I enter my mum’s enormous home office.

She’s standing in front of the glass wall, staring at the clear

blue water outside. She looks lost in thoughts so I stand in front of her mahogany desk.

“You called for me” I say snapping her out of her thoughts.

She turns around, her eyes meets mine and she holds my gaze for an added moment. She walks to her
chair and sit down. She places her hands on the desk, clasping her hand together. “Your driver, Mr
Rogers is no longer working for us and you might be expecting me to hire someone else but I won’t” she
starts.

She leans forward looking with serious eyes “I’m going to return your keys to you. I hope you won’t do
anything stupid. Can I count on you?” She asks.

I smile gratefully “yes mum” I nod.

She picks the keys from her desk and hands to me. I take it from her hand “thanks” I tell her. “Is there
something else you wanted to tell me?” I ask.

“Yes, I’ll be leaving for a trip today and I honestly don’t know when I’d be back” she leans back. “But
regardless of my absence I want you to keep practicing. You must” she tells me with no emotion at all.

I decide to stay calm.…for a while. “When are you leaving?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.

She looks at her wrist watch, then returns her gaze to me “in a few minutes”

I nod “of course. And you’re just telling me this now. Shouldn’t you have told me sooner? You always do
this. Sometimes you don’t even tell me before leaving. What an amazing mother you are. Do you even
realize that you have a child who has feelings and not a puppet or a robot?” my voice is firm and my
anger is undeniable.

She looks at me unshaken, like all I had said meant nothing. After staring at me for a moment, she speaks
up “listen Zara, I have a lot on my mind. And I do not want to discuss this or argue with you. I said all I
needed to so now you may leave. And please check if Tara has arranged everything I need and put them
in the car. Thank you” she says.

I shake my head “I don’t know why I thought that talking to you would change anything” I storm out of
the office angrily. It’s always the same old story.

I watch my mum through my bedroom window as she walks into the car while talking to someone on the
phone. Sure she has a lot of work but the least she can do is make time for me.

I angrily close the curtain and walk out of my room. I sit on the couch.

I take the remote and switch on the TV. I scroll through a ton of movies and finally settle on one. It’s an
Irish movie about a girl that moved to a new city with her mum and starts attending a new school. She
tries to make friends but makes enemies in the process but her mum alwayss helps her. Everytime she
feels sad, her mum always comfort her. That’s the type of relationship I wish I had with my mum.

The movie is so emotional that now I’m crying. But I’m not crying because it’s emotional, I’m crying
because I’m sad. I’m sad that I don’t have a mother that cares about how I feel, or one that’d console me
when I cry. I’m sad that when ever I feel sad my mum can’t be there for me. Sometimes I wish I could tell
her all my worries, everything that burdens me and she would hug me and tell me everything will be
fine. Like my father always did.

But now he’s no more and I feel all alone. I feel worse that Dave is gone. And I just wish he was here to
keep me company but I also feel terrible for wishing that. Goodness, my head hurts.

I pick up my phone and check the time. It’s still 4:15 so I decide to go to for a walk so I can clear my mind.
Then maybe I can go to the university and practice some dance moves before coming back.

I go to my room to put on shoes and then walk out of the house.

I enter the school and walk around. I hear faint guitar sound so I walk towards the direction of the
sound. I enter the storage room and find a boy sitting on the floor, playing a sad tune on his guitar. I can’t
see his face, all I see is his blonde hair.
He stops playing the guitar and just rests his head on it and sobs. I walk closer to him. I go on my knees
when I’m in front of him and place a hand on his shoulder.

He raises his head to look at me and I must admit, he is gorgeous with adorable ocean blue eyes. His
eyes are dull, filled with sadness.

He looks away “who are you? What are you doing here? Are you spying on me?” He asks bitterly.

I remove my hand from his shoulder. “Of course not. I was passing by and I heard the sound of your
guitar so I came to see who it was. Besides, I’m surprised you don’t know me but that also tells me that
you’re new. Anyways my name is Zara. What’s yours?” I ask politely.

He slowly turns to look at me. ”I’m Xavier. And I’m sorry for how I spoke. I’m just not in a good mood” he
says.

I smile “well, it’s nice to meet you Xavier” I stretch out my hand and he shakes it. I sit on the floor in
front of him.

“I feel like I have seen your face somewhere” he says musingly. He looks up at me and gasp “I remember,
you’re Zara Whyte, the daughter of Isabelle Whyte. I’ve watched videos from your performances and
you’re amazing. You have the voice of an angel" he says before realizing what he’s saying. “Hope I didn’t
say to much?” He asks with a bit of embarrassment.

