Roses And Daggers

The Start Of Something New

"I can't believe that I am doing this," Victoria sighed as Zeke parked his Toyota in the school parking lot. "Since we're officially dating, you'll sit at my table during lunch. 'Kay?"

"Hmm, cool." Zeke fiddled with his keys, not looking at her.

"What?" Victoria eyed him, frowning. 

"Nothing... Come on." Zeke finally put the keys in his pocket and stepped onto the parking lot. He grabbed her hand and walked her to her locker. She stopped a few times to say hi to people and Zeke had to wait, all the while impatiently pressing Victoria's hand, urging her to hurry up.

"Alright, alright babe, let's go." She sighed.

They hardly had any classes together, and perhaps that was better, for it gave them time to recollect their thoughts and force themselves to hate each other. It never worked, though. Victoria couldn't stop thinking about the past few days. She thought about his shaggy black hair and his blue eyes the day he had challenged her. He had looked slightly scary. She remembered taking a step back in fear. Then, she thought about him yesterday- laughing, joking- they were like two different people.

The next time Victoria saw Zeke was just before lunch, when he was talking to Justin beside his locker. Justin was leaning back against the wall with his hands crossed and a smile playing on his lips. Zeke was waving his hands occasionally like he was describing something. Justin laughed and said something in reply. A few other students frowned at them, but didn't say anything. Victoria's heart raced seeing them together, and she hurried over to them. This was not a good sign- Justin might be picking a fight with Zeke. But when she reached, she was greeted by an entirely different scene.

"No way!" Zeke laughed.

"Oh no, it's true! Come join us for practice today, man. It's alright," Justin said. 

"I can't come today... I'm going to my Dad's after school. How about I try out tomorrow?"

Victoria didn't really understand what was happening. How and when did they become such good friends?

"Oh, hey Vic! Justin wanted me to try out for the football team. Isn't that great?"

"Um yeah it is. But how-?"

"Well, you see, we were in class when Justin asked me if it was true that we were dating so I said it was. Then we started talking and he turned out to be really nice so we're friends. It's cool right?"

Victoria blinked. What?

"No no, I think it is amazing that you guys are getting along," she said. At least that was true. Now she wouldn't need to worry about them fighting. "Um, should we go for lunch now?"

"Oh, yeah sure. I'm pretty hungry," Justin agreed. 

Luke joined them at their table as Victoria introduced everyone to Zeke. "Okay, so, the one with the bob cut is Eliza, that's Dia, that's Xander, with the blond hair and that's Mason, with the earphones. And guys, this is Zeke, and Luke. Jessica was supposed to be here too, but I guess she's absent today."

Zeke knew who they were, almost everyone in their batch did, but he knew Victoria still introduced everyone so it wouldn't be rude. He waved meekly and Dia grinned, swatting Xander's hand as he tried to mimic Zeke. "Don't mind him," she said. "He's a jerk."

"I'm not!" Xander protested.

"Well, who stole my fries the other day?"

"It was 'Friday'!" He chuckles. "Get it?"

They were just like Zeke. But what made them different?

Scrunching his nose, he picked at his coleslaw sandwich, separating the vile filling. Victoria laughed at something Luke said, her voice one among so many others. The sun was high, and Zeke squinted. He really should have chosen another seat. Just as they were finishing up, the bell rang. Mrs. Devin ushered them out and into their respective classes. They were way too old to be babysitted this way, but they had no choice in the matter. The day went without anything interesting happening. It was all quite boring, to be honest. They were just at the end of their Victorian Unit in English, and unlike those teen tv- shows, the chapters didn't happen to simply relate to what was going on in their personal lives.

Tragic.

The rest of the day went by so fast that the events were all jumbled up in Victoria's head. But she knew Zeke had got on well with her friends. They had become quite close already. That was good, wasn't it? Today was nice- nothing too major had happened. She twisted and turned in her bed, unable to sleep. She considered waking Amanda, but she didn't want her to be grouchy. Instead, Victoria lay on her back and stared at the ceiling. When she was younger, they used to be covered in 'glow- in- the- dark' stars. Now her room was covered in pictures from outings and posters  about film stars or singers. She put her finger in front of her face and shut and opened her eyes simultaneously. She watched her finger switch positions, but that soon got boring too and she huffed in annoyance, blowing the hair out of her face.

Zeke, on the other hand, was thinking about someone else. He missed her so much. He missed her. He gripped his blanket a little tighter. Night had fallen but Zeke could not sleep. What had become of him? His mother had become cold and distant again, he might have caught feelings for Victoria, of all people, and he couldn't stop thinking about the smile that he would never see again. He gave a soft sob as tears poured from his eyes. It was easier to hide his feelings during the day, when there were  people around him to distract him. But in the solitude of his room, there was nothing to keep his thoughts at bay. He tried not to think about it- he really did- but everytime, he ended up this way. He would be walking around with a smile again by tomorrow, but tonight was a different story.

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Hey, I just wanted to say that I am open to suggestions or corrections, so please comment if you liked a part or would like to point out a mistake. And, of course, thank you for choosing to read my story!