Forbidden Love: Fate (Zac and Ivy Trilogy Book 1) (9 page)

***

When the bell rings the next morning while
I’m sitting in class, I realize I’m still thinking about that
dream. Mandy has to shout in my ears to wake me up. I jolt awake
and stare at her blankly.

“Are you back yet?” Mandy yells at me
again.

“Mmmm? Yeah.” I nod, then stare blankly
again.

“It’s lunchtime. What are you doing still
sitting here? Let’s go eat.” She drags me to the cafeteria where
many students are lined up to buy lunch.

“I packed my lunch. I’ll go wait at our
usual seat,” I tell her and make my way to our table in the
corner.

“Sure.”

A little while later, Mandy comes back with
a package of rice rolls and an orange juice. “Want some?” she
asks.

“No thanks,” I respond.

Mandy seems to take no offense by my refusal
since she doesn’t press on the subject any further, but starts to
munch on her rice roll instead. Usually, she would nag me until I
gave in and had a taste of whatever it is she bought.

Mandy seems to enjoy her lunch as she
munches on and on, while I am in deep thought. I don’t get to touch
any of my food in my lunchbox.

I’m supposed to meet Zac tomorrow for
another of our tutoring lessons. I want to see him again, but I
don’t want to associate with anyone who’s related to that man. If
Gigi and Clare find out, everything will turn to chaos. Clare’s
vengeance would come back, and Gigi would fall back into despair.
There’s only one thing I can do. I must stop tutoring Zac. With
that thought in my mind, I turn to Mandy.

“Mandy?”

“Mmmm?” she answers with a mouth full of
rice roll.

“Can you do me a huge favor?”

After swallowing the lump, she smiles and
says, “Anything for you, Ivy.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

ZAC

My Right as a Student

What is taking her so long?
I glance
at the clock once, then twice. My hand constantly touches the tea I
brewed, just in case it gets cold. Well, it’s lukewarm now. I guess
I have to make a new pot when she arrives.

I read somewhere once that chamomile tea
helps calm you down. I take a sip. It doesn’t calm me. Instead, it
makes me more anxious.

Maybe she’s had an accident?

That thought scares me, and now I’m even
more nervous. I’m deeply concerned, mainly for her safety and for
the fact I might not see her again until my leg is healed enough to
attend school.

I fidget in my chair, a hundred scenarios
running through my head, mainly of Ivy’s body lying in the gutter
somewhere.

Well, I can’t really think of any good
scenario when she’s this late. Plus, I’ve been influenced by all
those horror movies I’ve watched with Kai.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings.

Must be Ivy.

I flounder out of the chair in my hurried
state only to clumsily fall to the floor.

Damn! I need my crutches.

I get back up and hobble to the door. Once
there, I double-check myself in the mirror.

Damn, I look like a horrible drunk-ass
kid.

I comb my hair as neat as possible, tuck my
shirt in to make myself look presentable, then check my breath. Two
puffs, just to make sure I don’t smell of garlic.

That’s my breakfast in the morning. I love
garlic bread.

Opening the door, I make sure I put on my
beaming smile.

“Ivy, welcome—”

Who is this girl?

Standing before me isn’t Ivy, but some other
girl I don’t know.

A scowl immediately appears on my face. She,
on the other hand, has the face of a fan girl. I know because I’m
always surrounded by female fans. Her eyes are large, sort of like
a goldfish with those thick glasses she’s wearing. She’s huffing
and puffing like she can’t breathe.

Is she one of those sales people? I hate
these advertising companies. How low can they get now? Even use
school kids to sell their stuff?

Sales girl with glasses is still huffing and
puffing as I’m thinking this through. She takes out her inhaler and
pulls in a few puffs.

After regaining her breath, she squeals out,
“Zac… Zac… Elliot? The lead singer of Apollo?”

“Yeah,” I confirm.

“You… you… don’t know me, even though we go
to the same school, but I’m a huge fan of yours.”

I only nod.
So she’s not a sales girl.
Then what’s she doing at my apartment?

“And you are…?” I probe, trying to get this
business out of the way.
Maybe she’s a cookie seller.

