Obvious Truth, Oblivious Mind {ZIAM}

Ch.1: The Beginning

Seven years is a long, long while

Somehow you still make me smile

I'd say almost most the time

Here's the way I feel

I like you, I just like you

Even when I don't try to

Yes, I do, that's the truth

I like you

-I Like You- Ben Rector

❝

Dear Liam,

I don't know why I'm writing this; you'll never read this, but my therapist said writing my emotions down might clarify unresolved issues that have been haunting me. It's stupid, and I told her it was stupid, but I thought this one time I might humor her. But maybe she was right, I mean you are single-handedly the best and worse thing that's ever happened to me. Wow that sounds like crap. Yeah, maybe it isn't stupid. I should probably get going with this.

It's storytime Liam so take a seat. You'll be glad you did once I'm done telling our pathetic little story, at least my side. Truth is, I've had these feelings for as long as we've been friends, feelings that runner deeper than what you're required to feel as someone's best mate. I'm writing you this really long letter because... screw it. I miss you. I know I see you sometimes and we still wave to each other from across the halls, but it's different. I wasn't sure where to start at first, so I think I'll take it back exactly ten years ago today to the day we first met in grade two.

❞

The sky was bitter and rainy my first day at Wolverhampton Primary. I had moved in the middle of the year to a school in Wolverhampton from Bradford for my mother's work. My optimistic and cheerful attitude about the move did not even last the morning. I had slipped and fallen in mud upon entering the grounds. The thick, brown sludge covered an entire leg of my pants and my backpack. I begged my mother to drive me home to change, but school was just about to start. All eyes fell upon me as I stepped into the colorful classroom. I remember this horrible kid named Connor pointing out that the mud covering my pants and how it looked like the color of my skin. I was so embarrassed and offended when he said that, but now I look back and laugh. It wasn't even partly true; I've always been pale and my people don't have the darkest skin anyway. But the dig still hurt especially as a little kid. From that day on I was bullied relentlessly. The teacher was decent and tried to help me but there wasn't much he could do to protect me outside the classroom. It was mostly Connor and his gang who hated me, but soon it spread to everyone. As the teasing got worse, the kids who used to ignore me started to tease and laugh at me too because Connor was doing it. It was like my classmates formed a club of people that hated me. Everyday I asked myself what I did wrong. In my head, I just walked into school and there people hated me. By February, I had given up on hope that I could win these people over. Why should I have had to bust my ass for these kids who obviously didn't give a damn about me? But all of that changed in January when another new kid showed up to school.

I was sat in Mr. Peterson's classroom after school drawing when I met him. It was four in the afternoon and the classroom was empty and quiet because everyone had left the school. My mum worked really late back then, meaning I stayed at school until four or five at night some days. The previous year, my sister, Waliyha fell ill and our medical insurance didn't cover as much as we thought it would. After Waliyha recovered, my family did all they could to regain stability. Those days, my day began at five in the morning where my mum, sisters, and I began to make the half hour long commute to school.

The door to the classroom opened, I looked up from my desk expecting to see Mr. Peterson but was a boy instead.

"Hi!" A boy my age greeted me, plopping his backpack on the other side of the duel desk. "Can I sit here?"

"Why?" I asked confused, he looked like he wanted to say something but changed his mind. What came out was something very different.

"Because I wanted to see what you were drawing," He said, grabbing my notebook.

"No!" I yelled, pulling my drawing back. I thought he would tear it apart like Connor always did.

"That's so cool!" The boy said, not phased by my outburst. "That's the best drawing I have ever seen!"

I would've ignored his comment as another kid poking fun, but the excited look in his eyes made me believe him. He traced a finger gently over the corners of the paper as if holding something precious.

"Really?"

"Yeah, look at the attention to detail," He said pointing at Batman's cape and the city behind him.

Attention to detail, I thought. What does that even mean?

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Zayn."

"Wow, that's a cool name!" He said genuinely. "I'm Liam."

The door swung open as Mr. Peterson walked into the room. "Zayn-, there-. Oh, Liam! I didn't know you were here! How was the surgery?"

"It was alright, my kidney just wasn't working right. I'm fine now."

"That's good, well Zayn your mum is here."
"Thanks," I said, picking up my backpack and shyly waving at Liam.

"See you tomorrow!" He called just as I was leaving the room.

"Yeah, cool," I said waving and racing to my mum's car in the carpark.

My mum smiled brightly as I buckled my seatbelt in the backseat, "How was school?"

"It was good," I said, smiling slightly and thinking about that really weird kid with the bad kidney and large vocabulary.

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I thought up the basic idea for this story while listening to a beautiful song called I Like You by Ben Rector. He is literally so adorable and if you want to know happiness, I suggest you check out the song.