All I've Ever Needed

Chapter 2

September 30, 2013

Zendaya stared at the clock, impatiently waiting for the bigger hand to hit 12 so the bell would ring. She hadn't been able to concentrate during the whole class. It was mostly due to her anxiety. After school she would be auditioning for the part of Ariel Moore in the school's production of Footloose. The lead female part. She had never auditioned for a lead part before and for the past couple of days she had felt like her whole world was closing in on her. She wasn't shy and she didn't have stage fright. She had the utmost confidence in her ability. It was Spencer. 

Spencer was auditioning for the part of Ren. Spencer was a shoe-in for the part. There was no one else in the whole school that even came close to him. He had the voice, the dance ability, the acting chops. He was the whole package. And that was the problem. Zendaya didn't know if she was auditioning because of the experience it would give her, or because she wanted to act against him. A dilemma had formed in her mind. You see, Ariel was Ren's love interest. So there would be a lot of closeness, some kissing. Zendaya was 16 yet she had never kissed anyone before. And she wanted Spencer to be her first kiss but not while they were pretending to be somebody else. But when it came down to it, there was no one in this world that she wanted to get that part more than him. He was a star and everyone could see it.

She was startled out of her thoughts by a girlish giggle. Ms. Koolen, the art teacher, was fawning over someone. Oh, that someone was Val. The boy from New York who seemed to pop up in whatever class Zendaya was in. Well, four of them. She didn't really understand what he was doing most of the time. He didn't seem to show any interest in anything regarding the subjects they were in. He never faltered though. Every time a teacher called him on he would just flash that smirk, disguised as a grin, and somehow charm himself out of every question, every situation that was presented to him. 

He had an overpowering presence. It was like everyone who laid eyes on him became immediately mesmerized and everything else disappeared. She didn’t see it though. She had spent the last 40 minutes desperately trying to get the right contrast of light and shadow on her drawing of a bowl of fruit while the rest of the class practically gasped in amazement over his drawing. It couldn’t be that good. She wasn’t going to look.

She didn’t understand this reaction she had whenever he was around. Or not even around. She had spent last weekend finding adjectives that could describe how unbearable she found him. She had stopped at 50 words. He vocabulary wasn’t substantial enough to express her annoyance towards him. But why?

The bell finally rang and Zendaya hurriedly packed her belongings into her bag. As she walked into the corridor she felt a presence besides her. Just great.

"You disappear very fast, did you know that?"

"I'm a busy person with a lot to do. I don't have time to  …"

"Stop and smell the roses?"

"Fawn over tedious things."

"Ouch. I guess you're going to that audition thing now. I thought that wasn't until 4:30."

Zendaya stopped in her tracks and spun so that she was face to face with him.

"How did you know about my audition?"

"You were talking about it with your friend. The blonde, loud one."

"Were you listening to my private conversation?"

"No. Your loud friend was talking very loudly, very closely to me. She kept looking at me too. But that’s normal. I’ve seen the selection of boys here. It’s not a very L.A. looking crowd, is it?"