Seven

"Ok, you have stalled long enough. Now you will tell us what happened!" Samantha's voice was determined like her whole personality. Samantha and Natalie sat down across from me on the cafeteria table.

I cringed. I had been trying to escape my inquisitive friends since yesterday night. They had no idea why I left them at the party when we were supposed to have fun. They had no idea who dropped me and why I ran away in the first place.

I didn't pick up their calls yesterday night, hoping they would think that I had fallen asleep. And in school, I evaded them in the two classes I shared with them.

But now I had no choice. I had to tell them. I have never hidden anything from them in all the years we have been friends and the guilt had been weighing me down. 

Taking a deep breath, I looked up from my plate of spaghetti and meatballs to meet the eyes of my two best friends.

They looked at me expectantly and I started telling them everything. About Aiden telling me where to find Harper, to watch him on the balcony kissing some girl, to dancing with him, to being kissed forcefully by him, to slapping him, and then to go home crying.

After my rambling ended, I could see that they were angry and disappointed. Well, I would be too if some pathetic guy would mess with either of my best friends in the way Harper had been messing with me.

I stole a French fry from Samantha's plate and she scowled at me. She may be a mother hen, but you don't dare mess with her food. I chuckled and popped the fry in my mouth.

"And you know what's the weirdest thing that happened? I was in the girl's washroom during the class before and Harper came in there." They exchanged curious glances with each other and then looked back at me, silently asking me to continue. “And then he said that he was rejecting me. And then simply ran out of the washroom."

I giggled thinking about the strange encounter I had with him. But when I didn't hear any other giggles, I stopped and stared into their eyes which held pity for me. Pity? Why the hell are they pitying me?

I arched an eyebrow and they again looked at each other.

Both of them held my hands and gave me sympathetic glances.

"The nerve of him! How dare he reject her!" Natalie fumed. Samantha discreetly puts her hand on Natalie's and gives her a pointed look. Well, the action wasn't quite discrete if I could see it.

Then they both looked at me with concerned expressions. Their synchronization was so spooky. They had done it many times before, but it didn't make it any less weird.

"Oh, honey we are with you, you know that right." Samantha gave me a soft smile.

"Yeah. We are with you. How are you feeling anyway?"

What?

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, “what the hell are you talking about?" I looked from Samantha to Natalie, and back to Samantha again.

"Oh, Zara, you will get through this. You are a strong girl."

"Yeah, you don't need to act like this. You can share your pain with us. It won't do you any good to bottle it up."

Hun? "What pain?"

They both looked at each other again with confused glances.

"When Harper said that he rejects you, didn't you feel any pain? Like a lot of pain? As if your heart is shattering in a million little pieces?" Samantha spoke softly. I didn't know how her voice could get any softer.

"Um, no? All I managed to think was how whatever he said was bizarre. What pain are you talking about?"

They both looked at each other again and got up abruptly. Mumbling a few excuses about being sick or something, they both dashed out of the cafeteria leaving me alone.

I sighed. 

What the hell just happened? What were these two up to?

I will just corner them later.

I picked up my plate and headed towards the trashcan to dump it. When I reached the trash can, I saw Aiden holding his plate and coming towards me, well, towards the trash can.

I waited for him to come closer. I had been nothing but a bitch to him last night and he had been the perfect gentleman. He had given me a ride to my home when I wasn't in the right state of mind. He had to leave the party early to drive me to the other side of the town. And considering his playboy ways, he had to give up a night of hooking up with a random girl. That was a pretty big sacrifice for a guy like him.

Instead of having an ulterior motive, I hoped he just did it out of the goodness of his heart.

When he stood beside me, I smiled at him. "Um, thanks, Aiden, for giving me a ride yesterday. I wasn't in the right state of mind and you were there for me. I am sorry for being a bitch to you."

Aiden just looked at me and gave me a grin. “Don’t worry about it. It was my pleasure. After all, you are my lu-" he coughed mid-sentence and gave me a sheepish smile.

I gave him another smile and leaned forward on my toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. "I can't thank you enough." 

That was unplanned.

I saw a blush rising in his cheeks and I smiled at him. He just nodded at me, still blushing. 

He looked over my shoulder and visibly flinched back. Before I could turn around and see who he was looking at, he said," Well, um, like I said, it's no problem. I have to go now. See you later."

His last words were rushed and then, he walked away as fast as he could, with his shoulders visibly tensed.

What did I do now? Why is everyone running away from me today?

***

I put my stuff down on a random desk in the middle of the classroom. The class had yet to start and I just hoped that Ms. Wilson was on time.

Students slowly started trickling and claiming seats when Ms. Wilson walked in. Ah, no wrinkled clothes and flushed faces. 

Ms. Wilson started the lecture and I suddenly felt conscious. It was as if I felt somebody's gaze on me. I tried to shake off the feeling but it only got stronger.

