Fated

When lunch came around, I thought I’d finally gotten a hold of myself. My plan was to turn down Ryan and avoid him and Zak at all costs until the end of the school year. I’d thought everything through. The only problem was around them, my brain seemed to not cooperate. I went to grab my tray of food from the counter in the cafeteria, but large hands already had a hold of it. “I’ll take that.” Ryan held my tray just out of my reach. Ryan was also tall, but not as tall as Zak. I was only five-foot four, making it easy for him to hold the tray up high and out of my reach. He smiled down at me as he played his game, but I was not the least bit amused. I put my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow. “You’re sitting with us.” He stated.I laugh. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Ryan sta

I felt like I had only slept for five minutes before my alarm went off. I groaned, taping my phone to silence the noise. I almost fell back asleep when my door burst open. “Hey. I want breakfast.” Dad says with a toothbrush in his mouth. He wasn’t very old, but looked like it with his unruly hair and graying beard. I groan yet again, then lazily make my way into the kitchen. “What’ll be today?” I ask as he comes in, throwing on his work uniform. He was a mechanic at his friend Mike's auto shop. “Just make me some toast.” Please, I add in my mind. I quickly prepared the toast, seeing that I was already running late. Not to mention, I haven’t even showered. I slide his toast on the table without buttering it and quickly run to th

 I had arrived at school early that day, actually looking forward to seeing Ryan. I wore my hair down and straightened it again. I actually added just a touch of eye liner which was unusual for me. I didn’t want to seem desperate, but I also felt like I needed to be on Ryan’s level. There was no way I’d be wearing pink, but I could at least take some pride in my appearance.“I can see the date went well.” Zak smiles at me as he takes his seat next to me.I shrugged. “I may have had fun.”Zak chuckles, but it seems forced. Something seemed off about him. “Look at you. You’re practically glowing! Did he kiss you?”I turned to look at him, giving my most innocent look. “Maybe.”

Over the next few days I grew worried. Zak didn’t show up on Tuesday and neither did Ryan. I figured with Ryan’s hand he might miss a day of school, but Zak didn’t seem too badly hurt. I was nervous he wouldn’t come back or that he was mad at me.On Wednesday, Ryan showed up, but didn’t say anything to me as he walked into class late. He glanced at me once before taking his seat and I couldn’t help but notice the cast around his hand. Exactly how hard did he hit Zak that he injured himself in the process? Now I was really worried because once again, Zak was nowhere to be found. I wondered if he was okay, or if Ryan did more damage than I originally thought. Zak was like a brick wall when Ryan hit him. He didn’t even seem fazed or act like it hurt.I made it through the day avoiding Ryan and then worked a shift at the Di

The next morning I left for work before my dad had gotten out of bed, making it easy to avoid him. I wasn’t sure how he would be after last night's events. I arrived at work and helped get ready for the afternoon rush. Being busy at work was a welcome distraction and helped keep my nerves at bay as I watched the time tick slowly by. As much as I wanted to see Zak, I just wasn’t sure it was a good idea. I kept telling myself to stay away from him but it was like there was some sort of invisible force pulling us together. As four o’clock approached I kept glancing at the door more often, hoping to see him walk in. When it passed four and he still wasn't here, I got worried. I continued to work while it was busy so I could still wait on him but it slowly died down and Lea insisted I leave. Twenty minutes had passed and I was convinced he wasn’t coming. Zak didn’t seem like