Heart To Heal

III.

Chapter Three.

The next day, Xavia sat in Environmental Science with her fist resting under her chin to keep herself propped up as she kept dozing off. Taking an early nap the evening before was a mistake because she slept until 10:00 pm, then ended up staying awake until it was time for her to get up & get ready for school. The word tired was an understatement.

"In this class, I like to do something called rotating partners. Basically, you all will be paired up with someone for a month and then the next month you will rotate and be paired up with somebody else. For fall semester, I pick who you're paired up with, and then when we come back from Christmas break I will allow you all to pick who you want as your partner." Ms.Cross explained to the class full of seniors.

Xavia groaned in annoyance. She absolutely hated having to work with other people. Usually, she'd ask to work solo, but she had a feeling that the answer would be no if she asked Ms.Cross. The woman was a stickler, and wanted things to be done her way and her way only.

"Alright, I'm going to start calling out the names of the partners that I've selected." She said, reaching on her desk to grab a clipboard. "So, first we have Tiara and Makayla."

As Ms.Cross began calling the names, Xavi zoned out. She didn't really know many people in this class, so whoever she would be partnered up with would be a loss. After three, almost four years of high school, she literally only had one friend. That friend was Arnecia.

"Jordan and Imani, then we have Xavia and Zealand.." Xavi's ears perked up when she heard her name.

"Zealand? Who the hell is that?" She mumbled to herself, looking around. Since she was obviously clueless, Xavia decided to get up and ask Ms.Cross.

"Um, excuse me.." She said to Ms.Cross as she approached her.

"What can I help you with, ma'am?"

"I'm not sure who Zealand is."

Ms.Cross pointed towards the back of the class. Xavia turned around, her eyes landing on a guy with his head down on the desk.

"Oh...okay, thank you." She said, slowly making her way to the table where he sat. Xavi hopped on the stool next to him, adjusting her butt.

It was clear that he wasn't sleep, his head was just down. Xavia glanced over at him a couple of times, noticing that he was wearing the familiar black jacket. It was the same guy who had bumped into her and made her drop her lunch.

She contemplated if she was going to address the situation or not, but eventually decided not to. Xavia was a non confrontational person, and didn't like being in mess. Plus, she didn't know anything about him. For all she knew, he could have been crazy and tried to choke her or something.

"Now that everyone has sat with their partners, I want you all to talk and get to know one another if you don't already. You will have ten minutes to do so, and then we will start the beginning of the first unit by taking notes from a PowerPoint."

Zealand finally raised his head up, looking at Xavia through his peripheral vision. He was aware that she had been sitting there the whole time, but decided not to acknowledge her presence.

Xavi cleared her throat, trying to build up the courage to say something. Considering the fact that she'd be partners with this dude for a whole month, it didn't hurt to try and make conversation with him.

"Hey, I'm Xavia." She said lowly, yet loud enough for him to hear since they were sitting right next to one another.

Zealand said nothing. He looked down at the table, reading some of the scribble that people had written on it in pencil or marker.

"It's cold in here, isn't it?" She asked, pulling her jacket tighter on her body. Still, Zealand said nothing. Xavia sighed, giving up. If he didn't want to talk, she wasn't going to force him. It was obvious that he was just an asshole by nature.

She rolled her eyes, turning her body to face the other way so that she wasn't looking at him. As Xavi glanced at the science related posters that decorated the white walls, Zealand glanced over at her once more. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Ms.Cross clapped her hands to get everybody's attention.

"Alright folks, let's bring it back together and get started with the Unit One notes. Please pull out your notebooks and something to write with."

Xavia reached into her backpack, pulling out a pink college rule notebook and a black ballpoint pen. She opened it to a clean page and wrote her name, date, & the class period.

As Ms.Cross started going over the notes, Xavi felt her mind start to drift off to La La land. She was a daydreamer at heart, and it often got her into trouble because it was obvious when she wasn't paying attention.

She snapped back to reality about a minute later, and realized that she had missed part of the notes. "Shit." She mumbled, face palming herself.

Zealand slid his notebook over to where she could see it. Xavia raised an eyebrow, staring at him for a couple of seconds before jotting down the notes that she had missed. Once she was caught up, she looked at him once more. "Thanks." She said.

He said nothing. He slid his notebook back in front of him, and began taking more notes since a new slide from the PowerPoint was up.

Xavia shook her head, trying to regain focus.

"What is up with this dude?" She thought to herself, tapping the end of her pen on her chin.

••

"Are you sure his name is Zealand, Xavi?" Arnecia asked as they sat at the lunch table.

"I'm positive." She said, digging her fork into her spaghetti.

"Hm, I've never heard of any dude named Zealand that goes here. Is he new?" Niecey raised a brow, munching on some Hot Fries.

Before she could give an answer, Malachi approached their table. "Hey beautiful." He said to Arnecia, bending down to peck her lips.

"Hey Chi." Niecey smiled, calling him by his nickname.

Xavia scoffed, causing both of them to look over at her. "Wassup lil sis." Malachi spoke to Xavi, making her shoot him a fake smile. "Hi." She said simply.

"What y'all over here talking about?" He asked, stealing a hot fry out of Niecey's bag.

"Xavi was telling me about this boy named Zealand that she takes Ms.Cross's class with."

"Oh, that weird ass nigga?" Malachi questioned, twisting one of his dreads.

"You know him?" Arnecia asked, taking a sip of her Gatorade.

"Yeah, he weird as hell. That nigga always wearing a hoodie and he don't say shit to nobody. I think he a school shooter or some shit."
Niecey gasped, hitting his chest. "Shut up, don't say that."

"What? I'm forreal. Every time he reach in his backpack I dive head first under the desk."

Xavia rolled her eyes. "Just because he's quiet makes him a school shooter?" She asked.

"I mean, you never know." Malachi shrugged. "Anyways, babe I'm about to go sit with Tez and the rest of the boys. I'll see you later, alright?"

"Alright baby, see you later." They kissed real quick, before Malachi headed towards the table full of other basketball players.

"Y'all disgust me." Xavi said, pulling out her phone.

Arnecia laughed, "Don't hate."

"Trust me, I'm not." Xavia reassured her, scrolling through her Instagram feed.

She was just ready for the rest of the school day to be over with.

TBC...

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Excuse any mistakes.