Chapter 44: "High School Blame"

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First draft: August 8, 2020

Before Salma could get her bearings back and ask Zayn what was going on, they were already within earshot. Salma watched anxiously as Scarlett's eyes ran all over her and her expressions changed from a friendly smile to skeptical, incredulous and confused.

Salma felt Zayn pulling her closer as they came to a halt. Scarlett's eyes snapped to Zayn questioningly.

"That was a really short visit," Zayn said.

"Yeah," she said in a distracted sort of a way, her eyes lingering back on Salma. "Lee was asleep. So . . ."

"Right." Zayn nodded, then patted Salma's shoulder. "I believe ya'll haven't met before. Bee, this Scarlett, my lawyer.

"Hi." Salma smiled, offering her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And Scarlett, this is Bee, my . . ." Zayn trailed off, turning to Salma.

Salma was strangely aware of Scarlett eyeing Zayn with a raised brow.

"Heart and soul," Zayn finished in all seriousness.

Salma died a little with embarrassment. So she was Bee, his heart and soul. Lovely!

"I'm Salma," Salma provided, strangely aware of Zayn's amusement. "His fiancé."

Scarlett blinked at the word 'fiancé', then quickly recovered and shook Salma's hand.

"It's a pleasure." She smiled before turning to Zayn with a comical look. "You didn't tell me you were engaged, you sneak! When did this happen?"

"I didn't know I was engaged," Zayn replied. "Just found out."

Salma turned to him wide-eyed. Zayn chuckled.

"What? I considered us married already. We're still not there?" he asked mocking ignorance.

Or was he? Maybe he was reminding her that they were indeed married, not just engaged.

"No," Salma replied flatly.

"Ouch!" Scarlett laughed.

"You just embarrassed me in front of my lawyer," Zayn muttered under-breath.

"And why did you felt the need to show off in front of your lawyer?" Salma mumbled back.

"Because he knows I had a huge crush on him back in high school," Scarlett said, eyeing Zayn fondly. "Man, those were the days . . . Until they were ruined, that is. You really should have saved yourself a lot of trouble and chosen me over that blonde shitter."

Salma felt uncomfortable, realising Scarlett was talking about Lenny and their high school history. She sneaked a glance at Zayn. He smiled ruefully at the red-head and looked away.

"You deserved better than my crap, Scar," he replied.

"Damn straight brother!" Scarlett returned. "I got the best in Tobias!"

"I'm happy for you." Zayn smiled at her.

"Me too." Scarlett smiled earnestly, looking genuinely happy as she looked at them. "I'm glad you found someone. Congratulations on the engagement and good luck."

"Thank you," Salma and Zayn replied together.

"Anyway, enough talk. Let's get to work!" the lawyer rubbed her hands together.

The three of them walked towards the lawn and settled on the benches. Salma mostly stayed quiet as she let the two discuss Louisa's situation. It seemed Scarlett already knew quite a bit about Derek and Louisa's problem as she pulled her laptop and starting adding updates to the file she had on the junior.

Salma realized the lawyer was totally different to what she had heard about her. She was nice and friendly, quite outgoing and very professional. Salma had trouble adding this mature and well-behaved adult to the cruel and selfish bully that she was supposed to have been just a few years ago. Perhaps she grew up and over Zayn? Maybe she once was a horrible person but now, she had toned it down. Whatever it was, the fact that she was once physically abusive, and that she was still on quite the friendly terms with man who her cousin believed was to blame for her brother's death was baffling.

Salma was pulled out of her thoughts by her phone beeping with a text. It was Sarah.

Sarah: I'm leaving. I have a class in an hour. What are you plans?

Sarah: Louisa wants to leave too.

Salma watched Zayn engrossed in a discussion with Scarlett. They did not look like they would be able to wrap the meeting anytime soon, and Salma was not sure if she should just leave without saying anything. That would be impolite. And yet, she decided not to interrupt them.

Salma: You guys can leave.

Salma: Zayn's busy right now. He is meeting his legal counsel regarding Louisa.

Salma hit 'send', then bit her lip and started typing quickly.

Salma: Don't tell her though.

Salma: I don't know if Zayn would want her to know.

