Zephaniah // z.m

Thirty six

Hannah

"Can you tell your dad and her why you've been put on the Time-Out Chair today?" The teacher spoke as she tapped on Zephaniah's shoulder, who was looking down, a trace of dried up tears stained on his cheeks.

It was currently Wednesday and Zayn tagged along to pick him up, as we would be going to the farm day for kids with special needs right away. The teacher wouldn't let him go yet, as he had apparently been bad at school, which I couldn't imagine at all.

"Come on, tell your father." She sounded impatient and when I glanced at Zayn, I could tell he didn't quite appreciate the way she was talking to his son.

"If he doesn't want to say it, then so it is." Zayn mumbled. He looked tired today and I was afraid he couldn't take much. Dark circles were seen underneath his eyes and he was constantly yawning.

I wondered what caused him to be so tired, but I wouldn't dare to ask. He hadn't snapped to me, which was a good thing as he had apoligised when we painted Zephaniah's room and hadn't done it ever since, even getting cozy on the couch yesterday.

I still didn't know what to think of it. Did he mean something with it? Because the one day I felt closer to him, and the other day it felt like it was one of the first days again, where he was being extremely distant. Today he felt a bit more distant in my opinion, which disappointed me.

The teacher sighed, "The kids were all neatly sitting on their chairs, everyone reading a few sentences but Zephaniah grabbed the toilet pass and stayed there for over twenty minutes. We have a rule that they can't take the pass while reading or doing an assignment and they can only take the pass if they asked, which he didn't do."

Zephaniah looked down, his cheeks tinting red and fresh tears slipping out of his eyes. I felt bad for him and it didn't seem like he would do it on purpose.

"Well, did you ask why he stayed there for so long?" Zayn raised his eyebrows, gladly accepting Zephaniah's hand when he reached for it.

"It's a rule, Mr. Malik. I don't care why he stayed there for so long. It was naughty and that's why he had to sit on the Time-Out Chair." She replied, a deep sigh leaving her mouth after that. "I hope you learned from it, Zephaniah. I'll see you tomorrow." She walked away.

I looked at Zayn, finding out he was already looking at me. He slightly rolled his eyes, causing me to smile as it was directed towards the teacher.

"Hey, Zeph, you don't have to be sad, okay? We'll talk it through. Can you say hi to Ms. Hannah first?" Zayn encouraged him and my heart warmed at the way he was treating Zephaniah, even if he didn't know the reason about the Time-Out Chair yet.

Zephaniah wiped his eyes and looked up at me and waved his little hand, "H-hhi, Ms. Hannah." He hiccuped through his tears.

I gave him a sad smile and stroked his cheek, brushing his tears away with the pad of my thumb, "Hi, sweetheart. Are you looking forward to the farm?"

Zephaniah barely nodded and looked down again, the tears still rolling down his cheeks. Zayn sighed a little and lifted him up, placing him on his hip as we walked outside the building. "Zeph, you don't have to cry, okay? Baba's not mad at you. I promise."

Zayn placed Zephaniah in the car and settled him safely, before we got into the car and drove off.

"Baba, you are not m-mmad?" He suddenly asked.

Zayn glanced through the rear view mirror and shook his head, "No, Zeph. I'm not. Dry those tears, yeah? We're going to see cows and horses and dogs."

But Zephaniah stayed weepy. He was constantly crying quietly, his leg kicking against Zayn's seat. I hadn't seen him like that before and although it saddened me, it also confused me a little. Why was he acting like that?