With another high jump, Zachary scored his final basket and the practice game came to an end. He bumped against Ethan cheerily and gave a high-five to another one of his friends. Then he went rushing to Maya who was sitting on the stairs of the ground, engrossed in her work.
"You stink, Zachary." She said on noticing his arrival. "Here, I have checked your assignment. There were some mistakes. I marked those with pencil."
"Thank you, my knight in shining hoodie." Zachary said, pointing at her dark hoodie.
"The pleasure is all mine, my damsel in distress." She smiled back.
He liked her smile. It deepens her dimples and brightens her beautiful eyes.
"I'll go freshen up in five minutes. Stay here. Don't move." Zachary said and then ran to the locker room to take a quick bath.
By the time he returned, Maya was sitting on the same spot with her eyes fixated on a large group of girls lurking around in a corner. Althea was sitting in the middle of those girls, dictating the rules of the beauty pageant.
"Are you participating in that fundraising beauty pageant?" Zachary asked, sitting beside her.
Every year, their school holds a beauty pageant for the girls of senior year and all the money collected from the tickets goes to charity. He knows about it because Althea had been planning for it since she was a freshmen.
"No." Maya said. "These are not for girls like me."
"Girls like you?" Zachary asked in confused voice.
"Yes. Girls that aren't traditionally beautiful, according to stupid high school standards." She replied and turned her attention to her notebook.
Zachary assessed her gorgeous grey eyes and stunning curly hair. She was definitely one of the most beautiful girls he had ever laid his eyes on. It was strange to hear her say that she didn't consider herself beautiful according to society norms.
"You are gorgeous, Maya." Zachary said and a light blush appeared on Maya's cheeks.
"I bet you say this to every girl." She rolled her eyes while a weak smile lingered on her lips.
Zachary turned his body towards her and said, "No, seriously. You should take part. I am sure you will win."
"Stop it, Zachary. I don't want to participate when I know I don't have any chance to win." Maya said in annoyance.
"Of course you have. You are just as pretty as any other girl here." Zachary said and once again, butterflies appeared in Maya's stomach.
"Maybe. But still, it's high school. Here, people have a very limited opinion of beauty. Only girls like Althea or Blaire can win here." She said dejectedly.
"But---"
"I am not participating, Zachary. Let's not talk about it." Maya said and stood up to leave. "I have a class. Bye."
"Bye." Zachary said and watched her leave. He could see it in her eyes that she wanted to participate but she was scared to lose or make a fool of herself.
What he was going to do next could be counted as crossing a line but as her friend, it was his job to make sure she won't end up with any regrets. With that thought in mind, he made his way through the loud girls towards Althea who was sitting there like a queen.
"I want to submit a name." He said.
"Do you want to tell me something first, brother?" She asked with an amused smile on her face.
CZYTASZ
Privileged
Dla nastolatków"You want to know what I think of you?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. I smirked in a confident manner and nodded, eager to hear his answer. He took a brief pause and his heated gaze lingered on my face. "I think you are a privileged, spoilt brat...
