**I don't plan for this story to go as far as I've watched and as I brainstorm this story, that is Season 9 Episode 9: Adaptation. I'm conflicted on if I want to continue because I AM STILL PISSED OFF ABOUT MERLE! And how Carl, Shiva, Noah & Beth were set up to die for no reason. And I just don't understand how Negan could kill Glenn, then everyone, especially Maggie, teams up with him like that never happened? Whole lotta middle fingers to the assholes that destroyed this show, but I'm hoping that I can at least grow a patch of pretty flowers with the gigantic piles of shit I've been handed.
Vent over :)
If you've made it this far and agree, I'm glad we're on the same boat and while I'm not certified in CPR, I think I know how to do it, so you've got about a 65% chance of being resuscitated with me.
If you disagree, I hope you still give this story a go for the sake of exploring a new perspective :)
The recess bell rang vociferously, but its shrill whine was tuned out by the delighted screams of children pouring out of double doors and into the playground. Of all the children scampering about, there was a single ginger girl scanning the crowds of her peers.
A 9-year-old Zayla spotted one of her friends from class. He had bottle-green eyes and almond-brown hair in a mohawk. His name was Bryce and he liked collecting frogs. He'd sometimes stick them in his pocket and bring them to school and that explained why he'd smell like bog water sometimes. During class, the frog would occasionally croak and the kids who were privy to the hidden pet would giggle. Bryce was the first boy she met when she started school and he's been really nice to her since, but so have most of the other children.
Zayla's only been at her new school for a few months, but she was very familiar with everyone and her new neighborhood. Her peers were instantly charmed by her Irish accent and they just adored her fiery mane of wildly kinky hair. They thought her tresses were absolutely lovely and that they wished they had her out-of-the-ordinary hue instead of their usual brown or blonde shades.
Everyone within the entire school was nice to her except big, stupid, ugly Kory. She hated him and his goofy, butt-nosed face.
For as long as Zayla could remember, Zaria has always told her daughter that her fetching ginger hair- a perfect replica of her own- was beautiful and it had magical powers. Because they were gingers, people would naturally be attracted to them and Zaria promised Zayla that she'd get married to the man of her dreams with the help of her enchanting, carroty locks. That was how Zaria claimed to have bewitched Andrew.
Zayla tried to believe her mother, but Kory always said the meanest things about her because of her orange hair. He told her that rabbits would swarm out of the woods to bite her because they'd think she was a giant carrot or that if a firetruck passed her, she'd get hosed down because the firemen would think her head was on fire.
"Stay away from me, ya' gowl bowsie." She warned, but Kory scoffed at her.
"Whatcha' gonna do about it, carrot-head?"
"Don't call me that!"
"Carrot-head, carrot-head! Zayla's a carrot-head and she talks like a leprechaun!" He teased with mocking laughter. "I bet your Dad's Lucky the Leprechaun on the cereal box!"
"My Da's in the army an' he's big an' strong an' ya'd better leave me be or I'll tie ya' up in a knot just like he taught me!"
"You're so weird! You talk weird, your name's weird, you've got those weird spots on your face and your hair's weird! You're an alien from Mars!"
"I'm not from Mars, I'm from Ireland, ya' feckin' bristly boar!" And with that Zayla shoved Kory as hard as she could, making him stumble back a few steps. When he regained his footing, he did the same to her, but his push was more forceful and made her fall to the ground, scraping her knee in the process.
Before she could inspect her new wound or call Kory another name, she watched as a fist came out of nowhere to punch Kory square in the cheek, sending him to the ground.
"Boys don't fuckin' hit girls, Kory!" The new boy growled as he threw punch after vicious punch at Kory's torso or face and the wannabe bully was crying as he tried to protect himself from the assault. "Try an' hit me, bitch! Swing at me, Kory! I can fight back, you fuckin' pussy!"
Zayla knew that boy.
She often found the blond boy with the jagged haircut and cornflower-blue eyes sitting by himself at lunch and more than once, she's gone to sit with him. The first few times she did, he simply stared at her and scooted away until he was sitting on the other side of the circular table. When he realized that she was just going to come to sit with him the next day, he stopped moving to the other side of the table, but he would keep an arm's length between them. She wasn't exactly sure how old he was because they didn't have any classes together, but he looked to be at least 11 or so.
