A Tiger's Stripes

Chapter 10

Zeph POV
School

"Why won't you just leave me alone Nicole?"
I was starting to get real fed up with her. We broke up like three weeks ago and she's still on my case.
"Because I miss you baby. Don't you miss me?" She looked at me with puppy dog eyes, but that didn't phase me. My feelings toward her were numb.
"No. Nothing can take back what you did. Nothing." I gave her a stern look.
"But baby I said I was sorry! I was only getting back a Jessie cause I thought she was flirting with you!"
"So you go and kiss her boyfriend!?!" I yelled. I was really getting pissed now. Nicole's eyes started to water.
"Its that little girl Claire isn't it? Shes brainwashed you with her witch spells!"  Nicole choked out. Thats it. She really hit a nerve then. I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the nearest corner. I pinned her against the wall and had my face inches from hers.
"First, her name is Cleo and I better not hear you call her anything else. Second, if you ever make fun of her ever again I will make your life a living hell." At this point Nicole was sobbing.
"But-but-but....."
"Shut up. I don't want to hear it. Do you understand stand?" She stayed quiet.
"ANSWER ME!" I yelled.
"Yyy-yes Zeph. I understand."  The bell had rang.
"Good. Now go to class."
She eyed me one more time before walking slowly towards her next class.
I sighed. I can't believe I snapped like that. But it was worth it. Cleo was starting to mean a lot to me and I didn't even know her that well.
I walked into Ms. Phillips class but of course I was late.
"Sign the tardy log Zeph." I heard her say from her class room office. I signed it then sat down next to Anthony.
"Wassup man, why you late?" Anthony asked.
"Long story man. Long story." I looked over at Cleo. God she's adorable. She was working on her math. Her reading glasses started to slide off, but she quickly pushed them up and started to nibble on her eraser. 
"Mmm" I moaned.
"What?" Anthony questioned.
"Uhh. Nothing." I looked away from her with my face blushing.
Anthony started to chuckle.
"Why you laughing?" I asked.
"You like her, don't you?" Had this big cheesy grin on his face.
"Something like that." I admitted.
"Its cool man. She is pretty cute. Hey just don't mess it up ok?"  Anthony said.
"Your not gonna make fun of me for crushing on the weirdo?" I questioned. It was kinda odd he didn't. Usually when I say I like a girl he makes fun of me for it. But this time he didn't. Anthony seemed like he was encouraging me to talk to her.
"Nah man. Just do you." He insured. I nodded and started on my work.

Cleo POV
I was working on my math homework because I didn't have time yesterday to do it. I wanted all my focus to go towards Zeph. For a second I thought I saw Zeph looking at me but then he turned around.
Ms. Phillips came out of her office and took attendance. Then she started to talk.
"Alright class let's get started. Today I want you to go sit next to your partners. Today's lesson is about bonds. So I want you to just talk to your partner. Have a legit conversation. Talk about your fears, the places you've visited, things you like, things you don't like, and so on. The purpose is to create a bond that will help you with your project. You can spread out to different parts of the classroom. Lets get started."
Students were already getting up moving towards corners and different parts of the floor. Before I could get up Zeph was already walking towards me. I looked up at him and he smiled.
"May I?" He said pointing at the desk my stuff was scattered across.
"Oh. Sorry" I quickly moved my stuff and he sat down.
"Its fine. So what you wanna talk about?" Zeph asked.
"Umm. Anything you want." I said.
"I wanna talk about you. But promise me any questions we ask, we answer honestly. Ok?" Zeph asked.
"Uhh. Oo-ok" I muttered.
"Good. Me first. Where are you from and what's your race?" He asked. At first I hesitated because no one has ever asked me where I was from or my race. It really seemed like no one cared.
"I'm from New Orleans. I moved here after my parents died. And I'm Creole." He looked at me with wide eyes.
"I-I mean I knew you were mixed with something but I didn't know you were Creole. Wait. Do you speak French?" Zeph asked still amazed. I giggled.
"Oui. It was my first language. Then my sister taught me English. I used to have a really heavy accent, but now it's not that bad." I explained.
"That's so cool. I wish I could speak French."
"Its not hard. Maybe I could teach you one day?" I insisted.
"Sure. That'd be cool. Your turn."
"Oh. Umm. When's your birthday and favorite color?" Zeph looked at me and chuckled.
"I know you have something deeper than that." He said. I thought about it for a little bit.
"Umm ok. Whats your biggest fear and what do you love most about a person?" I blushed asking the questions. He laughed a little.
"Lets see. My biggest fear is losing my parents. I don't know what I would do if I lost them. They mean everything to me. And what I love most about a person is.."
He paused and started to look like he was thinking. He looked at me and stared for a second.
"Your smile..." Zeph whispered.
"Mmm-my smile.?" I asked.
"Uuhh-I-umm- I meants smiles in general." He quickly muttured. Zeph looked away blushing really hard.
For some reason I giggled. At this moment I figured since were partners we might as well tell what we like about each other.
"Its Ok Zeph. I like your smile too. And your eyes. There pretty." I said. I sounded so confident I scared myself.
"No. Your eyes are way more beautiful." He said.
"Thanks." I said.
After more questions and compliments it seemed like we were all by ourselves... until the bell rang.
"How about you come over to my place today for the project." Zeph suggested.
"Sure. Just text me your address."
We walked outside the class and smiled at each other before parting.

A/N
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