The Reduction

CHAPTER SIX

Zara

Zara was sitting in the quiet detention classroom. You could hear a pin drop in there. She picked up and turned over her blank paper to break up the silence. She hated when everything was calm. It gave her an anxious feeling, like the feeling of anticipation you get when waiting for bad news. She turned around to see another kid in the other row a seat behind her.

He had dark brown almost black hair and brown eyes, just like every boy at her school. He wore a plain white T-shirt with ripped black jeans. His arms were spotted with mini tattoos like he was eventually trying to accomplish a full sleeve. His black sneakers were propped up on the desk like a stereotypical bad boy in a cheesy high school drama.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." He said noticing Zara's scan of his persona. Wide-eyed, Zara quickly turned around and looked at her blank paper again, burning with embarrassment. After a few seconds of silence, her boredom got the best of her as she stood up and walked back to the seat next to the boy.

"Jesus stalker, you don't know when to quit." He said, typing something into the phone he rested on his lap. Zara set her bag on her desk and turned her body to face him. She waited to get his attention before she spoke. He looked up from his phone to lock eyes with her.

"Why has Mr. Maki been gone for so long?" She questioned trying to see what the kid was doing on his phone. He noticed and turned it off and put it in his pocket.

"Why would I know, gray eyes?" He asked with a smirk doing a body scan of Zara. She became uncomfortable so she turned back toward the front of the room.

"They're blue-gray, okay? And because you're famous for messing with teachers and Mr. Maki never misses a class of so-fun-detention. I just put two and two together." Zara said playing with a strand of her short brown hair. The boy chuckled and took his feet off the desk.

"Awe, my stalker is a smart cookie huh? Well gray eyes, I suggest going back to your seat before Maki comes back in about," he checked his watch on his wrist. "42 seconds." Zara stood up and put out her hand for the boy to shake.

"I'm Zara, and they're blue-gray." She said as he took her hand to shake. He stared into her eyes making Zara's cheeks get warm.

"I'm James, and I think we are going to get along very well." He said as he winked. Zara walked back to her seat and the door swung open. Mr. Maki came in with water all over his pants.

"Mr. Maki, what happened?" James asked from the back of the room. Zara tried to hold back a giggle.

"Nothing, just a, um, bathroom, sink accident. You know what, just go home you two." He said as he frantically rubbed a paper towel against his pant leg.

"Thank you Mr. Maki." Zara exclaimed looking back at James and mouthing a'thank you'. He returned with a smirk and got up and left the room. Zara left the room after him with a smile. She made a friend today, one she didn't know she'd need.

Zara opened her eyes to a bump in the road. She sat up from the back seat she was laying on to Danker driving down a dark road, the rain drops hitting the windshield. Her arms hurt from climbing over the community wall and her head hurt from all the tragic events that had just occurred hours ago. All the memories and cries and the explosion filled her head as she started to cry.

"Zara you need to stay down, no one can see you, okay?" Danker said sounding exhausted. Zara lay back down against the leather seat. The truck smelt like cigarettes and wet dog. She silently cried herself to sleep that night, out of guilt for letting innocent people die. A memory that she will have to learn to live with.

A/N 

This was honestly my favorite chapter to write! Do like cute, flirty conversations or are they too cringey? 

There will definitely be more flashbacks to come. I wonder why they were both in detention in the first place....