I smile “no you didn’t, it’s fine. And I’m glad you think that of my voice” I say. “If I may ask, what’s the
matter, why were you crying?” I ask. “It’s totally okay if you don’t want to talk about it” I add.

He sighs “it’s just that this school has always been my dream school, and now I am here but I feel like I
don’t deserve to be here. Lately I’ve been terrible at everything and I don’t understand what’s
happening. I never expected it to be so hard”

“I totally understand where you’re coming from. You’re scared and there’s a lot of pressure on you but
you have to take it easy on yourself. And you have to get rid of this fear because it’ll hold you back.” I
place my hand on his knee “don’t be hard on yourself, these things take time but you’ll get there and if
you need help I’m more than happy to do so” I tell him.
He looks at me without saying anything for a while. Suddenly, he hugs me. Stunned, I freeze. He keep on
holding me while crying. I don’t move, I don’t say a word, I just let him hold me.

He lets go of me, looking away. “I’m sorry about that, I got carried away” he apologies without looking at
me.

I stand up to my feet. “It’s fine. No worries” I tell him. I take my phone out of my pocket and check the
time. It’s 5:59 right now and I still want to practice.

“I have to go now but I’ll see you around” I say.

He gets up and his shadow eclipses mine. “Are you going home?” He asks.

I shake my head. “No, I was going to practice some dance moves before I go home. Why do you ask?”

He scratches the back of his neck. “Well, I was thinking probably I could take you to a restaurant and we
can get to know each other.”

“Oh” is all I’m able to say.

“But it’s alright. Since you’re going to dance, how about you teach me some partner dances. I’m terrible
at that so it’ll be great if you’d help me”

I slowly nod my head “I could help you with that” I start. “But probably another day. I’m sorry” I say.

He exhales slowly “it’s fine if you don’t want to help me. Sorry if I asked to much” he says with a low
voice.

“No, I do want to help you but not just today” I say. “How about…Friday noon? I could teach you by
then.”
He smiles. “Cool. I’ll be there but don’t break my heart by not showing up”

“I promise, I’ll show up”

I walk out of the school. It dark now and I’m extremely exhausted, I feel like I can fall asleep at any
minute. I sit on a bench and check my phone to see when the bus will arrive. I see that it’s been delayed
and going to come in fifty minutes. That’s a long time. I hope I don’t fall asleep.

My head hits the street light causing me to wake up. I can’t believe I actually fell asleep. I pick my phone
to check how much longer it’ll take the bus to arrive. I squint my eyes to see my phone screen. It’ll take
thirty minutes.

The smell of alcohol and cigarette hits my nose. I look beside me and see a blurry figure. I rub my eyes
and the figure becomes clearer. It’s a drunk man.

“Hi baby” he starts talking. “What on earth is an angel like you doing here. Come with me, let me give
you want someone as beautiful as you deserve” he comes closer to me.

I get up and start walking away. I feel him follow me. He grabs my hand and spin me around. “Let go of
me” I say sleepily trying to wiggle my hand out of his but he tightens his grip on me.

The more I wiggle my hand, the more he tightens his grip. “Where do you think you’re going baby?” He
grins.

A fist meets his cheek and he tumbles to the ground, saying a string of curses.

I look up to my savior to see a dark beauty, or so I thought. I rub my eyes and see Alan standing right in
front of me.
“Come on” he says, taking my hand. I flinch and he immediately let’s go of my hand. He inspects it to find
a bright red scar.

He slightly shakes his head. He places his hand on the small of my back and leads me to his car. He opens
the door for me and I enter. In few minutes, he’s sitting in the driver’s seat.

He takes a look at me, trying to ensure my safety. “what were you thinking walking on the streets this
late at night” he asks.

“I didn’t finish practice on time and the bus was delayed. I didn’t mean to” I say softly, trying to keep my
eyes open.

He lets out a sigh. “What’s your address?” He asks Calmly.

I tell him and he nods, roaring the car to life. He heads to my house and I sit quietly in the car.

I turn my head to observe him. I can see how worried he was. “I’m sorry about what I said yesterday” I
start, breaking the silence.

“What does it matter now? Let’s forget about.” He says indifferently.

“But I can’t—” I start but stop myself mid way. I wanted to tell him how I’d love to be friends, and get to
know him too but it’s best I don’t.

I turn my head away from him and towards the window, watching buildings pass by.

“I wish we didn’t have to do this” he starts.

I turn slowly to look at him. “Me too” I melt down. I really can’t help it. I don’t know why but I want to
get to know him