Zara wouldn’t want to make a scene. She’s been raised to not create public embarrassment for her family. I also remember her having to take etiquette lessons when we were younger.
I hear the tap of her heels on the marble behind me. “Where are you going?” she asks.
“Upstairs,” I tell her.
“Why?”
I don’t answer her. Instead, I wait until I’m inside my bedroom. She glances over a shoulder, as if someone is going to stop her from entering. I reach around her and close the door.
“Why did you bring me here?” Zara asks.
“Why haven’t you been answering my messages? Or calls?”
“Because I don’t have to,” she snarks back.
“Why’d you leave school early?”
“Because I can.”
“Why are you here?” I try a different approach.
“You told your mother I was coming. It would be rude not to show up,” she says, and her eyes dart away. She’s lying.
“Try again. Why are you here, Zara?” I press her.
Zara steps around me and starts looking at my room. “I wanted to try something.” She shrugs. “I wanted to see if it was a fluke.”
My head tilts to the side as I watch her. “If what was a fluke?”
“The way my mind goes… kind of blank when I’m around you. When you touch me, I’m not thinking…” She stops.
Stepping closer to her, I reach out and take hold of her hand. Zara’s eyes lock in on where our skin connects. “What happens when I touch you?” I ask her.
She lifts her gaze to mine and I see it all. The pain, the sadness, the hopelessness. “You make the noise quiet down,” she whispers.
I have no idea what noise she’s talking about, but I want to be able to help her. Which is why I pull her closer to me and wrap my arms around her. Hugging her in a death-like grip. My nose nestles into the crook of her neck as I inhale her fruity scent.
Zara sighs loudly and then I feel her return my hug. Her hands land on my back, her fingers bunching around the fabric of my shirt.
“You always smell so good,” I admit.
“I shower. You should try it sometime,” she says.
A chuckle escapes me. “Are you offering to shower with me, P?”
“No.” She quickly pushes away from my chest. Reluctantly, I let her go. “It can’t just be you,” she says.
“What can’t just be me?”
“Whatever this effect is you have on me, it can’t be limited to just you.”
I frown. “What are you talking about?”
“It doesn’t matter. I should get back downstairs.”
“Zara?” I call out before she can open the bedroom door. “Whenever the noise gets too loud, I want you to come and find me.”
“Can you keep what I told you between us? I don’t need the world to know I’m fucked up.”
