A and Z become friends

Left foot left foot left foot right. I’ve zombie walked through most of my classes the next morning.  But when I feel the sting of a wad of paper hit my neck in math class, I know it’s Zain before I even turn around. I see Sarah’s eyes pop open in surprise as she catches my wince and silent curse from across the room. We were all used to being comatose during calculus, my yelp though muffled might as well have been a gun shot. I didn’t think Zain was capable of something as ordinary as throwing a spitball. The teacher continues to drone out integration formulae, thankfully oblivious.

I throw a dirty look behind me, and he smirks back un-phased. Does a head nod, meaning he wants me to open it. Confused and curious, I look at the offending note. I can feel his eyes on me, but I resist temptation to look at him. I toss the note out the window next to me, startling an eighth grader passing under. I look back and throw a smile at his narrowed eyed annoyance, before going back to my notes. Math wasn’t my favorite subject actually, not that I would ever admit to such a cliché.

“Mr. M, I can’t see the board, is it ok if I sit up front” Ripples of confusion electrify the class. I see some girls perk up at his voice and turn to try to identify the source. I smother an eye-roll. He’s already collapsed into the empty spot next to me when Mr. M turns around, peers nearsightedly, and noticing nothing different continues on with derivatives.

“I’ll start singing a Bieber song if you make this difficult”

I choke back the insult I was going to fling at him, and my cheeks traitorously glow red. “I. Do. Not. Like. Bieber” I have to hiss so no one hears us, but it’s hard because the curiosity is palpable. I lean close, and notice that his eyes are coal black under the purple shock of hair. “What do you want!”

“Just hangin”

“Do you really want to do this right now?” He ignores me, smirks, and reaches over and corrects an answer in my notebook.

“Relax! You clearly need my help, I am here to offer it to you”

“For what!?”

“Come to the chemistry lab during recess. Bring your hot slutty friend”

“What! Sarah is not slutty” It’s a little sad that I instantly know which friend he’s referring to.

“Whatever. Be there or be square blondie”

“Dear lord purple ranger. The dye has leeched through your hair and damaged your brain” 

My eyes open in horror as he brings his hands forward to start miming a song. Thankfully the recess bell rings, saving me. I get up so fast I nearly knock my chair over, and run. 

***

After much debate Sarah and I arrive at the aforementioned lab, but no one is in sight.

“It was a joke! Let’s stop wasting time and grab some food” I try to grab her arm but she shrugs out.

“I want to see what he wants to say Amal!”

“Fine” I say with little grace, and collapse onto a nearby stool.

Sarah is still looking around, but I look up when I notice the lights flicker. We’re in the original school building, which must be 100 years old. The labs are probably the creepiest place in the entire campus. High ceilings, no sunlight, perpetual tubelights swinging with a mysterious breeze overhead. I noticed a hole in the tile once, and with horror realized that there wasn’t concrete but a black abyss underneath, which the janitor claimed was just the underground plumbing. I could only imagine the rats that had nested there for a hundred years.

I shift uncomfortably and am about to demand we go outside, when we’re plunged into darkness.

“Sarah!” I shriek.

“Ow! DAMMIT” is her response. “What on earth did I just hit. A chair?”

“I don’t know, it’s dark!”

“Turn your phone light on”

I fumble for my bag, but it thumps and falls to the floor. I can hear things pattering out of the open top and rolling onto the tiled floor. I shudder and try not to think of the underground plumbing, which probably houses Tom Riddle and several horcruxes.

“I dropped my bag Sarah! I don’t have any light!” I try to keep the tight panic. I’m breathing fast, and that’s always a precursor to my revealing my poor mental health to random bystanders.

 “Relax! I’m getting min- WHAT WAS THAT”

And then we both hear it. The deep wheezing of… someone laughing? My ears are ringing, and the room is fading in and out. I reach out to touch the wall to stay in the present.

The lights flicker on, revealing Zain, standing there face crumpled in hilarity as he looks at Sarah.

“YOU ASSHOLE” Sarah shoves him. He’s startled, then notices my face and is struck silent. His expression flickers.

**

“Well are you coming up or not”

“No way! I’m wearing a dress!” Sarah is pretty outraged at the suggestion.

I shrug. Used to climbing the mango trees in our yard, I find an easy foot grip, and pull myself up a branch. “You be lookout then”. It will be an easy climb, the tree is around a hundred years old and thick and gnarled with handholds.

I scramble up to the next few branches, and I’m suddenly next to him. We’re around ten feet off the ground, almost eye level with the first floor classrooms in the distance. We’re both bathed in green filtered sunlight. The shrieks of the school at recess mute to the background. I instantly feel peace.

“What are you doing” I realize I’ve muted my voice to match the atmosphere of secrecy.

“I hang out here to get away for a bit. Thought you might want to come here, being that you’re crazy and all”

It takes me a second. “I’m not crazy!” But the darkness is there. The shrieks. The ambulance. I clench my jaw, and will it all away. The dead black eyes from the corpse threaten my precarious grip on reality, but then I can see a different pair of black eyes emerge in front of me. His expression pulls me back. How does he keep doing that.

“Why do all the boys call you blondie? You have brown hair?”

And suddenly I smile, feeling like I should hug him.