Zola Flash (The Zola Flash Series Book 1) (4 page)

PIN WATCHES ME AS I climb onto the big white bed.
Hmm, it’s softer than it looks.
From there, I watch Pin. It appears as if he want to ask something.

“How much did you hear, Princess?” Pin finally asks.

“Just the end of your conversation.” I move to the end of the bed, tuck my knees to my chin, and wrap my arms around them. “What was all that arguing about?”

“You.”

“Me? What about me?”

“Nothing you don’t already know.”

“I don’t know anything about a guardian. I’ve been locked behind a wall my entire life.”

Pin searches my eyes as if the truth lies within them, before he pulls up a seat and sits in front of me. “Zola, how old are you?” he asks in a steady voice.

“Sixteen. Why?”

“Two years early,” Pin murmurs to himself.

He gets up and paces across the floor. He glares at me for a moment in a way that worries me. In a few strides, he marches back over to me, grabs me off the bed, and cradles me in his lap. He traces a finger across my healed wounds, as I daze into those immaculate eyes of his.

Halting in his ministrations, he frowns. “Would you like to hear a bedtime story before I leave?” he asks without meeting my gaze.

“I think I am a little too old, but okay.”

He takes a deep breath and begins, “Around sixteen years ago, when I was seven, my father was called to fight in the battle between our people. I didn’t want my father fighting, so he asked to be dismissed from his duties. I guess what I wanted wasn’t what I needed. A few days later, I found my father’s lifeless body on the floor.” His eyes crease slightly at the corners as he continues, “Before my father’s executioners could get to me, the Payohlini Guardians came and adopted me. They prepared me in the ways of the Guardians. On my eighteenth birthday, they assigned me a charge to look after. She was an adorable eleven year older. She had the most magnificent stardust blue eyes.” Pin looks up at me, a pain in his eyes that tugs at me somewhere within my chest. “So I studied her. Her flaws and perfection. Her past and future. But what I discovered . . .” He trails off.

“So . . . um . . . I guess you are an expert on all things Zola.” I smile, trying to make light of the moment, until the rest of his story slowly sinks in. “But I don’t understand. Why do I need a guardian? I’m no one special. I am just a normal Victian girl.”

“Are you telling me you don’t know anything about yourself? About the war?”

I shake my head.

“Why do you think Rican and I refer to you as Princess?”

I frown. “I thought it was an insult.”

Pin seems to study me for a long time. I trail my fingers over his silky black hair, but he jerks away from me. Taking that as my signal, I remove myself from Pin’s lap and cross back to the bed.

“You’ve had a long day, Princess,” he says gruffly. “Get some rest and I’ll tell you more of the story later.”

“Wait.” I twisted back. “I have one more question.”

“What?”

“Why did they choose you to be my guardian?”

“They gave me the honor of protecting you because I’m the youngest. The Guardians wanted someone who could work well with you. Figured I could. Now get some rest.”

I watch Pin leave with longing in my soul. Why do I feel so much for him when I’ve only known him a day? Why doesn’t he feel the same way?

More importantly, why would the Payohlini assign
him
to guard me when they are at war with my people?

“WAKE UP, PRINCESS,” Pin says from somewhere above me.

Maybe if I pay him no attention, he’ll leave
.

I am wrong.

“Zola, get up before you make me do something you’ll regret.”

I shake my head. “You’re just saying that.”

Pin’s footsteps move away, and I relax a little. Finally some peace. Snuggling back into the bed, I curl up and head back into my dream, of a songbird picnic with Pin.

A splash of ice cold water hits my face, and I jump off the bed, gasping. “I’m up, I’m up!” I spin toward Pin, whose eyebrows are folded low within his frown. “What was that for?”

“I told you to get up. Your clothes are already laid out.” He points to a stack of clothes lying neatly on the chair.

As I trudge pass Pin, I flip my long wet hair in his face. To my surprise, he inhales as the strands flow underneath his nose, and fully turning around to face him, I drink him in. I could spend my entire day just gazing at Pin, staring at all the wonderful features that makes him
him
. Unfortunately, he has a habit of finding a way to ruin my day.

I pick up the clothes. My eyes water at the sight of them alone. Not even an elderly mother would consider wearing this. I go to throw the ancient outfit back onto the chair—no way will I wear it, the thought alone makes me want to vomit –but instead I fold my fist around the repulsive pile of fabric and stalk into the other room.

Pin is about to pull on a shirt when I pass through the door. The sight of his bare chest is just as graceful as his gorgeous face, perfect in every way. He turns, jumping as soon as his gaze catches on me, which makes me jump. Who would have guessed the big bad Payohlini could be startled?

I throw the outfit in Pin’s face, “You have to be kidding me.”

