Belonging to Lust
Chapter 209: Apology Hearing
Zaiyia wasn’t sure if she was as true of a friend as Alice claimed she was. Hell, some of the times she wasn’t sure if she was that good of a person. Luckily their conversation didn’t have to take that dark turn because the ladies were once again interrupted, this time by two of Alice’s friends and Zaiyia’s enemies.
The blonde Michelle Seyfriend with her far apart blue eyes, and the school’s fun, party, wildchild Miley Finley. Both had crossed violent paths with Zaiyia before in the past. Michelle had enlisted herself in assaulting Zaiyia and Monnique in the Gymnasium which soon involved the older McCoy sisters tagging themselves into the fight. Miley was only talking a lot of crap on the bus she shared with Zaiyia and was one of the reasons she was suspended off it and had to seek transportation to school elsewhere.
“Hey, Alice.” Miley greeted the treasured blonde before her brown eyes shifted nervously over a very hard to read Zaiyia with her deadpan expression. “Hey, Zaiyia.”
“Hey you two!” Alice greeted them warmly, a huge smile on her face. “What brings you out here?”
“We um…” Michelle wavered until Miley encouraged her to finish with a nudge to her arm. “We came to talk to Zaiyia actually.”
“Oh…really?” Alice inquired, her blue eyes sparking with delight at what this supposed ‘talk’ truly was about. Beyond thrilled, she looked to Zaiyia. “Doesn’t that sound wonderful, Zaiyia?”
The excitement on Alice’s face made Zaiyia’s stomach drop. It told her what was about to unfurl and she was not in the mood to go through another one of these apology hearings again! But there was no way out of it without upsetting Alice and so…Zaiyia had no choice but to see it through once again. Forcing a smile back at Alice, she replied. “I can’t wait!”
“We wanted to apologize for what went down in the past between us and you.” Miley started off, her hands clasped in front of her as she fought to maintain eye contact with her former enemy. She had heard about all her other friends apologizing to Zaiyia for bullying her, and how merciful she was in her forgiveness towards them. It started to make all of them hope that they too could be as lucky and easily forgiven. Miley was definitely among the hopeful bunch. “The things I said to you on the bus were…were racist. 100%. No other way around it. It was wrong of me to say those things. They should’ve never come out of my mouth from the very beginning.”
“Can’t argue with you there.” Zaiyia grumbled under her breath, earning a look from Alice that had her shutting her mouth and innocently smiling at Miley and Michelle. This was stupid! Miley’s apology was stupid! Hell, her voice alone was stupid and ugly! Or maybe that was Zaiyia’s reluctance to wanna hear the girl out that was stupid and ugly.
“I’m gonna stand here and promise you that if I can take it all back in a heartbeat, I will. Realistically, I can’t. What happened that day isn’t something I can rewind and change. What I can promise you is that’s the last time you’ll ever see that side of me again. I can promise you that I can change and will change for the better. It’s too much to ask for us to be friends today or tomorrow, but I hope one day we can get a step closer towards it, if that’s cool with you, of course.” Miley concluded, her brown eyes staring longingly at Zaiyia for a sign of her merciful blessing.
“I don’t see why not.” Zaiyia answered under Alice’s vigilant eyes that felt like a laser beam on the side of her face. All these apologies were wearing her down, but she couldn’t let the blonde girl know that. It might dampen her spirit or worse, dampen their relationship.
“Oh, thank god!” Miley exclaimed in a long exhale, tilting her head skywards to mentally thank the Lord himself for shining luck her way. With her palms pressed together, she thanked Zaiyia profusely. “Thank you thank you thank you! I swear to god I’m gonna show you the best side of me anyone has ever seen of Miley Finley, I swear it!”
