped her, but who? She spots Josh wearing a red bandana.

"Hey, are you okay?",he asks once he sees her.

"Im fine. Its just a scratch",she says. "Where'd you get the bandana?",she points out the red bandana

"Oh, luckily Mitch had an extra", he says and points out a blond girl waving flirtily at him. Zayna rolls her eyes.

"Oh okay. Well here's your bandana back", she says and gives him his bandana back. He takes it and wraps it carefully around her bandaged hand.

"If you're gonna dance, you gotta look badass, Shorty",he grins at her. He pats her head, careful not to ruin the bandana tied on it. Zayna could explain why her heart was beating so fast.