"Do I like her?" Zane asked himself as he was walking back home in the dark. The streets were quiet, letting him wander in his thoughts.
Zane wasn't sure of what he felt for Winter. He just knew it was something special. There was something in the way Winter laughed that reminded him of his better self. There was something pure in the way she struggled to do things the right way. He liked her genuine smile, the way her soft pink lips would curl upwards and the corner of her eyes would crinkle.
He halted on his track as a realization dawned upon him. Maybe it's a crush, he thought. It was no wonder he always ended up helping her even when he had no intention to.
He sighed and continued walking again; as if he was done solving the greatest mystery of his life. A crush was supposed to be nothing serious. It was just something that would make him feel a rush of happiness even at the littlest thing, like eye contact, but it would fade away with time eventually. I would better not overthink it, he decided.
Just as he reached the lane of his house, he received a notification on his phone. He took it out, letting a smile spread on his face automatically as he saw Winter's message.
Winter:
Did you reach home yet?
Zane didn't know what he was thinking before dialing her number. Probably, he just wanted to hear her sweet voice. She picked it up at the first ring as if she was waiting for his call.
"Hello?" her exhausted voice rang out from the other side.
"Hey, did you apply disinfectant on your cut?" he asked.
"Ah, no," she replied.
"Do it immediately. Seriously, Winter." He sighed and heard some shuffling from the other end.
"Sorry, sorry." There was a small pause before she asked, "Did you reach home yet?"
"Just at the door," he said while looking for his house key in his pocket.
"Good. Oh, by the way, I wanted to thank you for today. Thanks a lot, Zane."
"If you want to thank me, you should tell me the reason behind your cuts." Zane had many guesses behind them, but none of them could be confirmed until Winter said so.
"Some other time, I promise," she assured. She still wasn't sure whether whatever Zane did for her was pity or not, so she would rather make herself look even more pathetic at the moment.
Zane only hummed in response as he was busy taking off his shoes.
"You didn't tell me why you were there at the park tonight," Winter asked.
"You didn't tell me, either," he pointed out.
"Okay, I will tell you a little bit. My dad scolded me because I wanted to change school," she let out, her voice laced with sadness.
"Why do you want to change schools?" Zane asked. He thought he was the only one that wished for such a thing. Back when he texted her that, she didn't give him any reply. But now that he knew of her unexpected wish, there was a strange feeling in his heart.
"I, uh…" Winter chewed on her bottom lip, feeling embarrassed to admit. Her cheeks were probably red by now. "I just think…it would be nice if we went to the same school."
Zane could swear his heart skipped a beat at how cute she sounded. "That certainly would have been nice."
"Oh, I think my dad is calling," Winter said urgently. Her heart was racing too fast to continue talking to him anymore. "I will see you at work today."
"Yeah, sure. Bye."
The two of them wished goodnight to each other before hanging up.
Zane laid down on his bed, a huge grin covering his face. He couldn't wait to see her again and make sure that she was actually okay after what she was going to do tonight. Sure enough, he wouldn't be getting any sleep that night with all his new thoughts running wild.
°°°°°
September went by, and October arrived with all its glory. The summer was starting to die down. Winter was in a great mood as she received her first paycheck.
It was after work that everyone was celebrating their payday. They were done closing the shop as well and were now standing outside the café.
"The only thing I hate about our paychecks is that it only comes once a month," Leon whined.
"And you all spend it within a week," Zane added. Leon narrowed his eyes at him, knowing Zane wouldn't spend a single unnecessary penny from his paycheck and save up for his mother.
"I have already planned what I want to do with it." Lucy grinned, looking at the envelope with heart eyes.
"You just want to buy something special for that stupid gangster." Leon rolled his eyes. Lucy arched an eyebrow at him, warning him to say that again. "I mean, your lovely boyfriend," he corrected.
"Why are you so quiet, Winter?" Zane asked, and everyone turned their attention to her.
"Oh, I'm just thinking what to do with the money," Winter let out with a sigh. "I have been broke for all these days, and now I have this much money, I have no idea how I should spend this."