“My… my… name is Mandy. Ivy’s busy, so from
now on, I’m your new algebra tutor.”

“What?” I growl angrily.

This is stupid. I want Ivy. I don’t want
this goldfish with asthma.

****

I’m currently storming around, or hobbling
around in my case, like an idiot, looking for Ivy. Mandy said she’s
here in the public library, so here I am. Thanks to Kai, I was
dropped off here. And now, with my temper flaring like a bull, I
swamp the whole place with my loud presence.

“Ivy! Ivy!” I shout loudly the minute I step
foot inside the building.

As soon as my loud voice echoes against the
stone wall, the patrons in the library drop what they’re doing and
stare, gaping at me for a full minute.

I know I may look like some lunatic on the
loose, but I don’t care what people are thinking. My mission is to
find Ivy. I’m up to my eyeballs in rage. This has to be sorted out
or I will not go home.

How can she treat me like this, sending in
another girl to teach me like I have no say in the matter? What’s
she doing that’s so important? Am I really that bad at algebra that
she’s dropping me?

Deep down, I know I’m behaving this way
because I’m scared. I know I said before I want to pass algebra
because I want to keep Elsa, but now the idea of not seeing Ivy’s
face again scares me more.

Finally, Ivy arrives out of nowhere to shut
me up.

“Zac!” She half leads, half drags me away
from the center until we reach an isolated spot among the
nonfiction books. “What are you doing here?” she whispers
harshly.

What’s wrong with her? Why is she using that
tone of voice with me?

I think I lose a good three inches from my
height. I feel as small as a five-year-old.

“Why didn’t you come as promised?” I mumble
in reply. “You said you’d come today. I waited for you. I even
brewed chamomile tea so we could relax and study together. I’ve
even done the homework you gave me. So why didn’t you come?”

“I sent Mandy,” she says quietly.

“I’m not talking about Mandy.”

“Mandy’s excellent. She has the highest
grades in the class. She even surpassed me. You didn’t see her
there?”

“I’m not asking about Mandy. I’m asking why
you didn’t go as promised.”

She’s quiet for another second.

What’s wrong? Speak to me?

At this point, I’m not sure whether I should
be feeling mad, scared, or frustrated. All I want is an
explanation.

“Ivy,” I prompt.

She looks up at me then. “Mandy really
excels in algebra. She’s even better than me as a teacher. She has
more experience. She’ll be a good tutor for you.”

I grit my teeth. What is she trying to do?
Why is she constantly talking about Mandy? I just want to shake
her.

“For the final time, I’m not asking about
Mandy. I’m not interested if she’s aced all her algebra tests or
gets better grades than you or has more experience in tutoring than
you. My question is why didn’t you come as promised?”

“Why does it matter who comes? We both tutor
algebra. You’ll get the same result.” She lashes out at me.

“It matters because…”

She stares at me, waiting for my reply. I
stare at her, unsure. It’s like a staring competition. Neither of
us can take our eyes off each other.

Suddenly, I feel my heart beating faster.
And it’s getting louder. There’s tension in the air. It’s so thick,
like a heavy fog has landed around us, blocking us from everyone
else.

“Because…” I croak out again.

My throat is going dry.
Someone give me a
drink of water, please.

“Because…?” she asks.

“Because…”
Because of what, you
dumbass?
Seriously, I don’t know. I don’t have an answer. So I
keep my mouth shut and just stare at her.

I see her chestnut irises dilating when she
looks at me. It’s such a beautiful color, and I admit I like it a
lot.

Somehow, though, I find myself feeling
slightly embarrassed looking at those lovely eyes. I haven’t a clue
why, though. But I know I can’t continue to gaze at those eyes
longer, since my heart is threatening to burst out of my chest
soon. So I shift my gaze to her hair.

Her wavy brunette hair looks so soft and
silky today. It isn’t in a ponytail like the last time I saw her.
It hangs down over her shoulder in thick waves. And her fringe
comes all the way down, partially covering one of her eyes.

My fingers itch to run through those strands
and clip them back behind her ear so I can see her eyes fully, but
I restrain myself and fist them tight beside me.