She held her breath waiting for Sarah's reply.

Sarah: Okay.

Salma heaved a sigh of relief.

Sarah: What about you?

Salma glanced at the two still immersed in their various legal arguments. She could not leave anyway. She had to inform her security of any move she had to make so either Spogmae or whoever was watching over her could tag or follow along to keep a watchful eye on everything.

Salma: I have to stay

Salma: Shadow protocol.

Sarah replied almost immediately.

Sarah: Got it. See you around.

Texting a quick reply, Salma locked her phone and turned to the two.

"Well that decides it then," Zayn said. "I'll keep you posted."

Salma realized their meeting was coming to a close. She quickly informed her security of her intentions to leave for the university in a while.

"I will, once again, warn you to be careful with the hacking and encryption business," Scarlett said as she packed her laptop. "This whole thing can backfire if it is traced back to you. Try to talk the girl into pressing charges instead of getting involved in potential cybercrime."

"Got it," Zayn replied.

Salma and Zayn stood up as Scarlett took her leave. They started tracing their steps back to the parking lot in silence. There was a lot going on in Salma's mind and she was grateful that Zayn did not insist on holding hands or initiating any sorts of an interaction otherwise. They headed to his car. Zayn held open the passenger door for her.

"Thank you," Salma muttered, taking a seat.

When Zayn took a seat behind the wheel and shut his door did it struck Salma. She was sharing a ride with Zayn now that Louisa and Sarah were gone. Alone.

Her heart skipped a beat. Her breathing became abnormal and skin crawled.

"Where to?" Zayn asked.

"For a while," Salma said, doing her best to keep it casual. "Nowhere."

Zayn turned to her.

"We wait," Salma replied with a sigh. "I need to get a security clearance notification before I can be on the move again."

Zayn was quiet for a while processing what she had just said. Then he let out a breath and sat back.

"I see," he replied. "I did not know you had to follow through with so many protocols."

"I can wait inside --"

"I'll come with you," Zayn said.

Salma turned to him, caught off guard. Zayn just smiled.

"I'm not leaving without you," he said simply.

Salma looked away from his earnest gaze. The space inside the car felt small. He was too close. Her cheeks warmed up.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't mention it," Zayn replied casually. "So how much time does it take to get a clearance?"

"Under normal conditions, if it's a known location like home or the campus, ten minutes max," Salma replied. "Other places could take several hours to days."

"You got clearance before we came here too?"

"Yeah, early in the morning," Salma replied. "I had a feeling we'd be visiting the hospital. Jason also hinted to taking Louisa for a follow up so I let them know we might be coming here. I just had to let them know I was on the move when you told us to tag along."

Salma was oddly aware of Zayn watching her with a strange expression on his face.

"That's sounds troublesome and annoyingly restrictive," he said after a while.

Was he feeling sorry for her?

"It sometimes is," Salma agreed.

A silence settled between them. An uneasy, awkward silence. Salma restlessly checked her phone. The faster she could get the green signal, the quicker she would get out of this unsettling solitude with Zayn.

"You have questions," he said out of blue.

Salma's hand froze over her phone. She turned to him to see him looking out of his side of the window. Feeling her eyes on him, he gave her a side glance.

"I was hoping you'd ask whatever is bothering you without me prompting you to do it," Zayn said.

Salma turned back to her phone, staring at the security app aimlessly.

"I asked once," she replied. "You took me to your lawyer in response. I'm not sure if it's my place to insist on knowing if you don't wish to share."

Zayn turned to face her fully.

"Of course it's your place to insist on it," he said earnestly. "We're no longer two strangers stuck in a forest - to put it into your word. You're my fiancé, remember?"

A laugh escaped her lips at his words.

"You're never letting this go, are you?" Salma bit back a smile.

"No," Zayn grinned.

Salma sobered up as the silence returned once again.

"What happened to the kid that died?" she asked. "Why did Lena think you were responsible for his death?"

Zayn sighed, taking a few moments to collect his thoughts.

"His name was Carmen walker," he said. "Gifted kid. Very popular. Unfortunately for him, he had to go to school to Tanta Bay High."