“Fantastic, absolutely fantastic, Miley! I can’t put into words how proud I am of you. Not only did your apology come straight from the heart, but you also moved me with your remorse as well.” Alice praised Miley like a teacher would to a student. Her blue eyes then skimmed to the left where Michelle stood trembling in her shoes. Waving the shy girl forward, Alice inspired her. “Come closer, MIchelle. It’s your turn now. Bare your precious heart, just like Miley did so brilliantly!”
Zaiyia had to look away for a minute to make a face in private. Did Alice really intend to get the whole school to beg for mercy on their hands and knees before her?
For real?
Clearing her throat, Michelle looked down at Zaiyia who briefly smiled back at her to help in encouraging her to get her apology out so this can be over. “Ms. Halifax, you probably don’t remember me, but…me and my friends were involved in a big fight against you that also involved some of your friends as well.”
“Oh, don’t make no mistake, sweetie. I remember you. Every single one of you, in fact.” Zaiyia assured her as affectionately and innocuously as possible. Whatever it takes to make Alice happy at this point, she’ll force herself to do it. Though she did have her limits and one of these days these apologies were gonna cross that damn line.
“O-Oh, you do?” Michelle stuttered, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment at being remembered. Because she still had to see this through for not only her friend's sake but also for herself, she pushed onward, praying for the best outcome possible. “I just…I just wanted to tell you that I too am sorry for what transpired that day. It was unacceptable, and no matter how much time has passed since that fateful day…my regrets over my part in it have only made me hate myself more and more. On that day you met someone that wasn’t the real me. In fact, it was the worst version of myself that I hope no one will ever have to see again including me. My apology to you isn’t just to atone for what I’ve done to you, but also an attempt to renew myself into a much better person. I wanna be that person, Zaiyia, and I hope that your forgiveness could be the key to getting me there.”
Curbing the need to roll her eyes again, Zaiyia shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she faked a smile and told her. “For sure.”
“F-For sure?” Michelle echoed incredulously, unable to grasp that Zaiyia might have just forgiven her just like that. After all the violence and trauma she put upon this poor girl, she saw it within herself to extend the hand of forgiveness even still?
“Yeah, for sure. As in we good.” Zaiyia impatiently wrapped it up with a wave of a hand, needing this to be over and done with! “I hold no ill feelings towards either of you. We can move on from here on a nice clean slate.”
Alice watched as her two friends turned to each other with eyes shimmering with happiness, and embraced each other in relief. Her heart swelled twice the size at Zaiyia’s mercy to her friends. She wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to forgive a single one of them ever again in life, and yet here she was easily forgiving all like some merciful God walking amongst them. It was a glorious sight! Such a glorious sight, in fact, that she had to stand up herself and declare. “Group hug, anyone?”
“No no no, it’s fine!” Zaiyia hastened to disband the idea as she jumped to her feet to flee but it was too late. The three girls were on her, surrounding her and then closing in like a pack of relentless wolves! With an audible groan of uncomfortability, Zaiyia was squished in the middle with the girls embracing her with ‘awws’ to go around. If the floor could just open up for once and swallow her whole into an everlasting world of darkness, she’d be eternally grateful for it. But alas, it wasn’t possible, so she had to grin and bear it.
As the trio withdrew from the group hug, an elated and rejuvenated Michelle made a proposal so that they wouldn’t have to part from Zaiyia’s side too soon. “Hey, I have a wonderful idea! Why don’t we go to lunch together?”
“Michelle, that sounds like a splendid idea!” Alice complimented her then nodded to the invitation. “I’d love to! Zaiyia, how about you?”
Zaiyia didn’t wanna accept the invitation. She desperately needed a break from this group of preppy chicks. Luckily the memory of Chasity came to her mind suddenly, making her recall that she needed some rescuing the last time she saw her in the company of Alan. Coming up with a lie, she began to withdraw from the trio with a pained look on her face. “Actually, I just remembered that I forgot something important in my last class.
“Oh well, that’s fine. We can come with you.” Miley suggested, the others nodding along with her idea.