Pin glides over and leans down until his warm lips meet my ear.  “Learn to like it ‘cause it’s your new best friend.” His tone is seductive, and as his warm breaths skate over my ear, my knees weaken. Straightening, he turns for the doorway, but pauses before he passes through.  “You might want to get that examined,” he says, and although he doesn’t look back, I hear the smile in his voice. “I think your heart’s beating a little too fast, even for a Victian.” With a chuckle, he ducks out through the door.

Alone, I sit on the floor and lay out the clothing. If I must wear these awful items, some adjustments will need to be made. I tear at least two-thirds off the length of the skirt, but not too much as I don’t want look like the girl from last night who barely had anything covered. I also tuck in the sides of the shirt by ripping along the seams and tying them back in tighter, giving it a little bit of shape. There are also a pair of socks that comes up to my knees, about the only suitable piece among the pile.

Once I’ve finished dressing myself, I trot to the kitchen, where I find Pin drinking something that looks far from appetizing.

Pin glances up, a lazy gesture, until his eyes widen and his lips part.

I shimmy over, letting my hips do their own talking. “How do I look?”

“You . . .” Pin’s gaze dances over me, his eyes still wide. “… destroyed it.”

“No, I made it look better.”

“Whatever.” Pin glances me over again. “Come, I need to talk to you.”

I wrap my arms around Pin’s neck. “What’s wrong?”

He unfolds my arms and moves away from me. “Nothing bad. I just want to talk about our new life.” He pauses, as I move to the other side of the table, waiting until I’ve taken a seat before continuing, “We are going to have to blend in with these people. Luckily, I’ve found out where we are. This place is called New York. Girls your age go to school.” He pauses again, and his gaze meets mine. “So I enrolled you into Manhattan Academy for boys and girls, where I have applied to be one of the physical education teachers.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out two pieces of paper. “These are our schedules. You did have a uniform to wear,”—his eyebrow arches upward—“but you destroyed it. Don’t ask me how I did it, but we should now blend in on Earth.”

I check over the schedules. We have no classes together. Calculus II, Chemistry III, Biochemistry are my main classes. I know my people are very competent when it comes to the matter of numbers but the schedule is outrageous. I slide Pin back his own schedule. “School starts when?” I ask, my voice small.

“Thirty minutes.” He pushes to his feet and gestures for me to follow. “Which means it’s time for us to leave.”

Pin holds the door open, and once I’ve exited, he locks before joining me. Neither of us speak as we walk, and I let my sight absorb the town.

Around us, girls dressed exactly like me race by, some of them climbing into a yellow transport devices on wheels. Moments pass and the silence between Pin and I becomes uncomfortable.

I glance sideways up at him. “So . . . um . . . are you going to tell me anymore about my life?”

Pin’s lips press together for a moment, and then he gives a small nod. “The other night, when you ask me why you needed a Guardian, I didn’t think it was the right time, because you’re only sixteen. But as you’re out on your own, you need to know.” Pin glances down at me as we walk on the school campus. “When you were first born, my people invaded your planet and killed all the shape-shifters. All except you. You were just a baby at the time, and the rulers of Victian, your
parents
, made a deal with the Payohlini rulers. The Victians agreed to put you into hiding until you were eighteen. I guess my people never intended on keeping their end of the deal.”

I frown. “If my parents were the rulers of Victian that would make me a princess. That’s why you call me Princess.”

“Yes.”

I don’t know what to say to the enlightenment. A
princess
. It’s always been my parents, my sister, and me. Nothing royal. No rules to abide by, and it never felt like we were in hiding. Granted, I could never go beyond the wall without supervision, but it never felt like hiding. Yet now, I discover I’m a
princess
.

A princess!

But wait!

If my parents were the rulers and they’re dead … wouldn’t that make me the new ruler of Victian?

The new ruler of Victian, and I just left my people to die.

“I LEFT MY PEOPLE to die, Pin. They are never going to forgive me.” Voicing the words makes it sound even worse.

A loud bell rings, and Pin hushes me and pulls me toward the entrance. “You don’t want to be late on your first day. We can talk about this later.” Pin points me in one direction and heads for his class in another.

As I pull out my schedule, another bell rings, and everybody comes darting in my direction. Pushing and shoving me left and right. A harsh shove sends me face-first towards the floor, and just as the crowd seem to finally be dispersing, a boy comes running towards me.

Closing my eyes, I kick myself back against the wall and only lift my lids when I realize I haven’t been trampled. I find him towering over me with his head tilted to the side.

He offers me a hand. “You must be new.” It isn’t a question.

“How’d you know?”

“’Cause what you did to that uniform is against school policy, even though it looks hot on you.” He tugs me up when I take his hand and smiles. “And the fact that you don’t know how things work makes it very obvious.”

Unable to think of anything else to say, I simply respond with, “I’m Zola,” though I’m rethinking the whole casual approach as soon as I’ve spoken.

