“I remember,” Persha says, pulling himself off the door.
In usual fashion, she doesn’t say anything, her eyes never leaving his, like she was waiting for him to do something, react some way.
“Thank you for helping me…
again,” he says quietly, “and…
about that night…
I just want to let you know, I’m not angry.
You were trying to help, and I’m grateful you did.”
He breathes out, shifting his gaze to stare at her.
“Yeah…
it’s fine,” she says.
There it was again, that look, like she wants him to do something.
“Okay….”
If she would just tell him why she keeps making that face.
And that was it.
He turns around and leaves, thanking her one last time.
***
“What~” Persha whined.
He and Baylee were walking back to their dorms.
“What do you mean, what?
You were drugged, she helped you, that’s all.
That doesn’t mean she’s into you,” Baylee says, trying to make Persha understand.
“Marcel is a motherfucker.
I’d give him a piece of my mind,” he says.
“Don’t bother, I handled it already,” Persha says, his hands dragging down his face.
“She likes me….
I see it in her eyes,” Persha adds.
Baylee sighs as they step into the elevator to get to their floor.
“Persha, I love you, and I’d tell you nothing but the truth,” he says, his hands on Persha’s shoulders, hoping to get it through his best friend’s skull.
“Zabi is not someone that gets into relationships.
Give up.”
It was brutal, sure.
Watching the way his friend’s face falls into sadness.
“She’s one thing you can’t have, Persh.
Not because you can’t get her…
but because she can’t be gotten.”
The elevator dings, signaling their arrival.
Baylee opens the door with his card.He drifts somewhere inside the room.
Persha takes off his clothes, grabbing his robe and walking into the bathroom.
He runs the water into the tub, pouring his scent into the water and watching it dissolve.
By the time he’s done brushing his teeth, the tub is filled.
He sinks into the water, sighing as the warmth sinks into his muscles, a satisfying stretch that makes him moan.
His eyes stay closed for a while, his mind filled with thoughts, and a certain someone.
Zabi.
He’s accepted the fact that he’s androsexual.
Zabi likes him.
He’d seen it in her eyes.
But someone like Zabi is closed off, socially constipated, and would never confess her feelings.
So he did the next good idea that popped up in his mind.
He asked for advice.
***
“Persha, pacing my classroom won’t help me know why you’re here,” Elena says.
He had gone looking for her, hoping she’d know how he could get to Zabi since it looked like they knew each other.
“I’m waiting for you to be done…
with whatever you’re doing,” he says, eyeing the pile of papers on her desk.
She looks up from the script she was engrossed in earlier, making eye contact with him.
“I suggest you start talking, because this would take all day, love.”
Persha slows down his pacing before taking the seat opposite her.
“How long have you known Zabi?”
Elena pauses.
“Zabi?
That’s sudden.
Why are you asking?” she says, her face twisting in surprise.
“Well…
um…
remember that day you sent me to hand over her bag?”
Elena nods.
“Well…
we’ve somehow been involved since…
then,” he adds.
“What?
You and Zabi?” Elena asks.
She drops her pen now.
He’d successfully grabbed her attention.
“Both of you are fucking?” she asks.
Persha gasps in surprise.
“Oh my God, no…
no, not like that.
I mean we’ve been…
crossing paths lately…
and, you know…
things have happened…”
He trails off, watching Elena’s face carefully.
“Okay…
so what’s the problem?” she asks.
“Look, if you want my advice, which I know is why you’re here, I need more than that,” she says, sighing.
and she likes me too.”
The room is quiet for a while, both of them just staring at each other.
“Elena…
say something.”
And then she laughs, loud and mocking.
“Persha, baby, come on.
Abort mission.
That’s my advice.”
She says.
“What?
Why?
What’s so bad in being with Zabi?
Baylee said the same thing.
Now you.
You guys paint her to be some kind of scary monster, and that’s not fa—”
He rants.
“Hey, hey, don’t get me wrong.
This is for your own good.
Zabi doesn’t have any history of a relationship since she started at the school.
She’s not a relationship person from what I’ve seen, and she’s…
mean.
Like, very mean.
Trust me, you don’t want that.”
She says, her eyes drifting back to the paper on her desk.
“She looks at me like she likes me too, and I don’t mind actually,” he adds quietly.
“Persha…
I thought you were gay.
What changed?
And why Zabi of all people?
She’s vague as hell and controlling.
We aren’t all that close.
Apart from council meetings, I don’t know her that well, but I’ve heard rumors about her and her brother.
She’s not someone you want to get involved with.”
She says, looking at him.
She sees the disappointment in his eyes, rethinking her approach.
She clears her throat, adjusting herself in her seat.
“Look, someone like Zabi needs a lot of time and patience to deal with, from my woman perspective,” she says, air quoting.
“I can’t tell you about her.
That’s something you’d have to pry out of her yourself, but I wish you good luck though.”
She says, going back to what she was doing.
Persha sinks into his seat, his head leaning on the chair headrest as he stares at the ceiling.
He was going to shoot his shot.
He’d desired something new, and he must get it.