Clarity || z.m

Paranoia

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"Nani, can we leave now? We're always running late, and I really can't afford another tardy," Mason whined. I could hear his feet dragging up the stairs, his voice practically begging for me to come out of my room.

"We still have to go pick up Cassie, Mason. We won't be late, I promise," I called out, loud enough so he was able to hear me past the door. Grabbing my purse, I glanced in the mirror one more time, just to make sure everything was in place.

As soon as I opened the door, Mason was standing right in front of it, in a position that showed he was about to pound on the door. Impatient much? I rolled my eyes in a playful manner, pushing past the tall figure that was standing in front of me.

"You're such a girl," he muttered under his breath making me laugh to myself. I knew my brother so well. If I laughed louder, it'd give him more of an excuse to keep picking on me.

"Dad, we're leaving!" I shouted as I skipped down the stairs.

My dad was sitting at the kitchen bar, as he did every morning with his laptop in front of him and the coffee I prayed he never spilled right next to the laptop. Once I was in his presence, he looked up from what he was concentrating on, giving both Mason & I a smile. Because of my dad's deep dimples, you would never suspect he was faking a smile. But me being the daughter who knew too much, I could see past my dad's strong façade, even after nearly ten years, he was still heartbroken. One thing I did know is that whenever he smiled at Mason & I, the smile was real. There was no faking it. He was proud of what he did. He was happy he raised his children as a single dad without any help.

"Alright, are you working today?" he asked.

"Yes, so can you pick up Mason?"

"Sure thing, baby girl. I'll see you two later on. Have a good day." He smiled one more time. I walked over to him, placing a kiss on his temple. Mason waved & bid his goodbyes from afar as he walked out the door.

The drive to Cassie's wasn't long, but it's waiting on Cassie to come out of her house is what's the longest wait. I wouldn't say she was vain, but she was a perfectionist. Her hair needed to be done correctly, her eyeliner couldn't be uneven. Yet, it was one of the things you just had to love her for. Mason tapped his foot impatiently on the car floor in the backseat, when we still had about another 15 minutes to spare & his school was nowhere near far. He acted like this right now, but I knew as soon as Cassie got into the car, he'd be stumbling over his words & making a fool out of himself. He liked to deny the fact that he had a crush on my best friend, but I saw right through it, too.

Cassie finally walked out in all of her beautiful glory. Her hair straightened to perfection, her turquoise cardigan clinging to her body perfectly. You could see her bright eyes even from the distance we were at. From the corner of my eye, I watched Mason's jaw slightly drop as he watched her walk down the pathway as if she were on some sort of catwalk. He hated to admit it, but he worshipped the ground she walked on. I guess it was hard for him, considering we'd all grown up together and suddenly she turned into this unknown model figure. He also didn't like admitting it considering he'd picked on her growing up, not really for any particular reason.

"Sorry, let's go," she 'greeted'. I didn't really expect a 'hi'. She's my best friend. You don't casually greet someone you've been best friends with all of your life with that kind. Being the kind of girl she is, from the corner of my eye once more, Cassie turned her head to face Mason. "Morning, Mase." She knew very well about the low-key crush he had on her, and she just loved to tease him about it.

"H-hi, Cass," my brother stuttered. Mason was usually this confident... yet sort of awkward dude & he finally realized how he was stumbling over his words. "How nice of you to join us, finally."

"It doesn't take ten minutes to look this good, babe," she clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth before turning back around to face forward. Cassie pulled down the visor mirror & made a flirty face at my brother.

"Can you... not do that while I'm around? You're making me feel so weird," I pretended to gag, making a disgusted face.

"Lighten up, will ya, Nani?" Cassie asked. In return, I laughed & sighed. Compared to her, I seemed so uptight. As if I didn't know how to have fun. I was her rock, the person to bring her hold her down when she's getting too crazy.

"I had another one of my weird visions. I swear, Nani, it's like déjà vu, but ten times weirder." Her hands were in front of her as she explained everything to me. That was another thing about Cassie. She felt like she could tell the future, or she'd see something perfectly clear as if she'd already experienced it, but in reality, she hadn't.

"It just means you're getting ten times weirder," I teased, earning a slight shove from her. Both Mason & I found the joke funny, but apparently she didn't.

We pulled up in front of Mason's high school & he ran for dear life into the building. A goodbye or a thank you would've been nice. Cassie & I were both able to have our girl talk without my brother feeling awkward in the backseat. You would think after being best friends- sisters practically for more than ten years, you'd run out of things to talk about. That wasn't the case with us. We always had things to talk about. And if we weren't talking in the car, we were belting out to a song on the radio at the top of our lungs, swearing we hit every falsetto there was. The moment I realized Cass was like my sister was when I noticed how much we fought. Whether it be hitting each other constantly until we had the last hit or arguing until either showed we were annoyed with each other. We weren't afraid to hide it. But in the end, I'd be completely lost & empty without her.

"There's that frat party on Friday... I think it's calling our name," she hinted as we pulled into a parking space. I shook my head, smiling as I removed the keys from the ignition, gathering my bag and necessities for the day.

"You mean... calling your name while I play designated driver? Nice try, Cassie."

"Stop! I want you to go with me & have fun. I know you won't drink, but it's time you have fun. We're adults now and time is flying by at the speed of light, it's scary. I don't want you to waste another minute. We have to live as freely as we want."

"I'll go. Just for you. For now, let's just get past next couple of days," I replied, finally giving in.

Cassie clapped her hands excitedly, before pulling me in for a side walk. We walked like two crazy ladies on crack across the campus, not caring what anybody thought of us.

For the past couple of weeks, I've had this eerie feeling. Whenever I was walking, even if I wasn't alone, I'd always feel like someone was watching me. Not necessarily following, but watching from afar. But every time I turned to look, no one was there. At least no one that looked suspicious. When Cassie & I were walking, I felt it again. Only this time, I felt like they were closer. I turned my head, not making it so obvious, but once again, nothing. My eyes only landed on a girl, speed-walking to her class with two large textbooks cradled in her arms, who I assumed was a freshman who wanted to maintain her perfect and on-time attendance. A boy who was kicking a hacky-sack as he walked & another boy who was wearing his backpack one-shoulder-style and had big poster boards rolled up, sticking out of the backpack. He was one of those dudes you never expected to be big on artsy stuff. When he finally passed us, he looked more like the typical frat boy with the tighter than normal jeans, a fitted shirt & stylish shoes. His profile was probably the most perfect I'd ever seen, which is probably why I made the assumptions I did.

The feeling of being watched went away, for not at least. But I still couldn't help but wonder why I was feeling it?

Why now?

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Author's Note: Ya know the drill.

Also, don't forget to check my other Zayn Malik fan fiction that's currently ongoing called 'East Of Eden.' Remember it's something a little different and a lot darker than Clarity so viewer discretion is advised.

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