"My high school was notorious for drug abuse," Zayn continued. "The majority of the student body was divided into kids who were addicted to drugs and kids who sold them. Some were messed up enough to do both. Those who did neither were very few. Carmen was a winger on the soccer team --"

"Football," Salma corrected on impulse.

Zayn raised an amused brow.

"Nothing," Salma said embarrassed. "Please continue."

He laughed at her silliness before continuing.

"He was a winger on the football team," he corrected himself, making Salma go red with embarrassment again. "He was heavily into drugs, the lead cheerleader sold them, everybody knew. It was a norm in that school. I mostly kept to myself back then, but since Carmen was on the team, very talented and a good kid, I would talk to him here and there, about games and strategy and stuff. Once we were alone in the lockers room and he crashed after puking his guts out. It terrified me. I later found out he was now using hard drugs. Worried, I tried to warn his family. Carmen laughed it off when his parents confronted him, and since he was such an accomplished kid, they believed him, thinking it was a prank someone had played. His sister was smart enough to know something wasn't right and that I had been the one sending the anonymous warning."

"Scarlett Walker," Salma said softly.

"Exactly." Zayn nodded. "Scarlett Walker is Carmen's sister. They were very close. She went batshit crazy when her brother OD'd. It's that pain that she still carries that made her pursue law and actively fight against drug traders. She's still young but drug abuse cases are the only ones she's focusing on and she's getting really good at it too."

"Why did Lena blame you?" Salma asked. Lena's behaviour still did not fit anywhere.

"Lena is Scarlett's cousin," Zayn said. "She used to visit the family in Tanta Bay and was familiar with all of us. She loved Carmen and he dotted on her a lot. I'm not sure why she thinks I had anything to do with Carmen's death. My best guess is he might have expressed his frustrations with me to her at some point, I don't know. I can't think of Carmen and me having an argument or an issue, so I'm just as confused as the next person. She still feels his loss, I suppose. Maybe she thinks I should have done more to help him."

Salma chewed on her lip. Almost every piece was puzzle was back in its place except one. Lenny. Salma could not figure out why Scarlett would hate on her. Was it because both of them liked Zayn? Obviously, it was just that, but --

Salma was not sure how to bring the subject up. Lenny was obviously a triggering subject for Zayn, not to mention the person who had told her about the Lenny-Scarlett rivalry. Will. So far as Salma remembered, Zayn was so upset about Will telling her the story about Lenny that he had pretended to slit his wrist just to set the record straight. Salma shivered, as the memory of that night burned white hot in her mind, shaking her very soul.

"What're you thinking about?" Zayn's voice cut through her mental rambling.

Salma almost jumped. She took in a few deep breaths, trying to get her mind out of the gutter.

"I don't understand," Salma began.

"What about?"

"I was told about Scarlett having an issue with . . . another student in your school," Salma ended up saying, avoiding to say either Will or Lenny's name. "I heard she was physically abusive and a bully. It doesn't add up to the person I've just met. Was it after her brother's death?"

Zayn regarded her shrewdly for a few seconds.

"Lenny," he said softly, his eyes fixed on Salma's. The grim look in them made Salma's gut knot up. "You're talking about Lenny, isn't it?"

Salma swallowed her discomfort.

"Yes," she replied.

"She wasn't to blame," Zayn said.

His words confused Salma. She had never said Lenny had done anything wrong. It was odd that Zayn defended the girl before even telling her what she might have done? Salma kept her opinions to herself though.

"So Scarlett just needed a punch bag?" she said.

"Lenny was on the cheerleading team," Zayn explained. "Carmen liked her but Lenny was not interested."

Salma knew why. She liked Zayn.

"During our senior year, Lenny agreed to go out with him," Zayn continued. "A few months later, Carmen died overdosing. Scarlett had found out Lenny was involved with drugs. She blamed her. The whole school turned on her. Hypocrites, the lot of them. Almost everyone was abusing or selling drugs and suddenly, Lenny was the only evil they knew of. I found myself defending her because it was unfair that they blamed her. I knew she didn't get Carmen on drugs. It was the other way around. He introduced her to drugs."

"Did you tell Scarlett?"

