AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Five
Zadie
ThereliefIfeltwhen I trudged up to my dorm room and didn’t find a note or flowers waiting for me had me sagging against the wall. The sting of Amir’s harsh treatment was far too fresh for me to deal with one more thing.
Elena, Helen, and her boyfriend, Theo, were hanging out in our shared living area. El was in the armchair with her laptop and headphones on. Helen and Theo were snuggled on the love seat. Both had books opened in their laps, but they seemed to be ignoring them and paying attention to each other.
That was, until I walked in. Helen straightened, giving me a quick wave. “Hey, Z. Check the table, girlie. You got a treat.”
“Oooh, a treat? What did I do to deserve that?”
She shot me a red-lipped grin. Helen’s superpower, besides, of course, being a badass, was her red lipstick never faded. I’d walked in on her and Theo making out enough times to know kissing didn’t destroy it. She’d painted it on my lips once, and it had immediately smeared all over my teeth, confirming I wasn’t a red-lip girl—not like her. But who was?
“Hey, Zadie,” Theo greeted.
My cheeks warmed. “Hi, Theo.” I used to think Helen’s boyfriend was a laughing frat bro like Deacon Forrestor. He had that look, and he’d once been friends with Deacon too, but he wasn’t like that at all. I still blushed when making direct eye contact with him, because…well, he was Theo, and he was just as beautiful and badass as Helen.
I kicked off my Chucks, dropped my messenger bag carefully by the door, and headed to the small table in the kitchen nook we never used for eating. My heart stopped.
Two daisies, tied together with twine, lay there with a folded piece of paper beside them. This wasn’t a treat. This was a nightmare.
Unfolding the paper, I held my breath as I read the words that had been typed there.
Daisies are white
Your eyes are blue
I think about you at night
I think of you in the morning too
D
Picking up the flowers and note, I swiveled around. “Where was this?”
Helen’s perfectly arched brows flattened. “Someone left it propped against the door. Why? What does it say?”
“Nothing. It’s just…” I shook my head. “It’s nothing.”
Elena hopped up from her chair, her headphones around her neck and hand held out. “Let me see this ‘nothing.’ Do you have a secret admirer, Zadie?”
“No.” I gripped the paper at my side. “It’s really nothing.”
She snatched it out of my hand before I could move to stop her and read the note out loud. Then, with a bemused expression, she handed it back.
“Who’s D?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
I was almost certain I knew exactly who D was, and though it had been three weeks since I received my first note from him, I still couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe Drew had tracked me down after a blissfully long period of silence.
She shrugged. “Well, he writes terrible poetry, so I can already tell he’s not good enough for you. That’s not even mentioning the fact that he’s obviously a pussy if he can’t tell you to your face that he’s into you.”
I forced out a laugh. “Yeah. It’s kind of creepy too, don’t you think?”
“Total creep city,” she agreed. “If some kid left me weirdo poetry, I would laugh in his face if he ever got the guts to approach me. Then I’d hand him the origami middle finger I made out of it.”
This laugh, I didn’t have to force. Leave it to Elena to knock me out of my head and doomsday mood.
