Chapter 4: School Ride

After the hangout with her new colleagues was over, Lucy dropped Winter at her home as it was late. Winter expected to get scolded since it was past her curfew but was met with the deadly silence of the house. Even though it was nice not to get scolded, it was lonelier not having anyone wait for her at home. As if no one would care if she never came back and just died. "Of course, they can't be bothered when I actually come back home," Winter muttered under her breath with a bitter smile and quietly made her way upstairs to her bedroom. She freshened up and changed into her PJs. She was packing her things for her first day at school. It was going to be awkward since she would be starting her senior year in a foreign country after finishing three years back in Bangladesh. She has always achieved great results at her previous school since that was the only thing she could do by staying cooped up in her bedroom all day long. Her mother was very protective, thus she wouldn't let her out that much. She didn't even allow her to watch TV that much because apparently it has bad influences of other cultures. It was around midnight when her cell phone started ringing. A smile bloomed on her face seeing the contact number flashing on the screen. It was her friend, Kimi Khan —the only friend she had managed to make in her whole life, that too was only four months ago. Kimi was completely against the idea of her leaving for California. She even swore that she wouldn't ever talk to Winter. Winter pressed the phone to her ear and said, "So you finally decided to call me back." "Just so you know, I'm still mad at you," Kimi announced. Winter chuckled. "Then why did you call?" "Because I wanted to know what California is like, not because I was eager to talk to you," she retorted. "This place is weird as fuck. Don't ever come to settle here," Winter told her, speaking in the loudest tone she had used in a while. She dropped her usual polite nature and started chatting with Kimi freely. Her mother always taught her to be more feminine and act more gently in other's presence so that people would like her, which eventually resulted in her being an introvert. Also, due to her unusual pale facial features, she got bullied a lot back then. Kimi too used to ignore her, but when she got to know of her mom's death, she came to the funeral and comforted Winter. That's where their friendship started. It was through pity, she knew, but it was the effort put into it that was worth it. "Your colleagues sound really cool. What are they like individually?" Kimi inquired. "Lucy is very nice and cheerful. Leon is also good but very mischievous. And Zane is…" Winter didn't know how to describe him. "Zane isn't nice?" "No, no, he's nice too. I just don't know how to describe him in one word." Kimi's interest was piqued by Zane now. "Why? Does he make you feel butterflies in your stomach?" Winter could already feel Kimi smirking from overseas. "Shut up. It's not like that." "C'mon, tell me what it's like," Kimi cooed. "It's just that... I don't know how to communicate with him like a normal person. At least not after how I embarrassed myself in front of him in the pharmacy." "Get over it already. I'm sure this Zane guy also forgot it by now," Kimi tried to assure her. "He literally called me the tampon girl," Winter pointed out. Kimi laughed loudly. "Then you just call him the tampon boy," she retorted. "Your ideas are as trashy as always," Winter rebuked. "And please can we not talk about Zane right now?" "Okay, sure. Tell me about your father then." The two of them lost track of time as they gossiped. Winter didn't even realize the time until the orange sunlight peeked out from her window. Her school was starting that very day at 8 o'clock and she was yet to catch a glimpse of sleep. She decided to nap for a while before getting ready for school. But when did she ever wake up on time by going to bed after five? The alarm rang on time and successfully managed to blast the ears of the other house residents. But it failed to make Winter even flinch. Getting irritated by the loud alarm, David went to knock on her door. "If you're not going to wake up, at least turn off that damn alarm!" he hollered from outside. Winter only rolled over the bed and let out muffled sounds in response. "Wake up, you damn brat!" David yelled at the top of his lungs which made Winter fall off the bed. "Oww!" she winced as her face hit the floor. "Turn off the alarm!" Winter didn't even untangle her bedsheet from her feet and quickly reached out to turn off the alarm. David huffed in relief and went back downstairs. Winter relaxed and hugged her pillow, which had landed on the floor with her. Her eyes quickly opened wide when she noticed the time. It was half-past seven. She sprung up from the floor and dashed to the bathroom. She finished her morning duties in four minutes and put on her outfit, which was a long-sleeved blue top and black leggings. She grabbed her backpack and glanced at the mirror. She wore school uniforms her whole life—even if she hated them—so she felt weird not wearing one anymore. It wasn't the time to fret about the outfit; it was time to run like Usain Bolt. "When's the bus coming?" she asked Carla who was cleaning up the table. "It left half an hour ago," Carla informed. "What? Why didn't anyone call me?" "I did. But you didn't respond." "Ugh, where is the school?" Winter grumbled. Carla sighed and explained the routes to her. Winter thanked her and sprinted out of the house. It apparently took twenty minutes by foot at normal speed, so if she ran at her best, she could still make it in