"I suggest you buy something for yourself," Lucy said with a smile.
"You could buy us a meal too," Leon said, getting a kick in the shin from Zane with a death glare. "Fine, I will treat you guys to the bar."
"Bar?" Winter let out.
"Bar is a place where—"
"Leon, I know what a bar is." Winter frowned and Leon giggled sheepishly. "I'm not eligible to enter one, am I?" The three of them fell silent. "Aww, I was looking forward to trying alcohol."
"You have never drunk?" Leon asked, and Winter shook her head. "Not even beer?" She again shook her head. Leon threw his head back in disbelief. "We need to get this girl some life."
"Winter, you really need to stay away from this guy. He will guide you to astray," Zane commented about Leon and Winter laughed lightly.
"Hey, isn't Melody throwing a birthday party this week?" Leon chirped.
"Who is Melody?" Winter asked.
"A friend of ours," Zane responded.
"A very close one of Zane," Leon added mischievously. Winter felt a tinge of burn in her chest, which she couldn't comprehend.
"Then I suppose she's from your school. How can I attend?" Winter tried to decline the offer.
"We can bring along someone with us. That girl is filthy rich," Leon said excitedly. "I would love to be your partner, sis, but my girlfriend would kill me. You can tag along with Zane." Leon gave a knowing look to Zane as Zane wasn't originally planning to attend the party.
Winter always wanted to attend a high school party. She looked up at Zane with her big eyes, batting her eyelashes in an attempt to make him agree. Zane chuckled and said, "You don't need to bat your eyes."You look cute either way. "I will let you be my partner."
A surprised look crossed Leon's face. He nudged Zane about it, who just shot him a death glare.
Winter squealed in excitement and turned towards Lucy, who was busy on a call. As soon as she hung up, Winter requested, "Lucy, would you come shopping with me? I have nothing to wear to a party."
"I would love to, but my schedule is booked up with my boyfriend." Lucy apologized, holding her ear. Her boyfriend had returned from his business trip that day, so she had been ecstatic since then. "I also have a party to attend with him this weekend."
"You mean a party filled with gangsters where they discuss smuggling drugs?" Leon raised an eyebrow fearfully.
"Leon, tell me if you have a death wish, I will grant it. But don't bad-mouth my Cedric." Lucy glared at Leon.
Winter couldn't help but smile at how loyal of a girlfriend Lucy was. She admired their relationship, even though she was yet to meet the cold man whose heart was stolen by Lucy. Now that he had returned from his trip, she was sure to meet him someday. Little did she know that day was today.
"That's like my girl," said a deep voice from behind Winter. Looking at the grin that spread across Lucy's face, Winter immediately knew who it was. She turned around to see a black-haired man in his mid-twenties, wearing a dark blue suit, with his hands in his pocket.
Lucy instantly ran towards the owner of the voice and hugged him tightly. "I thought you were joking when you said you were coming to pick me up."
"How can I let my girl walk back home all alone?" Cedric replied.
"Yet, I had to walk home all alone for a month," Lucy complained.
Cedric placed a kiss on top of her head and said, "I would never do that again. You don't know how much I missed you all this time."
Lucy pouted and pulled away from his embrace. "No, I missed you more." In that way, the two of them continued to banter.
If Winter didn't know better, she would have never guessed that man was a gang leader. He didn't look intimidating at all, rather he was like a puppy in love. Cedric was extremely good-looking as well. Winter was so happy for Lucy. Also, the fact that Lucy was glowing more radiantly than ever melted her heart in delight.
Once the couple was done talking, Lucy officially introduced Cedric to Winter. "Lucy told me a lot about you over the phone."
"You're actually quite different than I imagined you to be," Winter said.
"I'm sure I was the man from your imagination just until a year ago. But then, Lucy happened, and before I knew it, I was a completely different person," Cedric said with a light chuckle.
"He used to be such a jerk," Lucy added while rolling her eyes.
"He used to come to the café only for you, though," Zane teased, making Cedric nod his head.
