Wizard of Oz || Zuo Hang✓

Thirty-Two

Mrs. Hang opened the door for Vicky that Saturday, but this time she was quite relieved to see Vicky. Zuo hadn't been himself lately, he wasn't coming out of his room and it worse than usual. Mrs. Hang knew what was happening to him, but she didn't know what to say at this point. He was continually sad no matter how much she tried to comfort him.

'Hello Mrs. Hang, can I see Zuo?' Vicky announced.

'Yes I'm kind of glad you're here, he's not very fine.' Zuo's mother told her.

'Really?'

'Yes, I'll call him down for you. Have a seat.' Zuo's mother told Vicky. It was obvious she wasn't letting them into each other's rooms anymore. Vicky sat down and waited patiently, the last thing she wanted was for Zuo to be sad, but she had a feeling she was the reason all of this had happened.

'Zuo,' his mother announced. 'Your friend is here.'

'I'm not in the mood.' Zuo turned away from the door to the window. Even though the time was 11 am, Zuo was still in his bed.

She sighed. 'She came all the way to see you Zuo, it's the least you could do.'

Zuo didn't want to see anyone, but he didn't want to have another dramatic conversation with his mother. He sighed and got himself out of bed. 'I'll be down in a while, I guess I have to brush my teeth and get out of my pajamas.'

'Good boy.' His mother said and closed the door.

After a while, Zuo walked down the stairs all freshened up. He gave Vicky a small insincere smile. He sat down next to her, and didn't greet her or say anything to her.

'What's wrong Zuo?' Vicky asked him. Mrs. Hang was in the kitchen and Vicky was hoping she wasn't listening in.

'It's nothing.' He rubbed his head. 'Just that Yanni is angry at me and thinks I'm a bad guy, that's all.'

'Why?'

'Obviously because I lied to her, that wasn't my intention though.'

Vicky felt guilty. If she didn't tell the school reporter about Yanni's situation and showed her the photos, Yanni would have never known what was going on. And probably, Yanni overreacted because she thought Zuo is the one who had spread the issue, but it certainly wasn't like that.

Vicky held her breath. 'See? I told you she didn't love you. It's okay anyway, she would have left either way so you guys wouldn't be friends or anything.'

Zuo sighed and leaned his head back. 'Still...in her head, I'm a bad guy. I loved her Vicky, so what she thinks about me will always matter even if she's not here.'

Vicky felt guilty and gritted his teeth. 'Zuo...I need to tell you something.'

'Hm?'

Vicky gritted her teeth. 'I...I'm the one who told Yanni's secret to the school reporter, and she told everyone...I checked the secret on your laptop.'

Zuo widened his eyes and turned to her. 'What?' That's when Zuo remembered that he still hadn't found out who told Yanni's secret to the reporter. 'Why would you do that?'

'Because...I didn't want you talking to Yanni! You always talk to her but she doesn't love you! You ignore someone who really loves you...'

'And who loves me? You?'

'Yes, Zuo I always liked you but you never noticed. You were always busy looking at Yanni. What was I supposed to do? I had to take matters in my own hands.'

Zuo was stunned for a moment before he shook his head. 'You don't love me if you did that. If you really loved me, you would want me to be happy. What you did was selfish...and seeing me as a mess right now must be really satisfying to you.'

'It's not but...I didn't think things would go this far.' She said lowly.

'Well they did.' Zuo got up. 'And I'm sorry, I don't like you back. Maybe if you hadn't done this I would have considered it, but this is just...devious. I can't even stand you.'

'Zuo...'

He didn't listen to whatever else she had to say. Instead, he dashed up the stairs and got back into his bedroom.

Vicky didn't know what to do next, but the guilt was weighing on her. Seeing the situation, she decided to leave. Zuo was probably not going to come down any time soon, then his mother would start asking questions.