“Oh no, that’s perfectly fine!” Zaiyia cut in, holding up both hands so they wouldn't take another step towards her. “I’ll just meet up with you guys in the cafeteria. I shouldn’t be too long at all.”
The blonde Michelle Seyfriend with her far apart blue eyes, and the school’s fun, party, wildchild Miley Finley. Both had crossed violent paths with Zaiyia before in the past. Michelle had enlisted herself in assaulting Zaiyia and Monnique in the Gymnasium which soon involved the older McCoy sisters tagging themselves into the fight. Miley was only talking a lot of crap on the bus she shared with Zaiyia and was one of the reasons she was suspended off it and had to seek transportation to school elsewhere.
“Hey, Alice.” Miley greeted the treasured blonde before her brown eyes shifted nervously over a very hard to read Zaiyia with her deadpan expression. “Hey, Zaiyia.”
“Hey you two!” Alice greeted them warmly, a huge smile on her face. “What brings you out here?”
“We um…” Michelle wavered until Miley encouraged her to finish with a nudge to her arm. “We came to talk to Zaiyia actually.”
“Oh…really?” Alice inquired, her blue eyes sparking with delight at what this supposed ‘talk’ truly was about. Beyond thrilled, she looked to Zaiyia. “Doesn’t that sound wonderful, Zaiyia?”
The excitement on Alice’s face made Zaiyia’s stomach drop. It told her what was about to unfurl and she was not in the mood to go through another one of these apology hearings again! But there was no way out of it without upsetting Alice and so…Zaiyia had no choice but to see it through once again. Forcing a smile back at Alice, she replied. “I can’t wait!”
“We wanted to apologize for what went down in the past between us and you.” Miley started off, her hands clasped in front of her as she fought to maintain eye contact with her former enemy. She had heard about all her other friends apologizing to Zaiyia for bullying her, and how merciful she was in her forgiveness towards them. It started to make all of them hope that they too could be as lucky and easily forgiven. Miley was definitely among the hopeful bunch. “The things I said to you on the bus were…were racist. 100%. No other way around it. It was wrong of me to say those things. They should’ve never come out of my mouth from the very beginning.”
“Can’t argue with you there.” Zaiyia grumbled under her breath, earning a look from Alice that had her shutting her mouth and innocently smiling at Miley and Michelle. This was stupid! Miley’s apology was stupid! Hell, her voice alone was stupid and ugly! Or maybe that was Zaiyia’s reluctance to wanna hear the girl out that was stupid and ugly.
“I’m gonna stand here and promise you that if I can take it all back in a heartbeat, I will. Realistically, I can’t. What happened that day isn’t something I can rewind and change. What I can promise you is that’s the last time you’ll ever see that side of me again. I can promise you that I can change and will change for the better. It’s too much to ask for us to be friends today or tomorrow, but I hope one day we can get a step closer towards it, if that’s cool with you, of course.” Miley concluded, her brown eyes staring longingly at Zaiyia for a sign of her merciful blessing.
“I don’t see why not.” Zaiyia answered under Alice’s vigilant eyes that felt like a laser beam on the side of her face. All these apologies were wearing her down, but she couldn’t let the blonde girl know that. It might dampen her spirit or worse, dampen their relationship.
“Oh, thank god!” Miley exclaimed in a long exhale, tilting her head skywards to mentally thank the Lord himself for shining luck her way. With her palms pressed together, she thanked Zaiyia profusely. “Thank you thank you thank you! I swear to god I’m gonna show you the best side of me anyone has ever seen of Miley Finley, I swear it!”
“Fantastic, absolutely fantastic, Miley! I can’t put into words how proud I am of you. Not only did your apology come straight from the heart, but you also moved me with your remorse as well.” Alice praised Miley like a teacher would to a student. Her blue eyes then skimmed to the left where Michelle stood trembling in her shoes. Waving the shy girl forward, Alice inspired her. “Come closer, MIchelle. It’s your turn now. Bare your precious heart, just like Miley did so brilliantly!”