Zayla noticed that the hushed boy rarely ate any of the cafeteria food and he never brought anything from home in a lunchbox or brown bag like the other kids, so she started sharing her lunch with him. She'd offer half of her sandwich and whatever snacks she had. The blond would silently accept whatever she offered and he'd mutter a 'thank you' before lunch was over. When Zayla would go home, Zaria would help make tomorrow's lunch and before bed, she would make another sandwich for the boy who never breathed a word to anyone with hopes that he'd realize she just wanted to be friends.
The blue-eyed boy finally let up and kicked Kory in the side before telling him to get lost and the bully was crying as he ran away.
"I like your hair…think it's pretty…" The blond mumbled to Zayla and that was the very first time he ever directly spoke to her, even if his voice was little more than a whisper. He was making eye contact too. "…and your freckles are too…I like 'em."
"Thanks for helpin'." She smiled at him and got herself up.
"Boys ain't s'posed to lay hands on girls." He parroted something of the same thing he cursed at Kory as he watched the ginger dust the back of her denim jeans off. Hers were embroidered with daisies around both cuffs and he briefly wondered if her Ma made those special just for her daughter.
Zayla would've introduced herself and asked the boy if he wanted to play with her, but before she could, she saw that his hands were trembling at his sides. He must have caught her eyes because he stuffed this fists into the pockets of his ratty jeans and hung his head, but that just made her notice his quivering arms.
"…m-make sure you go to the n-nurse and g-get your knee cleaned." He said it so quickly that she barely heard it, but he was walking away from her before she could even ask what his name was.
Zayla stayed rooted in place for a second before she went to the double-doors of the school and quickly found her way to the Nurse's Office. When asked how the scrape on her knee got there, she told the nurse that she fell off the slide and scraped it against the ground. She wouldn't be a tattletale because if Kory ever said anything to her again, she'd twist him into a pretzel and kick him in the face until all his teeth fell out.
With her knee cleaned and an Incredible Hulk Band-Aid protecting it from infection, Zayla went to enjoy the rest of her recess time. When she got back outside, she searched for the blond boy, but she didn't see him playing anywhere or sitting on a bench. Kory was missing too, but she didn't care about him. She stopped her search when she heard Bryce calling her and the boy was happily running towards her with a Snoring Gopher frog secured in his hands.
Once recess was over, classes were finished and the final dismissal bell rang, Zayla gathered her things from her cubbyhole and waved goodbye to her classmates as she walked down the hall to the main entrance of the building. When she stepped outside, she almost instantly spotted her Dad and her bright smile could've replaced the sun. She maneuvered through the mass of parents picking up their children to run to her father and he caught her in an uplifting hug, laughing into her ginger hair as she squealed in joy. Andrew tried his damndest to make his only daughter into a Daddy's Girl and Zayla had her moments, but she definitely wasn't picking sides when it came to which parent she favored. His boys were another story because they definitely preferred their Mom over himself.
"Did you have a good day at school today, babydoll?" Andrew asked from the driver's seat as he drove down the streets, headed home.
"I met my husband today, Da." Zayla felt her face getting hot and she remembered that her mother told her that it was called blushing. Andrew's eyebrows lifted in surprise as he glanced at his daughter through the rearview mirror. He smiled when he noticed her reddening cheeks. "He's the sweetest fella I've ever met an' he's got dreamy blue eyes an' we're gonna get hitched 'cause he said he likes my hair an' Ma said my husband would like my hair. And he likes my freckles too!"
Andrew chuckled in response. His daughter's gone and found her first crush. With how tomboyish she was, he didn't expect that to happen until she was in Middle school.
Zayla was gazing out the window now, counting the seconds until they got home. She was going to ask her Ma to bake cookies to take for lunch as a thank you gift for the blond boy. When she saw him at lunch tomorrow, she'd exchange the cookies for his name and if he liked the scrummy things her Ma could make, she could start an exchange of food for conversation until the boy was comfortable enough to play with her at recess.