ZARAMANNI (BOOK ONE)

PART ONE BEGINS

PART ONE: CROSSING PATHS

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IN PHILADELPHIA, EARTH

‘Hey, freak!’ Her number one tormentor screamed at the top of his voice and the girl who was already thanking the heavens for making her seemingly invisible that day squirmed as her timid steps came to a halt.

Her chest pounding hard, Zaramanni waited for him with fright trickling down her spine. She couldn’t dare to move. She tried it before - a lot of times actually- but, that never ended well.

Soon, she felt his overpowering height thanks to the heaviness of his breath. His cold, repulsing touch followed and pulled a straight trail down her arm before he went on to grip the base of her hair as firmly and painfully as possible. As though waiting for an assurance that his actions were affecting her, after a small wince came from the tired girl, he started his speech that was always filled with distaste.

'Zaramanni, are you ever going to get rid of this ugly hair of yours?’ His idle hand went onto her chin and with a snap that could have caused her neck to suffer dislocation, he tilted her head so she was looking up at him.

Her eyes stayed glued on the little sprouts of hair on his curved chin because his greenish eyes always gave her the creeps. Just like his vile words did.

‘I recall telling you to come to school bald today.’

She swallowed hard again and by the time that action ended, a pair of scissors were already dancing in front of her. Eyes wide open in fear, Zara looked towards her tormentor and made to plead crazily.

But no words came out. It was as though her lips had been suddenly sewn together.

Her inability to voice her strong disapproval of the crazy thing that was about to happen to her right in front of the whole school seemed to make Gavin Rivers really excited.

The sides of his full mouth which had been on and in so many girls despite having a girlfriend wore a smile that showed how much he bathed in the popularity that was brought about thanks to his strong dislike for the girl that was always considered unusual.

Zara’s eyes still trying to pass the message her clamped lips couldn’t, she watched with the side of her eyes as the scissors made their way to the middle of her hair. As Gavin pressured the item to do its job, a bright, electric blue light pierced right through the ceiling in form of a rod and when it found a comfortable base on the tiled floor, the beam approached a bewildered Zara who wasn’t being overpowered by a certain Gavin Rivers anymore.

When it came right to her front, bright light and all, it began to make sizzling sounds and the sudden screams from the other students became distant. And, for some reason, Zaramanni wanted to reach out for the embodiment of blueness in front of her. The blueness, she eventually noticed, made her hair shine.

When her astonished self took her gaze off the astonishing thing happening to her hair and her sight landed on the beckoning beam, she heard her name being called faintly.

‘Zara,' came the soft call.

The voice was familiar. She could tell who it was right away.

‘Granny?’ her mind responded cautiously, the shiny beam still teasing her.

‘It’s time for school.’

'Uh?’ The light disappeared instantly and she felt a strong tap on her shoulder. When she turned to face the caller that was gently hitting her, she saw nothing but pitch darkness.

And, suddenly, she was no longer standing in the school corridor.

And her eyes began to flutter…

“For God’s sake, you don’t want to be late on your first day of college, do you?” a firm voice inquired sternly as Zaramanni quickly figured out that the earlier scene was a dream. The cool breeze that grazed her skin made her aware that she was back in the real world.

“Ugh…” Zara stretched slightly as she tried to see if she could go back to the dream world. She was honestly curious about the surreal scene that just played in her sleep but her grandmother’s lecture about punctuality kept getting in the way.

“Zara?” the woman called when her lengthy talk got no response.

“Granny?” she muttered with faked uncertainty.

“Get out right now,” her Granny's voice commanded and Zara took that as a sign to actually leave her bed. If anything, not listening to her grandmother’s instructions is something she should never attempt. She tried it twice and she ended up doing dishes for their next-door neighbour.

A long stretch was accompanied by a loud yawn and with a slight peek, she checked how pissed her lovely Granny was. When it was certain she wasn’t so angered- it actually seemed like she was worried- Zara sat up, crossed her legs beneath her lower body, and snapped her eyes open.

