April stared at me for a long moment, probably scrutinizing my features. Zach and I had no common feature. My blond hair was a different shade. My eyes were golden, his were blue, like my parents’, which actually made me look adopted. Not only that. I felt adopted too. There was a huge difference in the way my parents treated us. Even when we were kids. My mother adored him. My father was training him to be his successor. He drove a luxury sports car; my parents didn’t even ask if I knew how to drive so they could get me my own car. We both attended the concert in Charleston. Zach probably paid for Kenzo and Mike’s tickets. Jessie paid for mine. I roomed with my friends in a three-star motel. Zach had his own suite in a five-star hotel near the concert grounds. I went home on a train that took fourteen hours. Zach came home on a domestic flight.
He was the adopted one. Actually, he’s not even adopted anymore because the courts nullified all that when his father protested his adoption, stating he was never informed of his existence by his biological mother. When the court took him away from us, my parents never recovered from their grief. Their marriage started crumbling, but they never acknowledged it. They sent me away because they couldn’t be bothered by me at all.
“Are you serious?” April asked me.
I nodded. “But one of us is adopted, I’m sure.”
“That explains why you don’t look alike,” she said. “That’s sad. I actually thought you look great together.”
I know. I’m sad too.
Damn! I should stop these thoughts about me and Zach because we were no longer going to happen!
***
Last period, I had library work. I did all my homework and worked on my economics paper. The cute student assistant helped with a lot of the books I needed for this. He came in handy since my partner backed out on me.
“I’m Eric, by the way,” he said, extending his hand to me.
I shook it. “Blaire.”
“Nice to meet you, Blaire,” he said. “Well, my shift is almost over. What other books do you need, I’ll go pick them up now.”
By the end of the day, I borrowed six books from the library. Eric came up to me and offered to carry the books for me.
“It’s really not necessary,” I said.
“No, no, I don’t mind. I’m headed out anyway,” he insisted.
“All right. Thanks.”
“So, you’re a freshman? New in town?”
“I grew up here, and then my parents sent me to London. I came back a couple of months ago. You?”
“Junior,” he replied. “I lived here most of my life. I’m taking up arts. How about you? I’m guessing you’re taking up economics? You want to run for politics someday? I mean, you seem to be taking up aggregate economics seriously.”
“No. I’m taking up business. And I have no intention of running for politics. This is just for a paper.”
We reached the front steps of the main entrance. I looked up at the skies. The clouds were turning dark once again, like sending me a message to run and hide. Storm was coming and, along with it, thunder.
“Do you need a ride?” Eric asked me.
Before I could open my mouth to respond, a booming voice said behind us, “She already has a ride!”
I turned around and found Zachary approaching us. He gave Eric a very antagonizing look.
“Are those yours?” he asked me.
I could only nod.
“Give me those!” Zachary took the books from Eric’s arms. “Now, you may go! And I hope this is the last time I see you hanging around with her. I’m not a very patient guy. Unforgiving too.”
Eric raised his hands in the air. “Sorry, chief.” Then he turned to me. “You should come with a warning sign that says, ‘I have a jealous boyfriend’.”
Then he strode off.
“I’ll remember that advice… when I do get a boyfriend!” I said, glaring at Zachary. “What the hell are you doing?”
He looked at me innocently. “What?”
I stared at him angrily. “You told him to stay away from me! Why?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, were you gonna let him inside your pants?” he asked in a sarcastic tone. “Let me call him. Tell him there was a misunderstanding. And while I’m at it, why don’t I ask him out for you?”
I couldn’t make out the expression on his face. It was serious, hard, and also a bit stoic. I couldn’t tell whether he was mad or not.
I glared at him again. He continued staring at me with an eyebrow raised.
“Give me my books!” I finally said and stepped forward to grab the books from his arms.
But he was too fast for me. He yanked the books out of the way. “I’m not going to let you carry these,” he said. “Come on, let’s go home!”
He walked down the steps, carrying my books with one hand. I walked behind him silently, glaring at his back. Who did he think he was? He completely ignored me for the past two months and specifically told me to stay out of his way. And today, I found out that he’d been threatening my designated academic partners in the past months and then he shooed the first guy I had a real conversation within months.
We reached his car. He opened the passenger car door for me and waited for me to get in. I glared at him one last time before I got inside the car.
We drove in silence for five minutes. And then I couldn’t stand it anymore. I turned to him and said, “What’s your problem, Zachary? How could you do that to Eric?”
“So, he has a name,” he said sarcastically.
“He was just being nice! He works at the library, and he helped me with my research!”
“They’re all nice in the beginning, baby girl,” he said. “Until they get what they want from you.”
“Is that why you threatened the last two guys who were assigned to be my partner?”
“I’m not admitting to that,” he replied instead.
“Are you denying that you asked them to stay away from me? The way you asked Eric to stay away from me?”
“I’m not denying that either,” he said.
I stared back at him in disbelief. “Why?”
He stared at me with a sober expression on his face. Then he sighed and said, “You wanted me to be your big brother, right? So, this is me being exactly that.”
“You mean overprotective, arrogant, and a pain in the ass?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “That’s what big brothers do, baby girl. I’m no exception. Especially if it means stopping guys from getting to you.”
“I didn’t see you having that opinion the other night,” I muttered, staring at the view from the window.
“Well, I didn’t,” he said. “But you made it clear you don’t want me to be something else.”
I stared back at him. Then I took a deep breath and asked, “Did you want to be?”