Recognizing Love

Chapter 8: Secrets

Math was a jittery blur. I couldn't concentrate on proving trigonometric equasions because I kept replaying my conversation with Zayn over and over in my head. Zayn wants to talk to me. On my way to lunch the reality of the situation hit me. Nobody could know: not my step-family, not anyone because of her. She was the one who placed the curse on everyone simply because of happy endings. More like her lack of one. She was known as the Evil Queen, and even though she was fair, she was alone. If she knew that I had ran into Zayn once again and that we were falling in love all over again, then I shudder to even think about the consequences because they would be far worse than this bloody curse.

After that realization, I tried to purge the thoughts of him from my mind. At my lunch table, I awaited the arrival of  Leigh-Anne, Jesy, and Jade. I sat there eating my lunch in peace and quiet until a body filled the seat across from me. I looked up to see the vivid blue eyes that could only belong to one person, Louis Tomlinson. I looked at him cautiously, contemplating my every word, because if Louis was notorious for anything, it was his temper. While the main victims of his temper were the opposing team on the football field, he had blown up on a few guys at school before. "So what brings you to this table Louis?" I asked casually.

"Only here to ask you a few questions, love. Nothing bad," he said.

Great, he wanted something. Louis had until prom to get a girl to love him or else he would be "alone forever". Sound familiar? That is because Louis is the Beast, as in the one normally associated with the Beauty. If he asked me, my day would be ruined. "Well, you see, I have made a new friend, Perrie, and he may have said something about you that has really peaked my interest," Louis said. "So tell me, love, why don't you like Zayn Malik?"

My emotions danced from relief of not being asked to prom to horror at being asked about Zayn. "I do not dislike Zayn; I hardly even know him. I just don't swoon over him like practically every other girl at this school," I responded.

"So you avoid him and run for your your life at the first opportunity when you're around him because you don't know him?" he asked sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes at him as my friends approached the table. "You're in my seat, Tomlinson," Leigh-Anne said. 

"Well I was just leaving, Pinnock," Louis responded.

Louis swaggered off, and my friends replaced him. They all stared at me expectantly, and Jesy asked, "So were you his next victim?"

"Ew, no," I said.

Their eyebrows shot up, and I immediately regreted saying no. Should I tell them about Zayn? A war began in my mind between honest and a lie. "He just wanted to know if the pizza was any good," I said.

Lying won out. My answer killed their excitement. I looked up then to see Louis talking to Zayn, and of course, Zayn caught me looking. He smiled and winked at me causing Louis to spin around and give me a piercing look that dared me to mess with his new friend. I looked down at my tray and listened to my friends coversation about Jade's nails. "Well I think that they look nice," Leigh-Anne said.

"Hey I never said they looked bad, all I said was that they were a bit..... bold, very bright," Jesy responded.

"No need to fight over my nails," Jade said, trying to restore the peace.

"If it's not your nails, then it'll be the cleanliness of the table or something," I said. "They just want to argue." 

They laughed together, and I joined them. Guilt gripped my my heart. I just added another lie onto my huge list. I hated having all of these secrets, but this was my curse.