In an attempt to calm my subconscious, I turned around to check if anyone was looking at me. I didn't share this class with anyone I was close to, so I didn't expect to be the subject of someone's scrutiny.

My gaze traveled from one end of the classroom and stopped on Harper because he was staring right at me with a stony face.

A shiver ran down my spine and I gulped because the way he was looking at me was just so intense. I wanted to look away, I really did but I just couldn't move my body and turn around. 

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was aware that I was sitting in class and that I needed to turn around, look at the teacher, and jot down notes but it was like my body was out of my control.

We kept looking at each other and after some time I could see various emotions swirling in his green orbs. Pain, longing, and regret are most evident. Pain for what? Longing for who? And regret for what?

The whole class just seemed to melt away and the only two people in the classroom were the two of us. At least, it felt that way.

The bell broke the trance we were in. Harper broke eye contact first, grabbed his stuff, and ran out of the class, not sparing me another glance or any indication of anything that passed between us.

When the contact broke, I felt something snap within me. A sense of emptiness took over, but I quickly banished the traitorous feeling before it fully settled in my brain.

I turned around and realized that I hadn't even taken out my supplies to take notes. Was I that lost?

I took a shaky breath in. What the hell is happening?

***

For the rest of the day, I didn't see Harper and I don't know why but it bothered me. Did he get out of school because of what happened in Ms. Wilson's class or did something serious happen to him, that he had to take the rest of his day off?

I didn't even see Natalie and Samantha in any of the classes I shared with them and when I called to check on them, they assured me everything was alright and they just had to go home because of an emergency.

I drove back home when school ended, totally confused about what had happened. I was more irritated than confused. I huffed in annoyance when I reached my driveway, got out of my car, and slammed the door shut.

As I lay on my bed, after dinner with my family, I couldn't help but wonder how my life had started to feel like some teen drama. And it all started because of Harper Cain. That boy was trouble.

I quickly banished thoughts of Harper Cain, vowing to myself to stay as far away from him as possible.

I felt like I was floating and falling at the same time. How can you experience these two things at the same time? But that was exactly how I was feeling now.

I could practically feel myself floating as if I were swimming in some invisible river. And I was falling too, like I was being sucked into a vortex.

Apart from these two things, I didn't feel anything. Somewhere in my mind, I was aware that I should be able to feel more, but I didn't. I couldn't. I didn't feel the rise and fall of my chest and neither did I feel anything else in my body. 

My body wasn't listening to me. My brain was active and was going through a thousand possible scenarios as to how I could find myself in such a state.

Darkness surrounded me and I couldn't see anything. It was as if I had gone blind.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt a sudden pressure on my body, thrusting me towards a particular direction. My whole body was tossed and turned in the current. It felt as if I had just been flushed down a toilet.

My body was being tossed and moved at an impossible speed towards a direction. I couldn't see where I was going but the current seemed to have a mind of Its own.

And then all of a sudden, I stopped. The thrusting stopped and I lay still.

Then I fell. And it was like I had been pushed off a skyscraper. The gravity which felt so strong forced me down into oblivion. I kept falling and then the fear finally hit me.

If I was falling, I was bound to land somewhere, was I not?! And with the speed with which I was falling, I was bound to break every single bone in my body. I opened my mouth to scream when the realization hit me. I forced my vocal cords to make some sound, any sound. I didn't make any sound and I could hear nothing. It was like being in a vacuum.

I just closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen.

Then, quite abruptly, I fell to the ground. Grass tickled the bare surface of my skin in the white nightie I wore to bed. I lay on the grass for a few seconds, reveling in the fact that I could feel again and how unbelievably soft the grass was. It almost felt like a soft cushion.

I moved my hands to sit up and to check where I was. My limbs felt like Jell-O and for a second, I wondered if I had broken all my bones. That would explain my lack of mobility.

But before I could check my bones, I felt an intense headache. An all-consuming headache, which made me close my eyes and grab my head for dear life. 

I curled my body and if anyone could see me now, they would think I was just a small ball.

The headache was so intense that tears streamed down my cheeks and I opened my mouth to scream.

I screamed as loud as I could in a desperate attempt to get rid of the pain that had taken over me so suddenly.

I felt my body shaking and someone calling out my name.

"Zara"

"Zara"

"Zara"

I woke up panting and my body was drenched in sweat.

My heart beat frantically in my chest and fear and apprehension took over me.

I was dreaming. I am ok. It was just a dream.

My mom was standing by my bed in her nightgown with a concerned expression.

"Are you ok?" She asked in a worried tone. I felt guilty because my screaming had woken her up. I just nodded in response, because I had nothing else to say.

I wasn't sure if I could say anything at this point.

I didn't feel any signs of the headache that had me screaming moments ago, but I did feel the wetness on my cheeks. And the feel of the extra soft grass on my exposed skin.