"Of course I did," Zayn replied. "Scarlett didn't listen or didn't care. She was hurt and she wanted revenge. In fact, in her redhead, I was caught in the 'Lenny trap' and needed saving. She had started beating Lenny up for being with me. Scarlett thought, after her brother, I was Lenny's next prey."

In a way, you were . . .

The thought crossed Salma's mind out of nowhere. She found it surprising. Had she absentmindedly started looking out for Zayn?

"That's one messed up story," she said quietly. "I'm glad Scarlett made it out of that hell-hole."

Zayn pursed his lip, nodding in agreement.

"And you too," Salma added.

Zayn smiled.

"Yeah, you wouldn't have had a fiancé otherwise," he teased.

"Get out of here!" Salma turned away from him.

Zayn laughter was cut short by the beep of her phone. Salma read the security notification. It said her parents were in the hospital to visit Lena's family so she was to go back home with them.

Salma became restless.

"Anything wrong?" Zayn frowned

"No," she replied. "My parents are here to visit Lena. I had no clue they were coming."

"Is that bad?"

"Not really," Salma replied. "I have to go though. I am to go back with them."

Zayn deflated. Salma gave him a tight smile, ignoring his visible disappointment.

"I'll see you around," she said, unlocking the door and getting out. "Thank you for offering a ride."

Salma had barely taken a step or two when Zayn called her, making her halt.

"Bee!"

He unlocked his door and got out of the car.

"What?" Salma frowned.

"Just err . . ." Zayn tapped his fingers against the open door of the car, struggling. "I just wanted to say, thank you."

Salma raised her eyebrows.

"For?" she asked, amused by his obvious unease.

"Everything," Zayn said after a moment's thought. "Thank you for everything."

Salma almost laugh. His elaboration, elaborated nothing.

"I'm not sure what I'm being thanked for, but 'pleasure', I guess." She chuckled, then waved at him, smiling. "I have to go."

"Can I maybe --" Zayn began then cut off, considering his words carefully. "Would you mind if I hugged you?"

Salma froze.

"I just really, really want to hug you."

Salma swallowed, holding her breath. Okay what?

The way he asked, seemed so innocent. Like a child asking for a chocolate chip cookie, desperately craving one but scared that the adult would refuse.

Salma released a slow breath as he waited for her response.

"Would it be an everyday thing?"

"No," Zayn promptly replied. "No, I just really feel - you've been really nice to me and I, well, I just want to --"

"Hug it out?" Salma provided.

Kid. Chocolate chip cookie. That is all she could of as Zayn struggled with his words.

"Well," Zayn chuckled awkwardly. "Yes. Just that."

Salma almost smiled.

"Alright, then," she replied, walking towards him.

Zayn looked like a kid getting a hundred times the usual Eidi from previously unimagined sources as he engulfed her in a bear hug the moment he could.

Salma felt her heart beat skyrocketing as his arms encircled her. He pulled her close, his biceps flexing against her body and chin burying in the folds of her scarf. The hug itself would not have been so unfamiliar, in fact, she was surprised to find herself oddly at home in his arms, but the amount of unspoken emotions he was channeling through the embrace had her tense up and hold her breath. Salma was not sure if she would have to ask him to let her go or he would realize at some time that he had to stop squeezing her closer.

"Thank you, Bee," he whispered again, then chuckled. "I really wish I could just stay like this forever."

"I think I get that," Salma replied, her voice somewhat strained. "But I need to breathe."

Zayn's chest rumbled with a laugh, vibrating right through Salma's erratic heart. She felt him loosening his arms around her.

Salma took in a huge breath, taking a small step away from him.

"I appreciate you realising I need oxygen." She tried to joke to distract herself from the slight tremble raking over her.

"Sorry," he said, embarrassed.

"If it's over, I have to go now," she replied. He was still holding onto her upper arms, unwilling to let go.

"Right," he said, pulling away. "I'll see you around."

"See you." She smiled, then quickly turned around to leave.

She could still feel the ghost of his arms around her, and it felt oddly warm, yet uneasy.

Author's Note:

So they behaved like mature adults and talked through their misunderstandings😅. Also, a hugabear🥰😋.

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Lots of Love

J.