“Hey, Granny.” She flashed the woman a grand smile.

“Go get ready.” The clothes her grandmother had in her arms soon landed on Zara as the fairly aged woman began to take a walk around her room to arrange things that were already arranged.

Setting aside the awful outfits her Granny chose, Zaramanni wore a knowing look as she watched the woman adjust a picture frame next to her bed.

That bed, Zaramanni's thoughts began to derail, usually became a thing that was forgotten on most nights.

Zaramanni didn't have the desire to blame herself for neglecting the seemingly comfortable mattress.

Sleeping next to the window was a better choice for Zara. She could always see the moon which she always termed a mysterious body accompanied by a few stars which she always adored. Staring at those celestial bodies brought tranquillity to her system and that feeling was always valueless, especially after a long day.

Always valueless.

“Ma,” Zara used the endearing word that her granny loved hearing for some reason. She got off the space she was seated on and rushed towards the woman with her toes tipped. “Ma,” she called again before hugging the woman from behind.

“You should get ready for school. You need to sort out the belongings you dropped in your dorm, remember?”

“I know,” Zara muttered with a babyish tone. “I just want to enjoy these last minutes with you.”

“Oh come on, you’ll be seeing me soon.”

Zara’s lips drew a smile. “You don’t have to sound so uncaring ma.I know you’ll miss me too.”

A sigh came from the woman whose styled hair failed to show the signs of her ageing and whose tall, slim physique never ceased to amaze people and her granddaughter likewise.

“Of course, I will miss you. I am just worried. I am worried a lot.”

She sure was, it was written all over her face as she turned to face Zaramanni.

Reaching for the side of her face, a light caress following, she said, “I can never forget the things you have been through and I am afraid things might continue that way. Zara, you are very different, so you will stand out as you’ve always done.”

“I’ll just ignore them, ma. I will be fine.” Zaramanni didn’t want to depart from her grandmother while discussing such things. Such depressing topics.

“I am just scared,” the woman pushed further, her eyes dancing with more concern. “The things you went through in high school were heartbreaking enough and if you have to go through them again… I am not sure things will go so well. I am very worried, my baby.”

“I will be fine, ma. I promise. I am stronger than I seem, I promise.” Zara knew she was not just telling her grandmother that, she was also assuring herself.

Her mind travelled to the dream she had woken up from. It had scenes that were both familiar and unfamiliar.

Recalling the familiar part made her heart clench. But she soon told herself the same thing she recited after getting a letter of admission into college when she began to worry about the terrors of high school repeating themselves.

‘People don’t matter when it comes to my life. It is my life. I will live it how I want.’

After that quick chant, her worries went to sleep.

Giving her grandmother a slight shake as she held both sides of her arms, Zara wore a huge smile, a smile that assured the woman in front of her. “Granny, I know how worried you are, I have been there. Truthfully, I have worried about meeting people like Gavin but let’s face it, people like Gavin will always exist. Perhaps this is the time for me to ignore people like him and focus on finding myself.

For the first time ma, I want to finally embrace who I am, I want to find out how this peculiarity of mine will work in my favour. That’s all that matters.”

Zara’s eyes must have been glowing as she could see her granny’s eyes showing a hint of blue light. Such a thing happened rarely but it helped in showing Zara's grandmother how excited she was.

“Your eyes are glowing. It has been a while.”

“I am still curious as to why they glow. Are you sure I am not an alien?” Zara’s attempt at a joke managed to inquire about one of the few questions she would never get tired of asking.

“Zara, I am certain we will both find answers to all of your questions soon. But before that, get your double-coloured head underneath the shower before I lose it.”

“Hey!” With a pout, she ran her fingers through the length of her hair. “Just because my hair changes colour every season doesn’t mean you can call it names.”

“Yeah right.” Her grandmother rolled her eyes. “Be out in ten minutes or I’ll tell Colin to go without you.”

“Ma,” she whined and the woman glared at her so hard that she found herself running toward the bathroom.