Seeing her little pink tongue darting out to
lick her lips, my eyes catch the action and they flick to that
spot. Those ruby-red lips of hers look so plump and full. I
suddenly remember our kiss—sweet, with a hint of crispy light
honey, like a nice summer wine. For that split second, I have the
urge to grab her and kiss her again.

Oh shit! I think I like her. I like Ivy.
That’s why I’m acting like this.

No, no.
I shake my head, having an
internal battle with myself.
It’s just a crush, a small baby
crush. I’ve never kissed any girl before, so it’s definitely
because of that kiss. That’s why I’ve developed this baby crush on
her.

Ivy looks slightly worried. She nibbles her
lower lip, then looks up at me. “I’m sorry, but I’ve realized I’m
busy so I won’t be able to teach you from now on.” She nods, then
turns and walks away, leaving me paralyzed by her explanation.

Explanation? That wasn’t even an
explanation. She’s just making an excuse. I bet she has some hidden
agenda. I’m going to get to the bottom of this.

“I’m not done talking, Ivy. Are you even
listening to me?”

If I didn’t have these stupid crutches, I
would catch her in less than a second flat. But all I can do at
this moment is watch as she walks away.

“Come back here, Ivy,” I hiss. When she
doesn’t respond, I yell, “I’m not going to move away from this spot
until you come back and talk to me.”

Okay, that last sentence worked. Ivy turns
and stomps all the way back.

I plaster a grin on my face.

“Wipe that smile off your face, Zac,” she
scolds.

I wipe the grin off and keep a straight
face.

“I’ll tell you this. Wait for me if you
want, but I will not let you interrupt my study session with my
student. Don’t come and interfere. This is my private time. Do I
make myself clear?”

When I don’t respond, she storms away
again.

This girl sure has a temper.

“Jesus!” I huff out in frustration and
ruffle my hair.

I hobble around the long aisle of the
nonfiction books for a full three rounds, making loud random
thumping noises with my crutches just to calm myself down. And when
that doesn’t work, I let out a curse and sit down to wait in misery
for Ivy to come back out.

The other patrons who are busy reading all
give me their evil stares again.

So they want to tell me off? Well, too bad.
I’ll get them first.

“Get back to your reading or else…” That
shuts them up and they timidly go back to their work.

My eyes scan for Ivy again. I can see her
with another guy, reading something.

What are they doing?

I stare at Ivy the whole time. Just because
she said I can’t interrupt her, that doesn’t mean I can’t stare at
her.

I have an evil thought in my head. If I
can’t cause a disruption, then I’ll stare at her until she’s
uncomfortable and will come back here to talk to me.

With that plan settled in my head, I sit
myself down at the nearest available chair and start with my
staring game.

A few times, she catches my eyes and glances
away.

See, I bet she’s feeling guilty about the
whole thing. That’s why she can’t make eye contact with me.

I suppose I’m so absorbed with my staring
game that when someone slaps me on my shoulder, I almost jump out
of my chair in fright. Not to mention my heart almost leaps out of
my throat.

“Hey, bro, calm down. It’s only me.”

“Jesus, Kai, don’t play that kind of game
here,” I growl when I see him behind me.

“But we always play this kind of game, bro.
Me slapping you; you slapping me. It’s normal.”

“Yeah,” I sigh absently and turn back to
Ivy.

Her head is down now. It’s like they’re busy
writing down some stuff.

Wait, she’s talking to him now. Wait, that
guy looks familiar. He looks like the one who got the top grade in
our algebra class last year.

I look at him again. God, I can’t think of
his name right now. I know for sure he was in my class last
year.

I’m not comfortable with how close Ivy is
sitting next to that four-eyed geek. In fact, they’re talking to
each other again.

This is starting to piss me off big time. Do
they have a secret that can only be shared between them?

What about me?

I grit my teeth. If looks could kill, then
that guy would’ve been a shriveled corpse by now, what with the way
I’m sending him my laser beam death glare.

“So, um… what’s up? What has you staring so
intensely over there?”

“Nothing,” I reply sourly.

Kai comes to sit next to me and turns to
look from my vantage point. “So I didn’t know my best bud was into
this kind of stuff.”