After that, Cedric darted his eyes at Leon, who gasped and hid behind Zane. "Ah, Leon. How have you been? I heard you were quite interested to attend a party with gangsters. Is it true? I can take you with us if you want," Cedric deplored.
"Your boyfriend is bullying me again, Luce," Leon let out. Suddenly a cold aura surrounded Cedric, making Leon get the chills. That's when Winter understood how dangerous Cedric could be. Zane only laughed at his best friend's silly mistake. Leon always got himself in trouble with the worst people possible. "I said Lucy," he corrected himself.
Cedric shot a glare at Leon before turning to Zane, who actually got along well with him. He was his favorite, after Lucy, from the café.
Lucy turned towards Winter and said, "You can take Zane with you for shopping. He has god-gifted bargaining skills."
"I want to tag along too—"
"No," said Zane and Lucy together, and Winter sweatdropped.
"Meanie," Leon sulked and started walking on his own towards the nearby restaurant, where they had already decided to have dinner together. Lucy laughed and followed behind him with Cedric.
"So let's meet up after school tomorrow." When Zane said that to Winter, he wasn't aware that he was digging a grave for himself.
°°°°°
"Is this the one that Ellie suggested?" Winter asked, stopping in front of a formal clothing stop in the mall.
"Seems like so," Zane said.
The ladies from the store welcomed the two of them with a smile. Winter was ecstatic to be in the mall. She never went shopping since she came here, and she had to admit, the shopping complexes there were so much better than the ones back in Bangladesh. If she had the money, she might have ended up buying the dresses she liked—which would be all of them.
"Hey, what do you think will suit me?" Winter asked as she looked around the different varieties of clothes.
Zane looked at her up and down before saying, "I never see you wearing skirts, except during work. I think you would look great in a knee-length dress."
"I don't wear skirts because I don't have any, neither am I used to wearing them. People from Bangladesh would gawk at me like I was a mental asylum escapee if I were to wear anything above my ankle," Winter said with a frown creased on her forehead.
"Well, it's not Bangladesh. You can wear whatever you like, and no one would think it's out of the norm," he said. "You should go buy some skirts or whatever you are comfortable with after we buy a party dress for you."
Winter nodded and picked out a few dresses. As she was trying out the dresses in the changing room, she realized she couldn't wear the sleeveless or short-sleeved ones. Never had she ever regretted this much for cutting her skin before now.
Since her options were limited, she just threw in a random long-sleeved blue dress, out of frustration. It wasn't until she walked out of the trial room that she realized what she was wearing.
Zane's breath hitched as his eyes fell on Winter. The dress she was wearing was so alluring that it exposed too much of her cleavage and had a high slit on the left. Winter immediately covered her chest and muttered out a series of apologies before running back in.
Zane bit his lips hard and placed his hand over his eyes, letting a frustrated groan. Why did I even come here? Just to suffer? he thought to himself. He couldn't understand what he was thinking back then when he agreed to come here with her. The basketball must have hit his head hard enough during the practice last day.
The next time, Winter came out wearing a beautiful white dress, again making his heart beat fast. "Try another one."
After a few more trials, every time managing to make his heart skip a beat with her beauty, Winter came out wearing a long-sleeved off-shoulder dress that reached up to her knees and hugged her curves perfectly. The dark green color complimented her eyes beautifully.
"Perfect," Zane breathed out, making a blush appear on her face. If he still had any doubts about his crush on her, then those were completely cleared by then.
"A-are you sure? The cuts on my upper arms aren't showing, right?" she asked reluctantly.
He shook his head and placed his hands on her shoulder. "Even if they do, who cares? Those scars are a part of you, aren't they? There's no need to be ashamed."
"I don't think so." She removed his hand from her shoulder with a smile that didn't reach her eyes and went back in.
Zane sighed. The more he got to know Winter, the more he realized that her heart was much scarred than her skin. Behind those baggy clothes, she hid her insecurities.
He wondered when she would open up to him. He would like to know her better and know of the burdens that she carried on her small shoulders. More so, he would like to be the one to heal the wounds that remained buried deep within her.
