Tolerating The Player

ISABELLA’S POVProperty of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

The rain fell really heavy as thunder clapped throughout the classroom making the whole kids scream in fear. Even though some were not actually scared but just wanted to have fun.

The teacher had left the classroom earlier for the staff room because of the constant screams from the students.

I laid my head on my desk as I couldn’t bear to watch them perform their minutes of madness. Some class couples proceeded to smooch and romance themselves and sounds of kisses filled the air.

“Bitch!” Maya’s voice rang in my ear really loud.

“Shit! I’m still going to need these ears for seventy more years” I cussed but the fuming Maya wasn’t buying anything as she rested her hands above her hips in a dramatic way.

“Where were you yesterday?” She asked while tapping her feet on the floor.

“I.. uhm I had things to do” I lied, technically it was a white lie.

“Come on, I’m your friend and you’re keeping things from me” She said and I could feel the pain in her voice.

She dragged an empty seat from the other roll and pulled it to my front, she sat on it and made me face her.

“Are you okay Isabella?” She asked while lifting my chin.

“I’m…” A thunder clap cut me off.

“I’m fine babe, there’s nothing much to worry about from me” I said with a smile and she gave me the warmest hug ever.

“Everything is temporary, don’t stress,” she said before pulling away from the hug. I had a feeling she knew about Zach and I after the words she said but I decided to keep it to myself.

We talked more for some while and gossiped over almost everything going on in the school while the rain only kept getting worse.

I was caught up in our conversation and all that I didn’t notice Zach entering the classroom. He was in the same outfit he wore when we left his house but his white hoodie was rather stained with female lipsticks. Must be Aurora.

“Isabella!” Zach called but Maya kept on talking without paying attention to him, she hated him a lot.

“I’ll be right back Maya” I said and stood up to meet Zach which left Maya In total awe. She was surprised I would want to talk to her. Unknown to her that I actually have to live with him for a week.

I walked towards Zach but he didn’t say anything to me, rather he grabbed my hands and pulled me out of the classroom.

He looked bothered like something was eating him up and he wanted to vomit it out.

“Are you okay?” I asked him out of concern, seeing him in his unsettled state of mind.

He stared at me for some while without talking, perhaps he was debating on what to say. He finally opened his mouth to say something but shut them immediately and walked away.

I stood there in shock. If he knew he wouldn’t say anything, why had he called me from the classroom only to leave or keep me guessing what he would say?

I returned to the classroom but couldn’t find Maya, she must have left angrily after all I ditched her to talk to Zach.

I settled on my seat and returned to the position I was in before Maya had come, I rested my head on the desk. Not quite long I heard another voice interrupting me and it was Xavier’s.

I smiled at the sight of him and he returned the smile, something felt strange and different about him but it took me a while to notice he had a new tattoo on his neck. A butterfly.

“A butterfly?” I chuckled.

“I know I’m weird but I love butterflies” he replied and I couldn’t help but admire his charming self.

“Do y’all have plans today? I could take you out” he said and I shrugged my shoulders. I can never tell what’s up with Zach or if he had plans.

“Would he let me go out even if he didn’t have anything to do?” I asked knowing full well how much of a psychopath Zach was.

“Let’s try it out”

“Try what out?” Zach interrupted Xavier immediately, he had returned to my classroom.

“We were going to grab some food together after school hours” Xavier said and stood upright, tucking his hands in his pocket so Zach’s presence wouldn’t intimidate him.

“Too bad, we have plans right now”

“We do?” I asked in awe, Zach never said anything about this. But in no time I found myself in the front seat of his car watching the reckless driver driving.

I was cold and even though the heater of the car was on it wasn’t doing any Justice to my body, cold affects me easily.

He seemed to have noticed how bad I was shivering as he parked the car by the roadside and reached for the back seat where he brought out a light blue hoodie and handed it over to me then he increased the heater all the way up.

“Thank you” I said but being the guy he was, he ignored and didn’t reply.

“Where are we going?” I wondered what couldn’t have waited till after school hours.

“Stay away from Xavier, he isn’t who he seems to be” He warned.

“Of course he doesn’t seem to be who he is, he’s a soft mushroom underneath a big hard rock” I finished with a smile on my face.

“Don’t hang out with him anymore” he said again and might have gotten on my nerves.

“Excuse me? You don’t get to tell me who I should or shouldn’t associate with” I snapped and noticed how his hands became tighter on the wheel and he started to drive really fast that I feared that the car might hit something or worse summersaults.

“Slow down!” I yelled for the three hundredth time before he finally pulled over by a mall.

“Why are we here?” I asked but he didn’t reply as he turned off his car engines and made to leave the car.

“Lock it on your way out” he said referring to the door and went out, it was still raining and now I’ll have to run into the mall so as to not get drenched.

I caught up with him even though he was walking really fast. I had a lot of questions to ask and things to say but I didn’t think he would want any of that.

I followed closely behind him as he walked to the phones section, yet to say any word to me he chose an iPhone XR and gave the lady that was behind the cash register his credit card. Her hands fumbled when she was collecting it and it was clearly obvious that she was having a crush on him at the moment.

After he made the payments he handed the phone to me, “to replace your broken phone” he said while holding the rectangular portable box.

I had not expected the phone to be mine, I thought he was going to get himself a new phone since he already had about three of them.

“W.. why?” I asked and he turned to drop the phone on the cashier’s counter for a refund.

“Hey! Hold the fuck on!” I grabbed his hands to pull him away from the counter but my effort had no effect.

“You want it or you don’t?” He fiercely asked with a serious tone and I nodded my head.

“Good, let’s go!” He ordered and I carried my new phone to walk behind him when I heard the cashier say something under her breath but I heard anyway.

“I wish I was her, she’s lucky” were the words she said. Why does everyone feel attracted to Zach?

We went outside the mall and entered the car, it had stopped raining unlike earlier today it was now drizzling.

He started the car’s engine and we began our journey back home.

“Bella!” His hoarse voice called and I turned to look at him. The name Bella brought a lot of bad memories but I didn’t think he would stop to call me that.

“Yeah?” I answered by adjusting my body on the seat so I was now facing him.

“What if your Dad remarried after abandoning your mother and invited you to a function, would you go?” He asked and I was surprisingly shocked.

“Uhm.. well I don’t really know much to say, I’m not on good terms with my father and my mum abandoned me years ago so I don’t know how it feels like or what I would do” I answered honestly and I could see an emotion on his face.

“Imagine you were in that position, what would you do?” He asked and I sunk myself into the seat.

“I would go, just to check up on somethings” I said not fully sure if I would actually attend a function they host.

“Hmm!” He hummed and focused more on the road.

“What happened to your parents?” He asked.

“Life happened” I replied to him, I would have told him more but he never tells me about his own family and all.

He nodded his head and a smile followed afterwards, more of a smirk though.

“You know why I like you?” He asked still with a smirk on his face.

“Why?”

“You’re smart” he said and rocked his head.

“There’s a party after school today and we’re going together” he said but today wasn’t even a weekend.

“A party on the weekdays?” I asked and he nodded his head but didn’t say anything more.

“Wear something good” He finished and parked by the school. It was still 12pm and I was sure I would have a class right now since the rain had stopped and the teachers had no excuse to not be in the class.

We walked in the English class together and the teacher’s gaze was on us for a while before it drifted. Students were also staring at us in surprise but I knew what they were all thinking of but Zach and I didn’t do any shit together.