time. But it was easier said than done when you're in an unfamiliar place. Somehow, after five minutes she ended up in a shopping district. Carla didn't mention anything about it which probably meant she got lost. "Shit," Winter cursed under her breath and tried looking for someone who was heading for school as well. That's when, as if like an angel sent from heaven, a bicycle pressed the hard brake in front of her. "Hey, lost on your way to school?" A familiar voice heaved out. "Zane!" Winter let out in relief. "Oh thank God, I found you. I'm lost. Please can you tell me the way to Primrose High?" "Hop on. I'll drop you there. Primrose is right across my school," Zane offered, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Um, are you sure?" Winter hesitated. "Hurry up now, will you? I'm super late," he urged irritably. He seems to be in a bad mood, she thought. Winter bit her lips and sat on the backseat. Once she was settled, Zane took off. She was feeling extremely nervous. She never rode on the back of a bike. She was afraid that she would fall off and would cause a nasty accident, not to mention, once again embarrassing herself. It would be nice if she had somewhere to latch onto. She tried placing her hand on the seat beneath her but failed to. Then she glanced at Zane's back with a reluctant gaze. He chuckled all of a sudden and said, "You can hold onto me." Is he a mind-reader? Winter wondered. She nodded her head and shyly grabbed a fistful of his navy blue shirt, which made him chuckle a little more. At least he was in a better mood now. "You're going to get us in an accident if you continue laughing like that," she remarked with a pout. "Okay, okay," he said while nodding and focusing on cycling. He checked the time on his wristwatch and spoke up, "I'm going to take a rough shortcut now. Hold onto me tighter." Before she could even process his words, he pulled over in a small lane. For the sake of dear life, she wrapped her arm around his waist and let out a squeak. "Zane, please slow down!" she begged. "We're never going to make it in time unless I speed up," he replied. "I wanted to go to the school, not the hospital," she cried out. Zane laughed heartily and slowed down a little bit. Winter released a sigh as the road got more stable, yet she didn't let go of him. As she relaxed more, the breeze started to feel nice. "The weather's nice today, isn't it?" he commented, and she nodded with a faint smile, looking up at the clear blue sky and white clouds. When she looked back down, the smile on his face caught her attention. For some reason, seeing his hair fly along with the wind did something to her chest. To fill up the silence between them, also trying to distract herself from not staring at him, she asked, "Why are you late? Did you also oversleep like me?" The smile on Zane's face dropped as a dark shadow fell over his face. He only shook his head in response. "Then?" "My mother got sick in the morning," he said in a taut voice. "Is she okay now?" she asked him immediately in concern. He again shook his head and stated, "She's been ill for a long time." He paused for a while and took a sharp breath before speaking up again, "She has lung cancer." Winter's heart dropped hearing that. She could have never guessed his mother had cancer. Behind his kind smile, there was sadness that she couldn't see until now. "Is that why you're doing a part-time job?" Of course, he would need a huge sum of money to get his mother proper treatments. Zane simply nodded. "It must be hard for you. I understand," she murmured and he just hummed in reply. "I have already lost my mother, but I hope your mom lives for a long time." "I hope so too." Zane forced a smile on his face. "I'm trying my best. It won't be long before I can afford her operation money." Hearing how hard Zane was working for the sake of his mother, Winter realized how shallow she was. I was never even bothered about her, she thought. She wasn't able to become a good daughter. Even before her mother died, she was such a horrible daughter who never did anything for her. She only caused her pain by being such a burden. They were right. I'm selfish. So very selfish. No one would ever love me. Even my own mom could not. Zane noticed how Winter fell silent all of a sudden. He glanced over his shoulder to look at her face, only to find tears streaming down her pale cheeks. He didn't know why his heart clenched at that sight. Subconsciously, Winter rested her head on the back of his shoulder and tightened her grip on his waist, letting the negative thoughts in her head run wild. He wanted to know the actual reason behind her sadness. It seemed more than just the death of her mom. There was something more to it. Something that was haunting her. Yet, he decided to stay quiet. Because sometimes it was better to just offer a shoulder to cry on, rather than giving a meaningless speech—especially when he was unaware of her situation. Even so, he couldn't just let her cry all the way to school. "Hey, did you have breakfast?" Zane asked her. "No," came out her curt reply. He slowed down and shuffled through his backpack. He passed something over his shoulder to her. She rubbed the back of her palm on her face before taking it from him. It was a packaged croissant. "It will be a long time before the lunch break, so you should eat something," he told her. Winter tore apart the packet with a blank expression. As she took a bite from it, she asked in a quiet voice, "Why are you so nice to me, Zane?" Zane smiled softly and said, "I don't know myself." It was the truth. He didn't know. He just felt an unexplainable connection to her.