Zaiyia had to look away for a minute to make a face in private. Did Alice really intend to get the whole school to beg for mercy on their hands and knees before her?
For real?
Clearing her throat, Michelle looked down at Zaiyia who briefly smiled back at her to help in encouraging her to get her apology out so this can be over. “Ms. Halifax, you probably don’t remember me, but…me and my friends were involved in a big fight against you that also involved some of your friends as well.”
“Oh, don’t make no mistake, sweetie. I remember you. Every single one of you, in fact.” Zaiyia assured her as affectionately and innocuously as possible. Whatever it takes to make Alice happy at this point, she’ll force herself to do it. Though she did have her limits and one of these days these apologies were gonna cross that damn line.
“O-Oh, you do?” Michelle stuttered, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment at being remembered. Because she still had to see this through for not only her friend's sake but also for herself, she pushed onward, praying for the best outcome possible. “I just…I just wanted to tell you that I too am sorry for what transpired that day. It was unacceptable, and no matter how much time has passed since that fateful day…my regrets over my part in it have only made me hate myself more and more. On that day you met someone that wasn’t the real me. In fact, it was the worst version of myself that I hope no one will ever have to see again including me. My apology to you isn’t just to atone for what I’ve done to you, but also an attempt to renew myself into a much better person. I wanna be that person, Zaiyia, and I hope that your forgiveness could be the key to getting me there.”
Curbing the need to roll her eyes again, Zaiyia shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she faked a smile and told her. “For sure.”
“F-For sure?” Michelle echoed incredulously, unable to grasp that Zaiyia might have just forgiven her just like that. After all the violence and trauma she put upon this poor girl, she saw it within herself to extend the hand of forgiveness even still?
“Yeah, for sure. As in we good.” Zaiyia impatiently wrapped it up with a wave of a hand, needing this to be over and done with! “I hold no ill feelings towards either of you. We can move on from here on a nice clean slate.”
Alice watched as her two friends turned to each other with eyes shimmering with happiness, and embraced each other in relief. Her heart swelled twice the size at Zaiyia’s mercy to her friends. She wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to forgive a single one of them ever again in life, and yet here she was easily forgiving all like some merciful God walking amongst them. It was a glorious sight! Such a glorious sight, in fact, that she had to stand up herself and declare. “Group hug, anyone?”
“No no no, it’s fine!” Zaiyia hastened to disband the idea as she jumped to her feet to flee but it was too late. The three girls were on her, surrounding her and then closing in like a pack of relentless wolves! With an audible groan of uncomfortability, Zaiyia was squished in the middle with the girls embracing her with ‘awws’ to go around. If the floor could just open up for once and swallow her whole into an everlasting world of darkness, she’d be eternally grateful for it. But alas, it wasn’t possible, so she had to grin and bear it.
As the trio withdrew from the group hug, an elated and rejuvenated Michelle made a proposal so that they wouldn’t have to part from Zaiyia’s side too soon. “Hey, I have a wonderful idea! Why don’t we go to lunch together?”
“Michelle, that sounds like a splendid idea!” Alice complimented her then nodded to the invitation. “I’d love to! Zaiyia, how about you?”
Zaiyia didn’t wanna accept the invitation. She desperately needed a break from this group of preppy chicks. Luckily the memory of Chasity came to her mind suddenly, making her recall that she needed some rescuing the last time she saw her in the company of Alan. Coming up with a lie, she began to withdraw from the trio with a pained look on her face. “Actually, I just remembered that I forgot something important in my last class.
“Oh well, that’s fine. We can come with you.” Miley suggested, the others nodding along with her idea.
“Oh no, that’s perfectly fine!” Zaiyia cut in, holding up both hands so they wouldn't take another step towards her. “I’ll just meet up with you guys in the cafeteria. I shouldn’t be too long at all.”