15 Where are you?

Veronica had been initially hurt that her best friend had hidden about her anxiety issues but decided that Zara would close in her shell if she would try to barge in. She decided to wait for Zara to speak up on her own; she knew that was what Zara would want.

Also, as per the records, she hadn't had an issue crop up in the last six months or so, so that was a cue for her to keep mum on the topic. Veronica wondered if Jake could be the cure to her friend's anxiety.

Zara slowly warmed up to Jake due to his easy going and friendly nature. Apparently, everyone found him to be extremely sweet, so Zara didn't think she was the only one to run behind a new guy again.

Well, of course, she wasn't going to run behind him. She wondered how she could have thought of him as anything but a nice and sweet guy.

Jake was interested in studies as much as Zara, so she found him even more appealing. The trio would often huddle at the cafeteria, completing their assignments and homework, while Jake would help Mr. Turner whenever he could and studied with the girls. Zara found this arrangement perfect; no need to mess her heart and work only with her head.

She also realized that Jake was good at studies and even better than her in some aspects. She would spend hours trying to understand something, and Jake would walk over to her table as she scratched her head. He would take one look at the problem she had and give her exhaustive explanations as if it was as simple as 2+2. Zara marveled at his intelligence and secretly felt that he would be a tough competition for her in terms of grades.

Zara saw Rebecca walk into the cafeteria with her gang of friends and searched for Ryan amongst them. When she didn't see him, she had an irresistible urge to talk to Rebecca. Veronica had dismissed Ryan as a crush long ago, but somehow Zara felt that she had always known him, a strange fact as she hadn't met him before school.

She missed him and more than a million times since the last two months that he hadn't shown up, thought of asking Rebecca, who had hinted at the fact that she often met him. Zara had no way of reaching him, and the only girl who could possibly know wasn't going to give her any information, yet she hoped to try.

She got up and walked to Rebecca, "Hi, how are you doing?"

Rebecca pretended to not hear her and continued chatting with her friends. Zara cleared her throat and tried again, "Hi, I am talking to you."

Rebecca replied, "And, I am not talking to you."

The whole group guffawed, and Zara smirked, "You just did."

Rebecca turned around and asked in a bored voice, "What is it, zombie?"

Zara struggled at her next words, "Have you see Ryan, or do you know where he is?"

The group oohed, and Rebecca raised her eyebrows in mock surprise, "Why do you want to know?"

Zara looked at all of them, surveying her, whispering names, and giggling in each other's ears. They were ridiculing her, but she didn't care. "He has been missing classes, and the teachers had asked me to help him in his studies."

Rebecca got up from her seat and circled her, "Look at this pathetic girl, can't even lie without shivering." She then stood facing her, "Yes, I am in touch with him, and he is doing fantastic. Apparently, on some trip to an exotic location with his girlfriends…you know what I mean, right?"

Veronica, who had been searching for Zara, overheard the conversation and stormed up to her, "Well, you accepted you are not one of his girlfriends or important enough for him to take you. That's a first."

Zara put a hand on Veronica, who was advancing on Rebecca like a charging bull. Rebecca laughed, "How cute; I don't need to elaborate on the time I spent with him, the exquisite parties that I accompanied him to, or the cruise we took last weekend. Besides, this week I'm busy doing his important work."

Veronica jumped in before Zara could reply, "Don't believe her, Z. She is only messing around. She doesn't even know that last weekend when she was supposedly on a cruise, her boyfriend was spotted at one of the clubs with one of her friends."

That line seemed to put Rebecca in confusion, and she walked away. Zara whispered, "How do you know that?"

Veronica giggled, "I didn't. But she ate it up, so there must be some truth to it."

As they both turned around and sat at their table again, Jake came up, "Everything all right? I saw Rebecca talking to you."

Zara eyed Veronica and signaled her to keep mum. She wasn't going to open up to Jake when their friendship was so new.

Veronica saw her and closed her mouth. Zara said, "Nothing, everything is alright." Jake knew there was more to it but didn't press on the matter further. They all headed to their history class and sat through the torturous forty minutes as their teacher droned on like a robot lulling everyone to sleep. The rest of the day went in a blur, and the three walked towards the parking lot at the end of the school hours.

Jake looked at Zara, who was lost in thought. He was concerned and asked, "Zara is everything okay? You look like something is bothering you, and I can't put my finger on it."

Zara was broken out of her chain of thought and replied, "Huh…well, you know I'm just worried about my mom. She works a lot, and she is seldom home. I'm afraid; work is putting too much pressure on her. I need to help her. I should take up a job as soon as I graduate. And I need to get good grades for that."

Jake tried to comfort her, "Hey, you are a brilliant girl, Zara. I bet half of the school passes their exams because of you. You will do it, okay?"

Zara only shook her head nervously- her thoughts on anything but studies.