“I’m Trevor, and I think we should be heading off to class.” He grabs my schedule off the floor and takes a quick view. “What do you know? We have all the same classes. That’s great. I’ll show you around.”

As we walk to Calculus together, I’m hyper aware of how often he glances across at me, how often he seems to be watching my every move. He pauses outside a door and holds it open. As soon as I step inside to the full classroom, everyone’s head turns toward me, their eyes wide and mouths open.

My cheeks instantly warm, but Trevor just grabs my hand and escorts me to the teacher’s desk.

“Mr. G, this is Zola. She is a
new
student.” Trevor emphasizes the word and hands Mr. G my schedule.

“It’s nice to have you in class, Miss Flash, but don’t let Trevor get you in any trouble.” Everyone in class starts laughing.

Mr. G gives me a book and makes me sign for it, before I find a seat in the back of class, close to where Trevor sits.

My morning goes by quickly, each class with an indistinguishable routine. When the bell rings for lunch, I glance around the class for Trevor, except I can’t see him anywhere and so follow the other kids to the cafeteria. Once in there, I look around for a table, but they are pretty much full, and my gaze sets on Pin.

He’s sitting with a group of girls who look to be a little older than me and one of my student teachers. The way he has his arms wrapped around the student teacher, he looks as if he had a splendid day.

A tear falls from the corner of my eye at the thought that there is someone better than me, someone who can get Pin’s attention in only a few hours, and turning away, I run out of the cafeteria.

I haven’t even breached the end of the first corridor when I hear footsteps right behind me.

“Zola, where are you going?” Trevor asks, and his arms come around me, stalling my escape.

I pull away from him and keep walking. “Home. I hate it here. I want to go home.”

I don’t care if Victian is at war. There is nothing appealing about this planet. I don’t know why I was so fascinated by it. Besides, Victian is where I am supposed to be. My people need me.

Trevor grabs my wrist as he matches my strides. “You still have three hours left of school.”

“I don’t care. I just want to get out of here.”

“At least let me give you a ride.”

I nod and let Trevor pull me across the blacktop, until we reach a two-door, red sports car. I climb into the passenger seat at Trevor’s indication and give him the directions I remember from this morning to where I’m staying.

Trevor pulls away, and the car spins out of the school parking lot. I sink back into the seat and try to calm myself. It doesn’t work.

When we make it to my place, Trevor walks me to the door. I open the door with a key Pin gave me, and as I swing it open, Trevor walks in and looks around while I watch.

As he turns back to me, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do next. How exactly should I thank an Earthling? I didn’t bring any currency with me, and everyone knows they are greedy beings.

Instead of offering money, I peck him on the cheek. “Thanks for bringing me home. And for the kindness you bestowed upon me today at school. I’m really grateful.”

I start to turn away, but Trevor grabs my hand and pulls me into his arms. Before I can object, he kisses me back. Not just a peck on the cheek but a real kiss. His lips were warm and tender against mine, and I can’t help but respond. I’ve never been kissed like this before, but it reminds me of the yesterday night when I kissed Pin. Just the thought of kissing another man besides Pin hurts, though, and I break away.

Trevor frowns down at me. “Did I do something wrong?” he ask.

“No, of course not. It’s just . . .” I hesitate over how to explain. I can’t possibly tell him I am in love with another guy who doesn’t love me. For all I know, it’s not even love I’m feeling, but just lust or infatuation maybe. “We are friends, yes?”

Trevor laughs. “Yeah, just friends.”

Guilt swarms me. He thinks I like him. Can I bring myself to like this guy?  He’s no Pin, of course, but he is just as sweet and just as handsome. I gaze up into Trevor’s hazel eyes. “That’s great . . . who knows what can happen,”

A colossal smile spreads across his face, his gleaming teeth shining, and Trevor draws me near in a bear hug. Had this moment been with Pin, it would have ranked right up there as unforgettable.

Just as Pin comes to mind, he crashes through the door, and I jump free from Trevor.

Pin glares at me through narrow eyes before turning to Trevor. “You’ll leave now, if you know what’s good for you.”

Trevor walks over to me, wraps his arms around my waist, and leans down to kiss me. Shocked, I just stand there, solid as a rock. I’ve seen an angry Payohlini before, and it doesn’t come close to the anger sprouting out of Pin. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Zola.”

Trevor heads toward the door, and Pin follows behind him, locking him out as soon as he’s gone.

Pin turns back to me, his hands balled into fists and his nostrils flared. I stumble backwards, and he grabs my arm, but I pull away from him. I don’t like this Pin.

Swinging me up off the floor, Pin throws me over his shoulder and stomps to the bedroom. I release all the force of my fists onto his back, but he does not seem to notice. As soon as we enter the bedroom, he locks the door on us. In the next breath, he tosses me down against the rigid cold floor.