Falling too far

CHAPTER 2: An Awkward Conversation

What the hell. Am I dreaming? Is Zayn Foley sitting beside me? I slightly pinched myself to make sure I was awake.Part of me wanted to punch him hard and walk away. But another part of me wanted to reply to his angel-like voice and throw myself at him. He interrupted, "hello?"
I swallowed down the lump that his sudden interruption had created in my throat and said in a soft, plain voice, "Hey. I am Lia Clinton"

The sweet husky voice asked if I had joined today and after I nodded in reply, I turned my face to the professor pretending to be attentive in class, which I clearly was not. I could feel his gaze not leaving my face and wondered what this guy wanted from me. What is going on in his mind? Is he planning to bully me? Oh my freaking God, that can't happen.
But for a second the thought of even getting bullied by Zayn didn't seem a bad idea and I felt blood rushing through my cheeks.

"What? Why are you looking at me like this?" I snapped when I was finally annoyed by his never ending gaze.
"Nothing. You are kinda cute and different."
Cute? He found me cute? He must be kidding.
"I mean It has never happened before that I am sitting next to a girl and she is not interested in talking to me."
And with this I had understood that Zayn Foley is one of the most popular guy in this school, mostly in girls. And suddenly, out of nowhere, I remembered the harsh side of Zayn from this morning.
"Actually, I had a really good impression of yours this morning. Violence is not what I appreciate and some assholes like you seem to love that a lot." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them and I had a vision of Zayn punching me in the football field as a consequence of this outburst.
But instead of pulling me out of the classroom by grabbing a bunch of hair of mine, he chuckled and said, "You have the guts to say that. I like it. That's a first and I am impressed."
IMPRESSED? Has he lost it? I just called him an asshole and he liked it. Is he the same Zayn beating a poor guy infront of everyone? My head was spinning with this awkward conversation and I had nothing else to say. We sat next to each other in silence for the remaining class.
As the bell rang, Zayn hurried out of his seat but just before he left the class, he turned around and yelled at me, "See you later nerdie. It was nice talking to you."
Before I could realize what had happened, all the students were already glaring at me with a suspicious look and I knew I was going to be the talk of town for a while now. Wow. What a great day to be a first day at school.

As I moved out of the class, Victoria came jumping around in her blue shorts and white tank top. I would never understand her dressing sense.
"So what's up nerdie?" And I knew what she was talking about. "Come on Vic, you know I don't like him. He is a show off and just a jobless jock." I tried to lie as convincingly as I could.
"Don't start again. Okay so tell me everything NOW." Vic demanded. But before I could say anything a girl in black fitting jeans and an extremely loose t-shirt approached us. She introduced herself as Emily.
Emily is also an admirer of Zayn and it was not difficult to understand that she wanted to be my friend so that she could talk to him. I let the admirers talk to each other and silently sneaked out.

As I rode back home, I saw the white balls of cotton forming various shapes in sky and protecting the golden sun behind them. I wondered even the clouds change shapes just like humans fake themselves. Why isnt anything permanent? Will it always be like this? I allowed my mind to wander around these thoughts until I reached home. Even before I entered the house, I could hear the mufflled shouts and understood that my dad was home. It was a daily routine now. After my parents got divorced , I usually went to a therapist who advised my parents to spend time as a family for atleast 3 days a week for my mental state to become stable. The doctor thought it would help me but it actually did the opposite.
It was hard to see my parents fight like animals whenever they were together, they hit each other, cursed and abused in whatever language they knew but then I got accustomed to it. However, the violence in my house changed me. It changed me from a chirpy, lively Lia to a reserved and scared Lia Clinton who literally forgot how to make friends. After seeing all this I knew that relationships held no value in today's world and I cried myself to sleep, ignoring the chaos outside my room.

I was woken up by my mother as she caressed my hair.
"Hi darling. Sorry about that. Your father and I had an argument."
"It's okay mom." I lied and tried to hide my tear-stained face.
She asked me about the day at school and again the angel-like voice echoed through my ears and I tried to ignore that. I decided to tell her everything about the day, except the morning fight, the awkward conversation with Zayn and how the people at liberty approached me only because of that asshole, and nothing remained so I just said, "It was good mom. I had Victoria so it went somehow."

"I know my sweetheart will deal with it. I have made your favourite chicken steak for you. Freshen up and join us for dinner." She planted a soft kiss at my forehead and walked out.

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